Chapter 4
Marina wiped her soapy hands on her apron and sighed. She then picked up the stack of clean dishes and carried them over to the table where they were soon grabbed by someone who'd been waiting for a clean stack. She looked longingly at the people on the dance floor before turning. She was about to get back to scrubbing when Pippin appeared in front of her, and started talking to Gandalf.
"Let Marina go have fun. I can keep going here." He told the wizard. Marina stared. What was he doing? She stepped forward quickly.
"If anyone should get out of here, it's Pippin. It was my idea to take a firework in the first place."
"Yeah well I lit the thing." Pippin pointed out, and Marina turned to him.
"And I didn't stop you did I?"
"Well you didn't have much ch-" they were cut off by Gandalf's laughter. They both looked at him wondering what was so funny.
"Since you two are so eager to get each other out to have fun, why don't you both go find your friends?" they just stared and the wizard shooed them away. "Go on now, off with you!" Pippin grabbed Marina's hand before she could ask why the wizard was letting them leave. He pulled her all the way to the dance floor as she laughed.
"What's the rush?" she asked her friend, and he smiled at her crookedly.
"I noticed you watching the dancers while we were stuck cleaning. So this is our first stop!" he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He then pulled her out onto the dance floor and they both blended seamlessly into the dance as if they'd been there from the beginning. Marina was surprised to find how good Pippin was at dancing; his usual klutziness was nowhere to be seen. They finished the first dance and went through the entire second one before they were tired. Then the band started a slower song as a break for the dancers, and Marina and Pippin started to sway with the music.
And suddenly to Marina, the dance felt different from all the others she'd had with Pippin before. Time seemed to slow down a bit, the moon seemed to shine brighter, and everything seemed more alive. And at the same time, everything around her seemed dull to her eyes, as she could only focus on herself and Pippin gently going around the dance floor. The dance was pretty simple. Gentle turns and twirls. Pippin started hating every second that Marina was in a turn away from him, and the moment she was back in his arms, he didn't want to let go. And every time they could, their eyes met. Marina didn't remember Pippin's eyes ever shining so much, and Pippin couldn't understand why he'd never noticed how green Marina's were.
When the song ended, they stayed frozen for a moment, neither wanting the moment to go away, but the applause of everyone watching made them both drop their arms quickly. Marina led the
way off the stage, sitting down a bit heavily and trying to make her heart stop beating so fast. Frodo came over and sat next to her. He noticed the intense look on her face and narrowed his eyes.
"Are you alright?" he asked her. She quickly looked at him, then back at her lap. She shook her head trying to dislodge the blush that had blossomed there.
"Oh, yes. Yes I'm fine." She said quickly, and he got suspicious. She was hiding something, he could tell. He noticed that Pippin was just as quiet on the other side of the table. He was staring at his mug of ale, not drinking a drop which was most unlike him. Frodo looked between the two and grinned. He knew it! Something had happened, and now both of his friends were aware that they had feelings for each other. Of course from the looks of them, they had no idea that the other felt the same. Well he'd have to change that, wouldn't he? But before he could say a word, the crowd started calling out "speech!" and his uncle was making his way to an overturned tub on the stage. Everyone cheered and he waved his hands to quiet them down. Frodo joined in the clapping, knowing that he'd have plenty of time to set up his friends later on.
Marina was having trouble focusing on Bilbo's speech. As he said hello to all the different groups who had come and spoke to them, she could only think one thing. Was she falling for Pippin? She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He was watching Bilbo and sipping from his mug of ale. He wasn't bad looking she realized. He wasn't wanting for the ladies attention, she'd always known. He was funny and good looking. Childlike occasionally, but he knew how to act the grown up when he needed to. Generally he didn't need to though because that was always left up to her. They'd been friends for so many years that she couldn't remember the time before they'd met. She could barely come up with five days that they hadn't seen each other in the past year, and the same for every year before that. They did everything together, and they meshed so well.
But this train of thought disappeared when suddenly all around her everything went silent. Bilbo was still talking, but he seemed to have confused most of the crowd. She rolled her eyes. Leave it to Bilbo to purposely confuse everyone at his own birthday party.
"I regret to announce that this is the end." Bilbo then said, and Marina's attention focused on him. The end? What was he talking about? "I wish to bid you all a very fond farewell." He looked around the crowd and stopped on his nephew's face. Marina glanced at Frodo only for a moment before looking back. She saw Bilbo's smiling face for barely a second before it was gone. She gasped, staring at the place where he'd disappeared. As chaos erupted all around them, she turned to look at Frodo.
"Frodo!" he didn't answer. "Frodo, wake up!" she waved a hand in front of his face. Once it came between his eyes and where his uncle had been, he jumped and looked at her.
"What?"
"Do you have any idea what's going on?"
"Why would I?" he asked her, confused in all the commotion surrounding them.
"I don't know, maybe it's some elaborate prank he's pulling. It would be just like him to do so you know." She pointed out. Frodo had to smirk at that. She was right. But then his eyes went wide as a thought came to mind. He turned to Marina, a bit frantic.
"What if he left?"
"Left? The party you mean?" she asked him, confused.
"No! I mean left left!" he tried to explain, but she just stared. He sighed. "He's been talking about leaving. Going to Rivendell, going back along the roads of his previous adventures. He wants to see it all again. He's been talking about leaving for so long, but I don't know if he'd really do it." He looked at the ground in thought while Marina groaned at his inaction.
"Well, if he'd leave, he'd have to stop at Baggend first wouldn't he? You might be able to catch him before he leaves if you hurry!" She stood, pulled her friend to his feet and pushed him off in the direction of Baggend. As he rushed to push his way through the panicking crowd, Marina sat back down at the table, turning to face Pippin who was simply watching the others rush around every which way. He raised an eyebrow as if to ask what everyone was doing and she shrugged. They saw Sam and Rosie sitting at another table a ways away and waved. But they didn't bother moving as it would take too much work to even get to them.
They sat there for almost an hour as people searched the party area, realized he wasn't there, and calmed down. Everyone assumed it was a prank of the crazy old hobbit, and started packing up for home. Sam walked Rosie towards the Green Dragon and her rooms there, and not too long afterwards Marina and Pippin did the same. A few hobbits were still searching in tents and behind ale barrels for the missing Bilbo, and they laughed tiredly. It had been a wonderful party, but also a very long one and they were both ready for bed. They both walked to the Green Dragon where they'd be staying for the night. Once there, they tiptoed through the quiet hallways of the Inn. Most of the guests had probably already fallen asleep from too much food, ale, fun, or all three. They stopped at Rosie's door where Marina was staying. Pippin was in his own room farther down the hall.
"Well Pip, this is my stop." She said, looking at her friend. He smiled at her and nodded.
"I'll see you tomorrow then?" he asked her. She grinned and nodded.
"I won't be up until noon most likely." She informed him and he chuckled, nodding. He expected nothing less. He looked at her a bit shyly.
"I never said…but you looked really pretty tonight Mari." he said softly and dashed off. He was in his room with the door closed for at least half a minute before Marina remembered to breath. She put a hand on her chest to feel her heart beating quickly enough to pull right out of her body. She pressed down on it, trying to get it at a normal rate and make her blush go away before she entered Rosie's room. When she finally went in though, the girls only chatted a bit. They were too tired to talk about much, and went to bed soon after. But for a good hour after Rosie's breathing had slowed and deepened Marina lay in her bed, looking at the moon shining out the window and thinking.
--
About two weeks later, Marina and Pippin found themselves back at the Green Dragon. As they stood on a table, each with a mug of ale and singing a loud song, Frodo danced around the table holding two mugs in each hand. The song had been joined in my most of the usual crowd. While the quiet half of the tavern sat hunched over their mugs, discussing the goings on of everything and everyone they knew. Marina wasn't much for gossip, and so she joined the rowdier crowd and had become one of the most welcome assets. She had a talent for making up funny lyrics on the spot, a talent she and Pippin shared. Together, they were the most popular hobbits to lead the songs whenever they came to visit.
The walk home that night proved to be very entertaining as well. Pippin was drunk out of his mind and Marina, who knew her limits, had to help him all the way home. The normal walk took double the time, so they didn't get home until long after the midnight hour. She didn't bother to knock on the door of Pippin's house, since he lived alone. Even when he stayed at home she didn't have to knock. She simply opened it to let herself and her friend in. It wasn't the first time she'd brought Pippin home drunk, and his family didn't care to be woken at such a late hour. They'd simply told her that she was family enough that she didn't need to knock to come into their home. But he'd gotten his own small place to live a while back, and she didn't need to worry about waking anyone else up anymore. She shut the door with her foot and helped Pippin to his room.
By now, he'd only sobered up enough to speak clearly, although the things he was saying didn't make much sense. She sat him on his bed, removed his shoes, stockings and vest, and tucked him into bed. He curled up with his pillow, still muttering random things. But at the moment he looked so adorable that Marina had to smile. She really did like taking care of him she realized, and on impulse she leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. She shook her head when he instantly stopped muttering and left the room before any more sudden impulses made her do odd things.
Pippin froze when Marina's lips softly touched his forehead. He hadn't been as drunk as he'd been acting. But he loved how Marina smiled whenever he said something particularly silly. He also loved how much care she took to make sure he made it home and into bed alright. The fact that she cared made him happy. But the kiss had made his act blow away immediately. Her lips had been soft, and the kiss had been feathery, but it still floored him. She left in a hurry and he scrambled out of bed to his window. He watched as she made her way down the road to her own house. He smiled a bit as she went into the forest. She really did look pretty in the moonlight. He climbed back into bed and curled up with his pillow once again, a smile on his face as he fell asleep.
When Marina woke the next morning, she took the opportunity to just lay there and stare at the ceiling. This was the quietest part of her day, and she wanted to enjoy it. The quiet was broken when her mother bustled into the room.
"Oh good you're awake!" Poppy said jovially as Marina sighed. "You have your usual chores to do. Oh, and the front porch needs to be swept darling, and I have laundry to do!" then she was gone and Marina chuckled. She didn't think she'd ever seen her mother in a bad mood of any sort. No matter how much needed to be done, she managed to be cheerful about it. Marina took a bit of that cheerfulness to
heart and got up and got dressed. A dress didn't sound good that day, so she went with her alternate approach. A pair of reddish brown corduroy pants that her mother had made for her, the legs hanging over the tops of her boots and flaring out a bit rather than tucking into the boot tops. She then pulled on a rose colored cotton shirt which was very loose and flowy and gathered at the wrists. Her deep red cinch belt went on over it, pulling it tight around her waist. She tied a red ribbon around her hair to hold it in a ponytail at the base of her neck and out of the way. She spent the morning doing her chores around the house. Once she finished those, she then made her way through her house and grabbed the broom, stepping out onto the front porch.
The afternoon promised to be bright and sunny and warm. Marina had to smile as she started her work. In truth, she liked simple tasks like sweeping the porch. It didn't require any thinking to perform, so her mind was free to wander as it saw fit. And it had just started to wander towards Pippin, the way it often did these days, she heard humming. She looked up from her pile of dirt to see Pippin strolling towards her house. She grinned even as the thought to herself 'Speak of the devil.' As he got close enough she called to him.
"Don't you have a hangover or something?" Pippin just smiled as if he knew something she didn't and tapped the side of his nose. She narrowed her eyes playfully and as he walked into the front garden area, she sent her pile of dirt right at him. As the dust covered his pants, he simply looked at her with his eyebrows raised and she apologized with a sickly sweet tone of voice. He knew she'd done it on purpose, and finally neither of them could keep up their acting any longer and they burst into laughter. Pippin sat down on the bench as Marina swept her newly made mess up again and into the garden where it belonged.
"I'm starving." Pippin complained, rubbing his stomach, and Marina giggled.
"Didn't you eat before coming?"
"Well, yes. But then I walked here, and now I'm hungry again!"
"I can go grab something you if you like, I haven't eaten lunch yet myself." Pippin smiled and tapped his chin. He knew what her family had in their cupboards almost as well as she did.
"Something fresh. Actually fresh vegetables sound perfect right about now." He said, nodding decisively. He looked at Marina funny when she laughed.
"That I'm afraid I can't offer. Papa took our fresh veggies to market today, and Mother used the leftover for a stew for dinner tonight. I'm afraid you're out of luck." Pippin's face fell.
"But that sounds so good!" Marina rolled her eyes, but realized that fresh veggies really did sound good. A thought popped into her head and she smiled a bit wickedly.
"You know, Farmer Maggot hasn't sold his vegetables yet." She said simply, but Pippin got the point.
"Very true. I wonder if we should go help him with that." He asked as he stood. Marina grinned.
"Just let me grab my coat, and we can go offer our assistance." She dashed inside and snatched her favorite coat from the rack. It was a thick woven fabric of dark brown, the lapel recently ironed by her mother. Marina has embroidered little green vines with red flowers along the collar and hems, and was very proud of the work. She slipped it on and ran back out the door, Pippin catching up to her pace rather than her slowing down for him. They raced all the way to the fields of Farmer Maggot and ducked into the corn field quickly. There they sat, winded but grinning. Now they were both hungrier and had made it before Maggot arrived in those parts of the fields.
The best thing about Farmer Maggot was that his schedule was more reliable than any clock. He was always in the same parts of his fields at the same time every single day, and Pippin and Marina had that schedule memorized. They snuck along through the fields and towards the main shed where the old farmer kept his tools and things. They watched as he grabbed a wicked looking scythe and went to work in a field opposite them. They chose that moment to sneak out to the wagon nearby. In it were a bunch of vegetables that Maggot had picked for the market later that day. Easy pickings for Marina and Pippin. They reached up into the wagon one at a time and grabbed about an armful each of the veggies before a new sound met their ears. Dogs barking. Maggot had never had dogs before! The two looked at each other with side eyes as Maggot came running back. Marina dropped everything she was holding except the vegetables in her various pockets and pushed Pippin. She led him at a run into the corn fields hearing Maggot shout at them along the way.
"Where are we going?" he called to her, still carrying his arm load of the vegetables and refusing to drop them. She shook her head as she led his down a path between the rows before cutting through a few more and going back in the other direction. Pippin rushed to follow her, trying to keep up and not fall and squash his prize.
"I have no idea!" she called back to him. "Try and confuse the dogs!"Pippin must have heard because he stopped following her exact path. Instead he ran parallel to her at times, doubled back and joined her path every once in a while. She did the same, and was trying to keep from going in a single direction for too long. They ran in every which way, trying to at least confuse the dogs if not lose them entirely. Eventually she realized that she could no longer hear Maggot yelling or the dogs barking and jumped onto the path behind Pippin. He was slowing a bit as well. They jumped through one last corn row, and right onto two other people! Marina shook her head and sat up, holding her head. She was completely breathless and exhausted. And she still hadn't eaten anything, so she was hungry too.
"Frodo!" she heard Pippin say in surprise, and she turned to look. "Mari, it's Frodo!" Marina stood and brushed herself off.
"Hello Frodo!" she said cheerfully as if they'd met on a walk through Hobbiton. She giggled as Frodo rolled his eyes. Sam, who she had run into, scrambled to his feet and hurried to help Frodo as well. Marina saw all the veggies that Pippin had dropped in the crash and practically yelped for joy. She was starving! She munched on a carrot, holding the end in her mouth as she picked up the other vegetables.
"What's going on here?" Sam asked, brushing dirt off of Frodo's sleeve. She just shoved an armful of vegetables at him.
"Hold these." She bent down to grab more.
"You've been into Farmer Maggot's crop!" he said accusingly. Marina just grinned at him as she piled more veggies into his arms. Just then, the sound of shouting and barking dogs reached their ears. They all looked to see the scythe Maggot was carrying over the corn plants behind them. Pippin was the first to react and ran in the opposite direction.
"Time to go!" Marina said and grabbed Frodo's hand, pulling him through the corn rows away from the angry farmer. Sam followed shortly after. Marina led Frodo through the fields following Pippin, none of them sure where they were anymore.
"I dn't know why he's so upset." She said to Frodo as they ran. "It was only a couple of carrots."
"And some cabbages." Pippin added. "And those tomatoes we lifted last week. And the mushrooms the week before!" Marina rolled her eyes as Frodo laughed.
"Yes Pippin." She said exasperatedly. "My point is, he's clearly over reactin'!" She dodged through another corn row and hurried to stop to keep from hitting Pippin, and Frodo crashed into her. He looked around her shoulder to see a drop off down a very steep hill. Marina had just breathed a sigh of relief when Sam crashed into the back of the group and they all fell over the edge of the ledge. She shrieked, falling head over heels. She found herself very glad she hadn't worn a dress that day, and then realized that that was a very odd thought to have at that moment. Finally she stopped moving and groaned. Her legs were draped over Pippin's back, and pinned by Frodo and Sam. She lay back gratefully against the slop they'd landed on and felt an odd lump.
"Well that was close." Pippin said, and she looked to see his face only inches from a large animal dropping. She laughed even as she winced.
"I think I've broken something." She whimpered and reached to where her coat was twisted behind her. She found the odd lump and pulled it out from under her, seeing a carrot which had broken in half. She giggled as she saw the irony of the broken carrot along with what she'd said. But Sam got up and grumbled and her smile faded a bit.
"Trust you two to get us all in trouble." She heard. She sat up, disentangling herself from Frodo and Pippin and brushed dirt off of her sleeves.
"Trouble? That wasn't trouble my dear fellow." She said jovially. "That was simply…a short cut!"
"Short cut to what?" Sam asked disbelievingly.
"Mushrooms!" Pippin cut in.
"Yes mush- Wait, mushrooms?" she asked, turning to look. At the base of a nearby tree was a fair amount of mushrooms, her father's favorite kind too! She rushed to stand, pushing Pippin back into the ground and hurrying to reach the mushrooms before Sam got there. He was known for his cooking and was sure to want them for himself, but her father loved these mushrooms so much, and she wanted to bring them home to him. Soon all but Frodo were kneeling by the mushrooms, Marina and Sam trying to pick as many as possible.
"I think we should get off the road." She heard Frodo say, but she wasn't paying enough attention to register the meaning of the words. She and Sam agreed to divide the mushrooms evenly later on, so they only needed one bag for now. But Frodo suddenly called to them, sounding terrified.
"Get off the road, quick!" It was more his tone that made Marina move. She led the way to the lower side of the road they were on and down into a gully. There, they found a shallow cave under a tree root, which would hide them well from anyone on the road itself. She sat near the trunk and Sam next to her. Pippin and Frodo followed. Marina, Sam and Pippin all looked into the bag of mushrooms, counting to see how many they'd picked. A sudden chill made Marina look up, no longer thinking about the bag she was holding. Pippin and Sam let go, and she found herself clutching the bag to her chest. Something was wrong.
The air had gone cold, and the forest was now quieter than she'd ever heard. And the oddest feeling sat in her chest, a mix of dread and fear, and she didn't even know what she was afraid of! A clank of metal made her jump. She turned slowly to look through a crack between the root and the dirt. A horse with what looked like bloody hooves pawed the ground. And in front of it was a person. Her first guess was that it was a human. No hobbit wore armor at all let alone with spikes, nor had feet that big in the first place. The person walked directly toward them and she spun forward again in fright. He leaned on the root over their heads and gave a great sniff. A knight with a cold? No, there was something off about the being that made her feel that this thing was not a human, whatever it was.
He sniffed again and she noticed something odd about the ground. Worms were coming to the surface by the dozens, along with all other kinds of bugs. A large spider crawled down her shoulder and she stiffened. She hated spiders with a passion. She didn't see why anything needed so many legs, and she hated how they moved. Sam felt her tense up and looked at her to see Marina squeezing her eyes shut. On her shoulder was a large grey wolf spider, and he understood. In slow motion, he reached up and brushed the thing off her shoulder. She shuttered, but opened her eyes. She grinned at him weakly and mouthed a 'thank you' to him. He grinned in return but stopped when he saw Marina's eyes go wide. He turned to see that Frodo had taken the ring out of his pocket.
The ring Frodo held was beautiful. It was just a plain gold band, but in her eyes, it looked better than any jewel encrusted ring she'd ever seen. She wasn't much for the really flashy stuff. But for some reason, the gold ring seemed prettier than anything else she'd ever seen. She wracked her brain for why she found it nicer than the simple ribbons and hemp bracelets she usually used, and couldn't find a reason. Then, Sam was reaching over and Frodo closed his fist. Marina blinked as her head cleared, and at the same time the thing above them gave a great sniff. She realized she was still gripping the bag of
mushrooms, and got an idea. She leaned a bit around the tree they were hiding under and flung the bag as far away as she could. As the thump sounded in the silent forest, the sniffing being flew after it, a horrifying scream hovering in the air in its wake. She stood and led the way down the hill, wanting to get away from the creepy thing. She stopped at the bottom before running into a tree. Behind her, Pippin slipped and slid the last few feet of the hill, but stayed in his seated position rather than stand.
"What was that?" she asked Frodo. Frodo just leaned against the tree Marina had almost crashed into, panting, but not answering. Instead, he started running again, and Marina, Pippin and Sam had no choice but to chase after him.
--
Hello again, and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter It was fun to write, i'll admit, and now we're finally almost back to where my story origionally started! Huzzah! Just a little more new stuff, but that added to my origional first chapter. I didn't realize my chapters used to be so short. Five pages! . I'll definatly be fixing that, lol. Please please PLEASE review! It means the world to me, and every time I get a review, I work on the story, so the more reviews I get, the sooner thngs happen! Cause and effect people :P
Your Humble Authoress,
Whisperwings
P.S. I am writing a novel and i'd like opinions and view on its website. Also, if you want a preview of stories not yet up here on , I have a website for those as well. Just go to my bio/profile page, links for both of those and more are on there for ya
