�No! You�re not coming. I don�t want you, too. Go home, Priscilla!� I turned on my heel and headed as quickly as I could up the river. It wasn�t long until I heard the unmistakable stomp of a Hobbit tramping behind me in irritation.
�I�m not going home, Pady Proudfoot! I�ve already packed and I�m coming with you whether you like it or not.�
She had caught up with me and laid a hand on my chest forcing me to stop in my tracks. Her green eyes were aflame with anger and took me aback, but in just a moment I had gathered myself and then my feelings overflowed, I regret to say it, for the second time in two days.
�You never noticed me and you never talked to me. Why come after me now? You feel sorry for me, I expect, just like all the Hobbits in the Shire. Poor Pady. No family. Poor Pady. Such an evil family he had. I�m sure they all know by now because of their wagging tongues. I don�t need pity and I don�t need you!�
I tried to push around her and I was surprised by her strength as she held me in place.
�Don�t think I�m blind, Pady. I�ve seen you staring at me the entire time you�ve lived in the Shire. You think I didn�t notice you? I surely did. Maybe I was just waiting for you to do something, but you never did. Do you know what it took to leave my family? They don�t even know I�m gone. I left a note behind right after I talked to Millie. There was no time to stay behind and explain if I was going to catch up with you. I don�t have to tell you all the reasons why, but I am coming with you and there is nothing you can do about it.�
She turned away from me and began to walk up the river at a fast gait. Speechless, I ran till I was right beside her and we walked side by side up the river in silence. My thoughts were only on Priscilla and I still could not believe she was the one pacing right beside me. By the time we reached the Brandywine Bridge it was dinner time. We sat down under the bridge near the water and Priscilla dipped into the pack she was carrying and handed me bread and a cheese roll that I recognized as my cousin Millie�s handiwork.
�You eat. I�m going to sleep. I left quite early this morning, and because of my constitution, I�m not as dependent on food as you.�
With that she was asleep in minutes and that is why I am sitting next to her, chewing slowly and amazed at what fate has brought me. It is not only that I am not alone, but that my companion on this journey is the one who has supported me ever since I was a child, without even knowing it. Strange that I had to leave the Shire for that which I desired to come to me: Priscilla now and with hope, my family soon.