It took them a day and a night to get to Hobbiton. Merry and Pippin rode on ponies with the others while Kim rode in a wagon that was covered up with Arwen's Ladies in Waiting. The reason for this was not because Kim was a girl, but because the ladies wished to make several dresses for her. Also because Arwen and Eowyn wouldn't allow Merry to see Kim until the party.
The ladies had made her seven dresses. One epcially for the party, two for working in, three for everyday wear and one for a grand occasion such as a wedding. The dress for the party was made of a wonderfully soft velvet. The working dresses where made out of a hard wearing gondorian cloth, the everyday dresses where made out of a simple yet lovely cloth made right in the heart of the Shire and the dress for a grand occasion was made out of the finest elvish silk that was a deep green colour.
Her party dress had no collar and it started just below her shoulders. The ladies had chosen cream to be its colour as they thought it would go wonderfully with her emerald green eyes. It had long sleeves that almost hid her hands from view, and the skirt like part of the dress reached all the way to the ground. About her waist they put a silver belt that hung on her hips.
They also had made her the most wonderfully beautiful cloak that Kim just couldn't belieive was being made for her. It was a deep blue colour, like the skies just after twilight; it had a large hood that hung over her eyes and the hood had a silver trimming along the edge. This meant that she could see people but they couldn't see her.
And to show that the hands of the women of Gondor had made these fine clothes, a silver tree broach held the cloak together at the neck. While the ladies in waiting made her dresses Queen Arwen had ordered that a bath should be prepared for Kim and that the bath be filled with warm water and perfumed flowers so that she would be freash and clean for the feast. Kim felt like a regal and noble Queen. She thanked the ladies countless times for their kindness and hard work. She couldn't help but wonder what Merry would think or do when he saw her. When she was pondering on this, the others were setting up camp for the night. Pippin walked into Kim's wagon with a plate of food and a mug of cider.
"Hello! I hope yo-…….. Heavens Above! You look beautiful!" Pippin set the plate and mug down and took a good look at her. "If Merry hadn't of asked you to the party I would have done so myself!" Kim smiled and giggled. Pippin could be a charmer when he wanted to.
"Do you think Merry'll like it?" Kim studied herself. She was very nervous. But she didn't seem to know why. She fiddled with her silver belt and bit her lip. She so wanted to pass as a normal hobbit. You would think that having read the books as many times as Kim had that she could pass off as the most normal hobbit in the world but Kim was filled with self doubt.
"LIKE IT!? I bet that the minute he sees you tomorrow night, he'll have a heart attack!" Kim giggled. Pippin was another one who could make her laugh. But not like Merry. "I hope not. I don't want the first date I ever had to die before we even said hello." This time it was Pippins turn to laugh.He just stood there looking at Kim for a moment before speaking.
"Anyway. I better go and make up my bed before nightfall. Sleep tight Kim." Pippin began to leave.
"Same to you Pip." And he was gone.
Merry was waiting outside Kim's wagon for Pippin to return. He eagerly ran after Pippin when he came out with a grand smile on his face. "So?" Merry asked excitedly.
"So what?" Pippin replied coolly. Even though he knew what Merry meant and wanted to hear, Pippin just loved to make his older cousin squirm.
"You know what! How did she look?" Merry was becoming a little impatient now.
"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies…….But I'll tell you one thing Merry."
Merry nodded as a signal to Pippin for him to go on. "She'll blow your mind away. Now if you don't mind there is a certain little Gondorian heir that is waiting for me to tell him a story before he gose to sleep." Pippin walked away chuckling as he made his way to Paladin's tent, leaving Merry to his thoughts.
The next morning they left early towards Hobbiton. As they got closer and closer to Hobbiton, Pippin bounced about more and more in his saddle. His excitement nearly got to a point where Merry wanted to tie him up and strap him in his saddle for the rest of the journey. Merry was not only feeling very tired by Pippins bounceing about but because Paladin had jumped into his tent shouting at the top of his voice to get up. Merry loved the child as if he where his own but sometimes Pala could be just like Pippin…only safe in small amounts at a time. Thank goodness he couldn't stay awake in the carridge.
It wasn't very comfortable in the back of the wagon. It was always moving and shaking about. Kim tried to amuse herself by thinking about what kind of dances the Hobbits did. When she was a little girl she had loved Scottish Country Dancing and could pick up any dance routine very quickly.
Kim listened to the hoofs of the horses as they passed by her wagon. A couple of hundred hoofs can make a lot of noise. But through the constant clatter, she heard a soft voice that was singing gliding through the air. She knew right away that it was Merry. He must have gotten bored, because he was now singing the short song that she had sung to him at Brandyhall. She listened as he sang, his voice ringing out like a clear bell in the dark. Once he had stopped she sighed. She missed her dad singing to her. As Kim began to get close to floods of tears, she started to sing :-
"In the neat little town they call Belfast,
Apprentice to trade I was bound.
And a many long hours sweet happiness,
I spent in that neat little town.
When a sudden misfortune came over me.
Which caused me to stray from the land.
Far away from my friends and relations,
Betrayed by a black velvet band.
And her eyes they shone like diamonds,
I thought her the Queen of the Land.
And her hair hung over her shoulder,
Tied up with a black velvet band.
I took a stroll along Broadway,
While looking for room what to stay.
And who should I meet but this pretty fair maid
Come traipsing along the highway.
She was both fair and handsome,
Her neck it was just like a swan.
And her hair hung over her shoulder
Tied up with a black velvet band.
And her eyes they shone like diamonds,
I thought her the Queen of the Land.
And her hair hung over her shoulder,
Tied up with a black velvet band.
So come all ye jolly young fellows!
I'll take ye to what I have seen.
For when you are out on the town me lads,
Beware of the pretty collies.
They'll feed you and fill you with drink me lads,
Until your unable tae stand.
And the very next thing that you know is,
Your laughing in married mans land.
And her eyes they shone like diamonds,
I thought her the Queen of the Land.
And her hair hung over her shoulder,
Tied up with a black velvet band."
Once she had stopped singing the wagon stopped and music could be heard. She poked her head out of the front of the wagon and saw Hobbiton lit up by a million candles and lights in windows. Hobbits cheered from the party field as everyone came into view. Kim's heart suddenly lept up into her throat.
Kim put on her cloak as fast as she could manage. She looked in the mirror and sorted it so it looked just right. There was a knock at the entrance of the wagon and Pippin popped his head in.
"Ready?" he was euphoric and everyone could clearly tell that from his face.
Kim nodded and walked out of the wagon and was helped down by Pippin. Kim searched to try and find Merry but he was no were to be found. Kim looked at Pippin and realised that he was dressed like a smart hobbit. Very much like a Thain should look which was quite boring but regal in Kim's opinion.
"Pip, what happened to you lovely Gondor uniform? I was so looking forward to seeing you all dressed up in you nice polished armour." Kim's voice was that of disappointment. She liked the uniform that he wore for it suited him better, she thought, than it suited any of the guards of the tower. He was now wearing dark green breeches and jacket with a white shirt and brown silk waistcoat. The silk waistcoat was a flourish of twinkling specs as there where flowered designs of gold thread and a gold pocket watch chain could be seen peeping from his pocket and attaching itself to one of his shiny brass buttons.
"I changed because I thought Ruthie might be a bit intimidated by the armour. She's a very shy and easily frightened lass. I didn't want everybody staring at me as well." Pippin laughed while Kim kept on looking about her, searching for any sign of Merry. Pippin noticed this, "Merry is away getting changed at Bag End. He says that he also has a little surprise for every hobbit in the Shire. What that is I certainly don't know. Anyway, he told me to say that he is sorry that he did not come for you himself, but he will give you all his attention once he has sorted the thing he needs to sort." Pippin smiled at her and offered her his arm. She took it and they walked towards the growing sounds of music and cheers as well as the clinking of many mugs.
Pippin led Kim to the main table where Aragorn and Arwen, Legolas and Gimli, Pippin and Diamond, Sam and Rosie, Faramir, Eowyn and Paladin and Kim and Merry were to sit. The rest were already sitting down and Diamond had saved a seat for Pippin. She was a very pretty lass. She had long brown hair like most hobbit-lasses, but her hair was as straight as a line. Her dark green eyes darted about like a frightened animal, but Kim swore that it was just an act. A very good one. Kim could also swear that she recognised this girl.
Pippin introduced Kim to Sam and Rosie along with Diamond. Kim was sure now that she knew this girl. She had to be Ruth Gordon. A little girl who she had gone to school with and also she had disappeared when she was 8 and was never found. Like Kim she had been taken to Middle-Earth. Kim decided that she would talk to her later on if she ever got the chance. Kim smiled at Ruth and Pippin as he gave her a big hug which lasted for many long minutes until they where broken up by Paladin who came bounding towards them. Pala giggled as Pippin picked him up. You might be wondering how he did this but the truth was that Pala had been born before his time and was a very small child but he made up for his lack of height in his thirst for knowledge. "Uncle Pippin!!" He squealed and wrapped his little arms around Pippin's neck. "Ah well if it isn't my little Ranger. I thought that you'd be in your bed or causing mischief somewhere."
This made Pala giggle even more. When he finally calmed down he managed to talk, "Mama and Papa said I could stay up as long as I could manage so I plan to be awake when the sun comes up Uncle Pippin."
"That's all good and well Pala and I bet that you'll do just that but before you go off and try to stop your little eyes from closing I want you to meet a new friend of mine and your Uncle Merry's. Paladin this is Kimothy Bucklerose." Paladin smiled shyly and bowed his head slightly before saying with a hint of embarrassment, "Hello Miss Kimothy.
"Hello Paladin. You know I've heard so much about you from your Uncles. I will have to watch you very carefully. Make sure you don't put a frog in my soup" Said Kim, giving Pala a little tickle and Pippin started laughing. What Kim meant was that Eowyn had told her about the time when Pala had decided to play a practical joke on his nanny. When she was sitting down at her desk, Pala had crawled under the table when she wasn't looking and had placed a frog in her soup along with some frog sporn. Pippin had never seen Pala run to fast.
The party started just after sundown and Merry had still not arrived. Everyone was dancing and laughing. Pippin and Sam had gone to dance with their loved ones, as had everyone else around her. Kim felt very much like putting back on her cloak and going back to her wagon and crying her eyes out.
As she was just about to do so, she saw Merry sneaking behind the food tents with what seemed to be a small wagon filled to bursting with rockets and fireworks. She watched as he took out the biggest one, stuck it in the ground and lit it. He then ran for cover behind a bush and watched as the rocket went up in the air. It crackled and hissed. The then changed colour to form a golden trunk and the emerald leaves of the old and dead party tree.
Hobbits screamed at the sudden bang but then when they saw that it was one of old Gandalf's wonderful fireworks they "ooowww"'d and "aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh"'d at the sight they saw.
Merry handed the matches to a responsible hobbit who would make sure that no one would do as Pippin and himself had done some years before on Bilbo's 111th birthday.
Merry spotted Kim and couldn't believe his eyes. She looked more beautiful than when he had first seen her dancing in the Old Forrest two days before. Her hair was tied up and only a few stray curls hung down. For a moment he was scared to approach her in case it wasn't her and she had just been a dream. A beautiful, blissful dream.
He finally found the courage to walk up to her. She looked at him as he came nearer her and smiled.
"Your late Meriadoc Brandybuck." Kim teased him as he bowed. The moment she wasn't ready for was when he took her hand and kissed it, smiling like he had just played a prank on someone and was savouring the memory.
He sat down beside her and poured himself some cider from a large jug near by. "Do you want some?" Merry offered.
"No thank you. I've never tried cider."
"It's Green Dragon cider. The best in the Shire. I insist that you try some. Even if it's just a sip." Merry gave her a cheeky smile and hovered the jug over her mug.
Kim giggled, "Go on then. If I must." Merry filled it to the top then set the jug down. Kim could barely lift the mug, let alone drink from it. But she finally manages to lift it to her mouth. And while Merry only took a mouthful at a time. Kim drank for at lest half a minute straight and after that half her cider was gone. Merry look at her in astonishment.
"What? You never seen a hobbit-lass drink so much?" Merry started laughing uncontrollably.
The band started to play a fast reel. Merry had promised himself that he would dance with Kim at lest once. "Would you like to dance?" He got up and offered her his hand. Kim became nervous, and finally decided that she would tell the truth, "I don't know this dance."
Merry chuckled, "Neither do I." They both started laughing and Kim took his hand.
Merry did get his one dance. But he also got 6 others. By the time they sat down again they were very tired and thirsty. They sat and spoke for a while and rested. They laughed when Gimli tried to dance in one of the very fast reels in his heavy armour. Sam and Rosie had gone home early, as Rosie was pregnant and needed her rest.
Merry then had a fantastic idea.
"Why don't you sing a song for everyone to commemorate this night? I'm sure everyone would love to hear you sing." Kim became jittery. She never liked doing anything in front of a crowd. When she was in the school play when she was 5. All that she had to do was step forward and say one line and step back. But what happened was she was pushed forward by one of the teachers as she wouldn't move and then was promptly sick on the stage.
"No I couldn't possibly. I………I…..I get stage fright."
"Oh don't be silly. I can tell you no one will laugh at you. You have a wonderful voice. And know wonderful songs. And we hobbits love both." Before she could protest any further, Merry was up on the table announcing that she would sing.
"Hobbits, Big Folk, Elves and Dwarfs! May I have your attention please?"
Pippin shouted from the background, "NO!" Everyone laughed including Merry.
"I would like you all to sit back and relax. For I have a wonderful announcement. My dear friend and companion for tonight, is going to sing us all a song from her home near the Lonely Mountain. May I introduce for your seeing and listening pleasure. Kimothy Bucklerose!" Merry helped her up onto the table and he then jumped down to his seat.
"Em…..I-I. I am so bad at this," She smiled and laughed, "I wont bore you in telling you what I am about to sing because the song tells it it's self." And with no music, just the sounds of the Shire she sang :-
"O the northern lights of old Aberdeen.
Sweet home, sweet home tae me.
The northern light o Aberdeen
Are ones I long to see.
I've been a wander all my life,
And many a sight I've seen.
God speed the day,
When I'm on my way,
To my home in Aberdeen.
When I was a lass,
A tiny wee lass.
My mother said tae me.
Come see the northern lights my girl,
They're bright as they can be.
She called them the heavenly dancers,
Dancers in the sky.
I'll never forget,
That wonderful night
They made the heavens bright.
O the northern lights of old Aberdeen.
Sweet home, sweet home tae me.
The northern light o Aberdeen
Are ones I long to see.
I've been a wander all my life,
And many a sight I've seen.
God speed the day,
When I'm on my way,
To my home in Aberdeen.
For fame and for fortune,
I wondered the earth.
And now I've come back to,
The land of my birth.
No lands ever claimed me,
Thought far I have roamed.
For these are my mountains
And I'm coming home.
For these are my mountains,
And this is my Glen.
The braves of my childhood,
Will know me again.
No lands ever claimed me,
Thought far I have roamed.
For these are my mountains
And I'm coming home.
Kind faces will greet me,
And welcome me in.
And o how they'll greet me,
My incuth and kin.
Tonight round the ingle,
Old songs will be sung.
At last I'll be hearing
My own mothers tongue.
For these are my mountains,
And this is my Glen.
The braves of my childhood,
Will know me again.
No lands ever claimed me,
Thought far I have roamed.
For these are my mountains
And now I'm home."
There was silence for a moment. Then every hobbit, man, elf and dwarf clapped, screamed and cheered. It was the most touching song they had every heard come from a hobbit mouth. Kim smiled broadly and curtsied and hoped from the table.
Merry hugged her when she came back down. Then they both sat down as the fireworks then began.
"I have a idea." Merry said softly.
"I am not singing again." Kim turned to him and smiled then looked at the fireworks. They had been as she had imagined.
"No. I think you've done enough singing for tonight. Why don't we take some food and drink from the table and go for a walk up to Bag End. We can sit underneath the tree on top of it and watch the fireworks from there. Also there are to many hobbit-lasses coming up to me. They are starting to scare me." Merry was talking in a whisper. Kim laughed when he made the last remark. She agreed and Merry got her cloak for her and put it about her shoulders. They both picked up some food and Merry put cider in two tankers that he had brought with him.
They walked in silence towards Bag End. Neither had noticed but they were holding hands again. They never noticed because it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to do.
They snuck over the fence of Sam's small and neat garden and crept up on top of the hobbit hole. When the got to the top they sat down and leaned against the tree as the fireworks went off with a BANG!
The air became cold and Kim's cloak no longer protected her from the chill that ran the length of her spin. She rapped her arms round herself and shivered. Merry saw her quiver beside him and he put his arm around her shoulders and drew her nearer.
"Any better?" he said as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"Much. Thank-you Merry."
Merry went on watching the fireworks. After a while he felt a pair of eyes watching him. He looked down at Kim and saw her looking right at him. He didn't say anything or do anything but brush a stray hair from her eyes.
In the moonlight he could study them more clearly. He could have sworn that in the green seas of her eyes there were golden speckles.
He did nothing but look at her. They let the worries and troubles of the world around them, and they melted away. And under the moonlight, they kissed.