Thank You for the support! And the Saga continues. Disclaimer: I do not own anything Tolkein, nor do I deserve the right to.

Sam was getting into a rather sour mood. He had no idea how he and Rose managed to produce twelve children, the majority under the age of twelve, and all of them making a lot of noise.

"Pa," Bilbo tugged onto his shirt, "Are we there yet?"

"No, not yet."

"When are we going to be there?"

"Soon."

"When's soon?"

"In a little while." So many questions for such a little person, he thought.

"I want to be there now." He whined.

"You can wait."

"But I'm hungry."

"We're nearly there."

"But I want it now."

"You'll spoil your appetite."

"What's an appetite?"

"Your want for food."

They sat in silence for a short minute.

"Are we there now?"

"NO." he growled. He couldn't imagine what it would have been like if he had to take him to Rivendell. His temper was getting shorter with each question.

"Papa. I need to do water." He crossed her legs in discomfort.

"I told you to go before we left."

"I didn't need to." He said miserably. He stopped the horses.

"All right, everybody listen up! If you need to do water, do it now! I will not stop again!"

After a moment's hurry, Sam did a quick count of heads and continued on.

Frodo Gamgee appeared from the bushes, hitching up is pants. Looking around, he noticed that the cart seemed to have disappeared. It was cool underneath the trees and he had left his cap and coat in the cart. Sam had counted the hat as one of his children by mistake.

Frodo ran along the road to catch up with the cart, but ran into a flock of sheep; the shepherd was too busy to answer his cries for assistance, and waited until the sheep passed. In time, he reached the crossroads. He had no idea where to go next.

"That dratted cart can go fast when it wants to." He muttered, searching for a sign of wagon tracks in the dirt, but the passing flock of sheep had obliterated all evidence. He crossed his fingers for good luck and plunged down the path that lead downhill, hoping it would lead him to where his parents might have gone.

TBC

I'm assuming that the journey to Buckland takes less than an hour from the Green Dragon, when most fans know it takes more than a few days :)