CHAPTER 3 | WAGER
IT wasn't much time after Bilbo passed out from the knowledge of dragons and their incinerating breath, that he had woken up. The hobbit was now seated on one of his cozy little chairs with a blanket draped over his lap, his hands nursing a steaming cup of tea.
"I'll be alright," Bilbo said in response to Ygritte's question. "Let me just sit quietly for a moment."
Gandalf let out a breath. "You've been sitting quietly for far too long. Tell me; when did doilies and your mother's
dishes become so important to you? I remember a young Hobbit who always was running off in search of elves and the woods, who'd stay out late, come home after dark, trailing mud and twigs and fireflies."
Ygritte glanced at her father, now understanding why he chose Bilbo Baggins over all the other Hobbits of the Shire; he knew him. Why he didn't tell her, she didn't know. It's not like it was a secret.
Gandalf continued. "A young Hobbit who would have liked nothing better than to find out what was beyond the borders of the Shire. The world is not in your books and maps; it's out there."
"I can't just go running off into the blue. I am a Baggins, of Bag End," Bilbo said.
"You are also a Took. Did you know that your greatgreatgreatgreatuncle, Bullroarer Took, was so large he could ride a real horse?"
Ygritte raised her eyebrows, shocked to hear a hobbit was the size of a man and could actually ride a horse. Usually, they have to stick to ponies, the same as dwarves.
"Yes."
"Well he could," Gandalf said. "In the Battle of Green Fields, he charged the goblin ranks. He swung his club so hard it knocked the Goblin King's head clean off, and it sailed a hundred yards through the air and went down a rabbit hole. And thus the battle was won, and the game of golf invented at the same time."
Ygritte stared at her father with amusement dancing in her eyes. "You are a terrible liar, Father."
Bilbo nodded in agreement. "I do believe you made that up."
"Well, all good stories deserve embellishment. You'll have a tale or two to tell of your own when you come back."
"Can you promise that I will come back?"
Gandalf frowned slightly. "No. And if you do, you will not be the same."
"But," Ygritte piped in. "I have already spoke these words to my father and Thorin, but I will be there to have your back Bilbo Baggins, to ensure your safety. As long as I am living, so will you."
Bilbo desperately wanted to believe their words, but his fear of never returning home was quickly returning. "No, I'm sorry, I can't sign this. You've got the wrong Hobbit."
Bilbo handed the contract to Ygritte, who frowned. He then walked away down the hall, leaving them sigh heavily.
"What now?" Ygritte asked, turning to her father.
Gandalf glanced down at his daughter. "We will rest here for the evening, and in the morning, we will wet off on our adventure."
Ygritte furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "With no hobbit? Do we no longer need a burglar?"
"We do, and we already have one," Gandalf said with a hint of a smile on his face.
"Bilbo has declined the journey, Father," Ygritte said. And then she smirked. "Is your memory beginning to grow fuzzy with your age?"
Gandalf gave his daughter a look. "I've known Bilbo for quite some time. Believe me when I say that he will be coming along with us. He may not realise it now, but this is the moment he has been waiting for all his life."
Ygritte sighed, rising from the sofa. She folded the contract and passed it off to her father. "I do hope you are correct, Father. None of us are silent enough to slip past what we need to."
Ygritte found an empty place in the living room and quickly began to settle down for some sleep. Soon, all the dwarves and Aninth, plus her dragon Ryvniss, had gathered inside as well. Many of their pipes were lit as they smoked by the roaring fireplace.
They all began to hum after a few moments of complete silence, and soon Thorin began to sing in a soothing voice that surprised Ygritte. Others joined in with him
"Far over the misty mountains cold, to dungeons deep and caverns old. We must away ere break of day to find our longforgotten gold. The pines were roaring on the height..."
This song, unlike the one Ygritte witnessed them singing earlier while they cleaned up, was much softer and held so much meaning. It was like she could feel their emotions, and it made her smile. She placed her arms behind her back and just laid there, listening to their soothing voices. Many of them could sing quite well.
"...the winds were moaning in the night, the fire was red, it flaming spread, the trees like torches blazed with light."
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The hooves of her horse made a soft thud noise each time they connected with the grass. It was morning, quite early as well, and they had already set off on their journey. Ygritte loved the morning most of all the times of day. She loved to watch the sun peak over the treeline, with the colors of orange and pink and yellow mixed in with the blue morn sky. She loved the morning breeze that blew ever so softly through the trees and tickled her face; she always smiled.
Perhaps she loved morning the most of all, because that is when her mother would wake her just so they could watch the sun rise above over the nearby hill of their home. She would sit in her mothers lap, wrapped in a blanket, her hair a mess and eyes heavy, and yet despite how tired she would be, her entire mood would brighten as soon as the first light broke over the hill.
Thinking back on her mother made her eyes glaze over. Ygritte was the age of twenty-three, but a child still in some eyes, and it was when she was eight that her mother fell ill. Her father had been away at the time, but once he heard of the illness his dear wife had caught, he dropped everything with Lord Elrond and Lady Gadriel and rode horseback all through the night and almost all of the next day just to reach home to see his wife.
Nearly an hour after his arrival did she perish. Ygritte was thankful she at least got to watch one last sun rise with her mother before her untimely death. Now with every sunrise, Ygritte will close her eyes and imagine her mother sitting right beside her, watching the beauty of another day beginning with her.
Her thoughts of her mother were interrupted as the sound of a familiar hobbit could be hear shouting from behind them. "Wait! Wait!"
Ygritte yanked on the reins of her white horse, pulling it to a stop. She looked over her shoulder and smiled brightly at the sight of Bilbo Baggins.
Some of the dwarves shouted "Woah!' whilst stopping their ponies.
The panting hobbit came to a stop at Balin's side and handed him the contract. Ygritte was thankful they had all given her their names, now she was able to speak with them and actually say their name to get their attention.
"I signed it!" Bilbo said, panting slightly. She imagined he was running for quite some time to catch up with them.
Balin took the contract and inspected it with a pocketglass. After a moment, he smiled at Bilbo. "Everything appears to be in order. Welcome, Master Baggins, to the Company of Thorin Oakenshield."
Several of the dwarves cheered, in relief that is. Now they would have a burglar they would very much need in the group.
"Give him a pony," Thorin said before kicking his pony to start moving again.
"No, no, no, no, that that won't be necessary, thank you, but I-I'm sure I can keep up on foot. I-I-I've done my fair share of walking holidays, you know. I even got as far as Frogmorton once ─ " Bilbo's speech is cut off as two of the dwarves ride alongside him and pick him up from behind to put him on a pony. Ygritte chuckled before moving her horse to ride alongside her father's once more.
"Come on, Nori, pay up. Go on!" Oin shouted from behind Ygritte, making her chuckle to herself. She could hear the sound of a money sack being tossed and caught.
"Hey, hey, hey!" The dwarves burst into laughter.
Bilbo arrived at Ygritte's side, making her be in the middle of both her father and the hobbit. "What's that about?" Bilbo asked, glancing back over his shoulder to where several money sacks were being tossed around.
"Oh, they took wagers on whether or not you'd turn up. Most of them bet that you wouldn't."
"What did you think?" Bilbo asked, his eyes on Gandalf.
Gandalf hummed, a smile on his face. He then caught a sack of money tossed to him and placed it in his bag. "My dear fellow, I never doubted you for a second."
"And you, Ygritte?" Bilbo asked.
Ygritte chuckled. "It appears I made the right choice, that is all I know."
"Ygritte, on your left!" Shouted Bofur
Ygritte turned, and with her left hand, caught the money sack tossed in her direction.
Bilbo smiled. And then after a moment, he sneezes loudly. "Ohh. All this horse hair, I'm having a reaction." Bilbo began to frantically search his pockets for something. Ygritte assumed a handkerchief.
"No, no, wait, wait, stop! Stop!" Bilbo shouted, pulling his pony to a stop. Ygritte, her father, and many of the others have come to a stop as well. "We have to turn around," the hobbit stressed.
Objections were being thrown around, asking what the problem was.
"What on earth is the matter?" Gandalf asked.
"I forgot my handkerchief."
Ygritte smirked, shaking her head in amusement.
Bofur then tore a strip of cloth from his clothing and tossed it to Bilbo. "Here! Use this," he told him.
Bilbo caught the rag with a look of disgust on his face, that made many of the dwarves laugh. They then began to continue their journey.
"Move on," Thorin ordered.
"You'll have to manage without pockethandkerchiefs and a good many other things, Bilbo Baggins, before we reach our journey's end," Gandalf told him. "You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home is now behind you; the world is ahead."