"I found one," Tiger Lily said, opening the door to the morning room with a pencil in her hand. Rob was stood, hands in pockets, looking uncomfortable. "Didn't you want to sit down?" she said.

He rubbed the back of his head, his face taught with discomfort. "Din't like to."

"Oh."

He nodded at the family tree hanging above the fireplace. "Odd picture. All that writing."

"It's not a picture. It's a family tree," she said, coming to stand beside him. "The descendants of Isembold Took."

"Right." There was a small smile as he studied the canvas. "Nothing wrong with your lot, is there?

Tiger Lily frowned. She wasn't quite sure what he meant. "No, I suppose not."

"Whereabouts is your name?"

She walked up to the frame and tapped on the glass. "Here."

"Huh." Rob squinted at the writing. "The Thain on here?"

"No. He's a descendant of Hildigrim."

"Right." He frowned, and seemed to pale. "Can we step outside, miss? Get started on the fence."

"Yes, of course." She led him through the front door into the chill, where the two pieces of lumber they had picked up from the wood merchant were leaned against the doorframe.

"I was, uh, I was sorry to hear of the Thain's son," Rob said as he picked up the planks of wood. "Was you and he close?"

"I didn't know him." She briefly explained about her father's summoning to Buckland.

"They found 'em yet?"

"Not that I've heard. But I suppose you can only do as much as you can do."

"That's about right." Rob smiled weakly. "My mum wanted to send old Gaffer Gamgee something, but Dad said we couldn't afford it."

"Oh." Tiger Lily had had a brief look at the letter from the Thain, and remembered an off-hand mention that her three cousins had been accompanied by a Hobbit in the service of Mr Baggins. She brushed a loose lock of hair out of her face. "Did you know Mr, uh, Mr Gamgee, or…?" She wasn't sure if it was acceptable to ask this—to assume that he didn't know any of the other Hobbits who had disappeared, or that he would know Mr Gamgee just because they were both working-hobbits. She wasn't even sure his name was 'Mr Gamgee'.

Rob didn't seem to take any offence, shrugging. "Met 'im once or twice. Seemed steady enough."

Tiger Lily nodded, but was preoccupied by his complexion, and the stiffness in his shoulders. "You're upset."

"I'm all right." He smiled unconvincingly. "A bit grand for me, is all. Din't realise how many Tooks there are."

"Oh…" They turned the corner to walk along the side of the smial. "You must have a family tree that's just as… grand. All people must do, when you think about it. Everyone has two parents, and four grandparents, and eight great-grandparents and so on." She hesitated. "Unless some of them married cousins, I suppose."

He snickered. "I reckon so. But my mum don't talk to her family no more, an' my dad don't have no brothers or sisters so that's that. Don't remember my grandad too well. Grandma died the summer just gone." He sniffed.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"She had a good go of it, I guess." He shifted his grip on the boards.

"Can you manage there?"

"I'm all right."

"Don't your parents have any cousins? Aunts, uncles?"

"Don't know about Mum. Dad has some, I think, but they're all in Little Delving."

They stopped by the gap in the fence, where Rob walked off the lawn and rested the planks on the ground. "How'd this happen, anyway?"

"Oh. Rowley—that is, Master Sango—tried to climb over and the wood was soft from the rain."

Rob raised a sceptical eyebrow as he held one of the planks against the gap. "Why'd he do that? Here, help me hold it steady."

Tiger Lily took hold of the board as Rob adjusted the angle. "Do you need the pencil?"

"Mmm." Rob's brow was creased with concentration as he marked the plank. "Cheers." He leaned it against one of the fence posts and picked up the other. Tiger Lily held this one without being told. "Why din't he use the gate?"

"Oh, I don't know," she said wearily. "Usually he does it because it's the quickest route from my window."

Rob looked up at her sharply, his eyebrows raised. "You what?"

"My window…" She glanced back at the window, embedded in the bank. "Sometimes he goes there to talk to me if it's late."

"Oh. Right." Rob turned his attention back to marking out the wood. Tiger Lily noticed the spots of red on the tips of his ears and her stomach dropped away.

"Nothing sordid!" she said, her face becoming hot. "It really is just—"

"I get it." He was looking very earnestly at the planks of wood as he compared it to one on another section of the fence. "They're going to need planing down a bit. How similar do you want 'em to the others?"

"I think Mother wants them fairly uniform, but as it's at the side it doesn't matter too much if they're a bit out."

"Right." He stood, picking the wood up again. "You said you had tools?"

"Yes. This way." She led him along the path to the partition between the garden and yard, holding the gate open for him.

She followed the well-trodden path to a little shed at the back of the bank. "Here we are," she said as she opened the shed door.

Rob let out a low whistle as they stepped inside. All along one wall was a rack, filled with long pieces of wood, cut into quarters. There were a couple of workbenches, tools scattered along them. The floor was covered in wood dust "Couldn't we've used one of these?" he said, knocking a knuckle against one of the pieces of wood in the rack.

"Oh, no. No. They're to make bows with." She saw the questioning look Rob was giving her and became flustered. "It's all yew or elm, and it has to have the right amount of sapwood and heartwood, you see. It would be a shame to waste it on a fence."

The questioning look disappeared and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. "You know a bit about this for someone who don't hunt."

Tiger Lily did her best to remain composed, but started fidgeting with her fingers. "Yes. Well. One picks things up."

"Mm-hm." Rob said, walking up to one of the workbenches and turning the handle of the vice to open its jaws.

Tiger Lily watched silently as he started to saw through the wood. It was painful to watch him working while she just stood. She wanted to help. Her fingers twitched restlessly. Finally it became too much. Rob looked askance at her as she picked up the other plank of wood and clamped it in place with the vice on the other worktable. "You all right there, miss?"

"Oh, yes." She smiled sadly at him. "It will get done quicker with both of us working on it."

"S'pose so…" he said, pausing in his work to watch her. "You know what you're doing?"

"Well enough, thank you."

He didn't look convinced. "It's just if you hurt yourself, an' I'm the only one here, it'll be me what's—"

"I shan't hurt myself. Thank you," Tiger Lily said with a finality that silenced Rob, though she could still see him glancing at her every few seconds in her peripheral vision. She did her best to ignore it and focus on what she was doing—or she would hurt herself. There was a clunking sound as Rob finished sawing. She heard the sound of him running a plane over the board. Tiger Lily kept her eyes firmly down as she finished her sawing.

Rob paused in his work, rubbing his mouth with a large forearm. "You'll need a jack plane to get the width down. It's the one—"

Tiger Lily didn't speak as she reached for the plane before he had finished speaking, smiling faintly. She couldn't interpret the way he was looking at her. "Were you going to use a smoothing plane to finish or…?"

"Weren't planning to, no."

"All right." She carefully took the plane in both hands and began to run it down the plank, curling slivers of wood falling to the floor as she did.

Rob finished well before her, and stood leaning against the wall with his arms folded. She still couldn't decipher his expression and it was irritating her. It was sort of amused… but not quite. She wiped her brow, damp with sweat.

"You want a hand there?" he said.

She paused, panting slightly. "No, thank you." She set the plane down to see how close she was to being done. She found the pencil mark on the side of the plank and sighed. Nearly there.

She glanced at Rob again as she picked up the plane again. She wished he would say something. "Are you well?"

"Reckon so."

She looked back down and pulled the plane down the wood, willing him to look away.

"You do hunt, don't you?"

She brought the plane to an abrupt halt and looked over her shoulder again, her heart thumping. "No, I don't."

He scoffed. "Come off it. You expect me to believe you learnt this from watching your dad? You've held a plane before. I can tell."

She scowled and looked down, determined not to look up at him again. "I don't shoot."

"Did you ever?"

"That's none of your business," she said sharply. For a while the only sound was that of the planing.

"Ain't no shame in it," Rob said.

"There is shame!" she said, looking at him again and trembling with emotion. "An endless amount of it. Now if you don't mind, I'd rather not cut my fingers off."

Neither of them said anything else until Tiger Lily was finished, finally setting the plane down on the workbench. "So that's that done," she said, twisting the handle of the vice to release the wood. "I'm, uh, I'm sorry for snapping at you."

He shrugged as he collected up the planks. "No harm done. Can't really complain after… when we was walking back from Hobbiton."

"That's forgotten," she said, picking up the hammer and a box of nails. "Have you had any trouble with Rico recently?"

"Not so much of late. Mayhap he don't fancy his chances now Mr Boffin's letting the farm go."

Tiger Lily stared at him. There was nothing in his expression or tone to suggest he was joking. "You wouldn't actually… beat him, would you?"

Rob looked at her apologetically. "I'll try not to."

The ponies that were grazing in the yard followed them as they walked back to the partition. Rob continually glanced over his shoulder at them, and didn't stop until they were in the garden again, with the gate firmly closed.

"What's wrong?"

Rob knelt down by the damaged section of the fence and looked uncertainly back over at the ponies. "Hate ponies. One kicked me down the farm once."

"Ooh." Tiger Lily chewed her bottom lip in sympathy. "Were you all right?"

"Not very. Couldn't work for weeks. Could you help me hold it again?" He held the first board up between the fence posts.

Tiger Lily did as he said and glanced over at the ponies, who were now watching them forlornly over the partition. "I can see how that would put one off." She looked back down at Rob, who was shifting the board to make sure it was straight, a nail clamped between his teeth "Don't do that," she said instinctively.

He gave her a questioning look, one eyebrow raised. "Eh?"

"Don't put the nails in your mouth," Tiger Lily said. "It's disgusting."

Rob gave her a withering look and removed it. "I've done this before, lass."

"But what if you sneeze?"

"I won't sneeze," he said and replaced the nail.

Tiger Lily smiled. "Are you a seer, then?"

He grinned through the nail and removed it again. "Aye. Seer of sneezes." He sighed and dropped it back into the box. "All right, then. If it'll make you less fretful."

Tiger Lily tried to think of something else to say as Rob started hammering the nails in. "Is that why your family name is Delver? Because your family came from Little Delving?"

"Mm. Grandad came here afore my dad was born."

"Mine too. It's not nice being separated from the rest of your family."

"I ain't wanting for family, miss."

She shook her head. "No, of course. Sorry. Are you the eldest?"

"Fifth," Rob said, knocking in the nail. "There's Meg, Jonson, Jack, Clover, me, Maizey, Hender, Poppy, Myrtle, Danny, Fastad and Martin."

"Gosh. You'll have a lot of nieces and nephews."

"Need in-laws for that. An' our Meg's only coming of age in a couple of days so…" He picked up another nail and started hammering it in. "So won't be thinking about that for a while."

Tiger Lily pursed her lips. "So… if your eldest sibling's only just of age, that would make you…?" she said, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Twenty-seven."

Twenty-seven. He had seemed older than her…

Rob finished hammering the board in and licked his top lip. "Why're you wanting to know my age, miss?"

Tiger Lily drew herself up. "I'm only making small talk, Master Rob."

A wily grin spread across his face. "That so? How old're you, then?"

"It's impolite to ask a lady her age."

"I'll 'ave to guess then," he said, scratching his chin. "Twenty-four, twenty-five?"

"I'm twenty-seven, thank you very much!"

Rob jumped back at her suddenly shrill tone. He saw her expression and snorted, covering his eyes with a calloused hand. "I weren't that far out. No need to take offence."

Tiger Lily scowled and folded her arms. "There's a world of difference between being twenty-four and being twenty-seven."

"Sorry, miss," he said, grinning at her. "Have pity."

She smiled pertly, and cast her eyes down. "Well, I suppose if you're terribly sorry…"

"I reckon I am."

She looked back up at Rob, and noticed for the first time that his eyes, while brown, were touched with hazel. His nose was slightly crooked, and his jawline strong. Not handsome as such, but not homely either. She was vaguely aware that there was some difference in the way she interacted with Rob compared to her interactions with other lads. There was an easy availability with Rob that simply wasn't there with the others. What exactly that availability was, though—and what it meant—she wasn't sure.

His grin disappeared and he sat back on his haunches and sighed. "This is really bloody stupid."

Her own smile fell in an instant. "What is?"

"All of it." He looked guiltily at her. "My mum an' dad said I should be wary of you. Said you could be trouble."

"Oh. Sorry." She bit her lip. "I don't want to be trouble."

"We'd be best off saying our goodbyes."

Tiger Lily looked down and nodded, pursing her lips. "Yes. You're right."

The jarring sound of the hammer cut through the air as they got started ton the second connecting board. Rob wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Couldn't we just see each other one last time?" she blurted. "It doesn't count if we know it's going to be the last we see each other, and we could meet somewhere out of the way if that made you feel safer."

Rob finally lifted his eyes. "Why don't it count?"

Tiger Lily sighed and looked up. "Because… because it doesn't."

His expression relaxed into a soft half-smile. "You're an odd lass."

"Sorry."

"I meant nice odd."

"Oh." She smiled. "Does that mean we can see each other again?"

"I reckon there ain't no harm in it. If it's the last time. Next Wednesday at six all right this time?"

"Definitely. The same place we met last week?"

"All right with me."

"Good," she said, and smiled foolishly. "Would you like to come in for tea when we're finished?"

"Hello?" a voice said.

Tiger Lily turned her head towards the sound, and smiled in puzzlement as she saw Sango standing uncertainly at the far end of the garden. "Hello, Rowley."

Sango smiled uncertainly and approached. "Sorry for trespassing, but I heard your voice." He looked at Rob confusedly. "Aren't you one of the Delvers?"

"I am, sir. Rob, sir," he said with a nod.

Sango closed his eyes. "Yes, of course. How are you?"

"Can't complain, sir."

"I went up to the farm earlier, but you were out," Tiger Lily said.

"Yes, I was with Lavender. Sorry to have deserted you."

"No need to be sorry, I've been in good company." She looked at Rob and smiled.

Sango nodded uncertainly. "I just thought I'd put my head in to see how you are, given the day. But it seems you're busy," he said, looking at Rob.

"A bit," Tiger Lily said. It occurred to her that this was the first time in years that she had needed to turn Sango away because of a prior social engagement. He didn't look all that happy about it. "Sorry. I was about to make some tea, though, would you like some?"

"I can put the kettle on. But could you show me where it is?"

"Yes, of course. Can I let go?" she said, looking at Rob.

"Aye. It'll keep in place."

"I'll only be a moment." She slipped through the door that led straight to the kitchen, Sango following behind her. The sudden warmth brought a rush of blood to her cheeks. She started opening cupboards in search of the kettle while Sango set about filling the stove.

"It's nice to do things, isn't it?" she said as she started to fill the kettle with water from the pump at the sink. "To actually put your hand to something and make. I mean, not that I don't do things usually, but practical things not so much…" She hesitated. "I've lost track of my sentence." She glanced over her shoulder at Sango, who was just throwing a lit match into the firebox. She heaved the kettle onto the stove. "What were we talking about?"

"'We' rather implies that I was making some contributions," Sango said. He looked oddly drained.

Tiger Lily grinned and moved the biscuit barrel from the sideboard to the table at the centre of the room. "It's so nice to talk to someone new. He makes me feel all strange."

Sango's eyebrows rose up his head. "Strange?"

"Yes. It's sort of, um—" She closed her eyes. "It's sort of like the feeling you have before Lithe." She opened her them. "And there's something else. Something I don't have the words for." She rushed to Sango, taking his hands. "It's like anything could happen."

Sango smiled. "What sort of anything?"

She laughed. "Anything! That's why it's called 'anything'."

"Tills, you're scaring me."

Tiger Lily stopped, and realised that Sango's smile wasn't reaching his eyes and his voice was trembling. "What's wrong?"

He looked down at their hands and shook his head. "You just need to calm down a bit."

She withdrew her hands and smoothed down her skirt, swallowing. "Sorry."

Sango sighed and leaned on the table. "You seem to be having a nice time with Master Rob."

Tiger Lily smiled uncertainly. "I am. I enjoy his company."

"Mmm." He looked at the table, scratching at the grain of the wood. "Why is it all right for you to spend time with him unaccompanied, but not me?"

Tiger Lily froze. She hadn't considered this. "Well… no one thinks Master Rob and I are courting."

Sango pressed is tongue to the roof of his mouth. "Rico did. I had to correct him."

"Oh." She shuffled her feet nervously. "Sorry."

"You're forgiven. Will you start taking a chaperone with you now?"

She fidgeted. It wasn't possible to answer that question in a way she liked. "I don't think Mother or Opal would agree to it."

"Maybe there's a reason for that."

She folded her arms, feeling suddenly defensive. "Why are you talking like this? I don't understand… You knew I wanted a new friend. And I think… I think he might like me. Actually like me. I'm not sure why." She laughed in the hope that he would interpret this as a joke.

"I do wish you wouldn't talk about yourself like that." He sighed. "I'm sorry for being a pain. It's just that for a moment I was worried you might pursue a courtship with him." He looked at her seriously. "You wouldn't, would you? You know that would be a terribly silly thing to do."

Tiger Lily forced her mouth into what she hoped was a convincing smile. "Of course I wouldn't."

He face relaxed into its usual soppy grin. "I knew you wouldn't really, I just wanted to make sure. One of us has to be the sensible one, or we're all done for."

She did her best to maintain her smile, but her heart wasn't in it. "You could be the sensible one if you wanted."

"That's for better Hobbits than I," he said, leaving the room. "I'll see myself out."

Tiger Lily watched him go. The sensible thing would be to say nothing more. There was no point in stirring things up. "What about Lavender?" she said.

Sango hesitated at the doorway, and turned to look at her. "I'm sorry?"

"If I were considering a courtship with Master Rob, which I'm not, why is that sillier than you courting Lavender?" He opened his mouth to reply, but she interrupted. "I've asked Mother already and she wouldn't tell me, so that leaves you."

Sango groaned and looked away. "I can't. It's not modest."

"Please, Rowley…"

"I really don't want to go against your mother's wishes," he said. "She might say I can't see you anymore."

This idea was incomprehensible. For her and Sango to be separated. It would be like losing a part of herself. "No," she said, putting a hand on the table to steady herself as her mouth went dry.

He smiled sadly at her. "Have a nice evening."

"You too."

As he left the room she realised that the kettle was whistling and cursed internally, covering her hand with a dish rag to lift it off the stove. She looked up from pouring into the teapot when the door to the garden opened. "Hello, Master Rob," she said, smiling weakly.

"Miss Tiger Lily," he said, holding his hands out over the stove to bring some warmth back into them. "All's done. Hammer and nails're back in the shed. Hope you din't mind me putting 'em back myself."

"No. It's very kind, thank you. Do sit down," she said, gesturing to the chair across from her as she clattered with the teacups and strainers. She remembered his aversion to sitting in the morning room and added, "Unless you feel more comfortable standing, of course."

Rob eased himself into one of the wooden chairs that surrounded the table. "Don't reckon there's much chance of me dirtying these."

Tiger Lily froze and looked up at him in sinking hopelessness. "That was the reason you didn't want to sit in the morning room?"

He shrugged, looking at the table. "In part."

"Oh, Rob…"

He smirked. "'Rob' now, is it?"

She inhaled as she passed him his tea. "I apologise, Master Rob. But you're free to sit where you choose. You're my…" Her what? Acquaintance, friend, or something else entirely? "…Associate?"

He chuckled. "If you like. I din't feel comfortable, that's all. You got any milk?"

"Oh. Yes."

As Tiger Lily disappeared into the pantry Rob took the opportunity to examine his surroundings. The teaspoon in the sugar bowl was of untarnished silver, and had a little floral design around the handle. For the matter, the sugar bowl itself also had a floral design. The teacups were so delicate you could see through them. It occurred to Rob that this kitchen was much nicer than any room in his own home. The floors were free of rot, and everything had a neat newness to it.

He made an internal note to never come in here again.

There was the sound of a door opening somewhere in the smial and then the pattering of feet. A small Hobbit pushed open the kitchen door, but stopped short when he saw Rob. He was a lad with dark hair that fell in loose curls around his ears, about the same age as the twins. Rob noted the features he shared with Tiger Lily: the same shapeless nose, soft brown eyes and dark complexion—darker than his own, even with his outdoor work.

"You'd be Master Bandobold, then," Rob said.

"Are you here to repair the fence?" Bandobold said.

Rob scowled. "Nice to meet you too. I'd've got beat for that when I was your age."

"Here we are." Tiger Lily emerged from the pantry with a jug of milk.

"You shouldn't speak like that to me," Bandobold said, ignoring Tiger Lily.

"Don't be rude," Tiger Lily said.

"Well, he shouldn't," Bandobold said. "I am in line for the Thainship."

"Not really." Tiger Lily sat lightly in the chair opposite Rob and cast him a twinkling look. "He's thirtieth in line."

"Thirty-third, actually," Bandobold said, fishing three pieces of shortbread from the open biscuit barrel.

"I beg your pardon, sir," she said, sipping her tea. "But you know that's further down, don't you?"

"I know that. But if you're going to make fun of me then you should at least make sure you're in the right."

"I have more important things to remember than the line of succession. Is Mother home too?"

"She started talking to Mrs Diggle so I ran on ahead," he said before running out of the room with a bouncing step.

Tiger Lily looked back over at Rob. "Sorry."

"Cocky thing, ain't 'e?"

"Well, he knows he's important. The only male heir of the Holtbold line. Great things are expected of him." She rolled her eyes as she drank her tea.

"What things?"

"The usual: more money, more books, more land. To win favour with the Thain. And to carry the line on, of course, with a lady of good breeding."

"Thirty-third…" Rob said, brow creased. "Not much chance of your dad becoming Thain, then."

She grinned and shook her head. "None at all. And a good thing, too. He'd… he'd hate it." She swallowed and started absentmindedly tapping the side of her tea cup. "I suppose Uncle Hortenbold might make a good Thain. He always knows what to do when things go wrong and he's stern enough to hold his ground. Not that I think Father would be a bad Thain, but he needs help to keep on top of his business and he worries easily. If he were Thain he would have a lot more to worry about and everyone would be depending on him and that would worry him even more. It's not a nice thought." She paused for breath. "Sorry. Why should you care about all of that?"

Rob shrugged. "Sometimes… it's nice just to talk."

She smiled. "Yes." She sipped her tea again and took a piece of shortbread. "Do help yourself."

Slowly he tilted the biscuit barrel to look inside. "You make these?"

"No. Mother. If I made them they'd crumble as soon as you touched them," Tiger Lily said with a laugh.

"I ain't really hungry," he said. "But could I… Could I take some for the little'uns?"

"Yes, of course."

Rob put a hand into the barrel, brought out four pieces of shortbread and put them in his pocket. He reasoned it wasn't charity if they had it lying around anyway, and it wasn't unchivalrous if it was for the children.

Tiger Lily smiled sadly. She wouldn't think of Bandobold if she were in Rob's place. Her ears pricked at the sound of the front door opening "Mother's home," she said.

Rob stood, nearly knocking over his chair. "I'd best be off, miss."

Tiger Lily rose from her own seat, keeping her hands clasped. "Of course." She led him back through to the garden. She half-smiled when she saw him visibly relax to be out in the open air. "There's no need to be quite so frightened. She's not vicious."

He smiled sheepishly at her. "Don't want her to think I'm corrupting her lass."

"Mmm." Tiger Lily pulled the door to behind them. "Would you prefer to leave out of the side gate?" She nodded at the gate in question. They would have to go through the yard to get to it. "Don't worry, I can protect you from the ponies."

He laughed gruffly. "All right then."

They walked through the yard together and Tiger Lily closed the gate between them.

"See you next Wednesday then," he said.

"Yes. That's fine. Thank you for the fence."

"No trouble, lass." He tugged his cap and walked away.

Tiger Lily turned as she felt a nudge against her shoulder to find one of the ponies stood behind her. "What do you want, Posy?" she cooed, scratching the pony between its ears. It was strange. There was too much energy, and everything was suddenly so confusing. She sighed and hid her face in Posy's neck. What am I doing?