“You
beat me again!” Merry Gamgee complained. Young Bilbo simply smiled up at his older
brother. The two had been playing chess, and Bilbo had one three out of the
five games.
“I
think you lose your skill at playing chess when you come of age,” Robin stated.
He, Tom and Théodoc had been watching the game intently. “Because then you have
to start showing an interest in lasses, and boring things like that.”
Upon
seeing Merry blush, Théodoc laughed. “Don’t think we didn’t see you with
Lavender Boffin at your party! Everyone saw!”
“It’s
true,” Ruby giggled, as she and Éowyn joined their brothers. “Mother-Rose has
even started talking about a wedding!”
“It
will, of course,” said Éowyn, matter-of-factly, “have to wait until after
Faramir and Goldi get married.”
Merry
frowned at this. The conversation he had overheard his mother having with her
friends was still weighing on his mind. Was Faramir really in love with
Goldilocks? In some ways, it seemed so strange to him. They had grown up
together. During their childhood, it had always been Merry, Pippin, Faramir and
Goldilocks. Collectively, they nearly destroyed the Great Smials when Sam, Rose
and Elanor had gone to Gondor. Just as Merry had always been closest to his
brother, Faramir and Goldi had always been inseparable. During their tweens,
they had drifted apart. Faramir seemed to be with a different lass every time
they saw him, while Goldi tended to refuse the offers that came her way. Would
she refuse Faramir too? Merry doubted it. They had been close, and they
could become closer still.
“Won’t
that be the biggest event in the Shire history,” he said, to amuse the younger
hobbits. “Perhaps we could even convince Pippin to ask a lass for a dance.”
At
the sound of a rap on the door, both Daisy and Primrose squealed together,
“I’ll get it!”
They
always loved answering the door, in case it was a handsome (and available)
hobbit knocking. Unfortunately, on this day it was only a messenger, though the
letter he held looked particularly fancy. Daisy took it and called to her
mother. “There’s a letter here!”
“Who
from?” Rose asked, poking her head out from the kitchen, where she, Diamond,
Estella, Pervinca and Elanor were drinking tea.
“Don’t
know.” Daisy handed the letter to her mother.
“It’s
from the King,” Elanor gasped. She had seen a very similar letter once before,
but Daisy would have been too young to remember it.
Rose
hesitantly looked at the letter. “Do you suppose I should open it? It’s
addressed to Sam.”
“It’s
addressed to the Mayor and his family,” Pervinca pointed out. “And since Sam is
not here, I think that gives you full right to open it.”
Diamond
and Estella seemed to agree with Pervinca, so Rose carefully tore the envelope
open. She gasped as she read it. “The King has asked that we meet him by the
Brandywine Bridge again!” Rose looked up at her friends. “What should we do?”
“I’d
bet that Brandy Hall and the Great Smials have also received such letters,”
stated Elanor. “We should certainly go.”
“But
Pippin, Merry and Sam aren’t here – not to mention Faramir, Goldi and
Pippin-lad! Diamond cried. “The King would wish to see them.”
“I
think we should go to the bridge,” Estella suggested. “We may be able to ask
the King for his assistance.”
“Or
he may have seen them on his way,” Pervinca added. “If he came from Rivendell,
and that is where we believe Faramir, Goldi and Pippin have gone, then it is
quite possible that he may have found them.”
“Oh,
Pervinca, do you think so?” Diamond asked her sister-in-law.
“Anything
is possible, Diamond.”
“We
should leave at once,” said Rose. “Stella, do you think that Buckland will be
able to handle us all?”
Estella
laughed. “I am sure that we could squeeze you all into Crickhollow. Pervinca,
will you and Everard join us.”
“Well,
I see no reason not to,” Pervinca replied. “A trip to Buckland would be nice. I
have not seen Pim for a good while. I’ll meet you there, since I will have to
collect Everard from the Smials. And I will check if a letter arrived for the
Thain too.”
Rose
nodded. “Ellie, tell your brothers and sisters that we are leaving for Buckland
first thing in the morning.
* *
* * * *
Faramir,
Goldi and Pippin reached Weathertop just before dusk. Goldi did not like the
look of the looming hill, and from the look on Pippin’s face, she guessed that
she was not alone in this feeling, but she said nothing. Faramir was right;
Weathertop was their only hope of finding their way.
On
their way up the hill, they caught sight of a small dell. It would have made
the perfect resting place, but a chilling feeling fell onto their hearts as
they approached. The dell no longer seemed inviting. No one said anything, but
all of their thoughts had turned to a night attack several decades previously.
They hurried past.
Exhausted
and panting, they finally reached the crown of the hill. Pippin collapsed on
the ground, shrugging his pack from his shoulders. Goldi and Faramir, as often
had happened on their journey, followed his lead. There was no point in
surveying the lands; night had fallen, and they would have been able to see
very little.
“I’m
going to light a fire,” Faramir stated. He looked at his two companions to see
if they had any objections, but neither said anything. Faramir tried to hide
the hurt look on his face as he started the fire going. Goldi had barely spoken
a word to him since their fight in the marshes. He was beginning to doubt
Pippin’s assuring words.
When
he managed to get a good fire going – fortunately, there was plenty of
available wood – Faramir sat back with his friends. With an encouraging grin
from Pippin, he prepared himself to apologise to Goldi, but a noise from behind
them stopped him.
“Pleasant
evening, isn’t it?” a voice commented. Goldi, Faramir and Pippin all turned to
see three figures standing just outside the reach of the firelight. Their faces
were hidden by the darkness and by hoods.
“W-who
are you?” Faramir demanded.
“Merely
travellers, like yourselves,” the figure closest to them replied. “Would you
mind sharing your fire with us, for the night is cold.”
Goldi
could have sworn she had heard the voice before, but she could not think where.
It seemed buried with a memory from her childhood. She also thought their was
something significant about the size differences of the three strangers. One was
very much shorter than the other two, but too tall and stout to be a hobbit.
Another was tall and slender, but the one who had spoken to them was the
tallest.
“I
don’t think we should let them come near,” Pippin hissed. “We don’t know who
they are!”
Faramir
nodded, but Goldi could see that he, too, was struggling to work out why the
voice seemed so familiar. He did not have to cast his mind back quite so far as
she. He remembered hearing that same voice once yelling at him, when he had
been a teenager.
“Faramir Took! Can you not be left alone for a moment? What have you done? I should have learnt my lesson long ago about Tooks!”
“I’m
sorry, Your Highness!” Faramir squeaked, as he became caught up in his memory.
The
tallest figure laughed. “It seems impossible to fool you, Master Faramir,
despite what may be said about your family. You are too much like your
namesake.”
Goldi
and Pippin gasped as the hoods were thrown back, and there stood King Elessar,
with Legolas the elf and Gimli the dwarf. No wonder I thought he sounded
familiar! Goldi remembered that the King had once come to the Brandywine
Bridge to greet his old friends, and their new families. His own edict had made
it impossible for him to enter the Shire.
“Did
I not tell you that you would have more luck with Strider the Ranger?” Aragorn
called. From the shadows behind him, stepped three more figures that Faramir,
Goldi and Pippin had certainly not expected to see.
“Dad!”
they all cried out together.
“Goldi!
Pippin!” Sam ran to hug his daughter and son.
“You
had better have a good excuse, Faramir,” said Peregrin, as his pulled his son
into an embrace. “Your mother has been worried sick. She made us come after
you.”
“Uncle
Merry too?” Faramir asked.
Meriadoc
laughed. “Yes, my dear wife thought I should tag along to make sure Sam and Pip
did not get lost or fall down a hole or anything like that.”
“Please
don’t be angry at Faramir,” Goldi whispered to her father. “We’re all safe, and
he meant no harm.”
“I’ll
have to decide later whether or not to be angry at him,” Sam replied. “Right
now I’m too happy to see you both again.”
“What’s
this?” Meriadoc asked, pointing to the sword on Faramir’s belt. “You didn’t
steal your father’s old Troll’s Bane, did you?”
“Oh,
no!” Faramir cried. “We found them. The treasure from the Barrow that Tom
Bombadil rescued you from – it’s still there! Well, some of it anyway. Pippin
and I found swords like Dad’s and Sam’s, and we found a nice Elvish knife for
Goldi.”
Sam
did not know if he approved of Faramir arming his children like that, but he
held his tongue. No doubt Rose would have enough to say about it when they
returned home.
“The
Barrow Downs? You went through the Barrow Downs?” Peregrin asked.
“Of
course!” Faramir replied. “And the Old Forest, and…”
“I
think that there is a story to be told,” laughed Legolas, interrupting, “but
perhaps it could wait until after supper. And then it should be told from the
beginning, for those of us who do not yet know it all.”
The
hobbits had no complaints about that. Goldi, Faramir and Pippin were happy to
see that their fathers had brought ponies with them. They were able to make a
hearty meal form the remainder of their rations, plus some of what the ponies
were carrying.
Faramir
could not wait until after the meal to tell their story. As they ate, he told
of their adventure from Bag-End, through the woods of Woody End, to the
Maggots, through the Old Forest and the Barrow Downs, to Bree, and through the
Midgewater Marshes. He was careful to leave out anything pertaining to his
reason for coming on the adventure, and Pippin also refrained from mentioning
anything about it, even though he constantly interrupted Faramir’s tale to add
any other points the Took may have left out.
“Well,
you certainly have had yourselves quite an adventure,” said Gimli, once the
story had come to a definite end (it had taken a while to do so, because Pippin
kept thinking of things that Faramir had forgotten).
“Imagine
Old Man Willow being asleep!” laughed Meriadoc.
“I
hope you have all learnt your lessons, though,” said Sam, more cautiously.
“Adventures should never be taken lightly. You three have been incredibly
lucky.”
“We’re
lucky that you found us,” Faramir admitted. “We became lost in the marshes, and
Goldi pointed out that our food was getting low. Rather stupid of me to not
bring a pony.” He caught Goldi’s eye and mouthed I’m sorry to her. She
smiled back at him – she had forgiven him long ago, but had enjoyed seeing him
suffer.
“Well,
it is rather sad that you did not make it to Rivendell after all,” said
Aragorn. “I believe you have some rather anxious mothers waiting for you back
in the Shire. Perhaps one day in the future, you may be able to get there.”
Faramir
shrugged. “I’ve been there before. The real fun was in the adventure, not
having anyone telling me to be careful…except for Goldi of course.”
* *
* * * *
A/N:
Sorry to the readers who hoped they would make it to Rivendell! But
think of poor Rosie and Diamond waiting for their babies to come home, and not
knowing where they are! They had to come home eventually.