Popski looked at the note again and read for a third time. There it was in black and white, The Sheriff had been going through his records and found that Popski had not taken a single day off since he was appointed Gatekeeper to the Village of Brightdown.
No one had ever told him that he was allowed days off. Popski folded the letter and went back inside. The letter had instructed him to take the accrued days off immediately as a “Holiday”; Popski had never had a day off or had a holiday and was a little unsure about how to do it. He had heard that folk sometimes went travelling on a holiday so he decided that was what he was going to do. He thought about going back home to Frogmorton but he got the impression that this “Travelling” lark required the person to go off to far away unknown places. Popski looked at the map of the Shire on the wall and realised that most of the Shire was far away and unknown to a young Hobbit that grew up in Frogmorton.
Popski tried to think of a suitable destination but could not make his mind up so he decided to let fate resolve the matter. He took the letter opener from the desk. He would spin round three times with his eyes shut and point to the map with the letter opener; where ever it landed he would go to on his travels.
With his eyes closed Popski turned round three times, stopped and thrust the letter opener into the map. Opening his eyes Popski saw that his destination was…….. a stuffed Carp hanging on the wall next to the map. Popski sighed and decided to have another go, this time without the spinning around.
With his eyes tightly shut Popski thrust the letter opener towards the map. Tentatively he opened his eyes and looked at the point of the letter opener. The point was firmly stuck in the middle of “Overhill”.
“Right that is where I will go then” said Popski. He had not heard much about the village of Overhill so it would all be very new to him. Popski found an old travel pack and filled it with a few essentials. Then he carefully removed is Gatekeepers Hauberk and Helmet and put on his old clothes.
Making sure the door to his burrow was locked Popski then placed a small sign on the door....
“Gone on Holiday. Back Soon”
Popski had stopped off at the Ivy Bush Inn on his journey northwards and had a most agreeable evening listening to a minstrel on the small stage and trying one or two of the local ales before bed.
Overhill was a small village hidden amongst the trees just north of Hobbiton. Most of its population were involved with production of timber that most of the Shire used for everything from shelves and burrow doors to fencing and building barns. Overhill had a lovely little pond for fishing as well as a small river flowing alongside. With a chance to see the great Rushock Bog Popski was certainly going to have enough to keep him busy for a few days.
Unfortunately the village was not big enough to have an Inn of its own but Popski was told that the nearby village of Brockenborings had a fine Inn called “The Plough and Stars” where he might find a spare room to rent.
