Waiting on the Doorstep

Bifur and Bombur agreed to stay on the ground to take care of the stores and the ponies. We could not take any packs with us and had rope tied around our waists just in case one of us fell. Which we didn't and we all got to the door safe and sound. We made a small camp and hauled up the things we needed by the ropes that was tied around our waists. Some of the dwarves explored beyond the bay and found a path that went higher and higher. There was no point to climbing higher so they went no further. Bilbo and I were the ones who waited on the doorstep. Well, technically, there was no doorstep but it was a good enough job for me. We spoke quietly to one another and tried not to make any noise. They were anxious to get it opened and even though I reminded them of the moon runes they still tried. They had tools from Lake-town that they took and tried to use them to find the key-hole. They had no success and waited for Bilbo or Thorin to tell them what to do next. The dwarves would ask him what he was doing and he would simply say: "You said sitting and thinking would be my job, not to mention getting inside, so I am sitting and thinking." And with his response, they left him to his sitting and thinking. Bilbo confessed that he was not thinking of his job at all but what lay beyond the vast blue sky.

"Home," I sighed. "How wonderful it will be to be back again!" The dwarves got more bored as the days went by. They had nothing left to do so all of us ended up sitting on the doorstep and thinking of what to do next. One day, the dwarves were out on the rocks and they were talking about a variety of things that I was not interested in. But then they started talking behind Bilbo's back.

"What nerve! WE'RE SITTING RIGHT UNDER YOU, YA KNOW!" my thoughts yelled. Anyway, they were talking amongst each other and started saying that time is going by and nothing is happening. AND thinking that they should send Bilbo to spy things out through the Front Gate. Bilbo heard this and had a horrified look on his face.

"My goodness! I don't like the sound of that at all! Haven't I already done enough for them since Gandalf left? It's always poor me that has to do all the saving. I don't want to go out there again if I don't have to. I had a feeling that it would come to this. What am I going to do?" he sighed.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Bilbo! It hasn't happened so you shouldn't waste energy thinking about something that hasn't happened. And even if it did, you should know that you wouldn't be going alone. I'm not going to settle waiting around for you to get back. I'll stick by your side no matter the cost!" I whispered. I didn't want the dwarves to hear that we overheard their conversation.

"Thank you, Fawnabelle! You sure know how to cheer someone up," Bilbo complimented.

"It's what I do best!" I smiled. I knew I did a good thing. I would go with Bilbo to check out the dragon even if I didn't have an invisible ring. I wouldn't want one anyway because I knew what power it had and I knew that I wasn't strong enough. That night I was kept awake by the thoughts running through my head. So I stood up and walked to the edge of the floor and looked down. It was a long way! But then I looked up at the starry sky and felt happy. It was such a memorable moment and I savored every second of it. I went to the back wall, sat against it, and fell asleep.