Chapter 1
Hello everyone! Welcome to The Jewel of Men, the sequel to my story The Diamond in the Rough. If you haven't read that story, you'll want to go read it first as this story will be a bit confusing if you don't. I'm so excited to share the rest of Annelise's story with you all! Let me know what you think! And now…..
The Long Expected Party
Annelise smiled from atop her horse as her traveling companion began singing a familiar song under his breath, steadily growing in volume.
"The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the road has gone and I must follow if I can."
Annelise's smile grew wider as she caught sight of a figure moving in the trees toward the wagon being driven by her friend, causing the wizard to pull his horse to a stop next to Annelise's horse as the small creature spoke.
"You're late," the hobbit, Frodo, said pointedly, looking seriously between the two tall people before him.
"A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins," Gandalf answered a bit testily. "Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."
The trio sat in silence for a few moments after those stern words before each slowly broke into smiles and then laughter. Annelise's laughter grew louder as the small hobbit suddenly threw himself from the embankment he was on, into the wagon to wrap his arms around the laughing wizard.
"It's wonderful to see you, Gandalf!," Frodo exclaimed, before meeting Annelise's eyes over the wizard's shoulder. "And you, Annelise! It has been far too long!"
"You didn't think we'd miss your Uncle Bilbo's birthday?," Gandalf answered with a small chuckle.
"I wouldn't miss this for the world," Annelise answered, smiling at the young Hobbit. While she had spent much of her time the last ten years managing the patrols of the Dunedain around the Shire, it had been a few years since she herself had been able to see her old friend and his nephew. With Bilbo turning one hundred and eleven, the young woman was a bit nervous to see her old friend for fear that he would be much altered while she, at eighty-five, felt she had remained the same for the last twenty years.
"So how is the old rascal?," Gandalf asked Frodo suddenly, his thoughts unknowingly similar to his companions. "I hear it's going to be a party of special magnificence."
"You know Bilbo. He's got the whole place in an uproar."
"Well, that should please him," Gandalf answered, matching Annelise's chuckle.
"Half the Shire's been invited," Frodo continued, "and the rest of them are turning up anyway."
This last comment made the trio burst out laughing again and Annelise couldn't help but look at her surroundings wistfully as they passed through the Shire on their way to Bag End. She had always loved to landscape in this part of the world. With the green rolling hills and quaint little buildings, everything always felt so peaceful and untouched. In her few visits to Bilbo over the years, she would spend most of her time on the bench in his garden just soaking up the rays of the sun and looking out over the expanse of green before her. It truly was one of her favorite places.
She was drawn out of these pleasant thoughts and memories by the change in Frodo's tone as he began speaking once more.
"To tell you the truth, Bilbo's been a bit odd lately. I mean, more than usual," he amended, looking over at Gandalf and Annelise. "He's taken to locking himself in his study. He spends hours and hours pouring over old maps when he thinks I'm not looking."
Annelise quickly looked over, meeting Gandalf's eyes in slight concern before turning her attention back to the path before her, avoiding meeting Frodo's eye. In her last letter from Bilbo some months ago, she had inferred that the old Hobbit was getting restless in the Shire, as his letter was full of longing to see the places they had once traveled to together on their journey all those years ago.
Gandalf likewise tried to look innocent of any knowledge of Bilbo's strange behavior, nursing his pipe as Frodo continued.
"He's up to something," Frodo spoke, almost to himself, before looking over at the two companions when they were conspicuously silent. "All right, then. Keep your secrets."
"What?," Gandalf said incredulously, while Annelise tried to hide her smirk at the wizard trying to act innocent.
"But I know you have something to do with it."
"Good gracious me."
"Before you came along, we Bagginses were very well thought of."
"Indeed?"
"Never had any adventures or did anything unexpected."
"If you're referring to the incident with the dragon, I was barely involved," Gandalf answered defensively, causing Annelise to snort to herself and bringing a mischievous twinkling to the wizard's eye. "All I did was give your uncle a little nudge out of the door."
"Whatever you did, you've been officially labeled a disturber of the peace. The only reason Annelise hasn't received the same title is because she usually comes at night and is relatively quiet."
"Thank you," Annelise responded with a facetious affected accent, with a little tip of her head in Frodo's direction.
"Oh, really?," Gandalf questioned Frodo, looking around at the Hobbit's near them as they rode by. Frodo's words were confirmed by the couple of nasty looks that were directed at the wizard from the older Hobbits. Annelise received a few odd looks herself, but none of them with the same degree of hostility that were aimed at Gandalf. But those looks were instantly forgotten when the delighted cries of numerous Hobbit children began echoing through the air.
"Gandalf! Gandalf!"
Annelise looked around them and saw a dozen little figures racing towards them, and couldn't help but smile at the small children as they stopped in the road behind the travelers, pleading for a show.
"Gandalf! Fireworks, Gandalf! Gandalf!"
Their voices grew quieter and disappointed as it seemed to look like the wizard was going to ignore them, but she caught sight of the look that Frodo turned to Gandalf and smirked to herself. Suddenly there was a loud cheer from the children, as sparks and booms lit up the air around the wagon and a loud booming laugh came from the wizard that had caused them.
Annelise chuckled herself when she turned back to look at the children and saw the same Hobbit that had given Gandalf a particularly dirty look laughing along with the children, much to the consternation of his wife standing next to him.
After a few minutes riding along with them, Frodo stood from his seat on the wagon, preparing to depart.
"Gandalf, I'm glad you're back. Goodbye, Annelise!"
"Goodbye, Frodo!"
"So am I, dear boy!," Gandalf shouted back as the Hobbit jumped down from the wagon and walked away, waving back at them.
"So am I," the wizard repeated quietly to himself, and Annelise couldn't help but agree with him as they made the last turn up the hill.
Annelise pulled her horse to a stop in front of Bag End and couldn't help but chuckle along with Gandalf at the sight of the sign posted on the gate. 'No admittance, except on party business.'
'Ah, Bilbo,' she thought to herself, shaking her head.
She followed behind Gandalf as they walked up the path and the wizard knocked on the door with the bottom of his staff. Annelise couldn't hold back her chuckle at the words that greeted them.
"No, thank you! We don't want any more visitors, well wishers, or distant relations!"
"And what about very old friends?," Gandalf asked loudly, smiling back at Annelise as they heard the door being opened quickly.
"Gandalf? Annelise?," the Hobbit asked incredulously, not believing who he was seeing before him. Annelise smiled in surprise at seeing that her friend was not nearly as changed as she expected him to be at eleventy-one.
"Bilbo Baggins," Gandalf answered, and Bilbo came up quickly to hug the wizard, who was crouched down.
"My dear Gandalf! And you, dearest Annelise!," the hobbit said, turning to hug the kneeling woman tightly with tears in his eyes.
"I'm so happy to see you, dear Bilbo," Annelise said gently, holding back tears herself.
"One hundred and eleven years old. Who would believe it?," Gandalf continued looking down at his friend, before a strange look came over his face. "You haven't aged a day."
The trio stood silent for a few moments at the wizard's words and Annelise turned to study her old friend, realizing with some concern that Gandalf's words were correct. Bilbo certainly did not look one hundred and eleven. At these thoughts, a strange dread settled in Annelise's stomach but she was quick to dismiss it as her two friends began laughing once more and Bilbo excitedly invited them into the house.
"Well, come on, come in! Welcome, welcome! Here we are," he said, shutting the doors and taking Gandalf's hat and staff, along with Annelise's cloak.
"Tea? Or perhaps something a little stronger? I've got a few bottles of the Old Wineyard left. 1296, very good year. Almost as old as I am!," Bilbo continued, moving busily around the house, shouting to them.
"It was laid down by my father. What's say we open one, eh?"
"Just tea, thank you!," Gandalf answered for himself and Annelise, the wizard moving around to head to the front room before accidently hitting his head on the chandelier hanging in the foyer. Annelise herself was hunched down a bit to avoid hitting her head on anything and winced when the wizard turned from stabilizing the chandelier and hit his head on the opening into the front room.
"I was expecting you sometime last week," Bilbo continued speaking from the kitchen as Gandalf made his way to a table, strewn with papers. Annelise herself made her way to the fireplace on the other side of the room and looked at the portraits of Bilbo's parents that were hanging over the mantlepiece. She was hit with a sudden memory of her first time in the house and the echoes of a song once sung in that very room flitted through her head. She pushed the sad memories from her mind as Gandalf gestured to her to look at the paper in his hand.
She sucked in a breath as she realized what it was. The map of Erebor. Her father's map. She put it down quickly, as if burned and looked up to see Gandalf was no longer standing next to her.
"I can make you some eggs if you'd like," Bilbo's voice interrupted her thoughts, and she turned to see him looking confusedly around the room, searching for the wizard. Annelise couldn't help but smile as Bilbo jumped a bit when Gandalf spoke from behind him suddenly.
"Just tea, thank you!"
"Oh, right," Bilbo answered with a nervous chuckle and Annelise walked around the hobbit to join her friend at the kitchen table. Bilbo put a bit of sponge cake in his mouth before speaking hurriedly. "You don't mind if I eat, do you?"
"No, not at all," Gandalf answered as Annelise shook her head, smiling at her friend before tensing up a bit when a hard knock sounded at the door and Bilbo sputtered a bit.
"Bilbo! Bilbo Baggins!," a woman's voice came, and Annelise was puzzled when Bilbo ducked behind the wall.
"I'm not at home!," Bilbo spoke with quiet anger, before slowly creeping to look out the front window toward the door.
"It's the Sackville-Bagginses," He informed them in a loud whisper and both Gandalf and Annelise's eyebrows shot up. She had heard of these particular relatives a time or two over the years, and now understood her friend's strange behavior.
"I know you're in there!"
"They're after the house. They've never forgiven me for living this long," Bilbo continued, moving back into the kitchen. "I've got to get away from these confounded relatives, hanging on the bell all day, never giving me a moment's peace. I want to see mountains again. Mountains, Gandalf! And then find somewhere quiet where I can finish my book. Oh, tea."
Annelise watched her old friend in concern as she watched him move across the kitchen quickly to remove the hot water from the stove.
"So you mean to go through with your plan?"
"Yes, yes. It's all in hand. All the arrangements are made."
"My uncle Elrond told me of your plans in his last letter," Annelise spoke quietly, looking down at the old Hobbit.
"Frodo suspects something," Gandalf told Bilbo, as the Hobbit poured the water into the teapot.
"Of course he does. He's a Baggins, not some blockheaded Bracegirdle from Hardbottle."
"You will tell him, won't you?"
"Yes, yes."
"He's very fond of you."
These words caused the small Hobbit to stop all his various doings and Annelise grew concerned when she saw the sad contemplation on Bilbo's face.
"I know," Bilbo said wearily, moving to the window. "He'd probably come with me if I asked him. I think in his heart, Frodo's still in love with the Shire. The woods, the fields, little rivers."
The heaviness in the Hobbit's next words caused Annelise to move silently to his side and place a concerned hand on his shoulder in support.
"I am old, my friends," Bilbo stated, smiling appreciatively up at Annelise before the pair moved to sit at the table once again. "I know I don't look it, but I'm beginning to feel it in my heart."
Annelise noticed Gandalf's eyes stray to the hand Bilbo had placed in his pocket as if checking for something in it, and she felt a little unsettled at the concerned look that grew in the wizard's eyes.
"I feel thin, sort of stretched. Like butter scraped over too much bread. I need a holiday, a very long holiday. And I don't expect I shall return. In fact, I mean not to."
After the trio drank their tea in relative silence, Bilbo showed his guests to the rooms they would be occupying during their stay. Over the years with Annelise and even Aragorn visiting every so often, Bilbo had set aside two of his guest rooms with beds big enough for the big people (yet another strike against him in the eyes of other Hobbits).
While Gandalf decided to take some time to rest from their journey, Annelise joined Bilbo sitting in his garden and spent time catching up with her friend.
"And how is the Dunedan?," Bilbo asked Annelise after satisfying himself with questions about her journey.
"He is well, as far as I know," Annelise answered, her voice turning a little sad. "He has been busy with tasks from Gandalf and my uncle, Lord Elrond. I hear of him through the two of them but it has been many months since I've heard from him myself, and almost ten years since I've seen him."
"I'm sure he's well," Bilbo encouraged, seeing his companion's distress. "But it must be very important work to keep him from you for such a long time. When I last saw you two together, you were nearly inseparable."
Annelise couldn't help but smile at the memory of her and Aragorn's last visit to the Shire together. It had been fifteen years ago, on her seventieth birthday. She had spent a few weeks with her Hobbit friend and as the pair sat down to supper that night, there was a knock on the door.
Bilbo had asked Annelise to answer the door as he was putting the last dishes on the table, and the young woman did as asked, wondering who would be visiting at such a late hour. She couldn't believe her eyes when she opened the door and saw Aragorn standing before her with a bright smile on his face. He quickly braced himself when he saw her move towards him and throw her arms around him, laughing in surprise. It had been a couple years since the pair had seen each other at that time, and the two days that Aragorn had spent in Bag End were some of Annelise's favorite memories.
Annelise suddenly realized that she had been quiet for too long and looked over to see Bilbo giving her a sly grin, which caused her to blush for some reason.
"Y-yes," she stammered, "Gandalf will not give me very many particulars on where Estel is or what he is doing, other than that it is important and dangerous."
"Though he tells me not to worry," she added ruefully.
"Dangerous, it may be but your Dunedan can handle it," Bilbo said reassuringly and then he changed the subject before Annelise could correct him on Aragorn not being her anything.
As the sun began to lower in the sky, Annelise could see the Hobbits beginning to congregate under the Party Tree for the celebration and Gandalf soon joined the pair, pulling out his pipe as Bilbo did the same.
"Old Toby. The finest weed in the Southfarthing," Bilbo said to no one in particular before blowing a small smoke ring into the air before them. Annelise felt a small smile pull at the corner of her mouth as Gandalf threw a teasing wink in her direction before forming a magnificent ship with his mouth and sending it through Bilbo's ring. Bilbo sighed in amazement and Annelise laughed quietly, as Bilbo spoke once more.
"Well, my old friends, this will be a night to remember."
Here we go! I'm so excited for this story! Let me know what you think!