[Child of the 7th Age]

Cami shook her head and laughed. She was scarcely surprised, but the two hobbit girls had eyes as big as tea saucers from back home in the Shire. Their tongues were wagging in a rapid beat.

It appeared she would have to be a stern dame teacher twice in a single day. "Rose Goodchild, and Daisy Greenhand! You will keep your eyes where they belong, and your tongues in your mouths. If and when Piosenniel or Mithadan have any news to share with us, they will let us know. Meanwhile, you will respect their privacy."
Then she sent them off to bed. She could still hear their giggling and whispering all the way down the corridor.

Cami shook her head and laughed and was about to turn in for the night, when a large puff of smoke came wafting through the crack underneath her door. This could only mean one thing. She went over and pushed the door open, to be faced with Angara's smoke rings. The dragon had been in such a rush that she hadn't even bothered to shrink to appropriate size. She filled the entire corridor, and could barely squeeze into Cami's cabin.

She looked accusingly at the hobbit, "I suppose you've heard." Her golden/green, glittering eyes rolled backwards and upside down all at once. "What do you know of this?"

"No more than you and probably less, since you spend most of your day staring down at us from your perch high up on the mast! People have the right to friendships. Let them be."

"Humph!" Angara snorted. "That seemed a bit close for 'friendship'."

"Well," retorted the hobbit in defense of the pair, "There are different kinds of friendships."

"What twaddle, Camelia Goodchild. Are you going to stand by and let this happen?" Another large smoke ring ascended to Cami's ceiling, and she began to cough.

"Well, what do you propose I do? People have their private lives to live, and I'm certainly not about to stop them. Anyways, if what everyone is saying is true, I'm quite happy for them!" The dragon looked at her with a pained face and snorted, sending smoke over the entire cabin.

As Anagara gave a final "humph" and huffed out of the room, Cami sat down on her bed. One part of her wanted to laugh, and the other to cry. Her eyes stung from all the smoke, or at least that's what she thought it might be. The hobbit had a vivid image of those final nights in the camp when she and Maura had snuck off to get a bit of privacy. At least they had the surrounding forest where walks could be taken. Although once or twice, she could have sworn she'd heard some Snowhobbit giggling not very far behind.

Poor Pio. On a tiny ship, in the middle of the seas, there were no forests to go wandering about in. A small ship was a small ship with many large ears.

Cami decided to speak with Pio the next day about the sea hobbrim rescue. Kali and Bird had already worked out the details, and they had all hoped to leave the next afternoon. The distance to the caves was not far and, barring unexpected complications, the whole rescue shouldn't involve more than a few hours. Perhaps, during their conversation, Cami could raise some other concerns as well.

[ September 18, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]