"Missus May…there's someone at the door."

May Chubb looked up into the frantic face of Daisy Fields. Daisy was a small lass, just recently married, and had a knack for panicking.

May sat up in her seat, back cracking from sleeping in the rocking chair. "What time is it lass?" she asked, already wide awake. She was the oldest in the group at the age of seventy-three, and felt it was her responsibility to keep all these young'uns safe.

"It's three in the morning, May."

"Did you get a look at who's at the door?"

"No Missus May. They started knocking all soft like, and it scared me fiercely, so I--" Daisy looked down at her feet guiltily.

"So you woke me up." May commented dryly.

Daisy nodded—May sighed and rose. "I didn't answer the door…I acted like there was no one here, but there're still knocking."

May carefully walked over the little hobbit children that slept on the floor. They had fallen on the floor in a haphazard pattern, and had gone right to sleep, their little limbs trying to trip May and Daisy in the dark.

The group of eleven women and seventeen children had been send to the Willow's small house late in the night, in the hopes to hide from the war that would certainly break out. They had only arrived about mid-night, and this unexpected visitor boded ill in May's mind.

"It was the back door, May," Daisy continued to explain as she lead her to the kitchen.

"Fetch a candle lass, and light it." May ordered, and Daisy hopped to the command. She reached for the one on the table, but froze, and gave a muffled scream.

A dark figure was breaking in through one of the kitchens windows. May could see it lift its head, but in the darkness of the room, she couldn't see anything else. The figure struggled to get all the way in, and in that moment, May grabbed a mug from the sink, and threw it with all her might.

"Ow!" cried the figure as it fell into the room, landing heavily amongst the baskets and chairs placed up against the wall. The result was a series of loud crashes, which woke the other women and some of the children. By the time Daisy came to her senses and lit the candle, the kitchen was packed with panicking hobbits, and the figure was struggling to get up.

"Stay where you are!" May barked at the figure. A face painfully peered up at her—it was a thin oval face, with a small pointy nose, and ragged hair than looked like a very dirty brown-red in the candle light. Its cloak was all tangled up in the chairs and the baskets, and the hobbit was struggling to breathe—May wouldn't be surprised if the hobbit had knocked its ribs hard in the fall.

"What are you doing here at this hour of the night, lad?" she asked, glaring down at the hobbit.

"Message…from Hobbiton," the hobbit wheezed. "An'…I'm not a…lad."

"Message from Hobbiton, eh? And you look like a young lad to me," May shot back.

"…Not a lad…" the hobbit tried to get up, to untangle himself, but gave up, exhausted. "My name's…Diamond. I'm…of Long Cleeve."

May glared at the hobbit, and saw that there was a hint of a figure underneath her lad's clothes. "Humph—I must say, you had me fooled, lass," May grudgingly admitted. "So what's this message…an' would someone give the lass a hand! Can't you see she's dead on her feet!"

The women jumped to Diamond's aid, untangling her from the mess she had made. When they were finally able to get her up, they helped her over to the table, and sat her down in a chair.

"The Big Folk will be marching in from Waymeet," Diamond finally said once she could take a deep breath. "I was sent to warn you about them, so you to stay low. This house is close to the road, and it might get dangerous."

"Coming from Waymeet? That's not what I wanted to hear lass," May said, rubbing her chin broodingly.

Diamond nodded. "Sorry 'bout being the bearer of bad news. But we need to be ready." A yawn threatened to split Diamond's head in half—she tried to remember if she had slept at all the last two nights. She had completely worn herself down this time--no more could be expected of her until she got some sleep.

May recognized that too. "Come lass, you're going straight to bed and sleep," she briskly commanded.

Diamond nodded dumbly, and rose unsteadily to her feet. She tried to walk, but stubbed her toe on the table's foot. Her body refused to work properly anymore, not after being so ignored and abused the last two days. 'You do too much, Long Cleeve,' she thought wearily to herself. 'You're only a hobbit.'

"Someone help her to the bedroom—don't just stand their gaping! She's a hobbit lass just like you!" came May's irritated, no-nonsense voice. Two of the older, stronger hobbit-lasses went to Diamond's side, and lead her too the bedroom. Daisy flitted about after them, exclaiming about what a poor dear Diamond was, she was so dirty and exhausted, and yet she was so kind to warn them, she looked as if she hadn't had a decent meal in ages, and how a bath would do wonders…

Diamond crawled into the bed—the sheets smelled clean, and felt cool on her bare legs and hands. She sighed, and winced at the dull throb of the dozen or so place where a sharp chair corner or basket had dug into her. Oh, how she would ache in the morning.

"I need you to wake me up early," she muttered to the retreating forms. "I need to be up so then I can keep watch…"

One of the hobbits nodded, and Diamond closed her eyes gratefully. Sleep came swiftly, filling Diamond's dreams with chain mail, fighting, and victory.

~*~

"She's very dirty…"

"Sush, you'll wake her!"

Two small voices gently called Diamond out of her deep sleep, and she opened her eyes. She felt groggy and ill as if she had been drinking heavily, like the time Milo and she drank themselves under the table at the Harvest Festival.

"Look what you did! She's awake!"

The two hobbit-children shrank away from the bed, guilt in their faces. Diamond grumbled as she stretched, her bruised parts protesting, just like she knew they would. "Time?" she mumbled.

The children looked at each other fearfully. "What she say?" the boy asked the girl.

"I don't know!"

"You ask her."

"Why me!"

"You woke her up!"

"What TIME is it?" Diamond impatiently asked, her voice gruff and mean.

The children jumped in fear, and Diamond immediately wished she hadn't been so snippy. She was the youngest in her family, and often forgot that children were easily frightened by a mean tone or nasty attitude. "I'm sorry," she softly said, trying to sound civil. "I'm a real troll when I just wake up…can you please tell me what time it is?"

The girl approached the bed timidly. "It's nine o'clock, Miss Diamond," was her reply.

"Nine o'clock?" Diamond repeated dumbly. "Why didn't someone wake me up early, like I asked!"

"Missus May said not too!" the girl squeaked. "She said that no one was to disturb you!"

Diamond threw the covers off and forced her aching body out of bed. A cold dread filled her heart. "Missus May shouldn't have done that!" she mumbled frantically too herself as she tried to orient herself. "Nine o'clock is much too late!"

From the corner of her eye she could see that the lad and lass had retreated to the corner, eyes wide. Diamond groaned inwardly at the look on their faces—why was she always the one that frightened children?

"Don't look at me like that—it's not your fault," she apologized. "And I'm sure Missus May thought she was doing the best…"

A look of relief covered the children's faces. "So you're not mad at us?" the boy asked hopefully.

"Show me where the privy is, and where I can get a bit of food, and I'll be forever in your debt," Diamond formally said, bowing ridiculously low at them.

Her last action broke the ice, and the girl giggled. The girl pointed towards the door in the corner, and Diamond nodded her thanks.

Diamond relived herself quickly, and when she entered the bedroom again, she found that the boy had left, and the girl was fiddling with something in her pocket.

"Lass, what's that in your pocket?" Diamond asked as she walked over the wash stand. Someone had filled the pretty painted bowl with water, and Diamond looked with curiosity at the pattern. Her own family had only a plain wooden bowl for washing their faces and hands—Diamond had never really thought about it before, but now she wondered just how poor her family really was.

The girl bubbled over. "I found the prettiest stones in the river yesterday!" She hopped over to the wash stand and stood on her tippy toes in excitement. "I was throwing stones into the water with my brother, Ollie, when—the soap's over there," she interrupted herself, pointing at the large bar that Diamond was searching for. Diamond nodded her thanks, and scrubbed her face, hands and neck with it.

The girl continued without missing a beat. "And then I found this very pretty stone—it was flat and white, and it just shone in the water. And then I found another, and another, and Ollie helped me find some more, and before I knew it, my pockets were full. Would you like some—and the towel's right here!"

The girl grabbed the towel so quickly she nearly upset the wash stand. Diamond steady it, and grinned at the girl as she accepted the towel. "You speak enough for two, lass," she joked as she dried her face. Then, after feeling the grit in her hair, decided to dunk her head in the bowl, and give her hair a quick scrub.

The girl squealed in delight. "Why did you do that?" she asked, giggling, and Diamond came back up, her hair dripping all over the pretty wash stand.

"Well…my hair needed a rinse," Diamond said, frowning. "It's what I do at home."

"Is that why your hair's so tangled and rough looking?" the girl asked cheerfully.

"Well…I don't suppose I ever bother to brush it." Diamond looked thoughtful for a moment. "Come to think of it, the last time my sister tried to brush my hair, I was just a young thing, and I smacked her bottom hard with the brush."

The girl laughed again, clapping her hands. "I like you!" she exclaimed. "You very uncommon. You're nothing like MY sisters…they would faint if they knew you."

Diamond grinned as she wrung out her hair. "I've been told I'm rather queer."

The girl looked happily up at Diamond, still fiddling with the stones in her pocket.

"Come, lass, let me see those pretty stones," Diamond gently ordered as she turned towards the girl.

The girl dug into her pockets, and her little hand came back, filled. She emptied her pocket quickly, reaching back in until the wash stand was covered with white stones.

Diamond whistled, and picked one up. They were smooth and flat, about half the size of Diamond's hand. Some were a bright white, others a very pale yellow, all roughly the same weight and shape. "There're good skipping stones," Diamond commented. "How many did you pick up lass?"

"Fifteen!" the girl exclaimed. "But you can have some…they get awfully heavy after a while."

"Primrose! Where are you?" came a no-nonsense voice from some other part of the house.

"Oh no! It's Missus May!" the girl, Primrose, cried.

"She's sounds quite irate," Diamond replied as she absently put some of the stones in her hip-pouch.

"Oh she's been awful since yesterday! She won't let anyone go outside, even though it's a beautiful November day!" Primrose pouted as she put the rest of the stones back in her pocket.

Diamond led Primrose out of the room. "Sometimes some things are necessary, lass," Diamond said quietly. "There are nasty folk around, and now's a bad time from playing outside."

"But that's not fair! I wish those bad folk would go away!"

"Don't worry, lass. There are hobbits working on that right now in Hobbiton," Diamond reassured her.

"So! You're up and about."

Diamond looked up, and there stood May Chubb, arms crossed. "I set some food out for you, but you missed first breakfast. You better eat up."

"I have something to do first—second breakfast will have to wait," Diamond said, even though her stomach disagreed strongly. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"But…what about second breakfast?" Primrose asked, horrified.

"It'll wait," Diamond said firmly. "Something needs to be done first—I have to go check on something outside."

Primrose cocked her head. "You ARE a queer one," she declared.

"Primrose! Hold your tongue!" May ordered. "How rude of you!"

"I'm going," Diamond interrupted, and pushed past May towards the kitchen.

The hobbit women were sitting idly around the table, but when Diamond entered, they all fell silent. Diamond wondered if it would always be like this, with her as the outsider, not quite fit for acceptance.

She sighed as she found her cloak hung neatly on the peg, and put in on. She didn't turn back, and tried to ignore the whispers that had already started behind her back.

She opened the door, and snuck out into the bright sunlight, quickly making her way to the nearest hilltop, a quick three minutes away. A sharp smell hit her nose, and turned her stomach. The wind carried the smell of fire--Diamond turned pale. Fire had always been one of her fears, but not a soul knew, not even her family.

She reached the hill, and crawled to the top, so that she could peer down on the Shire without being seen. She lifted her eyes, and searched the land below her.

Her breath caught in her throat, and she turned on her heels and ran. The time for stealth had passed.

~*~

"Everyone! We leave now!"

The women looked at Diamond, faces blank. She was still leaning on the closed door, trying to catch her breath.

"What's all this?" May asked, demanding an explanation.

Diamond walked to the table, and sat down in-between two women, who didn't so much as budge. "There's an army of Big Folk coming this way," she explained. "I judge that they are a mile away from the hill, and a hundred strong. And curse them, they're fire-raising as they come!"

The women gasped in fear, and the children trembled at the news. Only May didn't flinch. "And where do you suppose we go, Miss Diamond?" May asked.

"To Hobbiton," was her quick reply. "I can lead us, and if we leave now, we'll have a decent head start."

The look in the women's eyes told Diamond that the thought of leaving the shelter of the little house was more frightening than the thought of Big Folk trampling past it and fire blazing over it. They sat frozen in fear.

"Didn't you hear the lass!" May yelled in exasperation. "The Big Folk are but a mile away and you still there like dumb old cows! Estella!"

One of the younger hobbit-lasses looked up quickly, knowing full well that when May spoke in that tone of voice, one hopped to the command. "Estella, get these younglings ready for the journey. There isn't a moment too lose." May glared at the whole group as Estella jumped out of her seat and herded the children to the next room, coaxing them along. "Now you listen to me. This lass is going to lead us back to Hobbiton, and I want no complaining, no whining and no crying from the lot of you! Now go get ready—I'm only going to give you enough time to dress the children properly, and then we go!"

As the women obeyed and scurried out of the kitchen, Diamond heaved a sigh. She started to notice that her heart was becoming heavy—she was the one that was responsible for getting the lot of them back safely to Hobbiton, and she was beginning to doubt.

"You eat something before we head out, lass," May said as she left the kitchen. "You'll need your strength the most."

Diamond looked up from her brooding thoughts, and set her mouth. May was right—it was up to her, and doubting herself on an empty stomach would only lead to bad. She reached for the bowl that held her second breakfast, and make quick work of it—cold porridge was tough to eat normally, but she had been so long without food that her stomach roared and her hands and mouth worked against her will. Only when she was looking at the empty bowl did she wish she hadn't devoured it so quickly, and that there was more for a second helping.

Instead she drank deeply from the cup that had been set out for her, and tightened her belt. Her meager meal would suffice for now.

"Come on Ollie…that's a lad. And you Amber—now Primrose, this isn't a time for fooling!"

The hobbit-lass Estella entered, the children in tow. All were more or less ready, bundled warmly in case the weather turned chiller—it was November after all. Estella herself was dressed in her cloak, and she wore a sort of bag in her front, filled with some bundle.

"What are you bringing?" Diamond asked, frowning.

Estella gave a small smile. "Well, I couldn't go and leave my own child, now could I!"

"Child?" Diamond repeated, shocked. She peered into the pouch, and into the sleeping face of a newborn hobbit. Diamond looked at Estella surprised. "You're married?"

Estella nodded, blushing. "I married Harding Proudfoot only last summer. This little one came this fall."

"But…you're so young," Diamond said, head tilted.

"I'm of age!" Estella replied. "Why? How old are you?"

Diamond grinned sheepishly. "Twenty four this March."

Estella 'hrumph'ed, but her eyes were grinning. "You're very quick to judge, young Diamond."

Diamond looked back down at the baby. "Is she a crier?" she asked.

"It's a he—and no, thank goodness," Estella reassured Diamond. But Diamond was not easily reassured—what had she been thinking, when she swore to protect them to the death? It was starting to seem like an impossible mission, keeping them all safe from the dangers outside.

"Well? Are you just going to stand there, lass, or are we heading for Hobbiton?"

May stood at the doorway, arms crossed.

Diamond adjusted her cloak, and went for the door. An oath was an oath—and she wouldn't break her oath to Meriadoc.

"Follow me," came her soft reply.