UNSENT

Rubanul (Peregrin)

"Dear Cousin Bilbo,

This is Peregrin Took of the Great Smials.  In case you forget, I am the son of Paladin and Eglantine and I gave you a ball of green yarn on my tenth birthday last year.  If you still cannot remember, I am the boy with the hair like straw who got locked in your trunk when you came to the Smials last summer.  If you remember, it was cousin Frodo who rescued me, when he came to fetch your leaf-pouch and found me dying because I missed tea.

Speaking of cousin Frodo, can I tell you some things about him?  Don't tell him that you know this from me.  He doesn't even know I write to you.  He stays ever so long this time, right from Blotmath.  Around Yule Papa asked him to teach me my letters and cousin Frodo said he would love to.  He is a very good teacher.  I like studying with him because we do not always stay in the study.  He never minds when I get tired and want to wade in the water or run in the grass.  In fact, I think he likes to slide down the hillside as much as I do and he swims like an otter.  I love having cousin Frodo here.  I can see why you took him to Hobbiton to live with you.

But Cousin Bilbo, I know two secrets about cousin Frodo.  You see, he writes you ever so many letters.  Sometimes I stand next to him as he writes and I can read what he is telling you.  I know he always tells you he is happy in the Smials.  He writes about the feasts and the dancing.  He says he loves walking around Tuckborough, with all its woods and hills.  He always begs for permission to stay longer because there will be the bonfire, Pearl's birthday, hunting trip with Papa, and because there is me.  He writes that he is very fond of me.  Maybe he also says bad things about me when I do not stay there looking at his paper.  But I know he is not lying when he writes that he loves me and I make him happy.  He does not have to write it.  I just know.  But I know he lies when he says he does not yet want to come back to Hobbiton.  And that's secret No. 1.

I know cousin Frodo misses you a lot.  Sometimes when we have tea he looks sad and says, "Bilbo loves this very much.  I wonder what he is having for tea now."  He does not smoke nearly as much as Papa and my uncles and cousins. He said smoking reminds him of you, so he would rather not smoke.  Sometimes when we go out and the sky gets cloudy, he says "I hope Bilbo remembers to bring his cloak with him."  He sniffs all your letters before he reads them.  He said the smell of ink reminds him of you.  Once we played music in the parlor and sang together. We were singing a song about going home.  Suddenly Frodo stopped singing.  The others did not notice, but I saw it.  I asked him why and he said it was your favorite song, Cousin Bilbo.  Singing the song reminds Frodo so much of you that he cannot go on.

And now secret No. 2.  One night I went to Papa's study and Frodo was there, talking with Papa and Mamma.  They told him to go home to Hobbiton if he missed Bilbo so much.  But cousin Frodo said he could not come home yet.  Maybe in Afterlithe, and that is only because you need some help preparing for your big party.  He said he felt you wanted to go very far. You will go alone, once cousin Frodo is of age and can take care of himself.  But cousin Frodo is worried that you might change your mind because of him.  He is afraid that he will stop you from going.  That is the reason he stays so long in the Smials, to make you think that he will be fine without you.  That you can go on your adventure and not worry about him.

Is it true, Cousin Bilbo, that you are going away and leaving Cousin Frodo alone?  Can you not take him with you, and perhaps me, and maybe Merry too?  You do not feel lonely if you have friends on the road.  And we can help protect you from danger.  At least Frodo can.  Frodo loves you very much, cousin.  It will hurt him if you leave.  I know he is almost of age now, and he can take care of himself very well, but it does not mean he has grown out of his love for you. 

This is the longest letter I have written, Cousin Bilbo, to you or to anyone.  I should have shown this to cousin Frodo.  He will see that I can write very well if I want to.  But this letter is a secret too, Cousin Bilbo.  I love Cousin Frodo so much and I want him to be happy.  Please think again about your plan.  I will see you in Hobbiton in Halimath.  Until then I remain,

Your loving cousin,

Peregrin Took."  

===