Yesterday, after I departed for the last time from my pine, I made for the river Brandywine. The man who had shown up at our door had told me to travel up the Brandywine and meet someone who would tell me more than he did. Why couldn�t he have told me himself? It seemed an odd command, but then, the whole affair had been utterly extraordinary. So it was to the Brandywine that I traveled early in the morning. I realized as I walked that I had been terribly irrational when I had left home, for I had forgotten food! How I could I do something so ludicrous is beyond me. My thoughts turned back to the large table inside our red, round door and its delicious spread that was laid out every morning. My Aunt would have risen early and opened all the windows. With the cool breeze wafting through the house, I would have been stirred out of my bed and wandered into the kitchen where breads and cheeses and vegetables and fruits and cakes waited for me. By this time, all the cousins must have gathered around the table and were having their fill, while I was stuck walking by myself to the Brandywine without even a morsel in my pack.
It was fortunate for me that as I walked I spied some fruit trees and was able to procure a few apples and several peaches. They came from Peter Boffin�s orchards and it is a good thing he did not see me take them. He�s always been far too protective of his property! The time my cousins and I felt the need to share in his wealth of produce, he got severely angry and told Odo all about our exploit. Odo acted furious, but in truth we knew that he was quite amused at the whole situation. As I ate my third peach, these were my thoughts and all of a sudden, I realized how much I had cared for my cousins and Aunt and even old Odo. They had become a substitute family for me and now I would most likely never see them again.
A piece of peach caught in my throat at the thought and I coughed it out with vigor. I did not need to think of them. I could not go back, so there was no point in dwelling on their memory. It was better to think on how I was going to obtain the food I needed for my trip. It abruptly occurred to me that I had no idea how far I was going to journey. The Brandywine wasn�t a short river and I could be walking a long time. Of course, I hoped to raft up part of the way if possible, but that was no guarantee. I supposed that when I reached the river I could beg some folk living along the shores for a share of their garden harvest.
I had just glimpsed the clear blue of the river, when I noticed in the trees to my right a slight movement. I stopped dead in my tracks and looked intently into the woods, but I saw no sign of anyone. I concluded it must have been an animal of some sort and continued on. I am sure if I had paid attention, I might have seen that I was being followed, but my eyes were set straight ahead and I paid no heed to what was around me. I reached the river in good time and looking upstream and downstream, saw no houses and no Hobbits. There was nothing for it, but to turn north and head to the Brandywine Bridge. It was almost mid-day and my stomach was beginning to turn.
I had walked several paces when I could not help but complain to myself. �How silly of you, Pady! Not taking any food. What could you have been thinking? I�m starving now and I�ll likely starve to death before I find out anything about my family.�
�Indeed. A Hobbit who doesn�t think of food. That�s the most preposterous thing I�ve ever heard of.�
I jumped half out of my skin. I hadn�t expected a voice to answer me and my heart was beating faster than a waterwheel spins in the spring. Still, the voice was high and light and strangely familiar. Hastily I turned to look behind me and there, standing but a few feet away from me was Priscilla Goldworthy! Her hands were on her hips and her lips were pursed in a false look of disapproval. I was awestruck. Even on my good days I could never have managed to speak to Priscilla and I had absolutely no hope of it now. When a moment of silence had passed and I offered no answer, her face relaxed into a smile and she walked towards me. I couldn�t do anything but stand there transfixed by her clear, green eyes.
�I know you�ve never talked to me, Pady Proudfoot, but that�s no reason to stand there gaping at me like a dying fish.�
I closed my mouth which I hadn�t realized was open. When she reached me, she stared at me expectantly, putting her hands back on her hips.
�Wh�� I couldn�t even get a simple one word question out of my mouth.
�I heard that you left last night to go heaven knows where without food and without your winter coat. If you plan to be gone long, you�ll be needing it.�
She shoved something in my hands and I looked down for the first time. My coat from home was hanging in my grasp. It was then that I noticed she was also carrying a pack over her back.
Noticing the direction of my eyes, she nodded. �Yes, it�s food. Not much. But enough to get us down the Brandywine. Millie gave it to me this morning. Pady, you could have noticed her more, you know. She liked you better than all the cousins and made sure to watch out for you...�
I missed everything else she said about Millie, and if it hadn�t been for the fact that I was caught on one little word she had said, I would have responded regarding my dear cousin.
�Us?�
�Yes, us. You don�t think I�m going to let you make this trek all alone, do you? You in the middle of the vast wide world with no one to watch out for you. You won�t last a day!�