Frodo held a long strip of bright blue cloth over his eyes. "Will you tie this for me, please, Sam?"
Sam stopped in the midst of putting on his own costume to come to Frodo's aid. Frodo put his fingers through two holes cut out of the cloth, pressing lightly over his closed eyelids to keep the holes in place while Sam knotted the ends of the strip at the back of his head. "There," said Sam once he'd finished. "Can you see through that properly?"
Frodo lowered his hands and blinked. "Yes, very well." He turned around to face his friend. "How do I look?"
"That blue suits you," Sam told him. "Brings out your eyes."
The rest of Frodo's costume was made to match: an old blue velvet jacket with long streamers cut from an old cloak sewn onto the sleeves and down the front and back and a pair of blue breeches. Sam's outfit was a similar collection of old clothes decorated with colorful strips of rag, but in mossy green and mustard yellow.
It was the first night of Yule, and a traditional "Tatters" party was being held that evening on the Bywater Market Green: at the close of the old year, hobbits customarily wore worn-out clothes decorated with shreds of rags as ribbons; a ceremonial casting-off of the old followed, when the tattered garments were tossed into a bonfire by anyone so inclined. The poorer and more frugal hobbits preferred to keep their tattered costumes to wear again at the next Yuletide. On the second day of Yule, hobbits celebrated the coming year by wearing their newest and best finery.
In return for Sam's assistance, Frodo helped his friend with his own mask, which was more than a thin strip of cloth, but a broad green-and-gold paisley headscarf, formerly part of a cloak-lining, that tied around the top of his head as well as covered his eyes.
"I've kept an eye on the weather all day," Sam said once they had put on their costumes and were headed out. "There's not a flake of new snow to be seen! The Yule festival won't be snowed out like last year. Remember?"
"I remember," Frodo answered. "But we had a nice time anyway, didn't we? Here, by ourselves?" In the front hall, he turned to Sam with a smile, and bestowed a quick kiss. "It wasn't so awful missing the festival."
"No," Sam agreed, and put his arms around Frodo's waist, "but we missed it the year before too, being away from the Shire as we were. And we won't be alone this year in any case, not if Misters Merry and Pippin are coming tonight. You said they'd be here."
"That's what I understood from Merry's last letter," answered Frodo as he extricated himself from Sam's embrace. "He wrote that he and Pip would be leaving Tuckborough today, and they'd stop here for the Yuletide festivals before they went on to Buckland to see his family. I hope they'll be along before dark." He went to the door and opened it; a clear, still twilight was settling over the hills of Hobbiton, and he could see the bright lights of lanterns flickering in the lanes, as other party-goers headed for Bywater. "If they don't come soon, we'll have to go on without them."
"We could leave a note at the door, and they'll catch up when they come," Sam suggested.
"Yes, I suppose that's best. We don't want to sit here waiting all evening." Frodo paused to write out a brief note and fix it to the door. Then he took up his broad-brimmed hat trimmed with long, blue-black rooster tail-feathers and put it on. "Very well then. Let's go." He and Sam went out to join the festival.
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In Tatters by Kathryn Ramage
Story notes: There are no dead hobbits in this story, only a soaking wet one.
Like my previous mysteries, this story takes elements from the book, but also uses two key points from the film version of LOTR: the Shire is untouched, and the four main hobbits are all around the same age.
This story takes place at midwinter between 1420 and 1421 (S.R.).
December 2005
The Frodo Investigates! series
