What Happened Thereafter {A LotR Fanfiction}

Nettle

[I dedicate this chapter to passerbyarmy99 because she was the first one ever to comment on anything I wrote, and besides being one of the BEST writers on Wattpad, she's maybe the nicest person on here. Thank you passerbyarmy99 for all that you've done.]

On that same beautiful morning, Nettle Appleberry was engaged in a heavy-duty spring cleaning with her family. Her older brother, Diggory had been put in charge of cleaning out the larders, their younger brother, Grigory was organizing the bedrooms, and their youngest sister, Ivy had volunteered to clean outside and around the house. Their parents, Tom and Lily, were dusting and decorating, and Nettle was assigned to washing laundry, dishes, and the windows. It wasn't her favorite chore but it wasn't her least favorite, either.

Nettle didn't realize it, but while she was washing she was being carefully watched by none other than Meriadoc Brandybuck. He was studying her every move, anticipating the moment when she'd fall right into the booby trap he and Pippin had made the other day when she was not around. Merry wouldn't usually play a prank on a lass, but after losing a bet to Pippin he had to do whatever his mischievous cousin told him to do for one whole day. That was the rules. He had been waiting now for over twenty minutes and was beginning to get impatient. How long would it take for her to walk over to the cupboards that were right in front of her, open them, and be showered with pond scum?

The trap was perfect in every way. Yesterday morning, he and Pippin went out to The Water and scooped out all the algae, moss, and pond scum with their bare hands. Then they had carefully concealed it all in a bucket and created the device that would hold the bucket up while it was in place. The trigger, once set off, would swing the bucket out and upside down, releasing it's filthy contents on whoever was standing underneath it. They had waited for at least thirty minutes until Nettle left her house before they sneaked into her kitchen through the window and set up the trap. It had taken them less than five minutes to finish the deed.

Later on, Merry realized that Nettle might not be the only one to open that certain cupboard, but Pippin quickly took care of the matter by explaining to both Tom and Lily that their daughter was "hiding a special surprise" for them in the kitchen. Merry was proud to see that neither Tom nor Lily had entered the kitchen all day. Now all they had to do was wait. Nettle was there now, scrubbing the dishes and humming quietly to herself. The tune, though unfamiliar to Merry, was quite pleasant to listen to and made the waiting more bearable for him.

Pippin was not waiting with him to see what happened. He was off with Thorn instead and had told Merry that they were off to scare Daffodil Havenruft, who was taking her morning stroll through some unused path. So, Merry was left alone. He was to tell Pippin what happened in full detail later, which as of right now, seemed very far off to him.

Meanwhile, Nettle (who had no idea what Merry and Pippin were planning for her) was silently brooding over an argument she'd had with Diggory earlier. Despite her happy humming, she wasn't feeling as happy on this lovely morning as she otherwise should be. 

"Why so grim, sister?" Grigory asked as he walked through the kitchen to get a drink of cool water. Nettle shrugged and watched as he filled the cup to the brim.

"I'm not grim, I'm irate," she replied, as if that explained everything. Grigory turned to look at her then, and it was such a funny look that Nettle knew he had no idea what she had just said whatsoever.

"What's ir-...ir--"

"Irate?" she said, not caring that she had interrupted. "It's another word for angry."

"Ah," he downed his water in one big gulp, then flashed her a grin and went to continue his chores, leaving Nettle alone once again.

Nettle sighed in indignation and half of her wished Grig would come back, and the other half was glad he didn't. Although the younger hobbit was annoying, she figured his company was better than none at all. Nettle was nothing like Daffodil --who cherished her alone time-- and furthermore was getting really bored with washing the dishes and windows and laundry. She wanted to go out and explore! Or something fun, at least.