When Rosie Cotton was eleven, her parents died of cholera and she was sent to stay with Bilbo Baggins, who lived on the moors in a large drafty smial with lots of rooms. Having very little to do, she took to playing in the sprawling gardens of the estate, where one day she met a boy playing a small wooden flute. His name was Sam, and he talked with an amusingly rustic accent.

Bilbo Baggins, it should be noted, was a bitter old hunchback who had long ago ordered one of the gardens to be locked off, because his beloved Lobelia had adored it and then died and left him alone. But Rosie was a curious child, and wanted to find the key to this secret garden.

Luckily enough, Sam owned a metal detector and they were soon in business.

Then, one night, when Rosie was lying in bed - exhausted from a day of digging and planting with Sam, nudge nudge wink wink - and heard someone whining. She followed the sound until she found a small, sickly, grouchy hobbit in one of the many big dark rooms of the big dark smial.

"My name's Frodo," he said. "Are you a ghost?"

~

Pretty Good Year | email Mary