A passion for Mushrooms

Beginning With Breakfast

Having an apprentice was very pleasant. Simple things like going to the great market for wax paper, parchment, and glue were made fun when they would have once been a chore. This was because Lea knew the going rate for those things and was much better at argumentative dwarvish haggling than Bilbo, who would have paid far more without her. She was also very efficient and careful with the trilbies. So much so, that Bilbo soon trusted her to cut and string them for drying without his direct supervision, which gave him more time to spend in his little mine, harvesting and seeing to the growth of the precious mushrooms.

Still, he was not so hard at work among his trilbies that he did not have time for his friends. Or perhaps it was his friends who refused to be forgotten. They seemed content to spend only one dinner cursing Bombur and congratulating Bilbo on his Mastery. For the most part Bilbo hid next to Thorin that evening. No one was ever too demonstrative in the immediate proximity of the stone-faced king. The exception to this rule proved to be Thorin himself who continued to be very friendly to Bilbo, as though making up for lost time. The hobbit was too weak to endure much of that, so he dashed off to talk with Gloin about finding flagstones to preserve the pathways in his mine. He also talked at length with Fili about how dwarves made those glowing golden lights that did not smoke and where he might find some for the parts of his chamber that were not close enough to the big doors to be illuminated by the light from the hall.

Of course Bilbo had not actually been hinting, but Gloin turned up the next day with giant slabs of beautiful green granite. Apparently he needed to get rid of them to make space in a storeroom somewhere and would be happy to sell them to Bilbo for a crown apiece. Not at all fooled, and very grateful besides, Bilbo paid his friend. Then he simply watched in awe as Gloin and Lea worked together with hammers and chisels to cut the stones into exactly the shapes Bilbo outlined. Walking softly, they placed them carefully just where Bilbo wanted them. No mushrooms were harmed by dwarven feet, and once again Bilbo marveled at the skill and strength his friends all seemed to possess.

The day after that, Fili, Kili, and Tauriel turned up with six of the big glowing lanterns to illuminate any dark corners of the little mine. “I crafted them myself,” Fili said modestly. “As I do not have my Mastery yet, they are not worth very much, but I could part with the lot for three crowns.”

Lea made an excitable noise and sat down hard. Bilbo squawked, but she had only sat upon one of the granite flagstones, and the mushrooms were all fine. Still it galled him a little that she refused to explain herself, saying only, “I no longer wonder that you do not understand the value of money if this is the sort of commerce you engage in.”

Bilbo rolled his eyes at her. “It is only a joke,” he said. “Fili likes to pretend he does not make me a gift of them.”

“I am sure that his Royal Majesty the Crown Prince may do as he likes,” Lea said quickly.

Ignoring her, Bilbo threw the coins to the grinning youth saying, “Now you are paid, so help me hang them already.”

Both princes laughed at that, and Tauriel rewarded their antics with a quiet smile. Still, it was good to have so many hands. Tauriel had a very good eye for light and saw right away the best places to hang the lanterns for maximum effect. Unfortunately, Bilbo could not allow them to set up ladders atop his mushrooms. However, given that the ceiling of the chamber was in most places only three dwarves tall, Lea was able to stand on Kili’s shoulders, hoisting Fili onto her own and positioning him well to hang the lanterns as Tauriel directed. Bilbo kept a good watch on everyone’s feet, but it was hardly necessary. Though they flipped and pranced about showing off, the dwarves did no harm to the mushrooms and a great good for Bilbo. Hobbits live in holes underground, but he did not have a dwarf’s vision in the dark. He was very grateful for the added light, and even more grateful for the friendships that brought it to him.