Chapter Two: The Wizard's Wardrobe
"And that," said Gandalf, "was when the poor lad saw me and was so startled he dropped an entire plate of biscuits. I was the first Big Person he'd ever seen, and there I was in his kitchen! It was a wonder he hadn't heard me come in, really."
Gandalf was relating the tale of the first time he'd met Frodo, soon after the latter's adoption by Bilbo. Frodo was looking down and just slightly blushing, but he was also smiling. It had been terrifying at the time, for a hobbit-lad of only twenty-one years, to see an exceptionally tall, stern-looking old man with those piercing eyes underneath wild eyebrows. He'd known who it was, of course; Bilbo had told him all about Gandalf, but to see him so unexpectedly (but then again, did Gandalf ever not appear unexpectedly?) had caught Frodo completely off-guard.
"Of course," Gandalf continued, "after that the only thing left to eat was—"
"MELLON!"
The entire group started.
"What was that?" Sam asked nervously.
"That sounded like Pip," said Merry.
"It sounded like he said 'mellon'," said Legolas. "It's the Sindarin word for 'friend'."
"Why would he say that? Why would he say anything, he's supposed to be hiding!" Merry paused. "What if he's in some kind of danger and is asking for us, his friends, to come help him?"
Aragorn was beginning to think his Sardines idea had not been the most brilliant. But really, it seemed like all he'd ever done these last couple years was rescue hobbits, and he was getting a wee bit tired of it. Well, perhaps that was a slight exaggeration, but couldn't they stay out of trouble by themselves? He scowled, then suddenly felt someone's eyes on him and looked up, meeting Legolas's piercing gaze.
"You're trying to give up caffeine again, aren't you?"
"How did you know?" After he had become King, Aragorn had begun to grow accustomed to a nice cup of black coffee in the morning, which grew to two, then three, then four. Soon he had an addiction on his hands, which he had periodically tried to shake, and then failed, tried to shake again, and so on. Why must coffee be so wonderful?
"Irritability is one if the hallmarks of caffeine withdrawal," Legolas answered, and then began to go into lengthy detail about other symptoms and the effects of caffeine on the mind.
Frodo drew Sting from its scabbard, and sighed in relief. "It's not blue, but I think we should still make sure Pippin's alright," he said to Gandalf.
"Yes, I think so too," said Gandalf, standing up. "Aragorn, Legolas! We're going to find Pippin. He sounded like he was rather near the tower, did he not, Legolas? Hmm…." Gandalf was beginning to think Sardines had been a bad idea too, but he handled it slightly better than Aragorn, perhaps because he'd never liked coffee.
The six of them headed in the direction of the tower as quickly and quietly as possible, which wasn't so easy as it might sound, considering a Dwarf was one of the party. It seemed to Merry that Gimli was going out of his way to step on every fallen branch he could find, and Merry's nerves were in such a frazzled state he was about to comment on it, but Aragorn beat him to it.
"A little quieter, if you please, Master Dwarf."
"Oh. Yes, sir."
A few moments later an especially loud snap was heard. "Sorry!" Gimli whispered loudly. "Confound these branches," he grumbled to himself. "I think they move around just as much as those creepy trees in Fangorn Forest."
A rustle and some harsh creaking noises were heard in the willows that surrounded them, despite the fact that for the moment the air was still.
"Sorry!" said Gimli.
Once they'd reached the back of the tower of Orthanc, they split into two groups and searched the surrounding areas in a slow half-circle until they met again at the front, but Pippin or any sign of Pippin was nowhere to be found. They were at a bit of a halt, as the King and the Wizard were each waiting for the other to make a decision about what to do next.
Suddenly Sam shouted, "The window! The window to the right of the door is open!"
"So it is," said Gandalf with surprise in his voice, at the same time Aragorn said, "Fool of a Took."
"I believe that is my line," said Gandalf jokingly, "but since I hear you are embarking on a difficult Quest to give up coffee I shall let it slide, Fool of a Dúnadan. I once tried to give up pipeweed…."
"Can we please hurry up?" said Merry, and his voice shook just a little. "Pippin could be in trouble!"
"He certainly will be if I find he sneaked into this tower on purpose!" snapped Aragorn. "Can you imagine the mischief he could get into?"
"All the more reason to hurry!"
"Very well; I have the key with me." Aragorn led the long way up the steps, and then unlocked the heavy black doors with an ornate-looking key he kept around his neck. The group filed inside, and he shut the doors behind them.
It was so shadowy inside that at first the only one who could see much of anything was Legolas, who made his graceful, Elven way toward the open window while the others blundered around in the dark (until Gandalf remembered his staff).
"Gandalf?" called Legolas quietly. "Could you bring the light over here, please? I think I found something."
Merry made it over quicker than Gandalf did, even though he nearly tripped a few times. He was afraid of what he might see, but he still had to see it.
It was a small pile of crumbs. "That doesn't mean it was Pippin," said Legolas, "but, well…he is a Hobbit."
"Are there any more?" asked Gandalf. "If we can find more we may be able to locate him."
By then, the non-Elven eyes had adjusted to the dark a little better, so the Company split up and searched the floor of the spacious foyer for more evidence. The foyer was a hall of sorts, with many doors on both sides and a staircase across from the main entrance. The possibilities for Pippin's whereabouts, if he was even in Orthanc in the first place, seemed practically infinite. But luck was with them, and Frodo found a few more crumbs by a door over on the left, near the stairs.
The group gathered by the door, hands on their weapons, as Aragorn opened it. The room was fairly light inside, owing to a large skylight in the middle of the ceiling. It was rather small and looked empty of any people, although it seemed to contain some interesting objects. There was an old desk by the left wall covered mostly in papers, but on it was also a thick book with an illustration of an immense, golden, cat-like creature on the cover. And, even more interesting, next to the book was a pair of golden rings, one set with a topaz and the other with an emerald.
But most interesting of all was the massive, towering wardrobe that dominated the wall opposite the door. It was made out of a strange, black wood none of them had ever seen before. A peculiar magnetism seemed to pull each of them except Gimli towards it, without them being aware that they were even moving their feet. Gimli was more interested in the rings, which looked to be of fine craftsmanship, although certainly not Dwarven. He was just about to reach out and touch one of them when—
"Gimli!" shouted Gandalf. "Do not touch those! We do not know what they might do." Gimli snapped his hand back as if the rings had turned into scorpions.
"Do you think he hid in the wardrobe?" asked Merry. "It's worth a look."
"Yes, but we must be careful. I don't like the feel of this room," Gandalf cautioned.
Merry was the closest to the wardrobe, so before anyone could do anything, he stood on tiptoes and tugged one of the handles. It swung open with a creak that seemed almost earsplitting in the hushed room. There didn't appear to be anything inside the wardrobe except a few of Saruman's flowing, cream-colored robes on hangers, but Merry climbed in anyway, ducking behind the folds of cloth, to make sure Pippin wasn't there.
"He's been in there a long time," commented Sam after a minute. "Did you find him, Merry?" he called. There was no answer.
"Maybe he's in there and they're still playing the game, waiting for us to find them," said Frodo, stepping forward.
"No, Mr. Frodo, I'll check," said Sam, overprotective as ever. He stepped up inside the wardrobe and behind the robes, feeling his way around. "Merry? Pippin? Holy oliphaunt, but this wardrobe's big. You'd almost think it had no back…."
A moment later, Sam's head popped back out, his eyes huge. "The wardrobe has no back."
Gandalf's eyes grew wide for a second too. "What kind of magic is this?" he said to himself, moving closer to the wardrobe.
"We need to go in after them," said Aragorn. "Sam, Frodo, maybe you should stay here and—"
"No!" they protested in indignant unison.
"Alright then, we must make haste."
With those words, the Fellowship, now dwindled to only six, filed inside and shut the door. They ought to have known better.
Obviously (or at least, hopefully obviously; if it's not obvious, you may need to rethink your life) this chapter has been heavily influenced by C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Chapter Three will be posted on February 2nd!
