Disclaimer: See chapter 1
Chapter 6
I enjoyed those afternoons of crawling into my own world. Part of me was glad that Frodo had frightened me as he did because he warmed up to me, but the other part of me wanted to find out what was troubling him. I knew nothing of the terrors that lurked within his mind and plagued his body to cause him to write what he did in his book, yet I was eager to find out.
The first eve of December, I returned to my home to find Lily lying in bed and already asleep, a strange occurrence since Lily usually fell asleep long after I came home. I crossed the room and nudged her awake, but she did not respond. I shook her shoulder a bit and her eyes fluttered open slightly, remaining half closed. She turned her head to look at me, but her eyes were not focusing on me. I put my hand to her forehead to feel her warm skin beneath my fingertips.
"Mira?" she hoarsely whispered.
"Yes, Lily. It's me." I reached for her hand and clasped it tightly. "How long have you bee feeling like ill?" I asked her, certain that I would not get much of a response.
"For a couple days now."
"Do you hurt anywhere?"
"My body just aches." I saw the pain in her face as she tried to roll over.
"Just rest for now and if you feel the same or worse tomorrow, I'm staying home."
"But what about the Gamgees?"
"They'll understand and I'm sure they can handle everything for a day or two. Now please just sleep."
I pulled the covers tightly around her shivering body. After making sure she was okay, I returned to my side of the bed and fell asleep, hoping that a new day would bring health to Lily.
The crisp morning brought chills to my body as I peeled off my covers and went to Lily's bed. I lit the candle that resided on her nightstand. I pulled it over to find her body covered in cold sweat. Placing the back of my hand on her cheek, I felt her skin burn. Her eyes cracked open and she turned her ehad to face me.
"It hurts," she mumbled.
"I know, Lily. Just lie still. Everything's going to be alright." I pulled the blanket off my bed and wrapped it around her. I changed quickly and entered the main part of the house where my father was. I tried to go to the kitchen before he noticed my presence, but I failed.
"Mira? You still here?" he asked, coming to the kitchen where I was.
"I was just leaving, father," I said, turning to him. Maybe I should go to the Gamgees and tell them so they don't worry about me, I thought to myself. I gathered together my things and left home.
The cool breeze of winter had set in and it caused me to pull my shawl tighter around my body. I trudged my way to Bag End. The cold temperature had left many trees bare, leaves crunching under my feet as I continued my daily trek.
Arriving at the grand hobbit hole, I was very thankful to enter the always warm house. I made my way to the kitchen and neared Rosie as she continued her cooking.
"Good morning, Mira," she said, glancing over her shoulder at me.
"Hello," I said, nearing her more and trying to gather up my courage.
"Aren't you going to put your things away?"
"Well, I was wondering if I could have a couple days off?"
"Of course, but why?"
"My sister, who normally takes care of the house, is ill with a fever and I wanted to take care of her until she gets better. I'll come back as soon as she's well." My mind raced to find more reasons, but that soon proved to be unnecessary.
"It's fine, Mirabella. I understand. When I was younger than you, I had to take care of the household when my mother was ill. Go ahead and go home. We'll be fine for a few days. Take good care of your sister."
I could not believe that she had actually approved. "Thank you, Mrs. Gamgee."
"You'd better hurry home before you sister gets worse."
"Right," I nodded and hurried out of Bag End, practically running home to escape the cold.
Upon my arrival to my front door, I hesitated in opening the door. I hoped that my father was off working so I could avoid his questions. The emptiness and silence of the house assured me that he was not home. I returned to my room, going to Lily's side. Her head rolled from side to side as she mumbled things in her delirium.
"Mother, please don't go," she muttered. "You can't leave like this."
I figured she was remembering when mother died. Her death had been hard on the whole family, but especially hard on Lily since she was thrown into a mother position at a young age after father forced me to find work. Part of me knew Lily thought I had the better deal but she never had to work at the Green Dragon when men had come into the Shire.
I tucked the blankets tighter around Lily, hoping to settle her dreams and it did, at least for some time.
Retreating to the kitchen, I started preparing breakfast after remembering where everything was. As the sun began to pour into the kitchen, Andy entered.
"What are you doing home, Mira?" he asked softly as not to wake the others.
"Lily's ill, so I decided to take her place today." I walked over to him and placed his breakfast down in front of him.
"Won't father be upset that you're not working?"
"Aye, but we don't have to tell him that." I winked at him.
"I'm glad you're home. It always seems so lonely here when you're off working."
"I'm glad to be here too." I walked past him to Everard's room. I nudged his sleeping frame a little and he jolted awake immediately as if from a nightmare. He rubbed his eyes and stared at me. A grin broke out on his face.
"Mira!" he squealed, leaning overt and attacking me with a hug.
"Good morning to you too," I said, hugging him as he squirmed deeper into my embrace.
"Are you staying home again?"
"Just until Lily gets better."
"Oh."
"Why don't we hop out to the kitchen and get something to eat?"
"Aye." He wriggled out of my arms and dashed to the kitchen. I chuckled to myself about his love for food. He had a good hobbit appetite.
I followed him out to the kitchen where Ruby was just waking up. I portioned out the breakfast and we ate in silence.
My day unfolded as a normal day at the Gamgees', except that I checked on Lily frequently. Her fever continued to rage through her body, rising even higher as the day progressed.
Around afternoon tea, a knock came on the door. I opened it to see Sam standing with a bowl of steaming soup.
"Master Gamgee, what are you doing here?" I asked, opening the door wider to allow him in.
"Rosie sent me over here with this to help your sister heal quicker. I gave her some herbs that are supposed to help with fevers."
"Thank you very much, Master Gamgee."
"I hope she gets better soon."
"I hope so too."
"I'll see you sometime soon then."
"Aye."
He turned around and left the house. I took the bowl to Lily and helped her eat it. She relaxed a little, but her fever still burned through her. I hated to see her as ill as she was. There was a ray of hope somewhere that everything would get better soon, but we had suffered for so long and there was no sign of it letting up.
The evening events continued fairly well, until father came home. He asked why I was not at the Gamgees' and I replied by saying they let me off early. This angered him a bit, but I managed to calm him after assuring him that they were no going to dock my pay. I returned to watching over Lily through the night. Her fever broke in the darkest hours of the night. By morning, she had a slightly warm temperature and I wanted to take care of her for another day to make sure her temperature did not flare up and to rest my exhausted body. Everard loved that I stayed home another day. I never knew why I was his favorite sibling, but I was.
The day continued as the day before. I watched over Lily while the other went about their business. By dinner, Lily was up and about, feeling a bit better and making dinner herself. My joy in her recovery was soon stifled when father came home.
Father slammed the door shut, signaling that his day of work was stressful. He came into the kitchen and saw me cooking with Lily.
"Mirabella, what are you doing home?" he asked, his rage continuing to boil.
"They let me off early again," I lied, hoping that he would believe me, but I knew he wouldn't.
"They wouldn't let you off two days in a row. Now tell me the truth."
"Lily was ill and someone had to take care of the house."
"Come with me," he said as he glanced at the table where the others sat. He barely hid the anger in his voice. I followed him into the sitting room. He stood in the back corner and paced around. I tried to stay as far away from him as possible without clueing him in on that fact.
"Did you get fired again?" he asked, looking straight at me.
"No."
"Then why are you here?"
"I told you. Lily had a fever and I will not let this house suffer because of it."
"We need you to work."
"But the Gamgees said-"
"I don't care if they say it is perfectly fine for you to have a few days off. I need you to work."
"Would you rather have me work and have Lily be very ill? I had to do something."
"You will do as you are told." He neared me and lowered his voice so the others could not hear.
"And let them starve? There's more things in this world than getting money." I raised my voice as his rash judgement angered me. Father neared me.
"If I want us to live comfortably and not be so careful with food rations, I need money. I'm only trying to save this family."
"Master Gamgee brought over some soup that helped Lily heal quicker. He's been nicer to me than you have ever been."
Father raised his hand and brought it swiftly across my face. Silence filled the air for a couple seconds as the shock set in that my father had hit me. He had never lain an ill-mannered hand on me before.
"You'll return to the Gamgees' tomorrow."
"And what if Lily's-"
"Even if Lily's fever still burns, you must go otherwise you'll have no place to call home." He walked out of the room, leaving me standing in silence again. I reached up to touch the stinging flesh on my cheek. I hurried to my room, unable to face anyone in the house. Curling under the covers, I wished for the pain to go away. I ran the situation over a million times in my head, never finding an answer to it. I knew we needed money badly, but was he so desperate as to disown me? Was there something else that plagued his mind that spurred his reaction?
~*~ thanks for all the reviews.
Arwen Baggins: I can't wait to read the next chapter in "His Little Evenstar." I bet it will be worth the wait.
FrodoBaggins87: thanks for the tip. I know I slip up sometimes, and usually I'm fairly good at catching myself in the writing. Thanks for catching that though. I'll try to get a bit better at dialogue.
Marilla: if you think about it, people could have made up tales about the Elves just as people do here. Tolkien isn't really clear about it, but I'm sure some of the songs that are mentioned in the book had to be made up. If not, oh well, mistake.
Chapter 6
I enjoyed those afternoons of crawling into my own world. Part of me was glad that Frodo had frightened me as he did because he warmed up to me, but the other part of me wanted to find out what was troubling him. I knew nothing of the terrors that lurked within his mind and plagued his body to cause him to write what he did in his book, yet I was eager to find out.
The first eve of December, I returned to my home to find Lily lying in bed and already asleep, a strange occurrence since Lily usually fell asleep long after I came home. I crossed the room and nudged her awake, but she did not respond. I shook her shoulder a bit and her eyes fluttered open slightly, remaining half closed. She turned her head to look at me, but her eyes were not focusing on me. I put my hand to her forehead to feel her warm skin beneath my fingertips.
"Mira?" she hoarsely whispered.
"Yes, Lily. It's me." I reached for her hand and clasped it tightly. "How long have you bee feeling like ill?" I asked her, certain that I would not get much of a response.
"For a couple days now."
"Do you hurt anywhere?"
"My body just aches." I saw the pain in her face as she tried to roll over.
"Just rest for now and if you feel the same or worse tomorrow, I'm staying home."
"But what about the Gamgees?"
"They'll understand and I'm sure they can handle everything for a day or two. Now please just sleep."
I pulled the covers tightly around her shivering body. After making sure she was okay, I returned to my side of the bed and fell asleep, hoping that a new day would bring health to Lily.
The crisp morning brought chills to my body as I peeled off my covers and went to Lily's bed. I lit the candle that resided on her nightstand. I pulled it over to find her body covered in cold sweat. Placing the back of my hand on her cheek, I felt her skin burn. Her eyes cracked open and she turned her ehad to face me.
"It hurts," she mumbled.
"I know, Lily. Just lie still. Everything's going to be alright." I pulled the blanket off my bed and wrapped it around her. I changed quickly and entered the main part of the house where my father was. I tried to go to the kitchen before he noticed my presence, but I failed.
"Mira? You still here?" he asked, coming to the kitchen where I was.
"I was just leaving, father," I said, turning to him. Maybe I should go to the Gamgees and tell them so they don't worry about me, I thought to myself. I gathered together my things and left home.
The cool breeze of winter had set in and it caused me to pull my shawl tighter around my body. I trudged my way to Bag End. The cold temperature had left many trees bare, leaves crunching under my feet as I continued my daily trek.
Arriving at the grand hobbit hole, I was very thankful to enter the always warm house. I made my way to the kitchen and neared Rosie as she continued her cooking.
"Good morning, Mira," she said, glancing over her shoulder at me.
"Hello," I said, nearing her more and trying to gather up my courage.
"Aren't you going to put your things away?"
"Well, I was wondering if I could have a couple days off?"
"Of course, but why?"
"My sister, who normally takes care of the house, is ill with a fever and I wanted to take care of her until she gets better. I'll come back as soon as she's well." My mind raced to find more reasons, but that soon proved to be unnecessary.
"It's fine, Mirabella. I understand. When I was younger than you, I had to take care of the household when my mother was ill. Go ahead and go home. We'll be fine for a few days. Take good care of your sister."
I could not believe that she had actually approved. "Thank you, Mrs. Gamgee."
"You'd better hurry home before you sister gets worse."
"Right," I nodded and hurried out of Bag End, practically running home to escape the cold.
Upon my arrival to my front door, I hesitated in opening the door. I hoped that my father was off working so I could avoid his questions. The emptiness and silence of the house assured me that he was not home. I returned to my room, going to Lily's side. Her head rolled from side to side as she mumbled things in her delirium.
"Mother, please don't go," she muttered. "You can't leave like this."
I figured she was remembering when mother died. Her death had been hard on the whole family, but especially hard on Lily since she was thrown into a mother position at a young age after father forced me to find work. Part of me knew Lily thought I had the better deal but she never had to work at the Green Dragon when men had come into the Shire.
I tucked the blankets tighter around Lily, hoping to settle her dreams and it did, at least for some time.
Retreating to the kitchen, I started preparing breakfast after remembering where everything was. As the sun began to pour into the kitchen, Andy entered.
"What are you doing home, Mira?" he asked softly as not to wake the others.
"Lily's ill, so I decided to take her place today." I walked over to him and placed his breakfast down in front of him.
"Won't father be upset that you're not working?"
"Aye, but we don't have to tell him that." I winked at him.
"I'm glad you're home. It always seems so lonely here when you're off working."
"I'm glad to be here too." I walked past him to Everard's room. I nudged his sleeping frame a little and he jolted awake immediately as if from a nightmare. He rubbed his eyes and stared at me. A grin broke out on his face.
"Mira!" he squealed, leaning overt and attacking me with a hug.
"Good morning to you too," I said, hugging him as he squirmed deeper into my embrace.
"Are you staying home again?"
"Just until Lily gets better."
"Oh."
"Why don't we hop out to the kitchen and get something to eat?"
"Aye." He wriggled out of my arms and dashed to the kitchen. I chuckled to myself about his love for food. He had a good hobbit appetite.
I followed him out to the kitchen where Ruby was just waking up. I portioned out the breakfast and we ate in silence.
My day unfolded as a normal day at the Gamgees', except that I checked on Lily frequently. Her fever continued to rage through her body, rising even higher as the day progressed.
Around afternoon tea, a knock came on the door. I opened it to see Sam standing with a bowl of steaming soup.
"Master Gamgee, what are you doing here?" I asked, opening the door wider to allow him in.
"Rosie sent me over here with this to help your sister heal quicker. I gave her some herbs that are supposed to help with fevers."
"Thank you very much, Master Gamgee."
"I hope she gets better soon."
"I hope so too."
"I'll see you sometime soon then."
"Aye."
He turned around and left the house. I took the bowl to Lily and helped her eat it. She relaxed a little, but her fever still burned through her. I hated to see her as ill as she was. There was a ray of hope somewhere that everything would get better soon, but we had suffered for so long and there was no sign of it letting up.
The evening events continued fairly well, until father came home. He asked why I was not at the Gamgees' and I replied by saying they let me off early. This angered him a bit, but I managed to calm him after assuring him that they were no going to dock my pay. I returned to watching over Lily through the night. Her fever broke in the darkest hours of the night. By morning, she had a slightly warm temperature and I wanted to take care of her for another day to make sure her temperature did not flare up and to rest my exhausted body. Everard loved that I stayed home another day. I never knew why I was his favorite sibling, but I was.
The day continued as the day before. I watched over Lily while the other went about their business. By dinner, Lily was up and about, feeling a bit better and making dinner herself. My joy in her recovery was soon stifled when father came home.
Father slammed the door shut, signaling that his day of work was stressful. He came into the kitchen and saw me cooking with Lily.
"Mirabella, what are you doing home?" he asked, his rage continuing to boil.
"They let me off early again," I lied, hoping that he would believe me, but I knew he wouldn't.
"They wouldn't let you off two days in a row. Now tell me the truth."
"Lily was ill and someone had to take care of the house."
"Come with me," he said as he glanced at the table where the others sat. He barely hid the anger in his voice. I followed him into the sitting room. He stood in the back corner and paced around. I tried to stay as far away from him as possible without clueing him in on that fact.
"Did you get fired again?" he asked, looking straight at me.
"No."
"Then why are you here?"
"I told you. Lily had a fever and I will not let this house suffer because of it."
"We need you to work."
"But the Gamgees said-"
"I don't care if they say it is perfectly fine for you to have a few days off. I need you to work."
"Would you rather have me work and have Lily be very ill? I had to do something."
"You will do as you are told." He neared me and lowered his voice so the others could not hear.
"And let them starve? There's more things in this world than getting money." I raised my voice as his rash judgement angered me. Father neared me.
"If I want us to live comfortably and not be so careful with food rations, I need money. I'm only trying to save this family."
"Master Gamgee brought over some soup that helped Lily heal quicker. He's been nicer to me than you have ever been."
Father raised his hand and brought it swiftly across my face. Silence filled the air for a couple seconds as the shock set in that my father had hit me. He had never lain an ill-mannered hand on me before.
"You'll return to the Gamgees' tomorrow."
"And what if Lily's-"
"Even if Lily's fever still burns, you must go otherwise you'll have no place to call home." He walked out of the room, leaving me standing in silence again. I reached up to touch the stinging flesh on my cheek. I hurried to my room, unable to face anyone in the house. Curling under the covers, I wished for the pain to go away. I ran the situation over a million times in my head, never finding an answer to it. I knew we needed money badly, but was he so desperate as to disown me? Was there something else that plagued his mind that spurred his reaction?
~*~ thanks for all the reviews.
Arwen Baggins: I can't wait to read the next chapter in "His Little Evenstar." I bet it will be worth the wait.
FrodoBaggins87: thanks for the tip. I know I slip up sometimes, and usually I'm fairly good at catching myself in the writing. Thanks for catching that though. I'll try to get a bit better at dialogue.
Marilla: if you think about it, people could have made up tales about the Elves just as people do here. Tolkien isn't really clear about it, but I'm sure some of the songs that are mentioned in the book had to be made up. If not, oh well, mistake.
