Loving Allegra
Chapter Two: Unusual Feelings
Disclaimer: Again, I own nothing but my characters! Don't sue! Ahem....all right, chapter two. FINALLY it get's a little interesting....
Allegra's eyes fluttered open to the sound of a sharp tapping at her window. She groaned and looked at the clock. The hands read seven o' clock. She turned back around to see Merry and Pippin making funny faces against the window. She smiled and waved at them. They gestured to her to come outside. She held up a finger, telling them silently that she'd be right there. She felt totally rested and energized. She listened for the ringing in her ears, but heard nothing. She had to try her best not to laugh out loud with joy.
She got out of bed and listened for her parents. Both of them being late risers, who were rarely seen out of bed until at least nine or ten, could be heard snoring in their bedroom. She tiptoed out the back door singing a song to herself where she found Merry and Pippin. Pippin had in his arms a bundle of his own clothing, which he brought for Allegra to wear. He had brought a white shirt, a dark green vest, a pair of light brown trousers, and a dark brown (nearly black) coat.
"I haven't seen you smile in a long time," observed Pippin as Allegra grabbed the clothing from him.
"I feel better than I have in a whole month," said Allegra with a brilliant smile.
"Are you ready for some fresh vegetables?" said Merry with his classic mischievous grin.
"I want to eat carrots and celery until I explode," Allegra answered. "Now turn around while I get dressed." Merry and Pippin turned their backs to her as she stripped down to her undergarments. The morning air was chilly on her bare skin. She quickly stuck her nightgown in a bush, out of sight. She slipped the pants on which ended below her knees. She threw the shirt over her shoulders and buttoned up the front of it. She did the same with the vest, and shimmied into the coat.
"Right, let's go," said Allegra. They walked quietly without talking until they were out of Hobbiton. They headed out towards Buckland, and when they felt comfortable talking without whispering, Pippin broke the silence.
"So why are you so happy?" he asked.
"Well, I came home last night, and figured out why I was miserable with my life. Nothing ever happens to me because I'm always locked up in that damned blacksmith," Allegra explained. "So when I get home today I'm going to quit."
"Who's the unemployed idiot now?" grinned Pippin.
"I am," sighed Allegra with a satisfied smile. "Me, me, me."
"So what are you going to do now?" asked Merry.
"I was thinking along the lines of resuming my position as a full time vandal with you guys," said Allegra.
"Good plan," said Pippin with a grin. "We aren't the same without you."
"Hey, did you do something to your hair?" asked Merry.
"My mom cut off the burnt part," said Allegra.
"It looks good," said Merry nodding with a look of approval.
"I looks like yours," said Allegra with a smirk.
"What was your father thinking, having you take over his job?" wondered Pippin.
"He never had a son to take over the family business, so I guess he thought I should do it. All of the men on my father's side have been blacksmiths. I don't know how they stand it. I hear ringing in my ears sometimes from pounding away at metal all day long," she said. "No wonder he wanted to give away his job."
"That alone would be enough for me to quit," said Merry.
"The word 'work' makes you want to quit, Merry," Allegra replied.
"You're right, it does," said Merry with a grin. "No wonder I haven't got a job." Allegra and Pippin laughed at him.
"Sorry about being so short with you guys for the past couple weeks," said Allegra.
"Oh, it's fine," said Pippin. "I'd be the same way if I was a blacksmith." They chatted the whole way until they got within about ten yards of Maggot's farm. They formulated their plan. They would first cut through the cornfield, get to the potatoes, lettuce, celery, and carrots, fill their pockets and cut back through the cornfield, hopefully unnoticed. They all took a deep breath and started out in the cornfield, tip toeing between the stalks, trying their best not to make them move. It took a whole twenty minutes to get to the other side. Laid out in front of them in rows were ripe heads of cabbage, celery stalks, and carrots practically popping out of the ground. Allegra sighed with hunger. She hadn't had any breakfast and it was almost time for her elevensie tea and scones (with butter and blackberry jam, of course.) They walked quietly in and out of the rows, stuffing their pockets until their jackets were bulky with vegetables. When they ran out of pockets, they filled their arms. Once while going back over the cabbage patch to check for any more ripe heads, Allegra and Pippin both reached for the same head of cabbage at the same time. Their hands touched for a second before they both recoiled. Pippin's cheeks turned pink.
"Oops," he said. "Sorry about that."
"Don't worry about it...," said Allegra, feeling her cheeks getting a little rosy as well. She shook off the strange feeling she had just then and continued filling her arms with vegetables. Just as they were about to leave, who should come around the corner of the barn but Farmer Maggot, a scythe in his hands. Their mouths dropped in unison.
"You again!" cried Farmer Maggot. "You drop all of that!" The three thieves looked at each other for a moment and bolted into the cornfield, not wanting to give up such a good haul. "You come back here!" they heard Farmer Maggot's voice cry behind them. Allegra looked behind them and saw his scythe above the corn.
"Run faster!" she cried.
"It's kind of hard with all this corn in the way!" Merry said frustrated. They burst out of the corn stalks into the bare row that separated the cornfield into halves, and right into Samwise Gamgee and Frodo Baggins.
"Hi, Sam," said Allegra, who had landed on top of him.
"Look, guys, it's Frodo!" cried Pippin.
"Hello, Frodo," said Merry.
"Get off him!" cried Sam knocking Allegra aside and throwing Pippin off Frodo. Sam helped Frodo to his feet and looked at all the vegetables on the ground.
"What's the meaning of this?" he asked.
"Wait until I get a hold of you three!" cried Maggot's voice angrily. Sam looked back at them.
"You've been into Farmer Maggot's crop!" he cried.
"Come on," said Merry grabbing Sam's jacket and pulling him into the other half of the cornfield. Pippin pushed Frodo in as well and all five of them ran from Farmer Maggot's waving scythe.
"I don't know why he's so angry," said Merry.
"Probably for the bag of potatoes we stole last week. And the cabbages the week before that," Pippin pointed out.
"I know, Pippin, but what I'm saying is that he's clearly over reacting," said Merry. The cornfield ended abruptly, exposing a small cliff leading right down into the forest. Pippin stopped directly before the edge, swaying back and forth. Frodo, Merry and Allegra saw the ledge but couldn't save themselves in time. Sam wasn't looking where he was going and sent the five of them tumbling down the dirt cliff and onto a dirt road. They all landed piled on top of one another. Allegra's ankle hurt, which was trapped under Merry's back, who was trapped under Sam.
"Oh, that was close," said Pippin, who almost landed in a pile of dung on the side of the road.
"I think I've broken something," groaned Merry. He dislodged the carrot that was stabbing him in the back, and found that it was broken in half.
"Trust a Brandybuck and a Took," grumbled Sam.
"What? That was just a detour. A shortcut," said Merry.
"A shortcut to what?" asked Sam looking around him.
"Mushrooms!" cried Pippin, spotting a patch of them growing beside the road. Allegra sprang up, but was pushed down by Merry down onto Pippin. She got up finally joining Sam and Merry to gather the mushrooms. Pippin got to his feet after being pushed down by Sam and hurried over to the mushrooms as well. As they were stuffing as many as they could in their pockets, a harsh wind swept down the road giving Allegra goosebumps on her legs.
"I think we should get off the road," said Frodo.
"Why?" asked Allegra.
"Get off the road!" he shouted. "Quick!" They all got up and ran off the side of the road and hid under a great tree, whose roots had formed a sort of hollow.
"What's the matter?" Allegra asked.
"Shh!" Sam hissed. Allegra listened carefully and heard the approaching hoof falls of a horse. She heard it snort once before the rider jumped to the ground with a great thump, making Allegra jump. She heard the rider's armor clank together as it bent over the tree roots. If it were to look down it would see them. Allegra bit her lip as the thing starting to make a sort of sniffing noise. She felt the earth writhing beneath her feet. She looked down to see spiders, centipedes, and many other loathsome creatures climb out of the soil. Pippin covered her mouth with his hand as a spider began to crawl up her leg. Allegra wanted to shriek and kick it off of her. Pippin swatted the spider away and gave her a quick smile. Merry fingered the bag of mushrooms anxiously and flung it in the opposite direction. The thing heard it fall into the underbrush and moved quickly out of sight to investigate. The hobbits took the opportunity to run as far away from the black rider as possible. They ran through the underbrush of the woods until they were out of breath and tired. They came to the bottom of a hill and stopped to rest.
"What was that?" asked Merry.
"And what is going on?" sighed Pippin.
"That rider was looking for something. Or someone," said Merry. Frodo had a distant look in his eyes. "Frodo?"
"Sam and I have to leave the Shire. We must get to Bree," said Frodo.
"The Buckleberry Ferry," said Merry. "Follow me." Allegra knew that the Buckleberry Ferry was not anywhere near by, and that it would most likely take them until dark to reach it, maybe longer now that that black rider was out looking for them. They spent the rest of the day dashing behind trees, looking out for any sign of the rider. The sun had fallen behind the horizon hours earlier before Allegra could tell that they were near the Brandywine River. Just as they were nearly home free, a shriek and a horse's whinny broke the silence. Allegra jumped and ran as fast as she could out onto the road that lay behind the barrier of trees in front of them. Merry, Pippin and Sam followed, but Frodo was having a hard time getting past the rider, who was blocking his every escape route. Finally he got loose and ran out onto the road and headed for the Ferry. Allegra leaped onto the raft that was tied to a post on the dock. The others followed in the same fashion. When they turned around, they saw Frodo running as fast as he could with the black rider close behind him.
"Come on Frodo!" cried Merry.
"Hurry!" shouted Pippin.
"You can make it Frodo!" Allegra yelled, a horrible lump of anxiety forming in her throat. Frodo waved his arm, signaling Sam to untie the Ferry. It floated out into the river, further and further from the dock. When he was close enough, Frodo made a flying leap onto the Ferry and fell onto Sam and Pippin. They helped him up and looked back at the black rider, who's horse reared angrily and sped off up the road, followed by two more of them. Frodo breathed a sigh of relief.
"Are you alright?" asked Allegra.
"I'm fine," said Frodo. "Where is the next stop?"
"The Brandywine Bridge. Twenty miles," said Merry.
"We're stuck on this raft all night long," sighed Allegra.
"Looks that way," said Sam. He finally got a chance to really look at Allegra, and raised one of his eyebrows. "Why're you dressed like that?"
"Because we were stealing vegetables, and everyone knows you can't steal vegetables in a dress and expect to get away with it," said Allegra. "So now I'm stuck in Pippin's clothes until we find a way back home."
"Who said anything about going home?" asked Pippin. "You saw those riders, they nearly killed us!"
"That doesn't mean that they'll stay around here," argued Allegra.
"They might be," said Pippin nervously.
"So where are we sleeping tonight, then? Not outside, I hope," said Allegra.
"Crick Hollow I suppose," said Merry. "It's big enough for the five of us. We can get a good night's sleep and figure out what we're going to do tomorrow."
"Good plan," said Pippin.
"So why is all this happening?" asked Allegra. Frodo sighed.
"When Bilbo left the Shire, he gave me everything. Bag End, all that was left of his treasure, every last bit of it. And he gave me his ring. After the party, Gandalf left the Shire as well, and when he came back last night, he told me that Bilbo's ring was the ring of power, and that Sam and I must take the ring to Mordor," Frodo explained.
"All that way by yourselves?" asked Allegra with concern in her voice. "Mordor is on the opposite side of Middle Earth! That's about as far away from the Shire as you can get!"
"Gandalf said he would meet us at an inn at Bree called The Prancing Pony," said Frodo.
"We can't just leave you out there, in the wilderness," said Allegra continued.
"That's right," agreed Merry. "We're coming with you."
"And after all, if you haven't got friends...what have you got?" added Pippin. Merry and Allegra nodded in agreement.
"You can't come," said Frodo.
"And why not?" asked Pippin.
"I don't want to put you in danger," Frodo replied with a sad tone to his voice.
"Don't worry so much about us, Frodo," said Allegra with a grin. "We'll survive."
"I hope so," said Frodo.
"That was downright ominous. I don't want to hear another word out of your mouth until you've found something happy to say," Allegra said. Frodo chuckled and grinned.
Almost three hours later, they reached the dock near the Brandywine Bridge. They tied the Ferry to the dock and trudged over the hilly landscape until they could see Brandy Hall, the large, spacious hobbit hole that Merry lived in in the background. In the direct foreground, there was a smaller hobbit hole. Crick Hollow. Merry opened the door, and showed the guests around. It was mostly made as a guest home, with four large beds, a lavatory with four bathtubs, and a kitchen and pantry in the corner. A few armchairs were situated in front of a fireplace with a kettle dangling in front for tea. Frodo and Sam lifted their packs off their backs and set them down inside the door and hung their cloaks on the hooks by the door. Allegra removed her jacket and vest and dropped them in a heap on the floor before jumping onto the nearest bed.
"Wow, these are comfortable," said Allegra.
"What do you say we figure out our road to Bree over some eggs and cooked mushrooms?" offered Merry getting out a frying pan from one of the cupboards.
"I'm starving," said Sam.
"Me too," said Pippin.
"Do you need help?" asked Allegra.
"No, I'll get it. So, how many eggs? Three each?" asked Merry. They all agreed on three eggs each, as Sam took it upon himself to build them a fire while they were waiting. He piled logs in the fireplace and took a match from his pocket. He piled dried grass around the base of the logs to get the fire going. He struck the match and lit the grass on fire. He blew on it for a while, and soon they had a roaring fire in the grate.
"Good going, Sam," said Frodo. Sam grinned and sat on the edge of one of the four beds. The eggs and mushrooms were coming along nicely, and when they were done, they all sat in the arm chairs to relax and have a good meal, except for Pippin who was made to sit on the floor as there were no more chairs left.
"Excellent eggs, Merry," said Allegra. "You're trying to make me jealous, aren't you?"
"It's not my fault if your cooking skills aren't up to snuff," said Merry through a mouthful of eggs. "Sort out your own problems." The hobbits laughed at him and almost forgot that there were terrible black demons looking for them.
"Have you two got a map?" asked Merry when he had finished his supper.
"We do," said Sam. "Give me a moment and I'll go get it." Sam got up and dug through his pack until he found a tied roll of parchment. He untied the knot and gave it to Merry.
"Alright, so we are about...here," he said pointing beside the small drawing of the Brandywine Bridge. "We need to get over here, to Bree. All we need do is to stay off the main road, but be following it still, and we should get to Bree by tomorrow, maybe, if we leave early enough."
"That's good enough for me," said Allegra. "But I'm quite exhausted from all this running from evil business, so I'm going to go to bed."
"Me too. We'll clean the dishes tomorrow," said Merry hopping up and claiming a bed. Sam and Frodo hurried over to separate beds, leaving Pippin alone in front of the fire with his mouth slightly ajar and his eyes drooping, half asleep and transfixed by the fires' flickering light. "Goodnight, Pippin," said Merry, blowing the lamp out quickly and getting under the sheets. Pippin turned around and saw that his four friends had robbed him of a place to sleep.
"Hey!" cried Pippin. "There are only four beds! Where am I supposed to sleep?"
"Well, we're probably going to be sleeping on the ground from now on anyway, so just think of this as getting an early start," said Sam shifting his weight on the mattress to get comfortable.
"Oh, come on guys, this is hardly fair!" said Pippin angrily. The boys pretended to be asleep while Pippin stood over them, scowling. "Some friends you are. I might as well sleep outside where those riders can get at me! Not that you lot would care." He was beginning to get on Allegra's nerves, so she did the only thing she could think of to shut him up.
"If you stop whining, Pippin, you can have the other side of my bed," said Allegra, wanting desperately to get some sleep. "I can't sleep with you carrying on like that, and chances are you'd be doing it all night." Pippin smiled at his sleepy-eyed friend before tip toeing over and getting under the blankets.
"Thanks, Allegra," he whispered.
"Fine," she muttered, half asleep. She felt Pippin shift his weight before his foot accidentally touched hers. Her eyes snapped open, and her foot recoiled as a reflex. This was the second time that day something like that had happened!
"Sorry again," he said, sounding embarrassed. Allegra didn't say anything. She watched the pulsing glow of the fire on the white washed walls for a moment or two, wondering why her stomach felt as if a thousand butterflies were flitting around inside.
"I wonder if my parents are worried that I'm gone," wondered Allegra aloud, trying to distract herself..
"Probably, they've always looked out for you," said Pippin.
"I suppose they have," she said with a small sigh. "Probably think I ran away, or something," she muttered. "Probably think I'm running away from being a Blacksmith. I could have done it, you know, if I would have just stuck it out."
"It isn't a contest," said Pippin softly. "They would understand."
"Think so?" asked Allegra with half a smile. Pippin nodded a little. "Yeah...well, I wanted to thank you for keeping me company in the forge. Even though all I did was bark mean things at you, I really did appreciate it." Pippin smiled slightly. There was a small pause that was nearly uncomfortable. "Do you know what I've wished for my whole life?" she asked to break the silence.
"What's that?" asked Pippin.
"An adventure," said Allegra, turning over to face him. He had a pleasant, sleepy smile on his face. "And I think I've finally been thrown into one."
"Let's just hope we all come back in one piece," he said. Allegra smiled back at him.
"Yeah. No missing limbs," said Allegra, making Pippin smile and chuckle a little bit.
"Would you both shut up?" hissed Merry angrily.
"Goodnight, Allegra," said Pippin in a low voice.
"G'night, Pippin," she said closing her eyes, hoping that she could get to sleep with that lingering fluttery feeling that she could not seem to get rid of.