Chapter six: Almost giving up.

Of the newspapers that I had gathered I had now read the Breeland Herald and discarded it while I put the others back into my pack to be read later. There was nothing in that paper, that had helped me in my search for Yola, my “real” mother. Here in Bree, I had met only trouble and nothing to further me in my search.
My first concern was to replace my spear. In Staddle I had done several people a favour by helping them with problems they had. And in some cases that involved using my weapon skills. I was glad I had learned how to fight and defend myself, as it had certainly saved my life the other night in the Beggar’s Alley. There was a kind woman at the Bree Prison Garrison who had offered to learn me some more tricks, which I gladly accepted. She recommended I’d visit her or her colleagues regularly in the future, which I took to heart.
I was also getting a bit tired of running about. I had pampered myself by hiring a pony on some occasions and now I wanted a pony of my own. So I first went to the Bree Market square and acquired a brand new spear, of better quality even than the previous one I had owned. To buy a pony, they told me, I had to travel north once leaving the west gate. It was a long and dangerous trip once more, but I arrived unscathed at the horse breeder’s farm. I was able to purchase a nice pony that I named “Francesca”.
Bree, Staddle, Combe, the poor, ransacked village of Archet..  I visited them all and still had come no further in my search than the day I had left Buckland. It was time to return home. I had failed thus far and I was tired. I longed to be with Pa and Ma again, in a safe and soothing environment to think about what to do next.
On the way back from Bree to Buckland, I stopped to apologise to Master Adso Haybank for the pebble I threw at his head. He remembered the incident and smiled: “Oh, that was just you then? We thought we were under attack!” And we both had a good laugh when I told him that I had thought, that he was a prisoner of brigands. But these men were just his work crew. I wished him well with the building of his inn and I promised to come by for an ale once it would be finished.
My parents, well, Pa and Ma as I still call them, were delighted to see me again. I withheld from them my most dangerous adventures, for I did not want to alarm them. It was lovely to be back in Buckland and I allowed my thoughts of Yola and my unnamed real father to sink to the background. I was in serious doubt whether I would ever be successful in finding them. But hobbits do not only dwell in Staddle and thereabout. There was still the Shire to be searched, across the great Brandywine River. But I had just as little to start with as I had when I went away to Bree. With a sigh I threw my pack in a corner of my bedroom, next to my shield and the brand new spear I’d bought a few days before. I left them there untouched for quite some time.

Next: a new clue!