This is during Chapter 2 "In a Hole in the Ground" when the Dainsons first enter Hobbiton and start asking around.
Tiny Hobbits
"What's Hobbiton?" asked Lori, as the three started walking across the bridge. "Is that in New Zealand?"
"No, it doesn't even exist!" said Kyle, frustrated. "It sounds like something out of freaking nursery rhymes! You know what? I think that munchkin was messing with us! They could all be playing us!"
"Kyle, there's like over a hundred of these people here, and little kids!" Maia pointed out, gesturing at the people surrounding them. The children were puny, tinier than Lori, looking absolutely adorable with their curly tops and little hairy feet. "I don't know what going on either, but I really don't think this is all a game!"
The "people" were eyeing up at them nervously, attempting to stay as far away from them as possible like rabbits from their holes. The market was very cheery, full of foods, ribbons, silk, flowers, animals, hats, clothing, wood, silverware, baskets, wine, tea sets, and much more. Most of the men were dressed in different coats or vests with brass buttons, overalls, scarves, and sometimes with straw or tall hats. The women were all in dresses decorated spring colors or flowery designs, some wearing aprons, some with fancy hat topped with large feathers or flowers, some with ribbons, and some with straw hats of their own. For a moment, Maia couldn't decide whether they matched the style of Victorian England, or the world of Little Bo Peep.
The children were mini versions of the adults, all looking like happy toddlers as they played wild games with the undeniable innocence and cheerfulness that Maia saw many times on Lori's face every day since she was born. Unlike the adults, however, the children either stared at the bigger people with wide-eyed curiosity, or smiled because there were the new people in their small village.
There were two things that all the little people had in common: curly hair and large bare, hairy feet. Oh, and their ears were slightly sharper, Maia noticed with a start. Were they supposed to be elves? What with the hairy feet, then?
Everything would have looked perfect if not for the many eyes on the three humans walking uneasily through their market. They were either suspicious, uneasy, scornful, or just plain curious. Some shook their heads in disapproval, some looked away to ignore them, and many others scurried away before they got close.
"Not very welcoming, are they?" grumbled Kyle, eyeing at them. "I suddenly feel like were in the Suburbs." Lori had pressed close to his hip, suddenly looking shy and less confident.
"Yep, typical small-town people," agreed Maia. She bit her lip, feeling nervous. She hated being stared at, being the center of attention. But she straightened up and took deep breath. "So, who should we start asking first?"
They all looked toward the butcher stand, a beefy hobbit staring back at them. With one swipe he chopped off three fish heads, making Lori turn pale.
"Not him," muttered Kyle, pulling Lori away. He looked around, sweeping a hand through his unruly hair in frustration. "It looks like a lot of people are giving us the stink-eye. You sure we can't just camp outside?"
"But we don't have a tent and sleeping bags!" protested Lori innocently.
"C'mon, Ky," said Maia, elbowing her brother. "You're more social than I am. I think you can handle a bunch a little munchkins. Look..." She thumbed over at the flower stand, run by a plump little women in a straw hat, "I'll start asking over there and..." She squinted over the crowd before pointing at an old man leaning over a bench with a jug in his lap, "You go ask that guy. Try to see if he knows anybody who let us stay overnight."
Kyle gave her a look. "Why do I get the drunk dude? You talk to the drunk dude!"
Maia threw up her hands. "Just ask anyone near that inn, will you? Maybe the staff can offer a free room or we can trade work for a room. I don't know! Just ask around."
"What about me?" squeaked Lori up at them, bouncing on her toes and hugging her teddy bear eagerly. "Does that mean I have to talk to strangers?"
"Yeah-no! Nice try, Doe-eyes!" Kyle ruffled his little sister's hair before looking over and noticing a bunch of tiny munchkin children run and squealing around the markets, their little bare feet pitter-pattering around the dusty roads and grassy fields with ribbons and flowers in their hands. "Geez, I swear those little kids are the size of your American girl dolls, Maia."
"Not that small," scoffed Maia, though her eyes glittered at the precious sight. If anything, the little children looked like living, breathing porcelain dolls with their cute clothing.
Lori watched the miniature kids play, running in circles and squealing with laughter. That looked like fun! She looked up at Maia. "Can I play with them?" asked Lori, bouncing on her heels. "Pleeeeease?"
Maia bit her lip in uncertainty, but Kyle shrugged casually. "Yeah, why not? They seem like the only friendly faces around here anyway."
Maia exhaled and ran a hand through her long, carmel hair, revealing the hooped earring in her ears, looking at the little kids on the road near the market in the field, and then back down at Lori. "Okay, Lori, but stay in the field where we can find you, alright? Kyle's going near the inn and I'm going to ask around in the markets. Try to ask some of the kids if you can."
"Okay," said Lori, but instantly darted away without a second glance back. Her blood pumped up with excitement as she scampered across the road until reaching the hobbit children, who had paused in their game as the strange human girl approached them.
When Lori halted in front of them, out of breath and smiling brightly, three girls and two boys gathered around her in their frilly, colorful dresses and overalls. The tiny feet were pale and fuzzy. They were a full head shorter than her, their ears slightly pointed, and their cheeks round and rosy like those baby angels Lori sees in very old and boring paintings. Though Lori had a fair amount of wavy curls in her dark hair, inherited from her mother, they were nowhere near as curly as these kids and everyone else.
Still smiling, Lori waved at them and said, "Hi! I'm Lori."
They blinked at her curiously with round blue, or green, or hazel eyes. One of the girls that wore a white bonnet over her golden curls stepped up first and said in a squeaky voice, "I'm Esmeralda. Are you a hobbit?"
Lori blinked in confusion. "Huh?"
"Are you a hobbit?" repeated Esmeralda.
"No. What's a hobbit?"
"We are hobbits," said one of the boys, who was fat like the ball he held in his two hands and wore a blue long coat. "I'm Toby and I'm a Chubb."
Yes, you are, thought Lori, eying at his roundness.
"I'm Halfred," said the ginger-haired boy.
"Eglantine," said the brown-haired girl.
"Rosa!" squeaked the littlest one.
"Rosamunda's my second cousin," said Esmeralda. "Her brother Ferdinand's a baby and not here to play, 'cause he's too little."
"Oh," said Lori, not knowing what the term 'second cousin' meant. "I don't have any cousins, but my big brother and sister are over there!" She turned around and pointed to where Maia and Kyle were asking around.
"Oh, you're Big Folk," said Esmeralda.
"We're not supposes to talk to you," said Toby Chubb.
"Toby!" exclaimed Esmeralda.
Lori was taken aback by that remark. "Why not?"
"'Cause you're new here and our parents say we can't talk to anybody that's not around here, 'cause outsiders are a nonsense. My mama says so."
"But that's stupid!" protested Lori. "My mommy always says that meeting new people is a good thing, even if they are different. Besides, they can't tell you what to do out here, right?"
"Where's your mama?" asked Eglantine.
"In a coma," said Lori sadly, hugging her bear.
"W'as a coma?" asked Rosa.
"Quiet, Rosa!" scolded Esmeralda quietly, before turning to Lori. "Sorry."
"S'okay. She'll wake up someday. I know it."
"We can still talk to you. Our parents don't need to know."
"Thanks! I think it's still silly. I can talk to anyone whenever I want and so should you!"
"Yeah….only we don't wanna get trouble," said Halfest quietly.
Esmeralda shook her head with a cheeky smile, mischief glittering her eyes. "Oh, don't worry. I always wanted to meet a human and you're definitely one."
"Yeah, with you wearing shoes and all," nodded Eglantine, pointing at Lori's red cowboy boots.
"Shoes!" giggled little Rosa, sucking her fingers.
"Yeah, why?" asked Lori. "Why does everyone have hairy feet?"
"'Cause we're hobbits," repeated the Chubb, as though the answer were obvious.
"Yeah, Mama says we don't wear shoes 'cause they're nothing but extra layers that-that make you trip and fall," explained Halfred, stumbling over words hastily.
"No, they don't!" exclaimed Lori.
"Yeah, they do!"
"Not!"
"Too!"
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"I can run faster than you in my boots!" bragged Lori. "And I'm the tallest!" For once. I was always the smallest in preschool.
"No, you can't!" protested Halfred.
Lori just smirked and suddenly tapped the tiny hobbit's arm, yelling, "Tag!" and then ran off. Halfred gave a sound of protest as all the other tiny hobbits started running away from him, following the human girl's lead. They didn't have to ask Lori to play with them when they already started the game.
For ten minutes, Lori was laughing and screaming loudly as ran around with the little hobbit children she instantly became friends with, not aware of the many annoyed and disbelieving glances of the grown-up hobbits around them, all prissy and overdressed. The place was still beautiful, though, and her friends were very nice even if the grown-ups weren't.
I still don't know what a hobbit is, thought Lori as she ran with not a care in the world from Toby Chubb, who was huffing and puffing behind her. She giggled and stuck her tongue back at him over her shoulder-
"OOF!" So caught in her thoughts during the game that little Lori didn't look ahead as she crashed into a larger and plushier body, the impact of her speed sending them both to the ground.
Laying on top of a mountainous dress of greens and reds, Lori lifted her head with her face heated with embarrassment, hoping she was not in trouble for not watching where she was going. Still on top of the woman, who lifted her head with her face masked in pure shock, Lori blushed and started to say, "I'm sorry-"
But the dark-haired hobbit woman's face turned brought red, her eyebrows furrowing and her dark eyes became scary as they stared at the little girl. Her large hat with giant feathers made her look scarier. In that scary moment, Lori thought she met the Queen of Hearts and that she was going to take her head off.
"OH! GET THIS RECKLESS CREATURE OFF OF ME!" screeched the woman so loudly that it shook Lori to tears. The little girl heard her brother Kyle run up from behind her, hauling her up under her arms, before pushing her behind him as the woman struggled to her feet, still ranting, "THE NERVE OF THAT WRETCH!"
As her brother started shouting back at the woman in absolute fury, Maia running up to the commotion while the whole town stared at them in shock, Lori clung to his hip tightly and turned to look for her little hobbit friends, but found that they scattered away.
She didn't blame them. This woman was scary enough to scare a wild bull away.
But even though it didn't last long, Lori had a lot of fun with those tiny hobbits, even though she still didn't know what a hobbit was.
Esmeralda Took is Merry's mother (age 5) and Eglantine Banks is Pippin's mother (also age 5). The fact that these two little girls are friends is exciting. I made up Toby Chubb (age 7), but Halfred of Overhill (age 9) is Samwise Gamgee's youngest uncle. Consider him the oldest child of this little play group. Little Rosamunda is aged 3.