Coming Troubles

“Alright, Isobel, what have you to say for yourself?”

I cringed inwardly at the use of my given name; I hated my name more than anything in the world. And under normal circumstances, folk just called me Bel. Unless I was in trouble, that is. Like now…

I looked up at Da, my mouth going dry. He bent a stern eye on me.

“Well?”

“I swear it wasn’t on purpose…” I protested, twisting a lock of hair about my little finger, nervously.

I was in BIG trouble for Da to call me Isobel. How I got myself into said trouble was something like this:

Meriadoc Gamgee, my Da’s name-sake and godson, was turning 33. To celebrate, Da had decided to host a party here at Brandy Hall instead of in the Party Field, as was traditional. Uncle Sam (he’s not really my uncle, but my brothers and sisters and cousins and I all call him that) had protested a little at first, saying he didn’t want to impose, but Da had brushed aside his worries and concerns.

“Nonsense! He’s named after a Brandybuck, isn’t he? Besides, Sam, I want to go to all the trouble and expense,” he declared, laughing good-naturedly. Uncle Sam looked as if he was still going to protest, but Auntie Rose pulled him aside and managed to talk some sense into him.

The invitations were duly written-up and sent out. Da had only formally invited those who were really wanted – all of the Took cousins, the Brandybuck cousins, and of course the whole Gamgee family. Just about everyone else in Hobbiton was coming as well, since Da had extended the invitation to the folk there, knowing full well they’d just show-up anyway. Brandy Hall was a beehive of frantic preparation for three whole months.

In any event, I was excited about the party. Merry was always great fun – despite the fact that he was much older, he was always nice to the younger kids (myself included, even when I was in one of my infamous “moods”), and was always willing to play what some considered “childish games”. My cousin Faramir Took (called Miri) would be there as well – a little on the quiet and serious side, he could tell some of the best stories ever heard in The Shire – many learned, no doubt, through his close friendship with Lady Amdirwen, the daughter of Prince Faramir and Princess Eowyn of Ithilien.

It was my cousin, Lily Took (Miri’s baby sister), who reminded me of the only possible problem.

“You know Tom Gamgee is coming to the party, right?” she asked innocently, one day not long before the party. We were having a tea-picnic out in the sunflower patch – she had just gotten a little tea-set as a gift for learning her figures and ciphers, and had proudly brought it over to the Hall for a private tea party. I was so startled by her comment about Tom Gamgee being at the party that I spilled my tea all over the front of my dress. And I was even more startled when it suddenly occurred to me that it hadn’t occurred to me until just now.

“Oh bother.” I sighed, more from Lily’s announcement than from the growing tea-stain on my dress.

I couldn’t stand Tom Gamgee.

Ma had told me that once, when we were very little, Tom and I had gotten along nice as milk, and used to play together often in the gardens. But somewhere in the process of growing-up, Tom had turned into a snotty-nosed brat of a boy. And while I don’t remember Tom and I ever getting along the way Ma said we did, I do remember beating him up for stealing my little sister’s doll and pulling her hair.

“You mean you didn’t know?” gasped Lily, her big brown eyes widening.

“It’s not that,” I replied, half-heartedly dabbing at the stain with one of the napkins Lily and I had filched from the kitchen for our picnic. “I just didn’t realize he’d be there to make trouble.”

“How silly! That was the first thing Miri said. He said, ‘Uh-oh, Bel and Tom are going to be at each other’s throats’.”

“He didn’t.”

“Yes he did – I heard him say so. Would you like more tea?”

“What? Oh – yes, please,” I muttered, holding out my cup for Lily to refill. While she chattered on about ten-year-old things, I sat brooding on how I could avoid Tom at the party. But even then I knew that, whatever I did to try and keep from making a scene and getting into serious trouble, it wouldn’t work.

After all, I was a Brandybuck – trouble just seemed to know where I was all the time.