Bilbo heaved in a breath and shouted, "Bellarosa Baggins!"
His sister hunched, all tight before she half-turned. Her brown eyes slightly apologetic though mostly worried. "Good afternoon, Bilbo," she said.
"Do not 'Good afternoon, Bilbo,' me as though we were just two friends meeting at the market," Bilbo snapped, sending his sturdy new pony forward until he was even with her own. He didn't even acknowledge the surrounding dwarves that moved out of his way and seemed to be staring in confusion. Wait, did two of them have amused smirks on their faces? Never mind.
"What were you thinking, traipsing off with a baker's dozen of dwarves, all men, by yourself?" he demanded.
"Well, they thought I was you, so that there wasn't anything truly appalling about it since they didn't know," Bella returned, folding her arms. "And Gandalf is traveling with us as well, not to mention two of the dwarves discovered the truth at Bag End. We have already discussed how to protect my honor and dignity throughout the quest."
"Do you think that would matter to the likes of say the Sackville-Bagginses?" Bilbo returned.
"For all I care, the whole lot of them can ego mibo orch," Bella snapped.
Bilbo stared, mouth dropping open. "Do I even want to know where you picked up that insult?" he asked.
"Somewhere in Bree," she answered. "It's a common enough insult. So are you going to switch to my choice of Sindarin usage, or are you going to continue harping on the propriety of the situation?"
Bilbo pulled a scowl back on his face again. He could scold her on her insults later. "So you do not care that you may never be able to show your face in polite society again?"
"On the contrary, brother, they didn't see Bellarosa Baggins racing away through Hobbiton," Bella answered.
"They'll figure it out soon enough if they haven't already," Bilbo said. Time for a new tactic. "I've half a mind to send you home."
She jerked, staring at him in disbelief. "You what?"
"You heard me," he returned. "Simply on the grounds that you didn't consult me on your decision, as your older brother I could demand that you turn around and go straight home."
"Two minutes," she ground out.
"What?"
"You are older than me by only two minutes."
"Two minutes, fifty-five point eight seconds, practically three minutes."
"But it still doesn't make you the sole decision maker, or mean that you can order me around," Bella responded. "Besides. I signed the contract, and a Baggins never breaks his," she glared, "or her, word."
"And that is why I'm not sending you back, I'm joining you," Bilbo said congenially with a wide smile. "Signing the contract and all."
Bella's mouth dropped open, a distant panic flitting through her eyes. "You don't have to do that," she said quickly.
"You yourself mentioned that you wouldn't be able to change my mind," Bilbo said. "And we had always promised each other that we'd take numerous adventures. I intend to make up for lost time, or at least start to."
Bella lightly worried her bottom lip. "I did mention that there's a dragon at the end of this quest, right?"
"You did," Bilbo confirmed.
"And did I mention that one of the items the contract covers is incineration?"
"You did not."
One of the dwarves in an odd hat opened his mouth to speak.
"Don't you dare, Bofur!" Bella snapped. "Unless you want a throwing knife slicing your hat, you won't repeat your words of last night on the matter."
"Ah, the cause of those mental images," Bilbo said.
"All focused on you," she said in confirmation with a forced cheeriness.
"Still signing on," Bilbo said. "Besides, I'm sure that when dealing with dragons, two burglars are better than one."
"Alright," Bella said. "Master Balin? Can we have the contract for a moment, please?" A white-haired dwarf rode back from near the front of the line, even as Bella turned back to another dwarf. "Ori, do you have a pen and spot of ink we can borrow?"
"Certainly Ma-, er, Mistress Baggins," a rather young dwarf answered. He quickly urged his pony forward, stopping on Bella's other side, just as the first dwarf handed over a packet of paper.
Bella flipped open the top flap before rolling her eyes. "Of course we have to unfold it all the way to the bottom again."
"Pardon?" Bilbo asked.
In answer, his sister let the packet unfold . . . to show the packet was a single paper.
"Ah," he answered. "I'll trust that you read through it all."
"Enough to know that so long as we're successful we are allowed to have up to a fifteenth of the treasure as our payment, and that expenses will be covered," Bella said. "I skimmed and read depending on the importance of the section."
Bilbo rolled his eyes. "All sections of a contract are important," he pointed out.
"And to me it all might as well be in Quenya as much as I can understand the technical terms," she returned.
"And this is why I handle all the legal matters," Bilbo said. He did however skim over the contract himself, merely for his peace of mind that he was aware of what he was signing. Thanks to her warning, he barely blinked at the mention of incineration, though he did feel a touch queasy at evisceration. Finally he reached the end with Bilbo Baggins beside Burglar. He gave his sister a sly grin as he did his own copy signature. "Since you have already signed my name to the contract," he said.
Bella glared at him. "My legal signature never has that many flourishes."
"And you didn't think to ask for time needed to put things in order and wait for my say in the matter," he said as he handed the contract back to Balin.
Gandalf chuckled. "It would appear, Bilbo, that though to all of the Shire, they could predict your Baggins reaction, your sister couldn't quite gauge your Took reaction."
Bilbo sighed, turning again to his sister. "I will try to make things up to you, Rosa," he said, using her personal petname. "I know it's been far too long in coming, but I intend to adventure by your side as I should have all those years ago."
"Well," Balin said, "it appears that everything is in order for the both of you. Master and Mistress Baggins, welcome to the company of Thorin Oakenshield."
"Thank you," Bilbo said. He then turned to his sister once again. "Now, I will demand one thing of you. Ride the pony you've spent how many ever down payments on." He then sneezed. "And has been giving me sinus troubles since the end of the first hour. I would have turned back for a handkerchief, but I was already late enough as it was."
"Never fear, brother dear," Bella replied, pulling something from her pack, his pack, with a flourish. "One of two dozen that we so meticulously packed all those years ago."
Bilbo rolled his eyes as he wiped his nose, eyeing his sister as she switched ponies. "And when you get the opportunity, get your own travel things on. I won't have you looking like a boy for the entire trip if I can help it."
"I'll be sure to change when we stop for camp tonight," she said. She smirked. "Though I'll miss the freedom of movement."
He humphed as the company started moving again. As they settled into the easy walk of the ponies again, Bella sidled up to him.
"In all honesty," she said quietly, "I haven't felt entirely comfortable with just pants around virtual strangers. It'll be a relief to wear skirts again."
He lightly smiled. "So, who are all our traveling companions?"
Bella smiled broadly. "The dwarf leading us is Thorin son of Thrain, also called Oakenshield. Then of course there is Balin. That big, brown-haired fellow with the bald top is his younger brother, Dwalin. The red-bushed dwarf is Gloin. His brother is the salt-and-pepper haired one, Oin. Oin is also a touch hard of hearing so he uses a trumpet."
"Ah, I'll keep that in mind," Bilbo said.
"The silver-haired gentleman is Dori, one of the best of them all in manners from my experience," she went on. "He has two younger brothers. Nori with braided eyebrows is a bit of a sticky-fingers. Ori is one of the younger ones and the company scribe for the journey. The round dwarf is the cook, Bombur. His brother is Bofur, the one with the interesting hat. Their cousin is Bifur. He took an orc's axe to the head some years back so he can only communicate through Khuzdul and Iglishmek."
"What and what?" Bilbo asked.
"Dwarfish and dwarfish sign language," Bella answered. "And the last two, who are Thorin's nephews, and the only two I know of who knew my secret, Fili and his younger brother Kili."
"At your service," the brothers chorused.
"So you're Master Boggins," the dark-haired one said.
"Don't start, Kili," Bella said. "I am currently having a difficult time judging my brother's mood, so I don't know how he'll take to teasing at the moment."
"Well, I certainly don't care for my name being butchered," Bilbo said.
"Hey, Nori," the blond one, Fili by elimination, called. "Pay up time!"
Bilbo was surprised to see moneybags being tossed about. All of them to the four other riders around him, Gandalf having joined them. Reminding him that he needed to have a word with the wizard. "What's this about?"
"Well," Bella said with a smile as she pocketed a couple bags, "it started as a wager of whether or not I'd turn up. There was also another wager that if I came, you'd show up at some point as well."
"And you are riding alongside the only ones who said you would," Fili answered.
"Fili and I figured that since you were her brother, you wouldn't just let your sister go alone with a troupe of dwarves without a proper chaperone," Kili said.
"What of you and Gandalf?" Bilbo asked his sister.
Bella smiled lovingly at him. "I decided to have the same confidence that the rest had in you."
"And I," Gandalf said, "never doubted you for a second." He smiled gently down at the both of them. "I will not tell you the journey will not be difficult. There will be a good many things that you'll have to do without, even things you'll have to suffer. The both of you were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home is now behind you. The world is ahead."
"You stole that last bit from a Shire song," Bella declared.
Gandalf chuckled. "Some of the words are quite fitting for the occasion."
"Some," Bella stressed.
"Sing it for us," Kili said. "You owe us a song now that you're no longer hiding."
Bilbo turned back to Bella. "What is he talking about?"
"These two rascals wanted me to share a Shire song with them, but as you can guess, I couldn't easily do that without giving myself away."
"Ah, yes. Your unmistakable soprano tones. Very well."
"Join me?" she asked.
"Naturally," he answered.
A half-minute to find the words, and they started, Bella in her soprano and Bilbo in his tenor.
"Home is behind, the world ahead,
And there are many paths to tread.
Through shadow, to the edge of night,
Until the stars are all alight.
Mist and shadow, cloud and shade,
All shall fade. All shall fade."
There was only the sound of ponies and squeaking tack for a moment. Then . . .
"I think that we might be able pick that out," Fili said.
"Let's try it," Kili said, turning to rummage in a pack.
"I'm in," Bofur cried, holding up a pipe.
"Won't you need to hold your reins?" Bella asked.
"I see you have yet to learn the secret of good riding," Fili said, prepping a violin and bow on his lap. "You hold on and steer with your knees. That's the secret." He then tucked the instrument under his chin. "Ready when you are."
"Ready here," Kili said, matching violin set.
Bofur fell back to ride along with them.
Bilbo watched as his sister beamed before she started singing again. It would take a few rounds before the dwarves reminded him that he should be singing too. But Bilbo didn't mind. For the first time in years, Bella was in her element. She was embarking on a potentially dangerous quest, yet she had not a care in the world. He would even dare to say that she glowed.
A glance at Fili and how the young dwarf was looking at his sister riled his older brother instincts into gear. Was there perhaps another reason for why his sister seemed to glow? Bella may be more of a Took, but she also had a pinch of Baggins sense. Bilbo was sure he had time to observe and see what was happening beneath the surface. For now, he'd just relish in the simple joy of seeing his sister so happy.
Author's Note: And we are officially off. I know I am borrowing "Pippin's Song" from The Return of the King, but it is very fitting for a travel song since Bilbo hasn't written any just yet. It is also the first Middle Earth song that I fell in love with. And, I'll also admit that I borrowed from C. S. Lewis's The Horse and His Boy for the riding secret.
I hope that you enjoyed the banter between Bella and Bilbo. The insult Bella used basically means "go kiss an orc" in Sindarin/elvish. Not quite a proper Baggins.
So, any thoughts or theories about what will come up next? We'll definitely be seeing how they manage the long, dragging hours of travel. But who knows what could happen? I'm not saying anything will happen of course, but I would just like to hear your thoughts. Any worries yet? Should Fili have anything to worry about now that big brother Bilbo has joined the Company? Until next time. :-)