Chapter 7: To Gondor

Samwise Gamgee had now been elected the Mayor for the third time. It was starting to be a sort of tradition. He would be in a fret the night before the latest election and hope that he had made a good enough speech the previous week. And once he had been elected it was almost as if the world had started to revolve again. That was what Sam felt anyway.

Also during these years the Gamgee’s had had another three additions to their family; Ruby, Robin and Tolman, Tom for short.

Elanor, Sam and Rosie were packing there bags to stay at Gondor for a few days. Seeing Strider again had made Sam really miss the outside world of the Shire and thought it a good idea to take them to a special place. Frodo Junior as to be in charge of his siblings, this wasn’t overly hard. The older brothers and sisters tended to spend the day together with other hobbit children near the party tree while the younger ones would hang around anywhere near home; anywhere near food they would stay.

They were to go by horse and cart. King Aragorn had sent out a letter asking if the other hobbits would mind a grown man in there midst. Sam of course went around to every hole and asked the owners if they did mind. Only the Sandyman’s minded but Sam didn’t really care about them; pretty much the only family in the whole Shire that Sam didn’t want to give the time of day to. So Aragorn was to come and greet them and then take them to Gondor. The three of them were very excited. Rosie and Elanor especially as they had never been to the White City before so they were excited to do so.

Sam had left Bag End to tell Tolman Cotton that he was to be deputy mayor while he was away. Tolman agreed happily and Sam was soon on his way back to Bag End to await the arrival of King Elessar.

Later that day when they were eating some lunch Elanor spotted some dust coming up the lane of Bagshot Row. At once she stood up excitedly. ‘Mum, Da! King Elessar is here!’ She immediately left the table and opened the green door to Bag End and fled down the road to meet Aragorn.

Soon she came back and Aragorn followed her into Bag End. ‘So this is the hole of Hobbiton.’ He muttered to himself when he stepped inside. Rosie took his cloak and set it on the hanger ready for when they were going to leave. ‘I must say Miss Rose, that you keep this place beautifully clean.’ Aragorn told her as they had sat down to a cup of tea before they left.

‘Thank you, King Elessar, I do what I can,’ Rosie said blushing.

‘I do ask one thing though; could you please call me Aragorn? People only ever call me King Elessar when there is trouble or such.’

‘Sorry K- er Aragorn,’ Rosie said again with a blush and a curtsy. She walked back into the kitchen to get some biscuits

Soon when every one had been fed, Sam and Frodo junior put the entire luggage into the back of the wagon that Aragorn had brought and soon they were on their way to Gondor which was about a weeks ride with rests, but they were to try and go for as long as they could without resting.

By lunchtime they were all hungry, except for Aragorn who had gone long periods of time before with out food or sleep; he was rather used to it and said that he would eat something when they stopped for the night.

The hobbits got out of the wagon and found by the road a small patch of grass that they could sleep in. The ground was unfortunately lumpy so they were very excited to get to Gondor and sleep in a proper bed.

During the week they finally reached Gondor. It was a beautiful sight; there was white everywhere. ‘I guess that’s why they call it the white city’ Sam muttered to Rosie. She wasn’t really listening. She was too awe stricken to think of anything else but the beautiful white city. They started to walk closer. Elanor took her mothers hand and together all four of them walked on. Soon they reached the door and Arwen greeted them with some kind Elvish words.

Later that night, the three Hobbits, Aragorn and Arwen were in a room that was off the dining hall having a sort of private, belated dinner. They were all in heavy talk and the three of the hobbits were telling Arwen of the Shire. Of the five of them she had never really been there, only to the out skirts and even then she didn’t really get that good of a look at the land.

‘Well we must visit there some day; I would love to see the Shire in all its glory. And not just from the edge,’ she laughed slightly. Her laugh was beautiful; so light and airy.

That night the hobbits were in bed. They had gone rather early, all the walking for the last few days had really tired them out. They were all talking quietly when they came a small knock at the door. It opened to reveal Aragorn. He had just come in to say that he was happy to see the hobbits again. He had missed Sam terribly.

Over the next few weeks the life of the Hobbits and everyone was fairly laid back. It was sort of like Rivendell and Lothlorien; they couldn’t really keep track of time, but to Sam that really didn’t make a lot of sense to him as he had always believe that it were the Elf countries that you couldn’t keep a track of time on. He guessed that it might have been because he found Gondor such a beautiful place.

Today was the last day that he, Elanor and Rosie were spending in Gondor, tomorrow they were going to start and head off back to the Shire. Aragorn had offered to take them a little way so that they wouldn’t lose their way and become lost. Sam had decided to go exploring and having a look at the city one last time when he came across a room that he had never seen before.

It was rather dull but he noticed something straight away, upon the opposite wall was a banner of Frodo. Sam moved closer to have a better look and to see if it wasn’t just his eyes playing a trick on him. His eyes hadn’t fooled him, upon the wall were a banner of Frodo and underneath it said “Frodo Baggins, Ring Bearer of the One Ring from the Shire to Orodruin. May he rest in peace!” Below the banner was a small table with a book on it. It was a short, brief tale of Frodo’s journey. Sam was mentioned a few times. He had a look at some other things. At the back of the book was a map of the Shire. Underneath that was some small writing. As told by Frodo Baggins. Map illustrated by Frodo Baggins.”

Sam couldn’t help but weep. He hadn’t realized how much he had missed his master but hopefully he would see Frodo in a few years time. Sam sat down on the step that the table was on and wept for a few hours. He had no idea where the tears were coming from but for some reason he just couldn’t hold them in any more.

A little later Aragorn came in and Sam quickly wiped away his tears and stood up. ‘Hello, Sam. I see you have found the memoriam that I had built for Frodo when I became king.’ Aragorn noticed Sam’s tears and bent down and embraced the sobbing hobbit. After a little while they pulled away and Aragorn spoke quietly but loud enough for Sam to hear. ‘It’s all right Sam. You will see Frodo soon enough. I’m sure of it,’ Aragorn had a sort of sad smile on his face but Sam couldn’t help but sob.

That night, while he was in bed, Sam had dreams of Frodo and his journey to Mordor, some good and some bad.

The next day was the day to leave Gondor. Elanor was sad to leave; she had become good friends with Arwen. Finally the three hobbits and Aragorn were on their way back to the Shire.

Over the next few days they finally reached the borders. Aragorn had parted with them a few days earlier. Sam was sad to see him go, but Aragorn pulled him aside just before he left and gave Sam a small picture of Frodo and a copy of the book that Sam had found at the memoriam. The picture was in a beautiful frame and Aragorn told Sam that Arwen had made it for him the night that Sam had found the memoriam.

The next few hours were utterly quiet. Soon they finally reached Bag End again. They all put their sacks down and sat on the couch. There, they conversed about what they had done and had found out while in Gondor. When Elanor had gone to bed, Sam showed Rosie the frame and the small book in which had the script of Frodo and Sam’s journey. Rosie took it and read the whole book right there and then. It only took her about twenty minutes and by the end she had tears streaming down her face.

Sam saw this and quickly walked over to Rosie and caressed her face and kissed her.