Journey to Erebor

Bag End

A little bit after dark we arrive at the hobbit's hole. It has a green, round door with a doorknob right in the centre of it. The door also has some type of marking which I assume Gandalf put there.

"This is the place," says Fili as he reaches over and rings the bell. None of us has ever met a hobbit before, so this is going to be interesting.

The door opens and standing in the doorway is the hobbit they were talking about. He doesn't seem too pleased at our arrival. Then the dwarves introduce themselves. "Fili." "And Kili," they say. Then they bow and say in unison, "At your service."

"You must be Mr. Boggins." says Kili. The hobbit quickly says, "Nope! You can't come in. You must've come to the wrong house."

He tries to shut the door but Kili pushes the door open and asks, "What? Has it been cancelled?" "No one told us," says Fili. The hobbit looking confused says, "No. Nothing has been cancelled."

"That's a relief," says Kili pushing past the hobbit, Fili behind him with the rope still in his hands. It is then that the hobbit realises I'm there and asks, "I-Is that a dog?"

"No. She's a wolf," answers Fili. He then turns around and hands his weapons to the hobbit saying, "Careful with these. Just had 'em sharpened." Then Kili walks by looking around and says, "It's nice this place." "Yeah." Fili agrees. "Did you do it yourself?" Kili asks.

"What? No, it's been in the family for years." says the hobbit. Kili starts to wipe mud off his boots onto some sort of box. This doesn't go unnoticed by the hobbit and he quite frantically says, "That is my mother's glory box. Could you please not do that?"

Then another large and bulky dwarf walks towards us and says, "Fili, Kili. Come on, give us a hand." Kili walks off with him and says, "Mister Dwalin."

Then I see another dwarf with a large white beard. He looks much older than the others. I follow him into some type of kitchen and dining area. There is a pantry with a considerable amount of food on the opposite side.

I go to look at what kind of food the hobbit eats, but the dwarves catch my attention again. Shove this in the hallway, otherwise, we'll never get everyone in." says the oldest dwarf.

How many more dwarves will there be?

The hobbit also heard this and asks, "E-Everyone? How many more are there?" He still has Fili's weapons in his arms when the doorbell rings for the third or fourth time tonight.

"Oh no." says the hobbit. He walks towards the door and drops the weapons saying, "No no. There's nobody home! Go away and bother somebody else! There are far too many dwarves in my dining room as it is. If this is some clot-head's idea of a joke. Ha! I can only say, it is in very poor taste!"

He opens the door and dwarves fall on to one another forming a rather large pile on the floor. On the other side of the lump of dwarves, I see Gandalf and give a happy bark. All the dwarves on the floor are grumbling about being crushed by a rather large, and heavy dwarf on top.

Gandalf bends down, slightly chuckling and looks at the hobbit. "Gandalf." the hobbit sighs, realising this is his doing. I bark again happy to see Gandalf. He scratches behind my ear and says, "Good to see you too, Eruanna." The dwarves are all up by now and Gandalf heads to the kitchen with them.

I go over to a mat and lie down. I block out what everyone is saying to think. Why are all these dwarves in a hobbit hole of all places? I can assume the dwarves and hobbit don't know each other. So, why are they all here?

After a little bit, I give up coming up with a reasonable explanation and smell all the meat they're having. I hear lots of cheering and chattering and go to join the fun.

I jump up and place my paws to the left of Kili. He moves a little so I can fit beside him. I grab something with my mouth which appears to be some type of meat. I scarf down anything and everything in front of me. I haven't had this much to eat in a long time.

Fili gets up onto the table with mugs of ale and asks, "Who wants an ale? Here you go." "Over here, brother!" says Kili. I too want an ale, so I bark to let him know. Right as he sets it down I lap it up. That is some good ale, possibly the best I've ever had.

Then the dwarves start burping, the dwarf left of me having the loudest and largest burp out of all. I can't imagine how the hobbit is feeling right now.

Soon, most of the dwarves are finished eating, some staying at the table and some going about the house doing whatever. I stay there and continue to eat.

I soon have a full stomach and go lie down on the mat again. I hear the hobbit complaining to Gandalf about the dwarves and then they start a song:

"Blunt the knives, bend the forks.

Smash the bottles and burn the corks.

Chip the glasses and crack the plates,

That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!"

(So that's what his name is.)

"Cut the cloth, tread on the fat.

Leave the bones on the bedroom mat.

Pour the milk on the pantry floor,

Splash the wine on every door!

Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl,

Pound them up with a thumping pole.

And when you're finished if they are whole,

Send them down the hall to roll!"

One of the dwarves starts playing a little fiddle and after he finishes his part, they finish the song by shouting,

"That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!"

The song is over and there is much cheering and laughter going on. It stops almost immediately with three loud knocks on the door. "He is here," mutters Gandalf.