The traveler jumped over the stone fence beyond sight of the oblivious Bounders standing guard at the main gate, and under the cover of night he crept the perimeter of the snoozing town.
He was not sure if the young hobbit called Dandelily would be found outdoors at that late hour, but as he had met her in the darkness outside of Tuckborough when he convinced her to help him, he counted on her being a night-owl.
If only he knew where she lived. It was not a sprawling town by city standards, but he could not go knocking door to door like a pedlar and especially not when the halfling spoke of her father being a Bounder.
He curiously wondered if the Bounders hung wanted posters when a thief eluded justice.
Lurking outside the illumination of lampposts, occasionally pausing to watch the houses whose front porch lanterns were still yet lit, the traveler heard the sound of soft laughter carrying in the wind. He froze, craning his head to listen to the voices and concluded that a female halfling was one of them.
Slinking around a darkened house, he crossed its front porch and stood outside the periphery of a nearby lamppost. Ahead, he spied a young halfling couple sharing private jokes and stealing kisses after the patrolling Bounder crossed out of line of sight.
A sad smile crept across the weatherworn face of the traveler as he watched the pair. Perhaps they had managed to slip away from their families for a few moments of flirting and handholding, finding excitement in being alone together. He had known those small thrills once, the feeling of butterflies and new love. He had courted his wife that way, long ago. She had been young, still living in her family home, he older but still inexperienced and eager to please.
Another land. Another lifetime.
The young male halfling stood then, grandly gesturing as he told the girl a story or a joke, the traveler could not be sure which. And then the traveler shifted his eyes to the ground, where he spied a lady’s felt hat complete with a lace band and a large pheasant plume pinned to it with a beaded stickpin.
He squinted at the pin and then discreetly crept towards the lost hat, eyes on the pair who remained too involved with each other to notice the shabby prowler nearby. Grimy hands closed on the headpiece, his fingers working at the pin until it gave way. Pocketing the stickpin swiftly, he dropped the hat and disappeared into the night once more.
Again following the winding stone wall, the traveler continued watching the few halflings still milling about the cobblestone walkway at the late hour, trying to spot a familiar face.
After a while, the sound of soft humming carried on the breeze and he paused to discern its source. Not immediately seeing the halfling that the sound emanated from, the traveler crept closer to the fencing by the adjacent house.
A small figure stood quickly at his approach, having heard his hushed footfalls. A miniature hand clutched a dessert fork aloft menacingly in his direction and a small voice called out, "Hey! Who’s out there?"
He crouched behind the fence, startled at having been noticed. Sitting silently in the shadows, the traveler finally peeked over the fencing when the halfling cleared her throat and boomed in a relatively intimidating voice, "I know you’re out there. I heard you walking!"
The traveler peeked his head over the top of the wall just as the halfling turned and ran around the back of the house and towards him.
She rounded the brush, eyes glancing side to side, hand holding a half-eaten pie whose enjoyment he had robbed her of. The traveler smiled to himself; he had found her.
"Honeyfoot of Scary, I have come again," he quietly said.
Dandelily jumped when he spoke, not realizing that she had walked so near to him in the dark. She brought a hand to her chest and replied, "Cripes. You frightened me."
The traveler set the heavy tome under his arm on top of the stonework before speaking again, "My apologies for coming here and so late. I cannot go back to Tuckborough to return this."
"Sheesh! That thing's due tomorrow! You sure took a long time to read it," she chided as she pulled down the tome in her free hand.
He half-smiled in agreement and said, "Indeed there were some… distractions. It is safe and sound, as you can see. I am indebted to your kindness."
The Honeyfoot shot him another look before asking, "What? You don’t read good?"
"In truth I did not read it at all. My companion did and would still if she could. But she has found what she needed from it," the traveler replied in a neutral tone before continuing, "I am sorry to interrupt your dinner."
Dandelily’s eyes twinkled in the gloam, a knowing smirk alight on her face as she said, "Oh your ladyfriend you mentioned. And this isn’t dinner. Just a pre-midnight snack snack."
The traveler began to refute her presumptions, then stopped and shook his head instead saying, "Perhaps my companion is a pre-friend ladyfriend."
The hobbitess scrunched up her face, not following his logic. She replied, "Whatever you say mister," before setting her pie down and flipping through the pages of the tome, inspecting it for damage
He could not in retrospect understand why he did so then, but felt the need to clarify to the Honeyfoot, saying in a matter-of fact tone, "She would be better off with someone worthier."
"Your ladyfriend? Why?"
He raised a brow dubiously and simply gestured at himself as if the answer were utterly obvious.
Looking satisfied at the condition of the library tome, the halfling pulled a woven reed cord from the front of her dress that had been tucked inside, revealing the crystal bird he had left with her as collateral.
"I spose you'll be wanting this."
The traveler lowered his eyes before replying, "I did offer it to you. If you desire to keep it for the favour."
Dandelily looked at the bird with adoration and sighed. She seemed to consider the offer momentarily, then frowned before saying, "It's very pretty. It is. I've been wearing it, to tell the truth. But... if my Pa saw it, he'd want to know where I got it from. What boy's come knocking, that kind of thing."
"You could speak truth. A man gave it to you in exchange for a favour for his... ladyfriend."
"Then he'll want to know what man. And I'll have to tell him, this tall spooky sort from Bree. No offense, Mister. Then he'll want to know who you are, and what you were doing in the Shire. He's a Bounder and all. I'd have to tell him."
The traveler grinned at the use of 'spooky' but then nodded in agreement when he heard her say 'Bounder.' Carefully he replied, "I did not wish you to receive nothing for your trouble. That is why I offered it. I have little else to give. You have been kind and gracious, for this spooky man."
"Well... it's not often people want to know about the Shire. And I get to tell Margo Boffin I know a spooky hobo. She'll be jealous," the halfling explained as she nodded, satisfied. Then she held the necklace out to him in her small, chubby hand.
He found her remarks amusing, laughing softly before he accepted the crystal in his grimy palm, speaking, "Jealous? Then that shall be the first time in all my life anyone has been jealous over me, young Honeyfoot."
"Well... we don't get much for outside folk here."
The traveler rubbed his roughened thumb over the smooth crystal sitting coolly in his hand. He nodded his thanks before slipping the piece back inside his battered rucksack. Quietly he spoke again saying, "For that, you can be thankful. One day it may not be that way."
The young Honeyfoot eyed the man’s rough worn clothing and boots and his painfully thin frame. She then picked up the half eaten pie and gave it to him as well.
Having slung his rucksack over his shoulder the traveler looked down at the offered pie and then to the halfling saying, "I cannot take your meal... your snack."
"No offense, mister. But you look like you could use it."
"You mean no offense often."
"I mean no offense always."
He smiled before extending his hand, accepting the pie tin gratefully. He spoke, "Thank you for this kindness too."
"You tell those folks in Bree that us Honeyfeet are kind."
"For the time I am in Bree, I will do so. Be well, young hobbit. We may not meet again."
"Travel safe. And eat something!"
The traveler chuckled before he melted into the shadows, and the soft protesting of the hobbit’s belly was barely heard.
