Just to be With You
“One of the first that they found was poor Fredegar Bolger, Fatty no longer. He had been taken when the ruffians smoked out a band of rebels he led from their hidings up in the Brockenbores by the hills of Scary”
- The
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, “The Grey Havens”
10:
The Rebellion
Berilac
Brandybuck frowned out his window. A heavy blanket of snow covered most of
Buckland – the likes of which had not been seen for many years. But it was not
the weather that unnerved him; it was the letter in his hand. It had come from
Pimpernel, his wife, who had been staying with her family at the Great Smials.
Things had become difficult – with Men prowling about Tookland, as they were in
most parts of the Shire. Her father had had three of the Men shot, and now the
watch on Tookland had been doubled. Pimpernel doubted she would be able to
return to Buckland soon.
“Well?”
Ferdibrand Took asked. He had managed to escape from Tookland and deliver
Pimpernel’s message to her husband.
“I
don’t know what to think,” Berry sighed, at length. “I knew things were bad in
the Shire, but not this bad.”
“I
was lucky to get out. No doubt all of Tookland is under siege now. The Tooks
have never been to popular with the so-called Chief.”
“Pimple’s
not too fond of the Brandybucks either.” Berilac sat down and massaged his
temples. He needed Pimpernel. She always knew the right thing to do.
“A
pity Merry and Peregrin are lost. They wouldn’t stand for this,” Ferdi said,
sitting next to Berry.
“Who
knows? Perhaps they may return.”
“From
the Old Forest? I doubt it.”
The
words “Old Forest” stirred something in Berilac’s mind. With Pimpernel trapped in
Tookland, and Merry lost somewhere in the Wild, there was only one hobbit that
Berry could think of talking to.
“I
have to see your cousin.”
“Fredegar?”
Ferdi asked. “Why?”
“He
has always been close friends with Merry and Pippin, and Frodo. He was the last
hobbit to see them alive Also, I cannot see him standing for this either.”
Ferdi
shook his head. “He would not. And neither will I. I’ll come with you.”
Berilac
nodded. He had hoped that Ferdi would say that. He had been none too keen about
the idea of riding alone in the Shire at this time, nor in such bad weather.
“Let me leave a not for the Master first. He wouldn’t want me running off
without telling him, too.”
“Where
are you running off to, Berry?” a voice asked. Berry and Ferdi turned to see
Celandine Brandybuck standing in the doorway with her brother Ilberic and
Doderic.
“I
have to speak with Fredegar Bolger,” Berry answered.
“If
you’re going to take a stand against these ruffians,” said Doderic, “we are
coming with you.”
Berilac
was about to refuse, but Ferdibrand said, “Five is better than two. Be ready to
leave in half-an-hour.”
Once
the three young Brandybucks had left, Berilac frowned at Ferdi. “They are too
young for what we are doing,” he hissed.
“At
times like this, Berry,” Ferdi sighed, “I don’t think there’s such a thing as
too young.”
* *
* * * *
Estella
made her way to the front door of her home, hoping that it was not a gang of
ruffians that were knocking insistently. But she could not think of anyone else
who would be knocking this late at night.
“Good
evening, Estella,” Berilac greeted, as she pulled the door open.
“Berilac!
Ferdibrand!” she cried. “What are you doing here?”
“They’ve
come to see me,” said Fredegar, coming up behind his sister. “Haven’t you?”
Berry nodded, and Fredegar grinned. “You certainly took your time! I expected
you a week ago.”
Fredegar
and Estella led Berilac, Ferdi and their companions inside and out of the cold.
Soon, all seven on them were in the Bolgers’ drawing room, sipping on what tea
Rosa had to spare.
“Before
we do anything,” said Fredegar, “I will have to move my family to a safe place.
I won’t have harm come to them from my actions.”
Berry
nodded. “They can stay at Brandy Hall. They will be well protected there, especially
Estella.”
“But
I’m not going,” Estella stated.
“Don’t
be stupid, Stella,” Fredegar argued. “Go to Brandy Hall with Mother and Father.
What we are going to do is far too dangerous…”
“Celandine
is not being sent away! Besides,” Estella stared to the West as she spoke, “I
have already lost one hobbit whom I love dearly, and I am not about to lose
another.”
Ferdibrand,
surprisingly, supported Estella. “Stella is light on her feet, even for a
hobbit, and has a sharp eye. She would be a great help to us.”
Estella
smiled at him in thanks. It was going to be a long night.
* *
* * * *
The
nest morning, Odo and Rosa set off for Brandy Hall. Before they left, Fredegar
handed a letter to Odo. It was addressed to Melilot Brandybuck, Fredegar’s
sweetheart.
“Give
this to Mel for me,” he asked. “And tell her brother, Merimas, to keep her
safe.” Odovacar nodded, and patted his son on the back, proudly. He climbed
into the cart next to his wife, and drove in the direction of Buckland.
“We
will need a base of operations,” Berry stated. “Unless, of course, Freddie and
Estella want to work from their home.”
Fredegar
shook his head. “Definitely not, but I do know of a good place. The
Brockenbores, over near Scary. There are still some woods there, enough to
provide food cover.”
“We
may also find an abandoned house or hole,” Ferdi added.
“Agreed,”
said Berilac. “We should gather everything we need – and that we can carry –
from here and set off for Scary as soon as we can.”
Within
an hour, the seven hobbits had collected all the food they could find, as well
as several water skins. Estella had gathered every blanket the Bolgers owned,
and at Fredegar’s suggestion, all of the dark clothes she could find. He
brought out a bucket of soot and ashes.
“It
will be useful if we want to travel unseen,” he explained.
Finally,
they set off for Scary.
* *
* * * *
And
so, Fredegar’s band of rebels was born. As a joke, they called themselves
Fatty’s band. Their “base of operations” was a derelict and deserted hole,
outside the town of Scary. It had been ransacked, and the rebels wondered what
had happened to the original inhabitants. It made a good hideout, nonetheless.
There were three doors, which were guarded day and night. Though it was
difficult to do so in the beginning, the rebel band soon grew in numbers.
Mosco
and Moro Burrows, cousins of Berry, joined the band after they ambushed an
escort of ruffians taking the brothers to the Lockholes, apparently converted
storage tunnels in Michel Delving. Mosco and Moro had been accused of sabotage,
and were happy to join Fatty’s Band. Also with the escort had been a young
Sheriff by the name of Inigo Baggins. He had been labelled a traitor by his
fellow Sheriffs. Fatty’s Band begged him to join them, since his knowledge of
the Chief and his ruffians would be invaluable.
Two
young hobbits from the town of Scary came next, Tulip Chubb and Mungo Goodbody.
Both had been forced from their homes by the ruffians, and Mungo’s father had
been killed. They found the rebels’ hideout by accident and were all too glad
to join them. Mungo even enlisted his good friend, Rollo Grubb.
Prospero
Bunce and Cosimo Boffin had fled from Hobbiton when they had disobeyed the
Chief’s orders. They had heard the rumours of a grand army operating from somewhere
in the East Farthing. Despite finding the rebel band to be far less than they
expected, they were glad to be with hobbits that shared their view on the Chief
and his Men.
The
last to join the rebels had been Sancho Proudfoot. Berry had found him at the
side of the road, badly beaten by ruffians and left for dead. Once he had
recovered from his injuries, Sancho became a deadly archer, and had killed the
most ruffians, despite being one of the youngest in the band.
The
rebels would attack groups of ruffians, from vantage points chose by the
light-footed Estella, their scout. It was Estella’s job to map out the best
areas for an attack. Ever since the shootings in Tookland, the ruffians had
become warier, and now Fatty’s Band was giving them another reason to fear
these seemingly harmless Little People.
The
band had been operating for several months now, and it was well into Spring.
The longer days made it harder for the band to remain unseen, but they tried. One
night in mid-March, Estella returned from scouting the immediate area around
the hobbit-hole. Berry was on guard at the main door, but Mungo relieved him as
soon as Estella arrived. Together, Berilac and Estella went to their leader’s
room.
Fredegar
was sitting on a makeshift bed, deep in thought. He looked up when his two
fellow rebels arrived. “Anything to report, sister?”
“No,
brother,” she replied. “There is nothing on the roads for miles, and naught in
the fields but birds.”
“And
yet, you seem troubled.”
“I
do not like this eerie peace. I suppose we could be optimistic and believe that
they have abandoned this region for fear of us, but I don not think it to be
so.”
“Nor
do I,” said Berry. “These ruffians would not give up so easily.”
Fredegar
sighed. “You are both right, but there is nothing that we can do, save wait for
them to make a move. Curse them!”
Estella
silently slipped from the room as Fredegar and Berilac continued to discuss the
situation. She was exhausted from her evening of sneaking, so wished for the
solitude of her room. She flopped onto
her bed and stared at the ceiling. As always, she thought about Merry; where he
could be, and whether he was thinking about her too.
Merry
was in the Houses of Healing in Minas Tirith, waiting for the arrival of a doom
Estella knew nothing of. And when he was not worrying about Peregrin, or Frodo
and Sam, his thoughts often turned to the hobbit-lass he had left behind.
* *
* * * *
Estella
had not even realised that she had fallen asleep, but she could see that it was
morning from the light that squinted through the boarded up windows. Her nose
picked up a scent that she knew should not be present, and it took her a moment
to decipher what it was: Smoke. She could smell smoke. The rebels were not
permitted to light fires, since the smoke would draw attention to their
hidings.
Estella
ran from her room and found the situation was worse than she feared. The
hallway was full of smoke, meaning that this was not a simple mistake where a
cold hobbit had sought comfort. She ripped off one of her sleeves and wrapped
it around her nose and mouth.
“Fredegar!
Freddie!”
Fredegar
had been on his way to her room and they collided in the hallway. The look on
his face was grim. “They have found us,” was all he said.
Berilac
ran up and stopped at Freddie’s side, gasping for breath. “There are great many
of those Big Folk ruffians outside. They’ve set fires at all of the doors.”
“We
shall be burnt alive!” Estella cried.
“No,”
said Fredegar. “We can still escape through the windows.” He did not need to
add that they would surely be captured if they did.
Estella
nodded. “My room is furthest from the doors. Gather everyone and meet me there.
I will start on the boards.”
Fredegar,
Berilac and Estella ran in three differing directions. Estella returned to her
room and started yanking off all the planks of wood that covered her window.
Fredegar soon returned with Sancho, Ferdibrand, Rollo, Tulip, Mungo and
Prospero. Berry arrived a moment later with Doderic, Ilberic, Celandine,
Cosimo, Mosco, Moro and Inigo.
Estella
stepped aside and allowed Berry and Sancho to finish clearing the window. As
soon as it was open, the hobbit rebels moved towards it. Celandine and Tulip
were first, then Estella. The moment she felt fresh air, Estella also felt a
pair of large hands grab her roughly. She suddenly became aware that she could
hear Celandine screaming.
The
ugly face of a squint-eyed man peered at her. He had grabbed her so that her
arms were trapped against her sides.
“‘ullo
there, little rat,” he sneered.
She
knew that there was no point in warning the others. A far worse fate waited for
any that remained inside. Estella was passed, none too gently, to another cruel
looking man, and promptly shoved into a sack. She heard a voice snarl, “To the
Lockholes with you!” then she saw or heard no more.
* *
* * * *
A/N:
I don’t believe it is ever detailed who the members of Fredegar’s rebel band
were. I hope everyone enjoyed my members. Many of them were resurrected names
from The History of Middle-Earth. I tend to get a lot of OC names from
there.