An Adventure of Hobbit Proportions RPG

[piosenniel]

The bright afternoon sun beat down upon the young girl’s face, she stifled a yawn and opened her eyes. She lazily watched as clouds slowly drifted by, it was a beautiful spring day in the Shire. A little breeze blew a curly tendril of hair across her face, she made no move to remove it, she sighed and closed her eyes again. "Bunny? Bunny! where have you got to?" The young Hobbit lass sighed again and rolled over trying to hide herself further in the lush green grass. "Bunny Took, you get in here this moment!" she bellowed. " I need you to come set the table. Okay Okay Ma I'm comin' " Bunny protested loudly. She yawned and stretched, smoothed her dress and headed back towards her awaiting Ma.

I told you not to go anywhere, I need your help." "But Ma settin' the table only takes a few seconds and well, it's such a lovely day......and." "And nothing Bunny, just look at the condition of your dress, all covered in grass stains." Belladonna gave a little kicking motion towards her daughter and ushering her inside. "you know your Pa will be home soon and you know how he gets if there isn't food on the table." Bunny stuck out her tongue and made a face hoping her Ma wouldn't see it, which of course she did. "Oh Bunny how unladylike! Now hop to it!" Bunny began to set out the plates and teacups, dropping utensils as she went, her Ma hummed a tune as she stirred a pot on the small fire. Finding this task extremely boring, Bunny began to make a little hill out of sugar on a small side plate she had just set down. Completely engrossed with her little hill, she added more and more until it began to spill onto the freshly washed and set table. " Her Ma's tune stopped short "Oh Bunny look what you've done, why oh why do you insist on doing things like that?" She gave her daughter a stern look as she stared back unabashed. I'll clean up here you go and fetch a few eggs from Old Hazel, she should have a few by now. Bunny shrugged, tossed her hair and skipped out the door. " When will that girl ever get her head outta the clouds....she shook her head and began to wipe the mound of sugar from the table. As Bunny fetched a basket from beside the little bench outside the door her Pa came up the steps dirty and tired from working in the field. She stopped to kiss his dirt streaked cheek then gave a little wave and continued towards the chicken coop.

The coop was dimly lit, but Bunny knew where the old hen Hazel say. She quietly approached the dark corner. " Ok Hazel...You don't like me and I don't like you, but Mama needs some eggs." The hen clucked and looked like she was about to lift off her eggs. Bunny made a quick lunge towards the eggs, but Hazel had other plans. She reached out and seized Bunny's out stretched fingers in her sharp beak, breaking the skin. " Ouch you ol' cow! Git over!" she shoved the hen and pulled three warm eggs from the nest and put them gently into the basket.She eyed the fluster hen once more then shut the door. Storming into the house sucking her injured fingers, Bunny's lightly hairy foot tripped over the mat in the hall and sent her sprawling onto the floor. She just barely caught the basket of hard fought eggs with her fingertips. " Bunny dear are you alright?" Bunny smiled and nodded, she scrambled to her feet and joined her parents at the table.

“You really must do something with that old cow, she bit me again." "Old cow?.... Oh Hazel, yes she really is a nasty Ol' piece of work, isn't she." "Yes she is and I swear she's got it out for me." “Bella don't talk with your mouth full" Pa said as he buttered his bread. He was the only one who called her Bella and she loved him all the more for it. " So I hear you want to take a trip to Buckland?" He said, putting the now fried egg onto his bread. "When did you want me to take you? Or I guess Peter could take you." “Pa I know I act a little silly at times, but I am almost of age, You know I can handle myself, and I know the way." Yes Bella" He said as he reached for her hand," I know that you are not always so silly." Her Ma frowned and began to protest. "Now BellaDonna, she is old enough and she does know the way. How long shall you be gone and who shall you stay with?" " well not long I suppose perhaps a week? And I shall stay with that lovely hobbit Tansy, the one who tells the most intriguing stories. I'll be back before you know it." “Well I still think there is no reason to go by yourself" exclaimed Belladonna. “Well Love" her pa said lovingly to his wife, "She won't be a little lass forever." Bunny grinned as honey slipped down her chin.

Lying in her bed with the lamp blown out that night, Bunny went over her plans in her head." Ok so I head to Buckland, find Tansy and try to convince her to come with me, I am sure she will. She should hopefully be able to help with getting us more supplies and more food, if I take too much from here they will know I plan to be gone more than a week and they'll question my going. I have a map of the Shire from one of Pa's books, I have a coil of rope, cooking gear... boy will Ma kill me when she finds out their gone. I must take my bow with me just in case. I can hide it in my travelling cloak and stash it before I go. Then after we top off our supplies... We're Off!!! to adventure and to make the search I have always dreamt of taking. To find the Female treeherders. To find the Entwives, if there is any. She had heard many stories of the Master Peregrin Took and his friend Meriadoc Brandybuck, who had met the great Treeherders the Ents and had talked to the great treebeard who told them of the Entwives and their long search for them. They would like the Shire he said and Bunny was sure they would too. She had heard rumors of a Treeman long ago being seen in the North Moors, and that was where she was headed. She would see for herself if they were there or not... Or if they had indeed vanished from this world.With her mind still racing she lay awake, far into the night. The next day would be the beginning of Bunny Tooks greatest adventure.

~ by Valier

[Kitanna]

The hobbits slipped their bags back over their shoulders and began to head up the road once more. Having eaten the collective spirits of the group had risen considerably. That's good. Peony thought. He'd not want us all weighed down by his death.

Peony walked next to Bunny, Mira and Tansy were talking softly with one another, and as before it seemed all the boys were hanging back a bit. Peony began to whistle, next to her Bunny took to humming the same tune. After they had finished their little song Peony smiled at her friend.

"Perhaps we should have brought along a fiddle or something. Then we could entertain folks across the Shire." The thought made Peony chuckle. She didn't know about anyone else, but her musical talents stopped at whistling. Anything after that sounded like a cat being dragged through something it shouldn't. "As it is we probably already look like a band of traveling performers. What'd ya think, Bunny?"

[Valier]

Bunny chuckled along with Peony. "I bet we do look a little odd, Bunny raised one eyebrow and winked at the girls. "Seeing as it must appear to others that a group of gorgeous lasses are being followed by a group of young ruffians!" Bunny threw a glance back at the following and rather quiet lads and giggled even more. "What are we little defensless lasses to do? Bunny said in mock horror covering her mouth.

Wanting to keep the good mood rolling, Bunny spied a little patch of early blooming flowers growing beside the road and stopped to pick them. " Heres a little thing to make you gorgeous lasses even gorgeouser!" handing each of them a small sprig with a silly smile. "What shall those ruffians do when confronted with this much gorgeousness? Fall over in a swoon I'm sure!!" Bunny was unable to contain her giggles.

Bunny's spirits were picking up after their little tune, she was glad that the Gaffers untimely dead was not putting a damper on their day so far. It also looked like the rain might just hold itself off for at least a little while. Bunny loved the sights and smells..and tastes of spring, but the rain always made her feel a little dreary not to mention traveling in it was always a mess.

[Thinlómien]

Tansy took the offered sprig with delight and enjoyed the smell with her eyes closed. She took a flower and put it to her hair and cocked her head, looking at the guys. "I'm pretty sure they will be dazed with our beauty. Who ever saw such nymphs?" She winked at Rudy who had caught her eye and laughed heartily. She was truly enjoying this trip even more than she had imagined.

Her nimble fingers rummaged through the flowers and she lifted them a tad closer to her face to see them sharply. A happy smile covered her face when she found some tiny green leaves. Baby leaves, she grinned to herself, these will make a wonderful spring tea...

[Mnemosyne]

Mira took the proffered flower, but she did not feel particularly dazzling. Her heart was the lightest it had been since her Gaffer's death, but it was a different kind of light--one that went deeper, like sunshine pouring straight down into a well and glinting off the water. Not that she necessarily put it that way.

Thanking Bunny, she walked back a few paces, to join the lads, and put her hand in Rudy's. The Shire was bright and beautiful and she was on an adventure. Words would just spoil it.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

As the travelers continued in their journey, Mishka fell back to his silent place at the tail of the company. This time, however, he trailed alongside Rudy and Brown. He tried to stay closer to Rudy, as he was still feeling somewhat uneasy in Brown's presence. The Hobbit seemed like an experienced traveler, in some ways he reminded Mishka of uncle Richard, the black sheep of the family who became a Shiriff, but he had more of an impenetrable look. Uncle Richard was jovial, maybe too much so that it was annoying Michael's dad. But Brown, on first sight, was hard to even read.

Mishka did not dare to initiate dialogue with Rudy (less so with Brown) on his own. He kept his gaze fixed forward, where the road merrily ran north in front of them. Suddenly, one of the lasses - it was Mira - slowed down and joined Rudy's side. Mishka stepped aside to make space for her next to her brother. Not that there would not be enough space, but he did not feel comfortable standing too close to others of the company, as he was not sure whether he has been yet accepted fully by the others who, after all, knew each other far better than him. Mishka stepped close to the edge of the road and looked back at Mira. But at that very moment one of his feet got caught in some root and he stumbled and fell. Blushing, he rose back to his feet and brushed the dirt off his yellow shirt and brown breeches. He quickly ran back after the company, who managed to get few more steps forward in that moment, and joined their side, trying to act as if nothing had happened.

[Valier]

The cool crispy, spring rain beat down on Bunny's head with a "Pitter-Patter, Pitter-Patter" The drops were beginning to get bigger and to Bunny, somehow wetter. Poor Bunny was drenched to the bone and despite the warmish weather, her teeth began to chatter. " Oh!! I should almost be there. Why did I have to take the scenic route? It will be nice, I said, it shouldn't rain today. BAH!!"

Bunny swept a soaked tendril from her face and pushed forward. Being flustered from all the sudden rain, she lost her balance. Her feet tried to grab a better hold of the earth to no avail. Everything was one big mud hole. Her feet gave way and she slipped forward, her heavy pack flying over her head, knocking her in the head as it went. She fell to the ground with an OOffff!! doing a full fledged face plant into the mud. She rolled over rubbing her head but lay there for sometime, in the mud, with the rain splashing all around.

As she lay there , Bella Took began to have doubts. "I'm not so sure, you've gone and done the right thing, Bunny dear. Look at you" she said to herself," Not even to Buckland and you've gone and muddied your things and from the looks of it ruined your food. Tansy would be crazy to want to come with you, she will probably take one look at you and close the door in your face screaming ' Go away Bunny dear!! No adventuring for me!!' Well, there is no good a reason to just lie here gettin' all wet. Let's have a look at what I've done." With a creaking protest from her sore knees Bunny got to her feet.

Her pack had spilled it's contents. She never was good at tying knots. Her small store of food, including her bread, bacon and eggs were completely ruined, having landed roughly. Her extra clothing was hanging half out and was soaking the remainder of the dry supplies at the bottom.
She began to angrily throw all the muddied contents back into her now soaked pack. "Dang it!!" she yelled out loud, scaring a few nesting birds from a nearby tree. Night was creeping up quickly and she could still not see the lights of Buckland. She had taken the route skirting the forest and had turned towards the bridge at nearly wooded hall. The rain had come upon her with little warning, and didn't seem to be slacking. She had no choice but to carry on wet, muddied and bruised. She would have to wait to see what Tansy would make of her. Bunny eased the pack back on and pulled her hood down over her forehead to block some of the rain. She stared at her feet and willed them not to fall again.

About an hour after her fall the rain begin to lighten, and she could see the lights of Buckland. Her heart lifted when she neared Tansy's home. The lights were on and smoke rose from the little chimney. Someone was still awake, probably waiting for her, for she was now very late. She let out a long sigh and headed towards the door. But in true Bunny style, as she lifted her foot to the porch, her toe caught on the edge and again with a small squeal she fell onto her knees with a crash.

Right at that moment the door opened. The warm light and the smell of mushrooms and bacon wafted out. Bunny lifted her head and grinned.

"Well 'Ello Miss Tansy! I've made it at last. No worse for the wear I should say. Are those mushrooms I smell?"

[Gwathagor]

Browning Barrabury had been resting with his back against the maple tree for at least an hour, if not longer, and it was nearly supper time. The rain, however, had not let up, and he had little hope of starting a fire and cooking himself a real meal. He could light a fire easily enough with his flint and steel, and dry tinder could be had if you knew where to look, but finding dry fuel would another matter entirely. Alas! He would have to subsist on cold ham and apples - AGAIN.

"It's not natural!" he proclaimed to the damp, gray landscape that stretched out beneath the hill on which he sat. "A hobbit isn't MEANT to eat like this! What a fellow wants is good, hot food and he can feel at home anywhere."

Upon a moment's reflection, however, he experienced a change of heart, as he threw an apple core as far as he could, aiming for a ribbon of light and water that wove its merry way through the fields in the distance. Must be the Stockbrook. He determined that the advantages of his situation far outweighed the inconveniences (which, his indignant other half pointed out, were numerous) of living out of doors. He was alone, for one. The absence of the general boisterous noisiness that, he had noticed, typically accompanied hobbit-settlements allowed him to think clearly and deeply, something many hobbits had neither time nor inclination for. Also, being alone meant he could behave, he felt, more naturally. Society was sooo complicated, drat it. Surely we would be better withOUT all these...PEOPLE... He caught himself. Nonsense, he thought, and chuckled to himself, then laughed out loud at his own absurdity. Really! Ridiculous hobbit! He also laughed because the rain had begun to stop.

He stuffed his sack of cured pork, bread, apples, and cheese back into his heavy knapsack and stretched his legs. He yawned. It had been dry under the maple tree, which he had been fortunate enough to be near when the rain had begun. His clothing had become drenched in the first onslaught of precipitation, as he dashed for the nearest cover (the maple tree), but it had dried admirably as he rested and ruminated. As he prepared to continue his cross-country march, he also continued his previous line of thought.

Now, the Buckland folk are good sorts of hobbits. Generally very sensible, not given to unnecessary displays of absurdity and noise. That was really bothered him, was the sheer triviality of hobbit-life. But then, that was also what made it so charming.

"Two sides to every matter", he intoned graciously.

Regardless, it was this triviality and thoughtlessness that he thought to leave behind for a bit. The Bucklanders were just as odd as they were thought to be, but he generally felt quite at home among the stoic, wild hobbits from the Other Side of the Brandywine. After all, he was at least half-Brandybuck himself; why shouldn't he fit in?

He planned as he walked, getting just as wet from the tall grass as he had from the rain itself. He had a mind to pay a visit to his abundant Brandybuck cousins (his mother's family). A week away would do just fine; any longer, and he would be missed by the various inhabitants of Woodhall for whom he labored at various chores. He would eat, sleep, think, go for walks, smoke, trade tales with his hospitable cousins, and maybe even pay good old Fred a visit as he passed through. Yes, that would do splendidly. Fred could surely do with some company. The lad was a lonely fellow, in some ways, since his accident. The two of them had been working together when it happened, and Brown often felt that he was half-responsible...

He put the thought from his mind, as he came to a stream, laughing and swollen with the new rain. He leapt over the brook and headed up into sweet smelling woods on the other side. Night was falling.

[Thinlómien]

It was a dark night. It was all black and rainy outside, but it was pleasantly warm and light inside the kitchen. Two hobbit women were in the room, the older one stirring a stew in a small pot, the younger one chopping vegetables. She sat at the small kitchen table, head bent. It was difficult to see in the candlelight, especially with her shortsighted eyes, and if you asked Tansy Bogswort, there was only one proper way of chopping carrots and it was a precise one.

Maylily Bogsworth yawned. "Mum, you need not stay up any longer. I'm sure Bella is coming soon, but I can look after the stew and you can go to sleep. I'm sure she won't think any worse of you if you go to sleep and are not here to welcome her", Tansy said, "besides, Dad, Grandma Daphne and Fred are all already asleep."

"Are you sure you can manage?" the old woman asked, her brow furrowing so that it looked even more creased. "Of course, Mum", Tansy said, suppressing a sigh.

Maylily looked at her daughter. "Don't ruin my mushroom stew", she warned, "making a mushroom stew is a delicate art. Good night."

"Good night, Mum", Tansy said. She watched her mother walk slowly away and realised her steps were stiffer than they had been. There was hardly no brown left in Maylily's once chestnut hair. Tansy shook her head. It was no good.

Tansy chopped rest of the vegetables. She wondered if Bunny had something special in her mind. Her letter had sounded even more enthusiastic than usual and also somewhat... mysterious. Tansy was aware of a small smile creeping to her face. She was glad to see her young friend again.

She put the chopped vegetables in a bowl and started frying bacon. She hoped Bunny would come soon, for otherwise she wouldn't know what to do with the bacon. As soon as the thought had entered her head, she heard a loud squeal from the door. She recognised the voice instantly and hurried to open the door.

"Well 'Ello Miss Tansy! I've made it at last. No worse for the wear I should say. Are those mushrooms I smell?" Bunny said, a wide grin on her face and her clothes all wet and muddy.

"They are", Tansy replied, laughing, "but do come in, it's no use standing in the rain." She did need to say it twice, for Bunny was in before she had even finished the sentence. Tansy closed the door after her friend. "Now how on earth did you manage to get yourself look like that?" she asked with a grin.

[Valier]

Valier's post

Bunny stood trying not to drip mud on the floor, while attempting to pull her soaked cloak from her back. "Well I think I should save my story till I'm a little more dry" Bunny stated with a small giggle. "Do you have extra clothing I could borrow?" Bunny placed her sack and wet belongings by the front door while Tansy scurried off to find her some clothing and draw a bath. Bunny wiped her face on her sleeve and looked around. The small dwelling was quiet and warm. Everyone had gone to bed, just like Bunny hoped. She wanted to have a few minutes to talk with Tansy with no one around.

After washing, (with minimal splashing) and putting on Tansy's dry night clothes, Bunny came into the kitchen, where Tansy was making tea and ladling out a bowl of delicious smelling stew. "Tansy that smells just delicious!! I'm just starved! And you've made tea!! you read my mind, I swear it!! If I had not taken my little tumble, I would have arrived a little earlier and a lot more presentable. Sorry to keep you waiting, I hope you didn't worry too much." Bunny gobbled down her bowl, barely looking up and plunged into another before she slowed to ask Tansy the most important question.

"Tansy dear you do still want to come with me.....don't you? I really think we can do it, I know it may seem like a fools journey, but what else do we have to do? I long to see what my eyes have never seen, I long to do something!!..... To be known far and wide, as the brave traveller Bella Took who found the lost Entwives....Please say you feel the same? I ...well, I want you to come so badly... please say you'll come." Bunny stated in one last lame attempt to convince Tansy to come and to even convince herself a little, that she was doing the right thing and was not acting like a foolhardy Hobbit Lass. Bunny slurped some stew from her spoon and shyly gazed at Tansy, fearing the worst.. a trip to glory on her own.


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Thinlómien's post

"Tansy dear you do still want to come with me.....don't you? I really think we can do it, I know it may seem like a fools journey, but what else do we have to do? I long to see what my eyes have never seen, I long to do something!!..... To be known far and wide, as the brave traveller Bella Took who found the lost Entwives....Please say you feel the same? I ...well, I want you to come so badly... please say you'll come."

Tansy had been dreading for this question. She had first promised to come, not giving much thought to anything. Just as if I still was on my tweens, she thought dryly. The truth was, she was not sure if she could leave her family for a long time. Both Grandma Daphne and Fred needed help in order to manage with their daily life. Tansy's mother and father were both quite old and neither of them worked at home. True, they didn't work as long hours as they once had, but they still spent hours at the inn they workes as waiters. Tansy's sister Daisy could not come to help the family, as she had little children to look after. There's only me... and if I leave for a long time with no idea when I'm coming back... Tansy suppressed a sigh. Waiters didn't earn that much and the income of the family had long depended on Tansy's needlework. Tansy knew her parents had savings, but it hurt her to even think about that they'd use them to cover for the hole in their economy caused by Tansy's selfish absence.

"Tansy?" Bunny asked nervously. Tansy looked at her. Her eyes were full of hope but there was some fear deep behind. Sometimes Bunny reminded her so much of a little, innocent child. She could not break Bunny's trust, nor her own promise.

"Of course I'm coming", she said and hoped Bunny did not notice that her smile was a bit forced. Tansy took a sip from her teacup. She had chosen an old flavour she seldom used: a rich, black tea with the flavour of blackcurrant and cardamom. The taste reminded her of her and Daisy's visit to the Southfarthing so long time ago. They had eaten Mrs Bolger's blackcurrants and got the angry old widow chasing them around her garden with a broom in her hands. She couldn't help smiling... How they had been young and carefree back then, and how they had traveled in the woods and fields, avoiding settlement, because they had thought everybody would know that they had stolen the blackcurrants and beat them with broomsticks.

"What are you smiling at?" Bunny asked, sounding curious.
"Recalling an old adventure", Tansy replied. She took another sip of tea and then told her friend the history of the balckcurrant thievery. Bunny seemed to find the idea of an angry old woman chasing Tansy and trying to hit her with a broomstick incredibly funny.

When they had finished the dinner, Tansy showed Bunny to Daisy's old room that nowadays served as a guestroom. They wished each other good night and Tansy lumbered to her own room.

It took a long time for her to fall asleep. She wondered what her parents would say of her adventure and how would they manage without her. She wondered if she had to refuse Bunny's invitation after all. She worried how Bunny would take the news. She would not want to disappoint her. Nor herself, for wasn't she really expecting this adventure? Possible, but she was definitely not expecting leaving her family all alone for days, weeks, possibly months.

But when Tansy finally fell asleep, she didn't dream of Grandma Daphne and Fred at home alone, trying to manage, nor about her parents working day and night in order to get money for food. She dreamed of a long, untrodden road before her feet, of unknown woods and fields, of good company and of new challenges - of an adventure.

[Gwathagor]

Brown woke with dew on his face and the sun in his eyes.

He had slept that night at the base of a gnarled pine tree. The tree's wide, spreading branches had sheltered him from the drizzling rain that had continued to fall periodically during the night; only his feet had stuck out from beneath his blanket and from beneath the pine tree's branches, and they were now wet. Brown half-heartedly cursed the rain, the tree, and his wet feet, then sat up. For a moment he sat blinking and rubbing his eyes. He shook his head.

The fragrant pine woods in which he had spent his night were on the western shore of the Brandywine River, which he hoped to cross that day. But not before breakfast, he thought, and reached for his knapsack. Within an hour, he was sitting on a pile of pine needles before a small, hot fire underneath the canopy of the tall pine trees. The pine needles he had carefully cleared away from his fire pit, and as he sat and his feet dried, he chopped a tomato, a potato, a sausage, and a clove of garlic into a small pan. He threw in an enormous piece of butter and set the pan atop three rocks he had positioned in the center of the fire. While the simple, sturdy meal sizzled, Brown packed up his various possessions and prepared to move along. He had packed very light (for a hobbit). Other than the clothes he was wearing, he had his knapsack (which contained food, a spare shirt, and basic cooking gear), a walking stick made of hard maple wood, and his leather sling, which he carried at his belt.

In addition to this, he had with him a very old knife of curious workmanship. He had come upon the old thing while hiking in the North Farthing, where he had found it rusting in a field. Hours of polishing had removed the dirt and rust, revealing a broad, shiny, leaf-shaped blade which was pock-marked, but as sharp as the day it had been forged. Set in the hilt was a very small gem of the deepest blue he had ever seen. This had surprised him, but it had proved a useful tool or weapon in countless situations since, and had saved his life more than once. In dark forests, or on ancient hill-tops, the beautiful, ancient knife seemed to Brown to reflect a light that was deeper and older than the trees and the hills. When he drew the blade, he could feel himself join the ranks of mysterious warriors and wanderers and princes who had drawn the blade before him.

That is an extremely unhobbitlike idea, he thought to himself as he carefully strapped the knife to his knapsack, and sat down to eat. It's only a knife, and I am only a hobbit.

When he had finished his breakfast, he threw dirt on his fire and shouldered his pack. He would wash his pan in the river, so he carried that in his left hand, while he took his staff in his right, and then trotted down towards the Brandywine, leaving the piney hill behind him. A quarter mile downstream he found a fallen tree, which he ran across to the other side. He did not love water (particularly deep rivers, like this one), but it did not bother him as much as it did most hobbits. He had fallen in enough rivers during his countless rambles through the wildest parts of the Shire that it no longer held particular fear for him. On the eastern bank he paused to wash his frying pan and collect stones for his sling. If he was quiet, he might be able to bring a few quail to Fred, Tansy, and their family. The fat Shire quail made good eating, and that way he would not be completely imposing on their hospitality. He was, after all, unexpected.

When he had gathered ten good stones, he climbed to the top of the high river bank and then checked the sun. He was not sure of his exact position, but he had a good head for directions, and had wandered through these woods plenty of times while visiting extended family as a young hobbit-lad. If he made good time, he would be at Fred and Tansy's home by tea at the latest. Feeling well-fed and content, he climbed a stile over the hedgerow which marked the boundary of a farm, and headed towards a distant patch of forest, skirting around a newly planted field as he did so. The field was still soft from previous day's rain, but the sun shone warm over the tree tops. In the distance, smoke rose straight up from the farmer's cottage.

"No wind," he remarked. "It looks to be a good day. For walking, at any rate."