Disclaimer- See Chapter 1.
A/N- Wow! Six reviews for one chapter (plus shirebound's review of Chapter 1). That's a personal record. Much thanks to ALL who reviewed. Oh, yes- 250.626 points for: shirebound, Tangoplanet, Azaelia, tiggivon, and Rose Cotton. [Drew Carey and a table appear. Drew jumps on table, shouts "But the points don't matter!", stomps, then both disappear.] I've really gotta get that fixed...
Chapter 3- Baby-sitting Frodo
After breakfast on the following day, Merry volunteered to help Pippin wash the dishes. Frodo thought this was strange, and he thought it even stranger that neither of the two wanted second breakfast. He had puzzled over the curiosity of his cousins' sudden mood swing, but found he could make no sense of it. He retreated to the library. Then he darted back out to grab the book Merry had brought in the night before and withdrew to his study again.
This did not escape the notice of the other two hobbits, and both felt it seemed only to confirm their earlier guesses: Frodo was going away, possibly soon, to have an adventure like Bilbo had. "It's quite unfair," griped Pippin as he wiped a dish dry. "Going off without us!"
Merry handed him another newly washed plate, "Shh, he might hear you and then you know he'll become even more secretive than before. Now, listen Pip, because I've got something important to tell you. And don't even think about telling anyone else!"
Pippin shook his head fervently.
"All right. A year or so ago, before Bilbo's party, I was walking down the road to Bag End. I spied Bilbo coming my way and I was about to shout 'hello' at him before we both noticed figures coming toward him. It was the S.-B.s," here Pippin made a face, "and they looked awful mad about something. Bilbo saw that as soon as I did and he slowed down, then vanished."
Pippin gasped and nearly dropped the plate he was drying.
"Careful! I was shocked, too, but I quickly hid myself until they had passed. By chance, I happened to be looking straight at Bilbo when he reappeared. I saw a glimpse of something gold that he put in his pocket. I was intrigued, and I kept an eye out for anything gold at Bag End since that day. One day, I was looking around and I saw a red book Bilbo had been writing in on a table. I caught a peep of it, and read hardly any of it, but it said 'Balin, who was on watch, was looking right at me and could not see me. I nearly laughed; what a marvelous ring I had found!' I could make out little of what that meant, but I guessed the ring Bilbo had written about made him invisible! How it could do that, I haven't the foggiest, but that's what I guessed. I'd bet that Bilbo left Frodo the ring with Bag End and everything else when he left, but I'm not sure. And I've been watching Frodo especially close since our dear old cousin left, because I feel certain that Frodo's going to run off and try to find him."
"Then what can we do?" Pippin blurted. "How can we stop him? You live over in Buckland and I'm at the Great Smials and we hardly ever see him and--"
"Pippin, calm down! I've thought of someone who can keep a close watch on Frodo because he lives nearby, and he probably will if we tell him we think Frodo's going to leave the Shire."
"Is that who you were talking about yesterday, Merry? Who is it?"
* * *
Sam Gamgee stared into his mug, as if it would alleviate his great surprise at what had just happened to him. To be sure, it was fairly early in the day for a half pint of ale (it being just past second breakfast), but the young hobbit certainly felt he needed it. He drank deep from his cup as he thought over the morning's events.
He had just gone outside, carrying his gardening equipment, to go up the hill and begin weeding Bag End's gardens, when Rose Cotton, holding a piece of her embroidery, had fairly flown at him. He had been quite astonished and had asked her whatever was the matter.
"It's my littlest brother, Sam, you know, Nibs. He's gone missing!"
"Missing? What do you mean?"
"He said something about going to explore. I didn't pay much attention, he's always saying things like that. But when I looked up from my sewing," she shook the cloth as evidence, "he wasn't there!"
Sam immediately took charge, seeing that Rosie was working herself into a state. "Calm down, Rosie, we'll find him. How long has he been gone?"
"Only a few minutes. Sam, we must find him soon! Who knows what kind of trouble he could get into!"
Normally, Sam would have been too nervous around Rosie to say anything, but this was an emergency. He and Rosie ran to all the houses in Bagshot Row to ask their occupants if the little hobbit had been seen anywhere about. Old Daddy Twofoot, the Gamgee's next-door neighbor, pointed them in the direction of the Party Field, so called because it was where Bilbo Baggins had held his surprising party the year before. There they had found Nibs, asleep under the Party Tree, the tallest tree in the Party Field, or indeed all of Hobbiton.
Rosie had been overjoyed to find her brother, and after giving him a quick scolding, marched him back to her home. At the gate, she had turned, given the stunned Sam a quick kiss on the cheek, then ran into her smial. Sam had stared at the hobbit hole for a second, then walked slowly down to the Green Dragon, all thoughts of gardening completely escaping his mind.
While Sam was thus occupied with his memory, he had failed to notice two cloaked figures seating themselves on either side of him. At a nod from the taller one, each picked Sam up by one arm and quickly exited the inn.
Merry and Pippin were lucky that the Green Dragon had been relatively empty, and that Sam had chosen a seat near the door. Sam was trying to escape their grasp and he was about to shout when they pulled off their hoods and grinned at the amazed look on his face. "Mr. Merry! Mr. Pippin! What in the Shire are you doing?"
"Hang on for a second, Sam," Merry answered, looking back up the hill toward Bag End to make sure their older cousin hadn't noticed their disappearance. The road was clear, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Hastily, he and Pippin pulled Sam off the road into some nearby bushes.
"What--" Sam started again, but Pippin cut him off.
"Shh! Any sign of him, Merry?"
'Any sign of who?' Sam thought.
Merry poked his head through the bushes and looked up and down the road suspiciously before going back inside the shrubbery. "Nope, none."
"Good." Pippin nodded.
Sam wondered if they were ever going to tell him what they were thinking, kidnapping him from the Green Dragon and then dragging inside some hedges for no apparent reason. "Now, Sam," Merry began, "you're probably wondering why we brought you inside this, er, hedge." Sam nodded. "Well, have you noticed anything different about Frodo lately? Any bags being packed or anything- unusual?"
"Bags?" asked Sam, now completely confused. Maybe he was 'off his head', as the Gaffer said. Or maybe Merry and Pippin were off their heads. "I don't know what you mean, Mr. Merry."
Merry and Pippin sighed in unison. Pippin sat back down into a more comfortable position. "Better tell Sam what's going on, Merry."
So Merry told Sam all that he had seen with Bilbo's disappearance and all that the two cousins had witnessed or guessed about Frodo since Bilbo had left the Shire. Sam sat in stunned silence for a moment, then said suddenly, "Are you sure that Mr. Frodo is going away? You're not just playing one of your jokes on me, Mr. Merry? Mr. Pippin?"
"Of course not! We'd never joke about something so serious!" Pippin exclaimed, sounding highly affronted at the very idea.
Merry became unexpectedly philosophical. "And the only things that are certain in life are death and hunger, Sam." The other hobbit nodded at this old hobbit adage. "But we're pretty certain that Frodo's going away on an adventure, and we think he's going soon. That's why we need your help, Sam."
"Me? Why?"
"Two reasons: one, you're one of Frodo's good friends- and don't try to tell me you're just his servant, because you know that's not true. And two- with Pip off in Tookland and me in Buckland, it's nearly impossible for us to keep an eye on him. That's what we need you to do: watch him, and listen to what he says, and tell us if he starts to do anything out of the ordinary. If you have to, be sneaky about it. Don't let him know what you're up to, or else we'll never find out when and where he's going to go."
Sam was shaking his head. "I don't know about this, Mr. Merry. That's prying into other folk's business, that is."
"It's not prying, Sam," Pippin insisted. He searched for a good way to explain how it both could and couldn't be 'prying.' "It- it's more like- baby-sitting," he said at last, in a triumphant tone. Merry and Sam looked at him doubtfully.
"Baby-sitting Mr. Frodo?"
"Yes," said Pippin assertively. "Making sure and certain he won't run off an' do anything stupid. That's what you do with babies, isn't it?" he asked confidently.
There was a few moments of silence until Merry laughed and clapped Sam on the shoulder. "So, Sam, what d'you say? Want to help us baby-sit Frodo?"
It was against both Sam's nature and all of the Gaffer's teachings to 'pry' into others' business, especially his 'betters', as the Gaffer would say. However, it was also against Sam's nature to let a friend go running into danger, as most hobbits termed synonymous with adventure. It was a tug-of-war between training and loyalty, but eventually- "All right, Mr. Merry and Mr. Pippin. I'll help you."
* * *
A/N- Again, thanks to those of you that reviewed. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well, and reviews are still very welcome. ;)
A/N- Wow! Six reviews for one chapter (plus shirebound's review of Chapter 1). That's a personal record. Much thanks to ALL who reviewed. Oh, yes- 250.626 points for: shirebound, Tangoplanet, Azaelia, tiggivon, and Rose Cotton. [Drew Carey and a table appear. Drew jumps on table, shouts "But the points don't matter!", stomps, then both disappear.] I've really gotta get that fixed...
Chapter 3- Baby-sitting Frodo
After breakfast on the following day, Merry volunteered to help Pippin wash the dishes. Frodo thought this was strange, and he thought it even stranger that neither of the two wanted second breakfast. He had puzzled over the curiosity of his cousins' sudden mood swing, but found he could make no sense of it. He retreated to the library. Then he darted back out to grab the book Merry had brought in the night before and withdrew to his study again.
This did not escape the notice of the other two hobbits, and both felt it seemed only to confirm their earlier guesses: Frodo was going away, possibly soon, to have an adventure like Bilbo had. "It's quite unfair," griped Pippin as he wiped a dish dry. "Going off without us!"
Merry handed him another newly washed plate, "Shh, he might hear you and then you know he'll become even more secretive than before. Now, listen Pip, because I've got something important to tell you. And don't even think about telling anyone else!"
Pippin shook his head fervently.
"All right. A year or so ago, before Bilbo's party, I was walking down the road to Bag End. I spied Bilbo coming my way and I was about to shout 'hello' at him before we both noticed figures coming toward him. It was the S.-B.s," here Pippin made a face, "and they looked awful mad about something. Bilbo saw that as soon as I did and he slowed down, then vanished."
Pippin gasped and nearly dropped the plate he was drying.
"Careful! I was shocked, too, but I quickly hid myself until they had passed. By chance, I happened to be looking straight at Bilbo when he reappeared. I saw a glimpse of something gold that he put in his pocket. I was intrigued, and I kept an eye out for anything gold at Bag End since that day. One day, I was looking around and I saw a red book Bilbo had been writing in on a table. I caught a peep of it, and read hardly any of it, but it said 'Balin, who was on watch, was looking right at me and could not see me. I nearly laughed; what a marvelous ring I had found!' I could make out little of what that meant, but I guessed the ring Bilbo had written about made him invisible! How it could do that, I haven't the foggiest, but that's what I guessed. I'd bet that Bilbo left Frodo the ring with Bag End and everything else when he left, but I'm not sure. And I've been watching Frodo especially close since our dear old cousin left, because I feel certain that Frodo's going to run off and try to find him."
"Then what can we do?" Pippin blurted. "How can we stop him? You live over in Buckland and I'm at the Great Smials and we hardly ever see him and--"
"Pippin, calm down! I've thought of someone who can keep a close watch on Frodo because he lives nearby, and he probably will if we tell him we think Frodo's going to leave the Shire."
"Is that who you were talking about yesterday, Merry? Who is it?"
* * *
Sam Gamgee stared into his mug, as if it would alleviate his great surprise at what had just happened to him. To be sure, it was fairly early in the day for a half pint of ale (it being just past second breakfast), but the young hobbit certainly felt he needed it. He drank deep from his cup as he thought over the morning's events.
He had just gone outside, carrying his gardening equipment, to go up the hill and begin weeding Bag End's gardens, when Rose Cotton, holding a piece of her embroidery, had fairly flown at him. He had been quite astonished and had asked her whatever was the matter.
"It's my littlest brother, Sam, you know, Nibs. He's gone missing!"
"Missing? What do you mean?"
"He said something about going to explore. I didn't pay much attention, he's always saying things like that. But when I looked up from my sewing," she shook the cloth as evidence, "he wasn't there!"
Sam immediately took charge, seeing that Rosie was working herself into a state. "Calm down, Rosie, we'll find him. How long has he been gone?"
"Only a few minutes. Sam, we must find him soon! Who knows what kind of trouble he could get into!"
Normally, Sam would have been too nervous around Rosie to say anything, but this was an emergency. He and Rosie ran to all the houses in Bagshot Row to ask their occupants if the little hobbit had been seen anywhere about. Old Daddy Twofoot, the Gamgee's next-door neighbor, pointed them in the direction of the Party Field, so called because it was where Bilbo Baggins had held his surprising party the year before. There they had found Nibs, asleep under the Party Tree, the tallest tree in the Party Field, or indeed all of Hobbiton.
Rosie had been overjoyed to find her brother, and after giving him a quick scolding, marched him back to her home. At the gate, she had turned, given the stunned Sam a quick kiss on the cheek, then ran into her smial. Sam had stared at the hobbit hole for a second, then walked slowly down to the Green Dragon, all thoughts of gardening completely escaping his mind.
While Sam was thus occupied with his memory, he had failed to notice two cloaked figures seating themselves on either side of him. At a nod from the taller one, each picked Sam up by one arm and quickly exited the inn.
Merry and Pippin were lucky that the Green Dragon had been relatively empty, and that Sam had chosen a seat near the door. Sam was trying to escape their grasp and he was about to shout when they pulled off their hoods and grinned at the amazed look on his face. "Mr. Merry! Mr. Pippin! What in the Shire are you doing?"
"Hang on for a second, Sam," Merry answered, looking back up the hill toward Bag End to make sure their older cousin hadn't noticed their disappearance. The road was clear, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Hastily, he and Pippin pulled Sam off the road into some nearby bushes.
"What--" Sam started again, but Pippin cut him off.
"Shh! Any sign of him, Merry?"
'Any sign of who?' Sam thought.
Merry poked his head through the bushes and looked up and down the road suspiciously before going back inside the shrubbery. "Nope, none."
"Good." Pippin nodded.
Sam wondered if they were ever going to tell him what they were thinking, kidnapping him from the Green Dragon and then dragging inside some hedges for no apparent reason. "Now, Sam," Merry began, "you're probably wondering why we brought you inside this, er, hedge." Sam nodded. "Well, have you noticed anything different about Frodo lately? Any bags being packed or anything- unusual?"
"Bags?" asked Sam, now completely confused. Maybe he was 'off his head', as the Gaffer said. Or maybe Merry and Pippin were off their heads. "I don't know what you mean, Mr. Merry."
Merry and Pippin sighed in unison. Pippin sat back down into a more comfortable position. "Better tell Sam what's going on, Merry."
So Merry told Sam all that he had seen with Bilbo's disappearance and all that the two cousins had witnessed or guessed about Frodo since Bilbo had left the Shire. Sam sat in stunned silence for a moment, then said suddenly, "Are you sure that Mr. Frodo is going away? You're not just playing one of your jokes on me, Mr. Merry? Mr. Pippin?"
"Of course not! We'd never joke about something so serious!" Pippin exclaimed, sounding highly affronted at the very idea.
Merry became unexpectedly philosophical. "And the only things that are certain in life are death and hunger, Sam." The other hobbit nodded at this old hobbit adage. "But we're pretty certain that Frodo's going away on an adventure, and we think he's going soon. That's why we need your help, Sam."
"Me? Why?"
"Two reasons: one, you're one of Frodo's good friends- and don't try to tell me you're just his servant, because you know that's not true. And two- with Pip off in Tookland and me in Buckland, it's nearly impossible for us to keep an eye on him. That's what we need you to do: watch him, and listen to what he says, and tell us if he starts to do anything out of the ordinary. If you have to, be sneaky about it. Don't let him know what you're up to, or else we'll never find out when and where he's going to go."
Sam was shaking his head. "I don't know about this, Mr. Merry. That's prying into other folk's business, that is."
"It's not prying, Sam," Pippin insisted. He searched for a good way to explain how it both could and couldn't be 'prying.' "It- it's more like- baby-sitting," he said at last, in a triumphant tone. Merry and Sam looked at him doubtfully.
"Baby-sitting Mr. Frodo?"
"Yes," said Pippin assertively. "Making sure and certain he won't run off an' do anything stupid. That's what you do with babies, isn't it?" he asked confidently.
There was a few moments of silence until Merry laughed and clapped Sam on the shoulder. "So, Sam, what d'you say? Want to help us baby-sit Frodo?"
It was against both Sam's nature and all of the Gaffer's teachings to 'pry' into others' business, especially his 'betters', as the Gaffer would say. However, it was also against Sam's nature to let a friend go running into danger, as most hobbits termed synonymous with adventure. It was a tug-of-war between training and loyalty, but eventually- "All right, Mr. Merry and Mr. Pippin. I'll help you."
* * *
A/N- Again, thanks to those of you that reviewed. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well, and reviews are still very welcome. ;)