Bilbo left the Dwarves bickering and resting their bellies after breakfast in the banquet hall and slipped out to investigate the gardens. Once he explained his need, the Elves were happy to direct him. It was only a short walk - although they always felt longer on a full belly - before he found himself amongst winding paths of soft grass through garden beds and shrubs. He wiggled his toes in the grass with pleasure.

Elves, he supposed, must have very talented gardener's hands. There were plants in this garden he had never laid eyes on, both ornamental and edible. Bilbo leaned in close to breathe the sweet smell of a pink flower, not quite a rose but similar enough to bring a sense of familiarity.

"We don't get many Dwarves around here," came a voice from behind him.

Bilbo turned to find the voice was coming from a child - not an Elf child, from the look of him, but one of the race of Men. His hair was a tousled mess but his eyes were dark and serious.

"I am not surprised to hear it," said Bilbo. "Dwarves and Elves are not great friends to each other, although I can't imagine why. But I am no Dwarf."

"But you are so small!" said the child in surprise. "And you seem all grown-up."

"I am Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit of the Shire, at your service," said Bilbo, with a bow.

"I am called Estel," said the child, with the slightly suspicious tones of one who suspects that his own name might be a little silly and is daring anybody to say anything about it. "Lord Elrond is my foster father."

Bilbo carefully avoided showing any amusement. "I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, Estel."

"I have never met a Hobbit before," said Estel. "Are there lots of you?"

"Hobbits? Plenty of us, in the Shire, but we are very small and hard to spot. I'm not surprised you haven't heard of us before."

"Is the Shire far from here?"

"It is not very far from Bree," said Bilbo, and Estel nodded as if he knew where that was. "Which is farther than I had ever travelled in my life before now."

"I've never left Rivendell," said Estel in a wistful tone. "Not since I can remember."

"Well, I wouldn't be in a hurry. The things I've seen since leaving my nice comfortable little Hobbit hole! Why, we'd barely been on the road for a week before I almost got eaten by a troll--"

"Trolls?" repeated Estel excitedly. He cleared his throat and continued carefully. "Could you tell me more about the trolls? It's just that I didn't realise you got them in these parts."

Bilbo hid another smile and launched into the story. "Well, it all started in the middle of a downpour at night, in a dark and gloomy forest. Thorin asked me to investigate a mysterious light in the distance - we wanted to know if it was shelter, you see."

He warmed to the story as he told it, embellishing a few details here and there as Estel's eyes grew wider and wider. Perhaps this Adventure would not be a waste of time at all, if he would have stories like this to tell afterwards.

As Bilbo was describing the trolls' conversation in graphic detail, two of the Elves appeared in the garden. "There you are," one of them said to Estel, in Elvish. The conversation continued in that language, too fast for Bilbo to follow. He cursed himself for not keeping up with his childish fancies of learning all the Elven languages.

"Oh, but Mr Baggins was telling me about how he almost got eaten by a troll," said Estel. "Please can't I stay a little longer?"

"A troll?" said the Elves, in astonishment.

"Three trolls, to be precise," said Bilbo. "They had all of us but me in sacks, you see..."

"I can tell this is quite the tale," said one of the Elves. "Estel, come find us in the library once you're finished. You can't skip all your lessons today." The Elf nodded in Bilbo's direction. "Good day, Mr Baggins."

Bilbo bowed awkwardly in response.

"My foster brothers," said Estel, once the Elves were far out of ear-shot. He gave the long-suffering sigh of a younger sibling.

Bilbo smiled, thinking of his young cousins. "Now, where was I?"

"The sacks," Estel prompted.

"Ah, yes. Well, I decided that the trolls needed a little encouragement..."