Chapter IV: Home Sweet Home
After deciding to call it a day, Bilbo headed to his packed Land Rover with the case files tuck under his arm. Him and Legolas planned to go talk with Dain tomorrow. For now, they decided to call it a day. They wouldn't know anything more until Dr. Radagast finished the autopsy. Bilbo groaned as he climbed into his car and started the engine. Last time he was at Bag End was during the summer while Thorin and his family were vacationing in Greece. He had already called Mrs. Bracegirdle to have the power to the cottage turned on and he was pretty sure she stocked the pantry when she told him he'd be staying there for a long period of time. Aside from him, she was the only one with a spare key. He'd rather have her with a key than that distant cousin of his, Lobelia.
The drive to Shire was only 45 minutes. He stopped at the store to check on things and was greeted by Mrs. Bracegirdle. Along with the cottage, Bilbo inherited his mother's grocer store that he didn't have the heart to close. He intrusted the general manager, Mrs. Bracegirdle, with his business. Shire was a small village and the townspeople relied on Bag End Grocer for food and supplies. "Bilbo, how are you?" Mrs. Bracegirdle was in her fifties and was like a second mother to Bilbo. He remembered as a boy how he used to help his mother or Mrs. Bracegirdle at the counter. He used to help his mother in the kitchen baking the goodies the store sold in the bakery section. It was how he became such a good cook.
"I'm good, Mrs. Bracegirdle. How was my girl?" he asked.
"Myrtle was such a good girl," she said as Bilbo's Siamese Tabby mix cat came around from behind the counter.
"Oh, there's my girl," Bilbo said leaning down and picking her up. "Were you a good girl?" he asked. After being evicted, he couldn't keep Myrtle in the car or the station, so he had Mrs. Bracegirdle take care of her, keeping her at the store and her house.
"Her stuff is in the back. I'll get it for you," the manager said.
"Thanks," Bilbo said as he situated himself behind the counter. After deciding whether or not to get some goodies, he grabbed a basket and with Myrtle tuck under his arm, he grabbed some cookies, chocolates and a few bottles of wine and some cheese that he knew Bracegirdle wouldn't have put in his pantry. He also grabbed a fresh loaf of bread. When she came back out with Myrtle's things and carrier, Bilbo had everything on the counter for her to ring up.
"Oh, Bilbo. You don't have to pay. You own the store," she said opening the case so he could put Myrtle into the carrier.
"Ring me up, Mrs. Bracegirdle," he said zipping up the case. He bent down onto the floor to put the carrier down and look through the bag to make sure everything of Myrtle's was there. He heard Mrs. Bracegirdle ring up his things and she had everything in a bag when he stood up.
"Your total is twenty eight pounds," she said.
"Really?"
"Really," she said and he swiped his credit card through the machine. He knows that she doesn't always ring him up for everything. "Have a nice night, Bilbo," she said before he gathered his food, wine and cat and headed out.
After another ten minute drive, Bilbo arrived at Bag End cottage. He first took in his groceries and Myrtle. He turned on the lights and put the cat on the floor and the food on the table. "All right, Myrtle. Home sweet home until Daddy finds a flat in London," he said letting her out of her carrier. He headed back out to get his luggage. He grabbed a suitcase and a bag, brought that in and then the few boxes and bags left in his car. He put everything in the cottage, planning to deal with it later. Right now, he was hungry. He was sure that Myrtle was hungry as well. He set about getting himself and his cat some dinner.
Meanwhile, at the Ered Luin Cottage, the Oakenshield family; Thorin, Dis, Fili and Kili arrived. Thorin and Dis wanted a quiet place to plan Thrain's funeral. The two of them were in the study while Fili and Kili went up to the room they usually shared. The first thing Kili noticed was the telescope. He remembered it being a birthday gift from Bilbo to watch a meteor shower. "Nice," Fili said putting his bag down. Kili was the first to it and looked through the scope. It was pointed down at a cottage that was behind theirs. "What do you see?"
"Some cottage," Kili said. He changed the view, zooming in on the sign attached to the gate. "Oh, it's Bag End," he said.
"It is?" Fili asked getting up from his bed. "Anyone home?"
"Lights are on, but I can't tell who is .." he trailed when the door opened and he got the shock of his life. "Holy..."
"What, what, what, what?" Fili asked.
"It's Bilbo," Kili said.
"Oh, now I remember. He and Uncle Thorin met in this area because of Bilbo's grocer store in the village."
"I also remember Uncle Thorin borrowing your telescope to spy on Bilbo during and after their relationship." Fili chuckled as he watched Bilbo unpack his car from the window.
"What's he doing?"
"He's unpacking his car. I think he's staying at his cottage."
"What are you two doing?" the deep voice of their uncle asked. They both whirled around with cheeky grins on their faces.
"Nothing," they said together.
"Boys," Thorin drawled out.
"Bilbo's at Bag End behind us," Kili said. That got Thorin over to the window really quick to look through the telescope. He caught Bilbo going into the house and closing the door.
"I thought he lived in the city," Fili said.
"Call the company," Thorin said.
"But what about Mom? She wanted to be here for the peace and quiet to plan grandfather's funeral," Kili said. Thorin sighed as he watched Bilbo through his kitchen window. From the looks of things, he was making himself supper.
"All right. After the funeral, we'll put a plan together," Thorin said. "Can I borrow this?" he asked of the telescope. Kili put a protective hand over it and stared his uncle down.
"Get your own," he said. Fili chuckled as Thorin left the room sulking.
Back in Bag End, Bilbo was putting the last touches on his pasta dish. He brought his plate over and grabbed his glass of red wine and walked over to his coffee table.
From up in his bedroom, Thorin was watching Bilbo with some binoculars he found in his closet. Bilbo was eating a pasta dish that he recognized. He licked his lips as if he could taste the dish. "What are you doing?" The voice of his sister caused him to whip around in surprise.
"Nothing," he said, putting the binoculars. Dis walked over to him and picked up the binoculars. Before Thorin could protest, she looked out the window with the binoculars and saw Bilbo eating his dinner.
"Oh, Thorin. What am I going to do with you?" she asked.
"Just put me out of my misery," he said. "I can't stand not being with him anymore."
"Than make your move. There has to be a reason why he's here. He probably doesn't even know that we are here."
"Or he's just ignoring us," Thorin said and Dis chuckled. "I tried to kiss him earlier."
"When?" she asked.
"At the morgue. Dwalin interrupted us."
"I'll shoot him," she said causing her brother to chuckle. "Call him."
"Dwalin?"
"Bilbo. You still have his number, right?"
"The Bag End number, yeah."
"Call him," she insisted setting the binoculars down. "Now, we have a funeral to plan for daddy and you have a relationship to reconcile."
Bilbo was washing his dishes when the land line phone rang. He flicked water off his right hand and picked up the phone. "Bag End," he answered. It was a poorly disguised voice that replied.
"Hello, this is Ered Luin.."
"Thorin," Bilbo said.
"Wha..? How did you know it was me?" he asked.
"We dated for four years. I know the sound of your voice," Bilbo said. Thorin chuckled sending a chill down Bilbo's spine. He had no idea that he was being spied on. Or did he? Bilbo went back to doing his dishes. He can multitask.
End of Chapter IV