A/N:
For anyone who’s interested, I’ve gone through and revised this story. The
details are all at the start of the first chapter.
The
clouds that had brought miserable weather the day before, had sailed clear on
by as Faramir, Goldi and Pippin left the Prancing Pony just after dawn. But
despite the glorious weather, Pippin was yet again in a vile mood. Goldi was
beginning to doubt that he could be in any other mood, since he had seemed
angry for most of the journey. This particular day was the worst. He was snappy
at Goldi, which meant he was downright horrid to Faramir.
The
only comfort his two companions took, was he only snapped at them if they spoke
to him. They discovered quite quickly that if they left him alone, he walked in
a brooding silence, which suited them quite fine.
“We
should let him get into a mood like this more often!” Faramir whispered to
Goldi. She stifled a giggle, not wanting to attract her brother’s attention.
* *
* * * *
Peregrin
and Sam waited impatiently outside Crickhollow for the second time while
Meriadoc locked up the cottage. They had refused to allow him to return the
keys to Brandy Hall, despite that the morning was much clearer than the
previous day. Neither of them wanted to lose any more time than they needed to.
In relative
silence they made their way to the eastern Gate of Buckland, until Peregrin
voiced the question that had been worrying them the most. “You don’t suppose
they went through the Old Forest, do you?”
“They
wouldn’t, would they?” Sam said, with an edge of fear in his voice.
“Faramir
might,” Peregrin admitted, grimly.
“And
if he had the keys to Crickhollow, they have a key to the gate in the Hedge,”
added Meriadoc. It was beginning to seem more and more likely that the three
truants may have taken a “short-cut” through the queer Forest.
At
last, Sam sighed. “I suppose there’s nothing that we can do, really, if they have
gone through the Forest. We just have to press on to Bree and hope that someone
has seen them.”
None
of the three hobbits liked the decision, but they knew it was the only one they
could make. So with rekindled fear for the safety of their children, the Mayor,
the Thain and the Master made their way along the road.
* *
* * * *
Life
at Bag End had become a living nightmare for those who had remained. Firstly,
there was Rose and Diamond’s impatience. They had decided after only one day
that Sam, Peregrin and Meriadoc had taken far too long to locate the children.
When Estella pointed out that, not only did Faramir, Goldi and Pippin have a
head start, but they were younger at fitter than those that chased them, both
mothers dissolved into tears. If that wasn’t bad enough, there were also Merry
Gamgee’s constant tantrums over how he had been left behind by both parties.
“And
on my birthday too,” he often grumbled.
Young
Théodoc whined persistently about the whereabouts of his father, especially
since Meriadoc had promised to take him to Tuckborough after Merry’s party. The
best Estella could do was assure her son, “Papa will be back soon.”
“Not
likely,” Merry grumbled, in one of his foul moods. “No doubt they’ve all gotten
caught in the Old Forest and won’t ever come back. Serves them right, too.” He
received a clip on the ear from his mother, but didn’t seem to care.
“I
just don’t understand why they went away!” an exasperated Diamond
sighed.
“Faramir
has always been a rather…flighty lad,” Estella stated, though she wished she
could have found a better term. “Hardly surprising after all the stories he’s
heard. And he and Goldi were always close friends as children.”
“But
why did Pippin go too?” Rose asked. It was hardly fair that they were demanding
answers from Estella, but she had always been exceptionally good at solving
riddles.
Estella
shrugged. “Sam did say that it appeared that Pippin had written his own name on
the note. Merry, dear, what would you have done had you discovered your
siblings and Faramir had run off, leaving a note to say they had gone, but not
where?”
“I
would have added my name to the note and followed them!” Merry replied without
even thinking.
“There
is your answer. Pippin somehow worked out what Faramir and Goldilocks were up
to and followed them, but not before adding his own name to the note Faramir
had left.” Estella took a sip of tea. “It’s completely logical.”
“I
suppose you’re right,” Diamond sighed. She felt very slightly better, since she
had been afraid that Faramir had run away because she had been a bad mother, or
something of the sort. “Still, I wish they would return soon.”
“Oh,
I doubt they will for a while yet,” stated Pervinca, one of Peregrin’s elder
sisters. When she had heard about the situation, she had immediately come to
Bag End. She was very fond of her young nephew, and also very good friends with
Rose. “Faramir did not just run away for adventure. There was something else on
his mind, though I don’t know what he’ll do now that Pippin’s in the way.”
“What
do you mean?” the other three hobbitesses asked. They knew that Faramir had
always been particularly close to his aunt and would tell her things that he
could tell no one else. She had even more time for him in recent times since
her own two daughters had grown up and married.
“You
mean you haven’t worked it out?” Pervinca smiled, but there was a strange look
in her eyes that only Rose understood*. “Faramir is in love with Goldilocks. He
has been since they were children. The few years apart allowed him to court
others and realise that she was the only one for him. And you know what they say:
‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder’.”
“So
true, Pervinca, so true,” Rose whispered, though no one heard her.
* *
* * * *
It
took Sam, Peregrin and Meriadoc a full two days to travel to Bree, much as it
had their children. Though the path they took was shorter, they were far
slower and were not fuelled by the fear of queer trees and Barrow-wights.
It
was only twilight when they came to the gate, so it had not yet been shut. The
gatekeeper greeted them politely, but drew in a sharp breath when he recognised
them.
“Why
Master Peregrin!” he cried. “How strange to see you!” The hobbits obviously did
not understand his surprise, so the gatekeeper continued. “Why, just a few days
ago I let your son through these gates. Said he was taking two friends
site-seeing in our lovely village.”
“You’ve
seen Faramir?” Peregrin exclaimed.
“And
he had two friends with him?” Sam joined in, equally as excited.
“Yes,
sir,” the gatekeeper replied, made somewhat uncomfortable by the hobbits’ eagerness.
“Another lad and a pretty young lass.”
“Thank
goodness, they are okay!” Meriadoc laughed in relief. Seeing the expression on
the poor gatekeeper’s face, he explained. “We have been tracking these three
hobbits all the way from Hobbiton.”
“Well,
I suggested that they go to The Pony,” the gatekeeper said, helpfully.
“But I can’t say if they stayed there or not.”
“We
shall go to The Pony anyway,” Sam decided. He took the gatekeepers hand
in his own and shook it. “Thank you, sir, thank you so much.”
And
the gatekeeper bowed his head. “I only wish I could have done more. Had I known
that they were being tracked, I might have tried to keep them here longer.”
“You’ve
done more than enough, my friend,” Sam called back, as he, Peregrin and
Meriadoc ran in the direction of The Prancing Pony.
* *
* * * *
*
This is a small reference to one of my other stories, “Life is What Happens”,
in which Pervinca and Sam have a bit of a fling, for want of a better word, but
realise the limitations of their relationship (since it is set in a time period
when Sam’s family is still quite poor, and he is certainly not an eligible
suitor for the daughter of the future Thain). I thought it would be interesting
to have Pervinca make an appearance in this story, where the families of Took
and Gamgee are once again coming together.