4: A Rose for Pervinca
Sam spent the whole day trying not to think
about Pervinca. It, of course, had the completely opposite effect. He found it
impossible to think about anything else. He told himself all the reasons why he
should not be thinking about her. The best reasons were probably: “We are both
too young” and “She’s a Took”. The worst were, no doubt, “Rosie will be
jealous” and “Tom and Jolly will make fun of me.”
As he was thinking about this, the three
previously mentioned hobbits came walking past the garden.
“Hullo, Sam,” Tom Cotton greeted. “Having fun
in the garden?”
“Morning, Tom, Rosie, Jolly,” Sam replied.
“It’s a lovely morning, isn’t it?”
“How long until the party?” asked Rose, shyly. She
was a young hobbitess, and, like Pervinca she was becoming curious, about
herself, and about male hobbits. Since Sam was the only male hobbit she really
knew, apart from her brothers, she had started to fancy him, something which
Sam was well aware of.
Sam counted the days on his fingers.
“…three…four…five days. You mean you haven’t been marking the days down on your
calender?”
Rose had, in fact, been doing just that. She
had asked Sam for the simple reason that she wanted him to talk to her. Now
that he had broken the ice, perhaps she could find the courage to ask him to
take her.
“Um…Sam…have you…I mean…do you…have someone
that you’d like to go with you?”
Tom and Jolly snickered. Sam was placed in an
awful situation. If he told Rosie that he’d take her to the party, Tom and
Jolly would never let him live it down. If he turned her down, it would break
her heart…and Tom and Jolly would break Sam’s legs.
Sam sighed. “Well, Rosie, there’s no one yet,
but I think that I will wait until the party to find out.”
Rosie beamed, and started skipping down the
lane to her home. Tom and Jolly followed. As they passed Sam, Tom winked,
indicating how impressed he was at the way Sam had saved himself from a
terrible mess. Sam was not as slow as he allowed everyone to believe he was.
*
* * * * *
Pippin noticed that Pervinca was unusually
quiet for the rest of their time at Bag End. He was disappointed, since he had
secretly hoped that Pervinca would join himself and Merry in their plan to
cause trouble. In the past, Pervinca had joined forces with her brother and
cousin on several occasions, mostly to annoy and upset her older sisters. But
recently, she had stopped showing any interest in Merry and Pippin’s plans.
Pippin was starting to realise that his favourite sister was growing up. He
just hoped she did not become anything like Pearl or Pimpernel.
Pearl and Pimpernel returned to Bag End in the
early afternoon to pick up their younger siblings. Pippin and Pervinca were
reluctant to leave, but knew they had to.
“Do not worry,” said Frodo. “You will be back
here in five days for the party anyway!”
Pimpernel had made it obvious that she and
Pearl had purchased presents for Frodo and Bilbo during the day by hiding
several packages behind her. She viciously defended them when Pippin snuck
behind her to take a peak.
Rubbing the hand that Pimpernel had slapped,
Pippin said goodbye to Frodo. He made a mental note that Pimpernel should be
the victim of another prank. She was always good for that.
As they left Bag End, the Tooks passed the
garden, where Sam was feverously working. Pervinca smiled at him, cheeks
flushing.
“Leaving are you, Mister Pippin?” Sam greeted,
not noticing the three Took hobbitesses.
“Yes, but we will be back in five days!” Pippin
proudly told Sam. From behind him, Pearl cleared her throat, indicating her
presence. Pippin promptly realised that he should introduce his older sisters.
“Oh, Sam, have you met my other sisters? This is Pearl and Pimpernel.”
“Good day to you, young misses.” Sam bowed
politely. Pearl and Pimpernel curtsied in reply.
“We would like to stay and talk, Master Sam,”
said Pearl, “but it is getting late, and we must be home before dark.”
“Of course. A pleasure meeting you all. I hope
that I will see you at Mister Bilbo and Mister Frodo’s party.” Sam plucked
three roses from the nearest rose bush. He handed one each to the three Took
girls. “And please accept this gift - beautiful roses, for three beautiful
lasses.”
Pearl and Pimpernel expressed their thanks, but
Pervinca was speechless. She blushed a brilliant red the same colour as the
rose, and managed a small smile. Both of her older sisters noticed this, and
smirked to each other.
The Tooks once again said farewell to Sam, and
began the long walk home.
* *
* * * *
Merry and his family were staying with Pippin’s
family until the party, so the minute the Took children arrived home, and had
something to eat, Merry pulled Pippin aside to ask him about Frodo.
“So how is the old lad?” Merry asked.
“Old? He’s only turning thirty-three!” Pippin
laughed. “But, he is well. We did not see Bilbo – he was locked up in his
study.”
“No surprise there,” Merry scoffed. “Old Bilbo
is a very odd fellow.” Despite Pippin’s pleas, Merry would not further explain
what he meant. He changed the subject. “Have you convinced Pervinca to join in
with our little fun?”
Pippin shook his head. “I have not asked her. But I do not think she will want to. She was
acting very peculiar today.”
Merry rolled his
eyes. “She must be coming to ‘that’ age.”
“What age?”
“All hobbitesses come
to an age when they stop being fun, and become very boring. All they worry
about is finding a husband.”
Pippin’s eyes widened
in horror. “You do not think that Pervinca is going to become like Pearl and
Pimpernel?”
“I do hope not,
cousin. But speaking of Pervinca, where is she?”
“In her room?” Pippin
suggested with a shrug of his shoulders.
He was, in fact,
correct. Pervinca was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. In her hand,
she held Sam’s gift, slowly twirling the fragile stem between her fingers. The
fragrance had spread through the room. Pervinca could not stop thinking about
Sam. She began to wonder if he had thought about her.
She sighed. I
doubt it. He did seem older than me…and he probably thinks that I am just a
boring girl from a rich family.
“Pervinca, dear, we
need to talk,” a voice came from the doorway. Pervinca looked up to see her two
older sisters smiling at her in a not very pleasant manner. The entered the
room together, shutting the door tightly behind them. They sat down on either
side of their youngest sister.
“What do you want?”
Pervinca asked, suspiciously.
“I am hurt, sister,
that you would think so low of us,” Pearl cried, in a mock-upset voice. “We
simply want to have a little chat with our dear sister.”
“Precisely right,
Pearl,” Pimpernel chimed with a grin. “We could not help noticing today…”
“…that you seemed
rather…interested in Bilbo Baggins’ gardener,” Pearl finished off.
“And we were simply
worried about this interest.” Pimpernel placed a hand on Pervinca’s shoulder.
“You are a Took, Pervinca. We Tooks are a rich and respectable family. Do you
know what the family would think of you if you were to marry a common gardener?”
“You are both fools,”
Pervinca snapped. “Why do you think that I want to marry Sam? What put that
idea into your twisted minds?”
Pearl scowled at her
sister, and grabbed her by the hair. “How dare you! And besides, you have just
answered your own question. Sam?”
Pervinca flushed. Her
sister had her there. She should not have used his first name. “Leave, now.
What I do with my life is none of your business. Besides, I do not wish to marry
Sam. Unlike the two of you, I realise there is more to life than simply finding
a husband! Good evening to you!”
Pervinca ushered her
sisters to the door, and slammed it shut behind them. She was furious with her
sisters – how dare they interfere with her life like that! And they had made
her even more confused. Did she really want to marry Sam? And what would happen
if she did? Would her family disown her?
She picked up the
rose, which had fallen to the floor. “Oh, Sam. What are we going to do?”