A/N: I didn't get my 40 reviews, but alas, I'm updating anyway because this has just been sitting on my desktop for days, BEGGING to be uploaded. Hee.. chapter nine will take a while, because I'm not sure what happens next, exactly.. oh well. Enjoy =)



Forgotten Roads
by Ani Ledger





[Chapter Eight]

I'm going to Hobbiton tomorrow with Merry, Pippin said, sitting down beside me on the hill.

I replied.

Just for one night. Merry got a letter from Sam Gamgee, Frodo's friend, and Merry asked me to come along to see what's going on. He added with a sigh, I wasn't going to go, but apparently it's important.

I'm glad springtime is here, I said with a smile, changing the subject. Spring had finally returned to the Shire. It was now May, and everything was blooming again. It was a beautiful day, a perfect one to spend outside by the river. Everything seems so... alive again.

I thought you liked winter.

I made a face. You did not. I hate winter. I sat inside for three months. I like spring much better.

So do I, Pippin agreed, grinning. We don't have to sit out in the snow anymore... which also means we don't have to find ways to keep warm. He feigned disappointment with a pitiful frown.

I smiled, remembering our snow fight, and kissed his cheek. I'm sure we'll figure something out.

Pippin laughed quietly. You know, we met each other a year ago next month.

A year... that's amazing. It seems like forever. I remembered that day in Farmer Maggot's fields... feeling so nervous after he'd almost kissed me. The memory of that day was easily recalled, but I couldn't remember every not knowing him. Buckland had become my life. Long Cleeve seemed like an old forgotten road, leading to the past, so very long ago... but in truth, it was only several months. It was strange. Perhaps I'd go visit sometime soon. I missed my mother sometimes, and Rosemary and Daisy.

--

The next morning, Merry and I set out for Hobbiton. Before we left, Merry pulled Lily aside and spoke with her for a moment. He looked very serious, possibly upset about something. I wondered what it was.

I said goodbye to Diamond after breakfast, and she smiled. Have fun, she said. Don't get in any trouble.

I rolled my eyes at her with a grin. See you tomorrow. I kissed her goodbye and waved goodbye as we started up the road.

We arrived in Hobbiton around lunchtime. I jumped off the cart as we rode up to Bag End. Merry sat for a minute, thinking. Come on, Merry! I said. Aren't you hungry?

He sat for another moment before looking to me, as if just noticing I was there. He smiled and got down.

Are you all right? I asked. You're acting really strange. I wondered if it had anything to do with what he told Lily.

I'm fine, Pip, he said unconvincingly. He ruffled my hair, which he knows I hate. Come on. He knocked on Frodo's door, which opened a moment later.

Oh, it's you, Frodo said. Merry and I glanced at each other. His greeting was very unlike him...

Frodo laughed. Well, come in! he said with a smile. He stepped aside, holding the door. He grinned at us in a much more Frodo-like fashion. Frodo was much older than me--he'd be fifty in September, I realized. He didn't seem like it, though. He seemed just Merry's age. It was amazing.

Lunch had already been prepared. We sat down and ate. Frodo asked why we were only staying for the night, and Merry said something about going further into the Westfarthing to visit someone. I didn't understand why Merry was lying, because we weren't going any further than Hobbiton, but I kept quiet. No use getting myself into trouble when Merry seemed so serious.

After luncheon, Merry and I went for a walk down to Bagshot Row to see Sam.

Hello, Sam, Merry called.

Sam looked up from his gardening and waved. Hello, Mr. Merry, Mr. Pippin, he replied nervously and hurried over to us.

What's wrong? I asked. Sam always seemed a bit awkward and nervous, but today he seemed even more so. He came over to the fence, speaking quietly.

I can't say nothing right now, he said, but that it's about Mr. Frodo. He needs our help, though he won't admit it. I'll tell you more later. He looked over Merry's shoulder and saw Frodo approaching. Merry said something to Sam that I couldn't hear, and Sam nodded and turned back to his gardening.

--

The next morning, I was out behind Lily's house. I'd found an old letter from Pippin that I'd never read before, and sat out in the grass behind the house and read it. He hadn't dated it, so I made a mental note to ask him about it later.

Lily called. Her voice sounded worried, urgent. I went inside. Lily's face was pale, and she held out a letter in her trembling hand. You have a letter, she said quietly.

What's wrong? I asked, taking the letter and reading it.

Diamond,
You must return home immediately. Mother is ill. We've talked to the doctor, but he doesn't know what's wrong. We don't know what to do. She's been asking to see you. We need you at home now. Please hurry.
-Rosemary

I reread the letter, disbelieving. I bit my lip and closed my eyes, feeling tears squeeze out. I started to cry, and suddenly wished Pippin hadn't gone to Hobbiton.

I didn't let my crying continue for long. It was useless. I wiped my tears away and said, I have to go.

Lily nodded solemnly. I hurried to my room and got my things quickly. I packed in almost no time, and went back into the kitchen. The color had returned to Lily's face, and I hugged her. Tell your family I'm thinking of them, she whispered.

I will, I promised, trying not to cry again. I wanted Pippin to be here, too. I hated to leave without saying goodbye. I didn't know what else to say, so I said goodbye to Lily and left.

---

I woke up in the middle of the night to a dim lantern light and hushed voices. I remembered that I was at Bag End. Sam and Merry were sitting up at the table, talking quietly. I got up and walked over to them.

...So Frodo told you all of this? Merry asked, his eyes wide.

Well... sort of anyhow. I was listening out the window and Mr. Gandalf caught me... oh, hello, Pippin, Sam said as I sat down.

I said, not understanding what was said. I took an apple from the bowl on the table and listened.

Gandalf told me to go with him. And I'm scared and all, but we get to see the Elves, Mr. Merry. Elves!

I nearly choked on my apple. Elves? But there were no Elves in the Shire. Where were they going?

I need your help at least to get Mr. Frodo out of Hobbiton, Sam continued.

Well... how about this: we can get him a house in Buckland... Crickhollow, perhaps, Merry suggested. That way, everyone will think he's leaving Bag End to go back to Buckland. He grew up out there, you know.

Sam nodded. And from there we'd have to make for Bree. Mr. Gandalf said he'd meet us at the inn there.

Merry said.

I'll write you a letter telling you when Mr. Frodo plans to leave. Pippin, you can come back to Hobbiton to go with me and Mr. Frodo out to Crickhollow. That's the story anyhow.

And I'll meet you along the way, Merry said. We intend on going with you as far as we can, he added, looking at me.

We do? I squeaked. Merry nodded. I mean, of course we do. I don't know what's going on, but--

Good. Now get some sleep, Sam said. I'll go out the back so as not to wake poor Mr. Frodo. Sam stood from the table and left.

Merry turned off the lantern, and the room was plunged into darkness again. We both got into our beds.

I whispered.

What, Pip?

What's going on?

He sighed. Frodo... has to leave the Shire, he said simply.



I'm not repeating it now. It's very important, and very secret. And very dangerous, he added as an afterthought. Frodo doesn't even know we know about it.

But I don't--

You can't tell anyone anything, not even Diamond.

All right, all right. I didn't exactly know what I wasn't to tell her, so it wouldn't be very hard.

We're going with him, though. Leaving the Shire that is, in a few months.

I gulped. I'd never left the Shire before.

Goodnight, Pippin, Merry said.

Goodnight, Merry, I replied, quickly falling into an uneasy sleep. Tomorrow we'd be back in Bucklebury, and I could forget about leaving the Shire... for a few months anyway. I couldn't wait to see Diamond again.

---

I got my cart from the stable and left town. I crossed at the Ferry, and paused for a moment. My road ran north, and parallel to the Brandywine for a while. I looked back toward the Ferry, at the hill, and then down the road leading to Farmer Maggot's road. The road leading to Hobbiton.

Pippin appeared on the road at that moment, as if somehow he'd known I was leaving at that moment. He saw me leaving. We made eye contact for a long, painful moment, and I looked away. Tears blurred my vision, and I broke into a run, back to Pippin.

---

As we rode back to Bucklebury, I noticed another cart headed north along the road by the river. Merry stopped to wait for the ferry. I squinted ahead at the person riding on the cart. It was a girl. I couldn't tell who. I watched her cart slowly retreat up the road.

She turned and looked back. My heart nearly stopped beating when I realized it was Diamond. Where was she going? Why was she leaving?

She suddenly stopped and got out of the cart, running to me. I got down from our own cart, meeting her halfway. She clung to me. Her whole body shook with each sob, and I held her carefully, worried that she'd break. Something had happened.

Diamond, what is it? I asked.

I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye, she said shakily.



I have to go, she said. My mother--she's sick. She's dying, Pippin, I have to go to her.

Oh, Diamond, I whispered.

I'll be back as soon as I can, she promised.

I nodded. I couldn't tell her about Sam's news. It would be too much. If she didn't return by September, I'd write her a letter. I hoped she'd return, but I had a feeling I wouldn't see her again for a long time. A very long time. You know where to find me, I choked out instead. I kissed her goodbye. She ran.

She got went to her cart . Tears stung my eyes as I watched her go. She got onto the cart and paused for a moment. She looked back one more time. Her eyes met mine, and, though she was so far away, I could see silent tears on her face. I wanted to go to her, to stop her from leaving, but I knew she had to be with her family. Don't look back, Diamond, I whispered.

As if she'd heard me, she turned and rode away. I looked up at the sky, at the setting sun. The tears fell.



[End of Part II]


A/N: Told you this chapter would be less fluffy =P Review, review, review... chapter nine is coming. Soon. Promise.

Random cool fact: I'm at 36 page in my word processor. That's really long for me ^_^ Haven't written anything so prolific in ages. Bwahaha. And I think this is the longest chapter so far. Wow g I wrote this chapter entirely in school.. almost all of it in chemistry class alone over a week or so, and typed it up in like fifteen minutes. heh... Anyway. Part II Notes (Overall) will come before Chapter Nine, so stay tuned!!