"'snot fair." Sammie pouted. Sammie was very good at pouting. "'s discrimination, it is."
"Isn't!" Meli poked her tongue out. "Discriminatin' is when we don't let you in because you're a boy. This time we're not letting you in because you pong."
"I do not," Sammie drew himself up to his full two-foot-one-and-a-half-inches imperiously. "Pong, Melilot Celebrian Emerald Took! You're the one who pongs!"
Meli shrugged, dropping the rope ladder down as if it were all the same to her. "Fine, climb up then."
"You've got sandbags hanging all around the treehouse!" Sammie wailed. "Meli, this isn't fair."
"Whining doesn't suit you any better than it suits your uncle," Meli retorted. "Isn't my fault vampires can't cross where there's sandbags, is it? Just be lucky you don't have trouble with the rivers, my Dad says some of the really bad sort do and think of all the adventures we couldn't have then!"
"Me-li," Sammie pouted a final time and turned to walk away. Meli sighed.
"All right, whiner. I s'pose next you'll be saying I can't throw silver spoons at Aster no more."
"Oh, no, keep doing that. She yelps like anything," Delphinium put in, running to catch up with Sammie as he hoisted himself into the treehouse.
"Watch it, you, or I'll tell your sister you were beggin' me to take a nibble again," Sammie teased. "You know she hates it when you do that."
"Hmph." Del crossed her arms. "Don't see what business it is of hers. And I only do it because you look so waxy and horrible otherwise. Downright disgusting, puts me off my dinner."
Sammie and Meli nodded without a hint of sarcasm in their expressions, which really was a fine display of self control on their parts. Delphinium ignored them. "Where're the others, anyway?"
"Molly's gettin' some garlic off - er, I mean, Molly's having a chat to the greengrocer, she'll be up directly, and she's certainly not getting any garlic to mash into your after-supper cake, Sammie. And Daisy's -"
"Off looking up nasty things to do to ghoulish little Tooks who're mean to my brother, that's where!" Daisy said with a laugh as she climbed up the rope ladder, launching herself at Meli with a cry of 'for the Shire! Especially the parts that don't come outside at the midday hour!' and a lot of giggling.
~