Chapter 4: Meeting the Dwarves
Later that night, Bilbo and Belinda settled down to supper. Bilbo fried up a couple of fish for them both. Bilbo sat down, passing Belinda her plate. "This is lovely, Bilbo." Belinda said as they started seasoning their fish. Outside, a couple of shadows came up to their marked door. As Bilbo and Belinda squeezed lemon juice over their fish, the doorbell rang. Bilbo and Belinda looked over in confusion.
The 2 Hobbits answered the door, revealing 2 Dwarves. One male and the other female. "Dwalin, at your service." The male introduced with a bow. "And Gwelin, at your service." The female introduced, bowing the same way. Bilbo and Belinda were confused. But they tightened the straps on their robes. "Bilbo and Belinda Baggins, at yours." Bilbo said. Dwalin and Gwelin entered. "Do we know each other?" Bilbo asked. "No." Dwalin said. "Yeah. You would remember if you'd know a couple Dwarves like us." Gwelin said. The 2 Dwarves looked around as they took off their cloaks. "Which way, laddie? Is it down here?" Dwalin asked. "Is what down where?" Bilbo asked. "Yeah, what is it you're looking for?" Belinda asked. "Supper." Dwalin said, handing the Hobbits his cloak. "They said there'd be food. Lots of it." "Which works best for us, because we are starving." Gwelin said, following her brother. "They said? Who said?" Bilbo asked in confusion. Belinda just shrugged.
Later, Bilbo and Belinda watched as Dwalin and Gwelin ate their fish supper. Dwalin bit off the fish's head, crunching the skull between his teeth. Gwelin giggled at the sight of her brother. "Very goodness. Anymore?" Dwalin asked. "What?" Bilbo asked. "Anymore food?" Gwelin asked. "Oh! Uh, yes. Yes." Bilbo said, grabbing a plate of muffins from the window and sneaking a couple for him and Belinda before setting it in front of the Dwarves. "Help yourselves." Dwalin and Gwelin started to stuff every last muffin in their mouths. "It's just that, um, we weren't expecting company." Bilbo said. "Yes. You 2 caught us by surprise." Belinda said as she ate her muffin. Just then, the doorbell rang again. "That'll be the door." Dwalin said.
Bilbo and Belinda opened the door, revealing another Dwarf, but older looking. "Balin, at your service." The Dwarf greeted with a polite bow. "Good evening." Bilbo said, deadpanned. "Yes. Yes, it is." Balin said with misunderstanding. "Though I think it might rain later. Am I late?" "Uh, late for what?" Belinda asked.
Balin looked over and saw Dwalin and Gwelin trying to get cookies out of a jar. "Oh!" He called, getting their attention. "Evening, brother and sister." All 3 siblings chuckled. "By my beard. You're shorter and wider than last we met." Dwalin said. "Wider. Not shorter. Sharp enough for all of us." Balin said with a wink. The Dwarves then chuckled and wrapped their arms around each other. And then, they headbutted each other, chuckling. "Excuse me. We hate to interrupt. But the thing is, we're not entirely sure you're in the right house." Bilbo said.
Later, the 3 Dwarves got into Bilbo and Belinda's pantry. "Have you eaten?" Dwalin asked as he poured a cup of ale. "It's not that we don't like visitors." Bilbo said. "No, we like visitors as much as the next Hobbits." Belinda said as Balin grabbed some cheese and sniffed it. "But we do like to know them before they come visiting." Bilbo said.
"What's this?" Dwalin asked, taking the cheese. "I don't know. I think it's cheese." Balin said. Gwelin sniffed the cheese and got grossed out by the smell. "But the thing is-" Bilbo started to say. "Gone blue." Balin said. "It's riddled with mold." Gwelin said. "The thing is we don't know either of you." Bilbo said as Dwalin tossed away the cheese. "No, not in the slightest." Belinda said. "We don't mean to be blunt, but we have to speak our mind." Bilbo said. "We're sorry." The Dwarves looked at the Hobbits as Bilbo cleared his throat. "Apology accepted." Balin said. Bilbo and Belinda seemed relieved. "Oh, now fill it up, brother. Don't stinge." Balin said, handing Dwalin back his cup. Just then, the doorbell rang again. Bilbo and Belinda couldn't believe it. "Oh, what now?" Belinda asked.
They answered the door, revealing 3 more Dwarves, 2 males and one girl, much to their dismay. "Fili." "And Kili." "And Qili." "At your service." The 3 greeted with a bow. "You must be Mister and Miss Boggins." Kili guessed, mispronouncing their name. "Actually, it's Baggins." Belinda said. "Nope! You can't come in. You've come to the wrong house." Bilbo said, trying to close the door. "What?!" Kili stopped them from closing the door. "Has it been canceled?" Kili asked. "No one told us." Fili said. "There's a lot we're not told." Qili said. "No, nothing's been canceled." Belinda said. "That's a relief." Kili said, forcing his way through. Fili and Qili followed.
"Careful with these. I just had them sharpened." Fili said, handing Bilbo his swords. "It's nice, this place." Kili said. "Yeah, rather lovely." Qili said. "Did you do it yourselves?" Kili asked, scraping his boot on a box. "No. Actually, it's been in our family for years." Belinda said. "That's our mother's glory box. Can you please not do that?" Bilbo asked, seeing what Kili was doing.
"Fili. Kili. Qili. Come on. Give us a hand." Dwalin said, bringing Kili to the dining room. "Mr. Dwalin." Kili greeted. Fili and Qili followed. "Let's shove this in the hole. Otherwise, we'll never get everyone in." Balin said. "What?! Everyone?! How many more are there?" Bilbo asked. "Where do you want this?" Kili asked.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang again. "Oh no." Bilbo said. "I'm not even gonna guess who it might be." Belinda said. "No, no! There's nobody home!" Bilbo called, tossing down Fili and Kili's weapons as he and Belinda marched to the door. "Go away and bother somebody else!" "There's far too many Dwarves in our dining room as it is!" Belinda called. "If this is some plothead's idea of a joke, I can only say, it is in very poor taste." Bilbo said, opening the door. Just then, several more Dwarves fell inside, arguing to get off each other. Behind the Dwarves, stood none other than Gandalf and Selindra. "Hi." Selindra said sheepishly. "Gandalf and Selindra." Bilbo grumbled. "We might have known this would be your doing." Belinda said with a glare.