The crowd shouted the word in near unison, fists raised, eyes glowering.
“Too many Big Folk lurching about!”, Postmaster Proudfoot proclaimed, stepping out of the Postal Hole and slamming the round door behind him.
Millaray Boggs looked around at the Michel Delving hobbits gathering in front of the Town Hall. Mayor Whitfoot, wide-eyed and nervously wetting his lips with a darting tongue, raised his hands as if to quiet the crowd.
“And their big clumsy horses!”, Peaseblossom Tunnelly chimed in as she pushed to the front of the gathering crowd. “Word’s in from all over the Shire of chickens not layin’ eggs because of those big hooves trompin’ about, shakin’ the ground, and scarin’ the hens!”
Millaray dismounted her pony and, being attentive, Torrance did as well, leading both mounts behind and away from the crowd, and holding their reins as they quietly grazed on a stretch of grass. The crowd watched him with angry faces for an interminable and uncomfortable minute before Millaray distracted them with a loud “Ahem”. The rich crimson of his and Millaray’s Bree-Watcher uniforms stood out starkly in the garden-like Michel Delving, but as Millie was also a hobbit, hers was not as noticeable. However, Torry, a Man and nearly twice the size of the largest hobbit present, stood out like a painful sore on the end of a nose.
“And that red Elf!”, a voice called out. “You stormin’ about with her, too? Her and her mob of high-hipped hooligans?!” Torry frowned at that, unable to imagine who that might be.
“Well”, another voiced piped up in a more conciliatory tone, ‘they WAS bein’ escorted by Shirriff Lancogard, so....”
“Doesn’t matter! Doesn’t matter!” another voice shouted. “They’s all still disturbin’ our PEACE!”
Second Shirriff Bodo Bunce approached the back of the crowd, calling out “Let her speak!”
Taking that as a cue, Millaray drew her short sword and began banging on her shield. Every eye turned to her in shock at the racket, which she punctuated with, “Oi! Oi! YOU LOT LISTEN UP!!” Mayor Whitfoot accompanied her with hands raised, waving down at the crowd.
“You folk think we Bree Watchers got nothin’ better to do than gallop around the neighbors’ yards stompin’ on flowers? We have OFFICIAL BUSINESS with your Bounders and Mayor Whitfoot, and as soon as we are done, we will QUIETLY LEAVE! I, Millaray Boggs, Watcher in the Staddle Auxiliary, OFFICIALLY promise.” Torry watched with admiration as Watcher Boggs took command of the situation.
“What about them others!?”, someone in the crowd demanded.
“Can’t say we know who THEY are BUT....” Millie started, and paused to wait for the voices to quiet down and she had every hobbit’s attention. “When we leave, I will arrange for the Buckland Watchers to put a sign up on the Bree-land side of the Brandywine Bridge. MIND YOUR MANNERS AND KEEP THE SHIRE PEACE.” She paused as the hobbit crowd exchanged glances, mumbled words, and nods. “AND....no doubt Mayor Whitfoot will put up ones just like it in Needlehole and Brockenborings”, she finished, turning to the Mayor. He looked uncertainly at her, then wide-eyed at the crowd.
“Aye! Aye! Most certainly!” he orated. “We have every right to post such to folks entering our Shire!”
The crowd cheered at the Mayor, and Millie found Torry’s face behind them. She winked. Torry stood with hand propped on cocked hip and grinned at her. “Seven Stars!”, he thought. “She’s good!”
Once the crowd began to happily disperse, some offering each other alternative messages for the signs and suggesting they retire to the Bird and Baby for further discussion, Millie waved Torry forward. As he was bringing the mounts forward to tie them off before the Town Hall, Millie said to the Mayor, “We came here to get a copy of a report on the death of a Cutch Crane, Big Folk late of Bree.” The Mayor nodded respectfully and led the two Bree Watchers inside.
Torry’s horse would have begun grazing on the flowers planted in front of the Town Hall, but Millie’s pony nudged his snout away from them.
