It was now nearing ten and I struggled to stay awake while the dwarves spoke. Thorin was eating some soup and I had set out some powdered cake for the others.
"What news from the meeting in Ered Luin? Did they all come?" Balin was asking Thorin.
"Aye. Envoys from all seven kingdoms." Thorin answered.
"What do the dwarves of the Iron Hills say? Is Dain with us?" This time it's Dwalin who asks.
"They will not come." Thorin replies after a pause. "They say this quest is ours, and ours alone."
"What quest?" father intercepts them.
"Ah, Bilbo. Can you get us some light?" Father nods, probably finally glad that someone was actually asking him for something.
"Far to the East, over ranges and rivers, beyond woodlands and wastelands, lies a single solitary peak." Gandalf said. I approached the the table reading the words that Gandalf had indicated to.
"The lonely mountain" I said.
"Aye. Oin has read the portents, and the portents say it is time."
"Ravens have been seen flying back to the mountain as it was foretold: When the birds of yore return to Erebor, the reign of the beast will end." Oin said.
I had looked towards my father while Oin was speaking. At the word beast, I looked back.
"Beast?" I squecked out.
"What beast?" my father questioned.
"Umm, that would be a reference to Smaug the terrible, the chiefest and greatest calamity of our age, Air-borne fire breather, teeth like daggers and claws like meathooks..." Bofur began. I quickly stopped him.
"Yes, I know what a dragon is Bofur" I said, wringing my hands.
"I'm not afraid of any old dragon, I'll give him a taste of the dwarvish iron right up his jacksie!" Ori yelled, standing up. I tried my hardest to hold in my laughter and eventually had to leave the room. I stood in the entryway for a few minutes until the sound of yelling made its way to my ears. I decided to wait until the yelling stopped and tuned out of the conversation. Eventually, I heard my name being called and hurried to the dining room.
"And that is when we will require a burglar"
Father spoke..
"An expert to, I'd imagine" he said.
"We will require two burglars"
"Experts then, I'd imagine" father said.
"And are you?" Oin questioned.
"Are we what?" I questioned.
"Ah-ha, they say they are!" he said. No one laughed at that.
"No, no, no, no!" father yells.
I blink in shock. I had never seen my father yell before, even when he was angry.
"We are not burglars, I myself have never stolen anything in my life, Isadora on the other hand has, but that does not mean that she will do it again" he said.
"I'm afraid I will have to agree with Mr. Baggins" Balin said, "they are hardly burglar material"
"Speak for yourself, father" I muttered.
"Aye, the wild is no place for gentlefolk and a woman included. They dont know how to fend for themselves" Dwalin said.
I sent a seething glare at him while the dwarves broke into arguements. Finally, Gandalf stood, darkness rising with him.
"Enough! If I say Bilbo and Isadora Baggins are burglars, then burglars they are! You have asked me to find the fourteenth member of this company and I have found both him and a fifteenth member. It does not matter that Isadora is a woman and it very well shouldnt. She has a remarkable skill at the knives which I have seen myself. In fact, they can pass unseen by most if they choose. And while the dragon is accustomed to the smell of dwarf, the scent of hobbit is all but unknown to him, which gives us a distinct advantage!"
The dwarves muttered in agreement.
"Very well" Thorin said, "give the haflings their contract"
"No" father whispered.
Balin handed the contract to me which father instantly snatched away.
"Terms: Cash on delivery, up to but not exceeding one fourteenth of total profit, if any. Seems fair. Eh, Present company shall not be liable for injuries inflicted by or sustained as a consequence thereof including but not limited to lacerations ..." father read the words slow and drawn out. "evisceration ... incineration?"
"It'll burn the skin off your bones real fast" Bofur said jokingly. Isadora's eyes widened.
"Think furnace...with wings" he continued. Isadora could see her father gasping for air.
"You alright laddie?" Balin asked.
"I...need air" he gasped.
""Flash of light, searing pain, then poof! you're nothing more than a pile of ash." Bofur's words are what did it. I caught fathers head before it hit the ground.
"Look what you did" I sighed.
It was much later when I sat with my father. He was sipping tea, curled up.
"Just let me sit quietly for a minute" he said. I rolled my eyes, standing up to speak. However, Gandalf beat me to it.
"You've been sitting quietly for far too long." Gandalf chided. "Tell me; when did doilies and your mother's dishes become so important to you? I remember a young Hobbit who always was running off in search of elves and the woods, who'd stay out late, come home after dark, trailing mud and twigs and fireflies. A young Hobbit who would have liked nothing better than to find out what was beyond the borders of the Shire. The world is not in your books and maps; it's out there."
"I agree, father" I said. He looked to me in shock.
"You'll have a tale or two when you come back" Gandalf said.
Father looked to Gandalf, irritation on his face.
"Can you promise I will come back?"
"No" Gandalf said.
"Then I am sorry, I can not do this, and Isadora wont either" I blinked in shock, opening my mouth before a stiff glare from my father silenced me.
"Bedtime" he ordered. I hurried to my bedroom, changed before slipping under the covers. I could faintly hear the dwarves singing a lonesome song.
"Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold.
The dwarves of yore made mightly spells,
While hammers fell like ringing bells
In places deep, where dark things sleep,
In hollow halls beneath the fells.
For ancient king and elvish lord
There many a gleaming golden hoard
They shaped and wrought, and light they caught
To hide in gems on hilt of sward.
On silver necklaces they strung
The flowering stars, on crowns they hung
The dragon-fire, in twisted wire
They meshed the light of moon and sun.
Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeouns deep and caverns old
We must away, ere break of day,
To claim our long-forgotten gold.
Goblets they carved there for themselves
And harps of gold; where no man delves
There lay they long, and many a song
Was sung unheard by men or elves.
The pines were roaring on the height,
(The pines were roaring on the height)
The winds were moaning in the night,
The fire was red, it flaming spread;
(The fire was red, it flaming spread)
The trees like torches blazed with light.
The bells were ringing in the dale
(The bells were ringing in the dale)
And men looked up with faces pale;
The dragon's ire more fierce than fire
(The dragon's ire more fierce than fire)
Laid low their towers and houses frail.
The mountain smoked beneath the moon;
(The mountain smoked beneath the moon)
The dwarves, they heard the tramp of doom.
They fled their hall to dying fall
(They fled their hall to dying fall)
Beneath his feet, beneath the moon.
Far over the misty mountains grim
To dungeons deep and caverns dim
We must away, ere break of day,
To win our harps and gold from him!
The pines were roaring on the height,
(The pines were roaring on the height)
The winds were moaning in the night,
The fire was red, it flaming spread;
(The fire was red, it flaming spread)
The trees like torches blazed with light.
The bells were ringing in the dale
(The bells were ringing in the dale)
And men looked up with faces pale;
The dragon's ire more fierce than fire
(The dragon's ire more fierce than fire)
Laid low their towers and houses frail"
I fell asleep to dreams of adventure and gold.