Esmeralda West moves into the Shire with her uncle, a few houses down from the Bagginses. As years pass, young Frodo tries to break her out of her shell. Then, Gandalf the Grey tells him about the One Ring. Esmeralda joins the quest with her friend...
Three weeks later, was mid-September, the twenty second in fact, which was Bilbo's one-hundredth and eleventh birthday. Now, this was something to celebrate. Bilbo invited half of the Shire to come to his party, and he was pretty sure the other half were coming anyway.
Bilbo was sitting in his study, busy writing in his book. He suddenly started laughing at something he wrote, when Frodo walked in the study. Bilbo quickly quieted down, as his nephew approached him.
"Thank you, Frodo." Bilbo said, as his mail got placed on his desk.
Frodo glances down at the book, and grabs a picture of Bilbo from sixty years ago.
Hoppla! Dieses Bild entspricht nicht unseren inhaltlichen Richtlinien. Um mit dem Veröffentlichen fortfahren zu können, entferne es bitte oder lade ein anderes Bild hoch.
"What's this?" Frodo asks, teasingly.
Bilbo quickly snatches back the drawing.
"That is private. Keep your sticky paws off. It's not ready yet."
"Not ready for what?"
"Reading!"
Frodo scoffs and walks off, examining something from Bilbo's old chest. Bilbo picks up the mail, and looks through the many letters.
"What on earth are these?"
"Replies to the party invitations." Frodo says, distracted.
Bilbo's eyes lit up, and he gives a large smile. "Good gracious! Is it today?"
Frodo looks at him. "They all said they're coming. Except for the Sackville-Bagginses; they're demanding you ask them in person."
"Are they, indeed?" Bilbo stands up, then walks to Frodo, taking the object he was looking at and dropping it back in the chest. "Over my dead body." He walks off, with Frodo trailing slowly behind him.
"They'd probably find that quite agreeable. They seem to think you have tunnels overflowing with gold."
Bilbo looks back at him and scoffs. "It was one small chest, hardly overflowing. And it still smells of troll."
He starts hiding his valuables in chests, jars, vases, and other inconspicuous places, as Frodo looks at him suspiciously.
"What on earth are you doing?"
"Taking precautions. You know, I caught her making off with the silverware once."
"Who?"
"Lobelia Sackville-Baggins! She had all my spoons stuffed in her pockets. Hah! Dreadful woman. Make sure you keep an eye on her after I'm... when I'm... when I'm..."
