Chapter Rating: G
Chapter 2: Taking Stock
November 4th S.R. 1419
The morning dawned clear and cool after a brief rain around 4:00am. It was as if the air wished to rid itself of the stench and pollution forced upon it for the past year, and start fresh and new. A cock greeted the sun as he flushed red the remaining clouds.
Mistress Lily Cotton was up with the dawn as well. She always rose at cockcrow to have a hot first breakfast ready for the family. Farming was hard work and required lots of good, solid food. As a result of her ministrations, her family were good, solid hobbits; strong lads used to hard physical work and a well- loved daughter able to take care of anything, be they hobbit or beast. She was justifiably proud of the family, but especially proud this morning of her husband. Everyone called him Tom or Farmer Cotton, but after the events of the past week they were calling him Master Cotton. Her husband's courage and wits had helped save the Shire from Sharkey's ruffians and thugs. Because of his staunch support of Sam, Merry, Pippin and Frodo, the Shirefolk had been awakened to their thralldom, and had rousted their overlords with swift justice and not much mercy.
Sam and Frodo were staying at the Cotton farmhouse until they could find other lodgings. Frodo was given the guest bedroom, as was befitting his higher social status in the Shire. Sam was rooming with the Cotton's youngest son, Carl, who everybody called Nibs. Nibs was only nine years younger than Sam. But Sam's experiences during the Quest had matured him well beyond his years.
Sam was now a veteran of long travels, war and great hardships. He had returned to the Shire quite a different hobbit from the one who so idealistically set off with Frodo over a year ago. Sam was able and quite willing to command others to his biding. The only person to whom he deferred as of old was Frodo. And this was done through love, devotion, and an unspoken trust between the two which brooked differences in age, social status and physical abilities. Sam was changed indeed, but he was still as good-natured and kind as ever. He just wasn't as nieve or unsure of his own abilities as before. Sam had grown.
Pippin and Merry had also grown, but in a much more visible way. They had literally grown several inches taller while on the Quest. They both surpassed even the old height of the near- mythical Bullroarer Took. They cut a grand air of military might never before seen in the Shire. They dressed in their livery of the King of Gondor and the Riders of Rohan, respectively, and rode quite comfortably on large ponies. Pippin was especially taken with wearing his silver and black uniform, complete with crested helmet and shining sword. Merry was more circumspect, blowing his silver horn only when he needed to muster the Shire-militia, which was now firmly under his command. The two friends were also changed by their experiences during the War. Merry had become a much more serious and careful hobbit. He drew on his military experience while riding with the King of Rohan through various battles and bloodshed. He had expertise in setting up military strategies and controlling mobs of people in terrible situations. If it wasn't for the handsome hobbit with the horn, Sharkey's Men would have slaughtered the Hobbiton revolt before it became organized.
Pippin too was permanently changed by what he had seen and done both on the journey and on the battlefields. His quick wit and fun-loving antics were still in tact, but were now tempered with fairness and an un-characteristic compassion for others. He had seen too much bloodshed and had experienced first-hand the agony of self-awareness under the eye of naked evil when he had looked into the Palantier. He never forgot the kindness the great Wizard Gandalf showed him after that terrible night of the seeing stone, and vowed to always show compassion and forgiveness to those younger and less-experienced than he. Pippin was only twenty-nine when the Travelers (as they were known) returned to the Shire, but his new-found wisdom elevated him even beyond his increased physical stature.
Frodo had also come back to the Shire changed. But not in the same ways as had happened to Sam, Merry and Pippin. The changes in Frodo were less physically visible than Merry or Pippin's, but more psychologically profound and disturbing. Folk were quite uncomfortable being around him for very long. But the Shirefolk were a tolerant people who gave Frodo the privacy he craved and needed. They mostly dealt with Merry or Pippin or Sam, and tended to leave Frodo alone unless it was something requiring the Deputy Mayor's attention.
This morning Merry and Pippin came riding up to the Cotton farm on their ponies, dressed in their customary finery. Tom Cotton was already outside, talking with some local families about what had been going on in the Shire.
"Hello Captains Meriodoc and Peregrin," the farmer called out. "Did you have any problems with ruffians while on your way up from Hobbiton?"
"Good morning to you too, Master Cotton," Merry said. "No trouble at all. I've got the Shire-muster out scouting the area for stray Men right now. We should run the whole lot of them out of the entire Shire by Yuletide at the latest. Is Frodo here by any chance?"
Merry and Pippin dismounted and Farmer Cotton's son Nick took their ponies around back to the barn.
"Yes," said Cotton. "Go on inside. He and Sam are in the kitchen planning out some things."
Merry and Pippin found Sam and Frodo at the kitchen table. Frodo had pen and ink and was writing something when they came in.
"Merry! Pippin! Excellent timing, as usual," Frodo said. "We've just finished breakfast and have some leftovers. I've got some official Deputy Mayor papers I need you to sign as well. Please sit down."
"I don't need to sit down in order to eat," said Pippin, grabbing a scone and heaping it with jam. "Hello Sam! How's Rosie?" Pippin winked at Sam, whose ears were beginning to flush pink.
"Pippin, mind your manners," Merry admonished. "What kind of papers, Frodo?"
"Legal papers, Captain Brandybuck," Frodo said. "I'll need you and Pippin to witness the ceding of Bag End to me by Lobelia Sackville-Baggins. She had her relatives draw up the papers last night when Sam and I took her back to Hardbottle. But I need your signatures as witnesses to her oral statement to me yesterday. Sign here," he said to Merry, giving him a quill and ink, "and Pippin, you sign here." Merry and Pippin dutifully signed the documents, then proceeded to divide an apple between them.
"And now, I need Sam to be a witness to the next set of documents," Frodo continued. He produced another set of parchment. This one was in Frodo's own handwriting. "Merry, please read this aloud so that all may hear and bear witness." He handed the document to Merry.
Merry cleared his throat and began reading.
"I, Frodo Baggins of Bag End, Bag Shot Row, Hobbiton in the Shire, on this the fourth day of November, S. R. 1419, do hereby deed the property, houses, out buildings, gardens and real estate of Crickethollow, Buckland East of the Brandywine River, to Master Meriodoc Brandybuck and Master Peregrin Took, recently returned to the Shire and currently abiding in Hobbiton." Merry paused, dumbfounded.
"You're giving us Crickethollow?" Pippin almost choked on the apple.
"Yes," Frodo firmly stated. "I have no use for it now. And you two deserve a place of your own. You shouldn't have to go back to living with your parents, not after all you've been through. So please, please take it as my gift to you. Sam and I will have Bag End after things have settled down and we've repaired it a bit."
Merry still was standing there holding the deed in his hands. Pippin walked over and took it from him, to see for himself that the document was genuine. He was going to be a land-owner! And he wasn't even of age yet! He could hardly contain his elation.
"Well," Sam said, "come on. Let's get this thing signed and witnessed before he changes his mind and I have to fix Crickethollow up too."
The document was signed, dated and inked, as was the copy which was to be sent to the official records house in Micheldelving after the roads were secured. Frodo was satisfied. One less thing for him to worry about.
"And now on to more serious and urgent matters," Frodo said. "Pippin, please do sit down. I'm afraid this is going to take some time and won't be pleasant." Frodo proceeded to detail a list of problems facing the Shire as a result of Sharkey's intrusion.
Hobbiton was a wasted ruin of a town. The Water, its river and main source of water, was polluted with filth spewing out of Ted Sandyman's new Mill. What had once been a simple, clean grist mill had been turned into a smoke-and-liquid waste spewing factory. Most homes along The Water now had to get their drinking water from springs located a few miles upriver. The Green Dragon Inn and its associated businesses (including the Hobbiton Apothecary, Tandy's blacksmith shop, the woodworker's shop, the butcher, the tailor and the bakery) were a jumbled ruin of burned and broken rubble. The great party tree in Celebration Field had been cut down and left to rot. Bag End was mostly intact, but had been partially dug up and was in shambles. The great tree at Bag End had also been cut down. This had weakened the structure of all hobbit holes on Bag Shot Row, causing most of them to collapse into a newly dug sandpit. All Hobbiton gardens and surrounding greenways were destroyed. There were still ruffians and the remnant of Sharkey's Men roaming the Shire, causing death and destruction as they fought the populace who had turned against them. And some of the hobbit Shirriffs were still operating as if they ran the Shire and were still taking orders from Men. The list was agonizing to write.
"We can't take care of all this," said Pippin. "It's too much for the four of us!"
"We don't have to take care of all of it all at once," said Sam. "Let's figure out what needs to get done quickest and get that done. Then we can come back and take care of the rest later."
"Well, I can think of a way to take care of the problems of the Shirriffs and the ruffians in one blow," said Merry. "Frodo, since you're Deputy Mayor, you can reduce the number of Shirriffs with a simple proclamation. Then give me and Pip the authority to use the Shirriffs to raise the Shire-muster to hunt down and rid the Shire of the remaining ruffians."
"Right," said Frodo. "I think you and Pippin will have to split up your duties though. Merry, why don't you oversee the East Farthing and Buckland, seeing as how you're from there. Pippin, I'm counting on you to handle the West and Southern Farthings. Make sure you get your hobbits from your father, the Thain. I don't think there's any danger in the North Farthing at this time, but we can deal with that later if we need to. Our greatest danger comes from the South and East. Tom Cotton brought in word this morning that there are still gangs of Men in the South Farthing, and I'm sure there will continue to be more of them trying to infiltrate the Shire over Sarn Crossing. They will probably also try to enter via the Brandywine Bridge on the East Road from Bree, or across Buckleberry Ferry. Merry, let's leave the gates and stronghouses Saruman built there for the time being. Perhaps we can turn some of his evil to good protection for the Shire.
Sam, it's imperative that Hobbiton has access to proper housing and clean water before winter sets in. And we don't know where all the food went during Saruman's occupation. Can you organize this? We can't let our people freeze or starve to death."
"You can count on me, Mister Frodo," Sam said. "I'll get Farmer Cotton and his sons to help with the work. Once we let everyone know it's safe to come out of their houses again, the whole town will pitch in and help out. You'll see. They're good folk, Shirefolk are."
"Don't forget to include the lasses too," Frodo said. "Rose can probably help locate where the foodstuffs and supplies are. I hope everyone's hidden something away somewhere, or else we're going to have to ask Rivendale for emergency supplies."
Frodo wrote out the official proclamation reducing the number and function of the Shirriffs back to their original levels. These he sent out for posting throughout the Shire. Merry returned to Crickethollow in Buckland and from there oversaw organizing the remaining Shirriffs and Shire militia to roust the rest of the ruffians and southern gangs. Pippin traveled to his home at the Great Smials of Tookborough. The Thain gave him sturdy hobbit of the Shire-muster to use in securing his territory.
Fredigar Bolger and Frodo began the sad task of cleaning out Bag End to be used as Frodo's office.
Sam started his work by organizing the dismantling of everything built by Sharkey's Men. When word got out about the rebuilding, all available hands in Hobbiton, Bywater and Bag End assembled in front of Sam as he stood outside the burned-out shell of the Green Dragon Inn. Close to two thousand hobbits of all ages waited in silence for Samwise Gamgee's words.
"Tear it all down," Sam said through clinched teeth. "It weren't good workmanship to begin with. It ain't no good to no one, and only produces filth and garbage. Tear everything made by Sharkey's Men down and burn it in the center of town. Save the bricks and stone. We'll use them later to rebuild Hobbiton and Bywater. We'll need all the lumber we can find or cut. I fear it might be a harsh winter."
Chapter 2: Taking Stock
November 4th S.R. 1419
The morning dawned clear and cool after a brief rain around 4:00am. It was as if the air wished to rid itself of the stench and pollution forced upon it for the past year, and start fresh and new. A cock greeted the sun as he flushed red the remaining clouds.
Mistress Lily Cotton was up with the dawn as well. She always rose at cockcrow to have a hot first breakfast ready for the family. Farming was hard work and required lots of good, solid food. As a result of her ministrations, her family were good, solid hobbits; strong lads used to hard physical work and a well- loved daughter able to take care of anything, be they hobbit or beast. She was justifiably proud of the family, but especially proud this morning of her husband. Everyone called him Tom or Farmer Cotton, but after the events of the past week they were calling him Master Cotton. Her husband's courage and wits had helped save the Shire from Sharkey's ruffians and thugs. Because of his staunch support of Sam, Merry, Pippin and Frodo, the Shirefolk had been awakened to their thralldom, and had rousted their overlords with swift justice and not much mercy.
Sam and Frodo were staying at the Cotton farmhouse until they could find other lodgings. Frodo was given the guest bedroom, as was befitting his higher social status in the Shire. Sam was rooming with the Cotton's youngest son, Carl, who everybody called Nibs. Nibs was only nine years younger than Sam. But Sam's experiences during the Quest had matured him well beyond his years.
Sam was now a veteran of long travels, war and great hardships. He had returned to the Shire quite a different hobbit from the one who so idealistically set off with Frodo over a year ago. Sam was able and quite willing to command others to his biding. The only person to whom he deferred as of old was Frodo. And this was done through love, devotion, and an unspoken trust between the two which brooked differences in age, social status and physical abilities. Sam was changed indeed, but he was still as good-natured and kind as ever. He just wasn't as nieve or unsure of his own abilities as before. Sam had grown.
Pippin and Merry had also grown, but in a much more visible way. They had literally grown several inches taller while on the Quest. They both surpassed even the old height of the near- mythical Bullroarer Took. They cut a grand air of military might never before seen in the Shire. They dressed in their livery of the King of Gondor and the Riders of Rohan, respectively, and rode quite comfortably on large ponies. Pippin was especially taken with wearing his silver and black uniform, complete with crested helmet and shining sword. Merry was more circumspect, blowing his silver horn only when he needed to muster the Shire-militia, which was now firmly under his command. The two friends were also changed by their experiences during the War. Merry had become a much more serious and careful hobbit. He drew on his military experience while riding with the King of Rohan through various battles and bloodshed. He had expertise in setting up military strategies and controlling mobs of people in terrible situations. If it wasn't for the handsome hobbit with the horn, Sharkey's Men would have slaughtered the Hobbiton revolt before it became organized.
Pippin too was permanently changed by what he had seen and done both on the journey and on the battlefields. His quick wit and fun-loving antics were still in tact, but were now tempered with fairness and an un-characteristic compassion for others. He had seen too much bloodshed and had experienced first-hand the agony of self-awareness under the eye of naked evil when he had looked into the Palantier. He never forgot the kindness the great Wizard Gandalf showed him after that terrible night of the seeing stone, and vowed to always show compassion and forgiveness to those younger and less-experienced than he. Pippin was only twenty-nine when the Travelers (as they were known) returned to the Shire, but his new-found wisdom elevated him even beyond his increased physical stature.
Frodo had also come back to the Shire changed. But not in the same ways as had happened to Sam, Merry and Pippin. The changes in Frodo were less physically visible than Merry or Pippin's, but more psychologically profound and disturbing. Folk were quite uncomfortable being around him for very long. But the Shirefolk were a tolerant people who gave Frodo the privacy he craved and needed. They mostly dealt with Merry or Pippin or Sam, and tended to leave Frodo alone unless it was something requiring the Deputy Mayor's attention.
This morning Merry and Pippin came riding up to the Cotton farm on their ponies, dressed in their customary finery. Tom Cotton was already outside, talking with some local families about what had been going on in the Shire.
"Hello Captains Meriodoc and Peregrin," the farmer called out. "Did you have any problems with ruffians while on your way up from Hobbiton?"
"Good morning to you too, Master Cotton," Merry said. "No trouble at all. I've got the Shire-muster out scouting the area for stray Men right now. We should run the whole lot of them out of the entire Shire by Yuletide at the latest. Is Frodo here by any chance?"
Merry and Pippin dismounted and Farmer Cotton's son Nick took their ponies around back to the barn.
"Yes," said Cotton. "Go on inside. He and Sam are in the kitchen planning out some things."
Merry and Pippin found Sam and Frodo at the kitchen table. Frodo had pen and ink and was writing something when they came in.
"Merry! Pippin! Excellent timing, as usual," Frodo said. "We've just finished breakfast and have some leftovers. I've got some official Deputy Mayor papers I need you to sign as well. Please sit down."
"I don't need to sit down in order to eat," said Pippin, grabbing a scone and heaping it with jam. "Hello Sam! How's Rosie?" Pippin winked at Sam, whose ears were beginning to flush pink.
"Pippin, mind your manners," Merry admonished. "What kind of papers, Frodo?"
"Legal papers, Captain Brandybuck," Frodo said. "I'll need you and Pippin to witness the ceding of Bag End to me by Lobelia Sackville-Baggins. She had her relatives draw up the papers last night when Sam and I took her back to Hardbottle. But I need your signatures as witnesses to her oral statement to me yesterday. Sign here," he said to Merry, giving him a quill and ink, "and Pippin, you sign here." Merry and Pippin dutifully signed the documents, then proceeded to divide an apple between them.
"And now, I need Sam to be a witness to the next set of documents," Frodo continued. He produced another set of parchment. This one was in Frodo's own handwriting. "Merry, please read this aloud so that all may hear and bear witness." He handed the document to Merry.
Merry cleared his throat and began reading.
"I, Frodo Baggins of Bag End, Bag Shot Row, Hobbiton in the Shire, on this the fourth day of November, S. R. 1419, do hereby deed the property, houses, out buildings, gardens and real estate of Crickethollow, Buckland East of the Brandywine River, to Master Meriodoc Brandybuck and Master Peregrin Took, recently returned to the Shire and currently abiding in Hobbiton." Merry paused, dumbfounded.
"You're giving us Crickethollow?" Pippin almost choked on the apple.
"Yes," Frodo firmly stated. "I have no use for it now. And you two deserve a place of your own. You shouldn't have to go back to living with your parents, not after all you've been through. So please, please take it as my gift to you. Sam and I will have Bag End after things have settled down and we've repaired it a bit."
Merry still was standing there holding the deed in his hands. Pippin walked over and took it from him, to see for himself that the document was genuine. He was going to be a land-owner! And he wasn't even of age yet! He could hardly contain his elation.
"Well," Sam said, "come on. Let's get this thing signed and witnessed before he changes his mind and I have to fix Crickethollow up too."
The document was signed, dated and inked, as was the copy which was to be sent to the official records house in Micheldelving after the roads were secured. Frodo was satisfied. One less thing for him to worry about.
"And now on to more serious and urgent matters," Frodo said. "Pippin, please do sit down. I'm afraid this is going to take some time and won't be pleasant." Frodo proceeded to detail a list of problems facing the Shire as a result of Sharkey's intrusion.
Hobbiton was a wasted ruin of a town. The Water, its river and main source of water, was polluted with filth spewing out of Ted Sandyman's new Mill. What had once been a simple, clean grist mill had been turned into a smoke-and-liquid waste spewing factory. Most homes along The Water now had to get their drinking water from springs located a few miles upriver. The Green Dragon Inn and its associated businesses (including the Hobbiton Apothecary, Tandy's blacksmith shop, the woodworker's shop, the butcher, the tailor and the bakery) were a jumbled ruin of burned and broken rubble. The great party tree in Celebration Field had been cut down and left to rot. Bag End was mostly intact, but had been partially dug up and was in shambles. The great tree at Bag End had also been cut down. This had weakened the structure of all hobbit holes on Bag Shot Row, causing most of them to collapse into a newly dug sandpit. All Hobbiton gardens and surrounding greenways were destroyed. There were still ruffians and the remnant of Sharkey's Men roaming the Shire, causing death and destruction as they fought the populace who had turned against them. And some of the hobbit Shirriffs were still operating as if they ran the Shire and were still taking orders from Men. The list was agonizing to write.
"We can't take care of all this," said Pippin. "It's too much for the four of us!"
"We don't have to take care of all of it all at once," said Sam. "Let's figure out what needs to get done quickest and get that done. Then we can come back and take care of the rest later."
"Well, I can think of a way to take care of the problems of the Shirriffs and the ruffians in one blow," said Merry. "Frodo, since you're Deputy Mayor, you can reduce the number of Shirriffs with a simple proclamation. Then give me and Pip the authority to use the Shirriffs to raise the Shire-muster to hunt down and rid the Shire of the remaining ruffians."
"Right," said Frodo. "I think you and Pippin will have to split up your duties though. Merry, why don't you oversee the East Farthing and Buckland, seeing as how you're from there. Pippin, I'm counting on you to handle the West and Southern Farthings. Make sure you get your hobbits from your father, the Thain. I don't think there's any danger in the North Farthing at this time, but we can deal with that later if we need to. Our greatest danger comes from the South and East. Tom Cotton brought in word this morning that there are still gangs of Men in the South Farthing, and I'm sure there will continue to be more of them trying to infiltrate the Shire over Sarn Crossing. They will probably also try to enter via the Brandywine Bridge on the East Road from Bree, or across Buckleberry Ferry. Merry, let's leave the gates and stronghouses Saruman built there for the time being. Perhaps we can turn some of his evil to good protection for the Shire.
Sam, it's imperative that Hobbiton has access to proper housing and clean water before winter sets in. And we don't know where all the food went during Saruman's occupation. Can you organize this? We can't let our people freeze or starve to death."
"You can count on me, Mister Frodo," Sam said. "I'll get Farmer Cotton and his sons to help with the work. Once we let everyone know it's safe to come out of their houses again, the whole town will pitch in and help out. You'll see. They're good folk, Shirefolk are."
"Don't forget to include the lasses too," Frodo said. "Rose can probably help locate where the foodstuffs and supplies are. I hope everyone's hidden something away somewhere, or else we're going to have to ask Rivendale for emergency supplies."
Frodo wrote out the official proclamation reducing the number and function of the Shirriffs back to their original levels. These he sent out for posting throughout the Shire. Merry returned to Crickethollow in Buckland and from there oversaw organizing the remaining Shirriffs and Shire militia to roust the rest of the ruffians and southern gangs. Pippin traveled to his home at the Great Smials of Tookborough. The Thain gave him sturdy hobbit of the Shire-muster to use in securing his territory.
Fredigar Bolger and Frodo began the sad task of cleaning out Bag End to be used as Frodo's office.
Sam started his work by organizing the dismantling of everything built by Sharkey's Men. When word got out about the rebuilding, all available hands in Hobbiton, Bywater and Bag End assembled in front of Sam as he stood outside the burned-out shell of the Green Dragon Inn. Close to two thousand hobbits of all ages waited in silence for Samwise Gamgee's words.
"Tear it all down," Sam said through clinched teeth. "It weren't good workmanship to begin with. It ain't no good to no one, and only produces filth and garbage. Tear everything made by Sharkey's Men down and burn it in the center of town. Save the bricks and stone. We'll use them later to rebuild Hobbiton and Bywater. We'll need all the lumber we can find or cut. I fear it might be a harsh winter."
