When I first moved to Bag End with Uncle Bilbo, I found myself quite alone,
compared to Brandy Hall, not that I’m complaining. I’ve rather enjoyed being
able to come and go as I please without feeling like I was under foot or
worse, someone was under my foot. No Merry and Pippin seeking a playmate,
funny, I didn’t think I’d miss that at first, but inside a week I did. It
wasn’t long before I got in the habit of inviting them to visit whenever
occasion permitted.
More and more we found ourselves going on our own adventures in the Shire.
Merry and Pippin both have a bit of adventurer in them but then they are
Brandybuck and Took stock. Sometimes we had adventures together and sometimes
they went on their own. It’s worked well. They don’t seem to mind that more
times than not I go off on my own. It’s good to have several friends to depend
on and count on and who accept you the way you are and don’t go trying to
change you to please themselves.
Uncle Bilbo blessedly hired hands to clean up after the party, so really
all I saw to were the final details. Wasn’t sure if Merry and Pippin were
more help or hindrance at first. They have a way of getting into things even
when there’s really nothing to be gotten into. Sam did come along to see
to it that the grounds were put to rights when all was said and done.
Uncle Bilbo left me with a bit of finishing up business to do for him. There
being certain items he wanted given to a few specific folk and as the new
master of Bag End, it has fallen to me to see it done. I must admit, I’m
a little surprised that I feel slightly burdened by all this new responsibility
rather more than I expected to. Uncle Bilbo has been preparing me for this
for as long as I can remember.
As the morning has worn on I’m terribly glad for Merry and Pippin. Though
Pippin is quite young, so not many pay much heed to him, he has a good humored
way about him that lulled several unwelcomed guests into leaving before they
knew it just by jovially escorting them out the door. For all his name suits
him very well, Merry, bless him, found himself more a sergeant of arms, occasionally
needing to bodily remove one or two intruders who refused to leave. What
would I do without my dear friends?
