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The hobbit had enough. No matter what Gandalf said adventures were precisely the thing a hobbit should not be on. This situation was exactly the reason why. He tried to take a deep breath but the troll had too tight of a grip on him. He looked across the clearing to the other troll. It appeared he (if you could call a troll a he) had caught someone else as well. It appeared that the other figure was also a hobbit, of sorts. He was talking rather quickly in a high pitched voice.
“-and so if you could just put me down maybe I won’t tell my friend Kaz about what you have done,” Delbin prattled on. How embarrassing, to be picked up by a troll. He swore it was just a boulder that he had sat down on. He promised himself that from now on he would poke anything with his hoopak before he sat on it. “Listen, there must be some agreement we can come to. Something you require? Services I could render? How about a little entertainment? I know a few jokes. How many kender does it take to change a lightbulb? What Lightbulb? Get it? See the lightbulbs are gone…Come on that on that always gets a chuckle. I know I could tell you two a story!”
The two trolls actually seemed to think about it for a moment so Bilbo chimed in. “Here. Here. Yes a tale. That would be a wonderful idea. I bet you chaps haven’t heard a good tale in a long time. I know a few myself that I could recite.”
Delbin noticed Bilbo for the first time and was pleased to have a comrade in arms. The trolls grumbled to one another in their guttural language and then said “You tell story,” said the one holding Bilbo. “Then that one tell story,” he said as he pointed to Delbin. “The best story goes free. The other we have for dinner.”
Bilbo and Delbin helplessly looked at each other. They reluctantly agreed to the disparaging terms and hoped another avenue of escape might show itself before too long. Bilbo started talking.
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