Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Chapter 8

"Mira, you're here awfully early," Rosie said as she entered the kitchen. I had arrived especially early that morning to escape my family.

"Hello, Rosie," I said, turning to her as I moved the teakettle from the fire to the table. "Would you like some tea for this chilly morning?"

"Aye." She sat herself down at the table and I poured tea into her cup. "What made you change your mind about calling me Rosie?" she asked, bringing the cup to her lips.

"Frodo talked some sense into my head last night," I put the kettle back over the fire. "And as for my early arrival this morning, I figured that I should help out more for what you're paying me and you'll be needing all the help you can get soon. Sam worries about you enough as it is." I flipped the thick slice of ham in the frying pan.

"That's very kind of you."

"If you'll excuse me, I should tend to the fire in the front room."

"Alright, Mira." Rosie sipped more of her tea as I left the kitchen. I entered the front room to find the crackling fireplace ablaze. Picking up the poker, I shifted the top log over the still burning embers and placed a new log on top to help make the fire last. The glowing flames quickly consumed the log.

Returning to the kitchen, I found Rosie portioning out the meal. I picked the frying pan off the fire and divided up the ham. Rosie insisted on taking Frodo his breakfast for she was not an invalid. I enjoyed meal in the toasty comfort of the kitchen in Bag End.

Before departing the study after delivering lunch to Frodo, he called after me to stay in the room. I turned to face him as he turned to see me.

"Yes, Frodo?" I asked, curious of his intentions.

"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind accompanying me on a walk again after I finish up in a few minutes." I couldn't help but get a warm feeling when he smiled at me.

"I would love to join you, but I'm still a bit confused as to why you would want me coming along."

"I enjoy your company and ever since our outing yesterday, my mind has been a bit clearer and at ease."

"I'm flattered, and I must say that it did feel quite nice to tell someone about my frustrations."

Frodo chuckled softly. "Well, it seems we both did some good for each other."

I smiled and nodded.

"Give my some time to finish this meal and maybe we can set out if the weather is fair."

"Aye. I'll see you in a bit." I left Frodo alone with his books. Hurriedly, I cleaned everything in the kitchen and had gotten myself ready to leave by the time Frodo approached me, preparing himself for the frigid temperatures.

We continued our walks through the Shire everyday. Most of the times were silent, but there were times that I would talk about my family. Whenever I questioned Frodo about his past, he avoided recent years and paused for brief periods of time when he mentioned Bilbo. With every passing day, he softened, as did I. The change was not much, but still was a change.

One evening in mid December, I came home to find my father waiting for me in the front room. I set my shawl over the hook and started to walk past him, hopping that he wasn't actually there for me.

"Mira, we need to talk." His tone conveyed his underlying anger.

"Yes, father?" I asked as I turned to him. I tried to think of something that I had done to deserve his anger, but every time I came up empty.

"What do you think you're doing out with Mr. Baggins?" he asked, staring into the glowing remnants of a fire.

"I'm not sure what you mean." I was slightly confused as to how he knew about our outings. I was not ashamed of my actions and I found no fault in them either.

"You know full well what I mean. And before you start denying it, I saw you two with my own eyes so any excuse is useless."

"I'm not going to deny that we walk through Hobbiton together because I have done nothing wrong. We talk and Mrs. Gamgee lets me off for an hour in the afternoon."

"I want these activities to stop. It's not right him being twice your age and all. Folks are beginning to talk."

"We just walk and half the time, neither of us says a thing to the other."

"They why are you spending time with him?"

"Because when I do talk to him, he listens. He's been more of a father than you have." The last sentence came out of my mouth before I had thought about it completely.

"What did you say?" Father stood up and stared at me, his anger again boiling. Why did I have to stand up for myself, I thought. I should have kept my mouth shut in the first place, but it was all out there now and there was not way of taking it back. My mouth froze and I could not articulate the words to express my thoughts.

"You better never talk to me like that again. 'Tis bad enough that you've refuted me once already. I don't know what to do with you anymore."

"Please just leave me be. " I turned away from him to return to my room, but upon reaching the doorway, his hand gripped around my wrist and he pulled me back.

"I want no more trouble out of you." His voice softened to a whisper.

"And what will happen if I go for a walk with him again?"

"I'm not sure, but I can assure you that you'll regret ever disobeying me. Now go to sleep. It's late and we don't need to be waking your siblings." He released his grip and retreated to his bedroom.

I stood still for a while before finding my place in a chair facing the fire. I watched the final glowing embers burn out and I fell asleep in the comfort of the fading warmth.

I woke up with a start as Lily shook me away. "Hurry and get out of here before father finds you," she whispered, fear in her eyes. "I've never seen him this mad."

I stood up and started to head towards my room when someone gripped my upper arm.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"I was just going to change so I could leave."

"Why are you still here? You should be gone by now."

"I know, but I slept in late."

He jerked me to the front room and then to the door. "Get to work. I don't want to see you until this evening." He opened the door and shoved me out, causing me to trip and fall on the rough ground. I pulled myself off the dirt and dusted off my dress and limbs. I glanced at my arm and saw blood running down and dripping off to mix with the dirt near my feet. I sighed, wondering what I had done to deserve this.

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Thanks for all the reviews. I'm glad all of you that reviewed enjoy my story so much. I'd better get writing on the next chapter *skips off to write *