Chapter 9
It was early evening by the time they arrived at Long Cleeve Manor. The place was ramshackle, far worse than when Diamond was last there. Her brother called the ponies to a stop and jumped down off the top of the carriage. He opened the door, helped his mother out and then set out to bringing the bags in. Diamond got out of the coach herself and stepped back in time six months. She remembered the cold the night she ran away and though it was not so cold now, she was far more chilled. She carried her bags to her old room. It was unchanged, if a little dustier than she'd left it. But she was so changed that she knew it could no longer be her room. She supposed the marriage at least would save her from this life, here, with her crumbling family. She sat on her bed and a cloud of dust billowed up around her. She wept and put her face in her hands to help muffle the sobs. Suddenly a voice sounded in the room,
"It's just like you left it, Diamond." Diamond looked up to see the face of her brother, Hamlin. She was startled by the change that had overcome him.
"Ham, I didn't see you there, come in," she said rising. The lad walked in and stood near the dressing table. He looked worn and tired. He ran his hands over his face and through his thinning curly hair.
"I was sorry to hear Mother had found you. I'd hoped you'd escaped."
"No escape for me, Ham. Going to marry old Rollo Boffin and live in Dwaling," she lamented.
"No escape for me either, Di," he said sadly. They sat in an awkward silence for a few moments until Hamlin spoke again.
"I never liked you much as a kid. I guess I was jealous of the fuss everyone made over you."
"Not mother or father," she interjected.
"Not them, but everyone else. All I heard was how beautiful you were, how serious and thoughtful. I hated you Diamond. I truly hated you," he said. Then he looked at her, watching her tears fall and splatter in the dust on the floor. He looked away into the corner of the room. There were spiders' webs wafting in the breeze from the outer rooms. Then he continued,
"But I don't hate you now. I pity you. Being beautiful never did you any good. You are still miserable and doomed to an unhappy life." He smiled ruefully at his younger sister and turned to leave.
"We are all doomed thanks to father," he finished. He halted for a second at the door, then stepped into the hallway and disappeared. Diamond's tears subsided after several moments. She lay back on the filthy coverlet. She closed her eyes tightly and concentrated on those she loved. Thistle and Prim at work in the kitchen baking biscuits for afternoon tea. Redmond and Edgar out working in the fields, cutting the corn stalks. And Pippin, his emerald eyes glinting mischievously, a smile curling his cupid lips, his hands holding her own, his touch soft and tender. This last caused such pain and longing that she felt she would die. But it subsided after a time and she fell asleep, exhausted beyond words, beyond dreams.
Back at Bag End the day after Frodo's birthday party, Frodo, Sam and Pippin were about to set out for Crickhollow. They had eaten a hearty final meal and left the washing up for Lobelia. While Frodo took a last look around Bag End and the Hill, Sam disappeared down Bagshot Row, no doubt to see his Gaffer one more time. Pippin went out to the garden. He stood, looking at the darkening sky, imagining Diamond looking up at the same sky. The night crept up on him as he stood recalling every golden curl on her head, her eyes as deep and starry as the night sky, the soft, full redness of her lips. He lamented leaving the Shire and was already longing to return. Though he was unsure of what was ahead of him, he knew that at the end of it, should he come home, he would return to the joy of his life. As the night fell in earnest, Frodo returned. Once they had called Sam up from the cellar where he was attempting to finish off a barrel of beer, the three travellers set of for Crickhollow with little idea what awaited them down the road.
In North Farthing, Diamond sat looking up at the stars winking in the deepening sky. She could see Pippin's eyes in those stars, sharp and bright. In fact she could see them in everything that touched her heart and moved her. Now, having known love, her feelings were so intense that she swung between joy and misery in mere seconds. Her mother had told her Rollo Boffin would be coming to fetch her soon. He intended to have her live with his sister until the wedding so she could get used to the seclusion of Dwaling after the bustle of Hobbiton. But it was more likely he thought if she were out of his sight for too long, he would never have her. His fears were justified.
Diamond returned to her home slowly. She crossed the barren fields and walked up along the dusty road. When the winter rains came, the road would flood and be almost impassable for weeks on end. She considered once more making a run for Bywater, but she knew her mother or Rollo Boffin would find her and she would have to re-live her separation from the Heathertoes; and Pippin's absence would be even more profound there. Instead she returned to her home and went into the kitchen. There was no money for servants and since Calla Lily was too entrenched in her misery, the housekeeping had fallen to Diamond. She cooked a simple dinner and set the table for the four remaining family members. They slowly trickled in and ate in near silence.
"I've had another message from Rollo Boffin. He says he'll be here to fetch you at the end of October. The wedding will be in the spring, romantic, eh?" Callie slurred, clearly having spent the better part of her evening drinking. Fetridge did not speak, but instead just fixed his mother with a look of concern and cleaned his plate. Ham ate little, merely pushing his food around.
"I get it, Ham, I'm not a great cook," Diamond said. Ham looked at her and she smiled. He allowed a brief smile to pass over his lips before he returned to poking at his food.
"You won't need to cook. Boffin has a cook, and three maids," Callie boasted.
"Well, I guess that's all that matters, mother," Diamond replied bitterly, taking her empty dishes to the sink. Ham was directly behind her placing his dishes in the sink and putting water on to boil.
"Diamond, I need to talk to you," he said quietly. Fetridge came in a few moments later and placed both his own and his mother's dishes on the counter. He did not speak, but refilled the teapot and took it with him into the great room.
"He sits in there every night pouring over the account books to see of he can locate any money. He never will. Even with the gold mother got for Lily and Lilac, she is still poor," Ham explained.
'I wonder how much she will get for me?" Diamond said after a moment of silence.
"A lot, but not enough to return to the glory days." Diamond hung her head and her tears mingled with the hot soapy water in the sink. Ham raised his hand, hesitated, then placed it gently on Diamond's back. She was surprised by the action and looked at him gratefully.
"What did you need to talk to me about"' she asked once her tears had stopped.
Ham paused, then shook his head and smiled. "You are a terrible cook, I had better teach you what little I know before you are off to Dwaling," he laughed. They washed the dishes side by side, sometimes in silence, sometimes talking.
From that day on, their relationship changed. They began to have the kind of relationship they should have had as children. They did the housework together. Hamlin was too frail to do outside work, so he helped Diamond around the house. Together they cleaned and cooked and gave the house the feeling of a home for the first time ever. Fetridge continued his silent vigil over his mother. Waking her, walking her and even feeding her on some days.
At the end of September, after the sun had set one evening, as Pippin and the other hobbits fell under the dark spell of the Barrow-wight, Diamond got a strange and uneasy feeling in her stomach. She sat up from where she had been reading and looked out the window of her room towards the east. Her hand clutched her heart, and for a long while she felt as if her heart would stop beating. She knew something evil had happened, though she knew not what. She remained uneasy but alert all night. By the next morning the warmth had returned to her hands and cheeks and she felt quite herself again. Lonely and ill-fated, but herself.
Weeks passed and the end of October loomed ahead. In Rivendell Pippin was waiting anxiously. He stood on a balcony overlooking a trickling stream. He glimpsed the arched roofs and doorways of the hall where Frodo lay, near to death. Gandalf had come at last and Elrond was tending Frodo's wound from the morgul blade. It could have occurred to him that if Frodo died, he would never need see anything so terrible again. But this hobbit was a loyal hobbit. If it were necessary to forfeit his own desires for, what he was now just coming to realize was a far greater purpose, he was prepared to do it. To do anything else would shame himself, his family and the lass he loved. Even if it meant dying, he would do it. He would do it for Frodo, for the Shire and for her. Pippin was shaken from his reverie by a shout from Merry across the way.
"He's awake! Frodo is awake!" Merry cried. Pippin ran immediately to where Merry was standing outside Frodo's chamber. Gandalf came out looking pleased and more than a little tired. He nodded to them and they embraced, tears of joy streaking their relieved faces.
