"Come on out halfling! I know you're hiding there," called Barri the Dunlending. He led behind him a mule, laden mostly with furs as well as a number of sacks, items for trade. The halfling, Iofan Madcorf, only a tween, stepped meekly out from behind a nearby tree.
"How could ye tell?" he asked, hanging his head in shame. "Was I breathing too loud? Or did I leave footprints somewhere?"
Barri laughed. "Oh, no, none of that! Matter of fact, I didn't know you were there at all!"
Iofan seemed confused, but laughed along anyway.
"Come on, then! Lead me to the meeting spot. You know I can't find my way around these canyons for the life of me." As he spoke, Barri motioned for Iofan to start moving, which he did.
"Aye, we all know right well that none of ye giant-folk seem to be able to remember which paths lead where and which paths don't lead anywhere. That's why they pay me to guide ye!"
"How much are they paying you for this? All you're doing is taking a nice walk in the midday sun with fine company!"
Iofan shrugged. "Well, they pay me in the sense that I don't have to do any real work, like farm or fish."
"Fine alternative then."
"Aye, I'd say so."
The pair walked in silence for some time, only three sounds to be heard: the mule's breathing, the mule's stomping, and the man's stomping. Iofan walked completely quietly, neither his breathing nor his footfalls to be heard. He stopped to pick up a few strangely shaped stones along the way, to add to his collection back home.
Iofan suddenly broke his silence, almost startling Barri. "Oh, here, we're getting close to where Iolo told us to meet. Is the donkey ready?"
"It's a mule. And yes, of course he is. What do you mean?"
"Nothing, I just thought ye were going to make him look a little nicer is all."
"What, don't you like the way I've arranged the furs?"
"Oh no, it's fine. I love it. Let's trudge on, then, right around the bend."
It was only a short walk to the small pond where Iolo and Rhus sat waiting. Seeing Iofan and Barri they waved happily and stood, walking over to the pair and the mule. To Barri's surprise, they started talking to Iofan in a language he could not quite understand. He had only a little experience with the common tongue spoken by travelers, and the language the halflings were speaking, presumably a dialect, as he could make out a few words, seemed stranger to him than other sorts of that language he had heard before; more rustic and less refined, and thus harder to understand. The traders of his clan had only ever spoken to them in the Dunlending language, which they seemed to speak perfectly, if perhaps with a slight accent. However, his linguistic curiosity was overshadowed by his impatience.
"Come on then! You know I don't understand a word you're saying. Switch back to my tongue so we can get on with this trade."
Iolo, whom Barri recognized as the leader of the halflings from previous dealings, nodded and spoke. "Right, and we do apologize. However, Iofan was just telling us something quite interesting, and I say it's worth asking ye about."
Rhus nodded. "Aye, Iofan said ye knew he was hiding behind a tree. How could ye know that? He said he was hiding perfectly well."
Barri, surprised by the issue, laughed and started unloading his mule. "Oh, he was! He certainly was. You see, halflings, I didn't know anything. I guessed. If he was, in fact, hiding, then I was right, and I was! But had he not been in earshot, then nothing was lost, and I would only seem a fool to myself."
The halflings nodded knowingly. Iolo brought a few bags from behind a shrub. "Here are the buttons and strings ye've asked for. We also included a couple of Rhosun's antler sculptures for good measure."
Barri patted the stack of furs he had on the ground, and started taking the bags (four in total) from the mule's back. "And here are your ox furs, as requested, and some ore from down south. We got it at a cheap price, so we brought more than you requested."
Iolo smiled. "Ah, wonderful! Many thanks to you and your tribe."
They exchanged their goods, and parted ways. Rhus walked off with a stack of large furs on his little back, and Iolo with two large bags of ore slung over his small shoulders. Iofan and Barri returned quietly to the place where they had met, and there left each other.
And that was the last the hobbits of Maur Tulhau saw of any big folk for some time.
