Her time in Rivendell is joyous, but she must get home. Bell doesn't like goodbyes, so she just slips away one morning, and climbs the fells to the moors above Bruinen. She follows the trail carefully, and makes note of the markers, not wanting to lose her way when she returns. Bell makes the giddy descent to the ford and crosses Loudwater, coming back to the road she travelled earlier in the year.
So much has happened since then! Adventures and meetings both, with interesting people, books and geography. Bell rides slowly, planning the articles she will write, and making record of the many locations along the way she wishes to revisit.
She comes back to a Bree unchanged, still celebrating in the aftermath of war. The quality of the fried taters at the Prancing Pony is undiminished, she stays there an extra day just to make sure. Bell sneaks back into the Shire by night, taking the back roads west to Whitwich; where she gets a hot welcome from Aunt Azzy, full of scolding for the time she has been away.
The next morning she sits on her doorstep drinking tea, and gazes out over Whitwich; across the lake to the waterfall in the distance, a view she loves. She is so glad to be back, and so glad that she went. But then a dark lethargy creeps upon her, that which comes upon all of us when a great journey or project is completed, and everything that follows seems as nothing to what has gone before. There is much to be done, and she must plan for it, but motivation escapes her; and all she can do is sit, and drink tea, and hope that one day her strength will return.
The weather fits her mood. The sky darkens and sudden squalls rush from the north. She retreats inside. Rain spurts. Wind rips at the garden and rattles every pane in the house. The hearth fire flickers under the chimney draught. Bell has come home just in time for the worst weather the Shire has seen in years.
For days the rain is lashing cruel, as only Summer rain can be, but the winds are something else, tormenting with evil gusts. Branches snap from trees and dance about, and hobbits on the road are hurled from feet and thrown to verging hedges. The wise stay within doors.
With no choice given, Bell must make the best. She sits by the brazier writing her articles, and studies the texts she brought back. They live in a cell imprisoned by the storm; the only freedom a mad and sodden dash to the woodshed or vege patch, as needs must. Inaction enforced breaks the lethargy, and she begins to make her plans in spite.
A pause in the weather comes. Bells delivers Matzo his pies, in apology for the one she trampled; and he receives them with grace and gratitude, Bell has been forgiven. And she makes it to the Green Dragon for a Friday Night. The usual crowd is there: so there are hobbits, and joy, and dancing, and good food, all the things that make the Shire great. A weight lifts from her heart, even as the wind and rain return. Life is good.
A morning comes at last when a blue sky dawns after long rain. The grass is green, the streams are bustling, and the birds are blathering to any that will hear. Another cup of tea on the doorstep for Bell, but this time her mood rises with the sun.
First, a few minor repairs on the house. Then the garden, bashed by the storm and neglected in her absence; she must reset it and plant the autumn crops (turnips, kale, and beet); and give instruction to the helper she employs to see it well kept till harvest. She must finish the articles she planned from her journey, and get some study done: both on her complete botanical survey of Eriador, and on the history and geography of the Rangers of the North. And then she can plan her next trip!
But her first trip must be to the Mathom House, the place that launched her love of learning, she must recheck their available resources on her current studies.
Mathoms! What an excellent idea, she should go mathoming. Bell can't return to Rivendell yet, as so long a journey soon after the last is out of the question: but what about Bree? It is nice and close. She could do a thorough survey of the ruins of Bree, and see if she can pick up any new mathoms while she's about it. And the Old Forest! She hasn't been there for ages. She could go out that way, and finish her study of Old Forest flowers.
A few weeks at home first, to sort things out, obviously: but then, mathoming in Breeland! May as well go and visit the Prancing Pony while she's there; they still have some dishes she hasn't tried. Not to mention the Comb and Wattle, who do quite a good bistro themselves. And the Mad Badger in Archet: it was destroyed in the war, but they may have rebuilt it by now; and the cook there used to do the most excellent Stuffed Chicked Breast in Plum Sauce. Mmmm!
But first, the Mathom House. She grabs her hat and coat, waves to her aunt, and she's off. Or at least, she would be: but Aunt Azzy bawls her out in no uncertain terms, and tells her to fix the broken planks in the porch and get the garden sorted before she goes anywhere.
Ah well. She can wait. After all, it's a beautiful day in the Shire: so who would want to be anywhere else?
