Chapter 3: A Special Gift
The next day, early in the morning, Frodo was already up and at his window, the silver pen in his hand and the book on his knees. He had been thinking since the previous night about what would be the first thing he would write down.
As usual, Sam arrived early to take care of the garden. Frodo folded the book under his arm and joined his friend.
"What are you doing here, Sam? I told you that considering the late hour the party ended last night, you could have a day off."
"I am taking care of your flowers of course! You can not imagine how much care they need, and they would with no doubt suffer from a day off." He glanced at the book. "It is a very nice gift. I wonder where they found it, surely during one of their trips."
"Your gift was very nice as well." Frodo indicated the scarf around his shoulders, protecting his neck from the cold morning breeze.
Sam smiled at him. "Have you begun to write something down?"
"Not yet, I am still trying to figure what would be the best beginning. Many a time have I thought about writing something before, but now the words would not come."
A few meters away, Pippin and Merry were hidden in a bush. Again.
"If it is to be one of our new habits, I would like to choose the next bush if you don't mind. This one is thorny."
"Sshh, Merry. He is going to hear us."
"Why don't we just ask him if he has written something?"
"Like what? 'Hey, Frodo, have you noticed anything strange with the book we gave you?' We don't want to raise his suspicion. Have you filled the pen as she told us?"
"Yes. I do not feel at ease with that, Pippin. Are you sure we are doing the right thing?"
In the afternoon, Frodo was joined by Gandalf in his courtyard; he still had the book with him and the pen in his hand. He was watching Pippin, Gimli, Merry and Legolas pretending to fight together. The wizard sat besides him.
"You do not realize how hard it is to formulate your thoughts until you have to write them down." Gandalf stated.
"Actually, I just do not know what to write… This book is too beautiful; I do not want to waste it."
"May I take a look on it?" Frodo handled the book to Gandalf. There were some carvings on the leather binding, and Gandalf explored them with the tip of his fingers. The book looked like a very old volume; he shook his head and gave it back to Frodo. "Why don't you just write what you feel?"
Frodo smiled at his oldest friend. He held the pen tightly and started writing. Almost immediately, the ink spread on the page and disappeared.
"Fool of a Took. A new trick of his." Gandalf mumbled. "Pippin!" He yelled.
Pippin immediately stopped fighting against Legolas and came toward Gandalf and Frodo. As he pretended to ignore everything about it, the others came as well to see the book. The latter went through everyone's hands.
"This symbol looks familiar to me, but I do not remember where I saw it." Aragorn noticed.
"I had the same feeling when I looked at it. Pippin, you must tell us where you found it." Gandalf's stare was grave.
"A man at the Prancing Poney sold it to me. He was quite drunk and he didn't even argue about the price!"
"Pippin." Gandalf grumbled. "This is serious. How did he look like?"
"Like a human!" Under the black stare of Gandalf, the Took continued. "He seemed to be thirty, maybe more, he was very tall…"
"For one of your kind anyone is tall." Gimli noticed. Legolas rose an eyebrow at that statement and stared down at the dwarf, and the latter shrugged.
"He had a beard, but no moustache; he had mid-length black hair, dusty clothes…"
"What do you think it is, Gandalf?" Frodo asked, sounding a bit worried.
"Perhaps nothing of importance. Our friend may have just been the victim of a prank." He turned to Pippin. "I think that man did not sell you a common book. But we will see about that later. Where does the ink come from?"
"I bought it in Bree, I tried it on a normal paper and it worked. Try it!"
Frodo gave a piece of paper to Aragorn who was holding the pen and the book. The pen worked perfectly on the small piece of paper, but as he tried again on the book, the ink spread all over the page and disappeared slowly with a range of different shades.
"I had better find out what it could be. This book clearly has a particularity, and I suspect some magic might be at work here. Keep it locked, Frodo. I have to do some research about it." Gandalf stood up.
"And what do you think it could be?" Gimli chuckled. "The One Book?"
Soon after Gandalf left, Merry and Pippin gathered in the first's house.
"The One Evil Book of Power…" Pippin began dreamily. "Nah, already been done…" he said, shaking his head.
"Pippin…"
"Why not the One Evil Book of Doom?" the Brandybuck suggested.
"Pippin, this is ridiculous…"
"Oh. The One Evil Book of Despair, then? Is it better?"
"It is not what I meant," Merry sighed.
"Oh, wait! I have a greater one!" With a dramatic pose and a tragic tone, he said: "The One Evil Book of True Evilness."
The other Hobbit stared at his cousin. "Do you listen to yourself sometimes?" He sighed again. "Look, you know this book is none of those, right?"
Pippin shrugged. "We asked her for something stupefying. Then who knows?"
"That is exactly what is worrying me."
"Come on, it is just a magical trick to cheer them all up. Make them think there is a new evil to fight. And for the moment it is working perfectly."
"So perfectly that Gandalf is gone to seek information about the book! And I can't even imagine how we managed to fool *him*! I mean, he's a wizard."
"Well even wizards can be fools sometimes," Pippin grinned.
"I am afraid you have the exclusivity in that domain…"
"Anyway, Gandalf will soon be back to reveal that the book is not that special. In the meantime, I wish to play the game and convince the others that we might have yet another quest to carry. I am sure they will all be excited!"
"And what will you do if Gandalf finds out there is more than meets the eye with this book?"
Pippin sighed. "When did you become such a killjoy, Merry?"
"When I grew up. You should try that too, before your son precedes you."
Samwise Gamgee examined his Master, who was thoughtfully watching through the window. The happiness brought by the party and the presence of his friends seemed to be already gone. It had all begun when the strangeness of the book had been discovered. Nonetheless, he was not absent like he had been for the past weeks. On the contrary, he seemed very… alive. Thoughtful, probably worried, but alive.
"What do you think it is, Sam?" Frodo muttered, keeping his eyes on the landscape outside.
"Are you talking about the book?"
"Yes."
"I do not know, Mister Frodo," Sam admitted. "And I am not the one you should ask that question. You should wait for Gandalf's return and not ponder over it too much in the meantime."
"I know. But I can't help wondering…"
As he finished his sentence, Aragorn entered the room, slightly bent to adapt to the low ceiling. He was closely followed by both Legolas and Gimli.
"Frodo," he said, "I have thought about that symbol on the book again, and I am convinced I already encountered it during one of my many travels."
"Do you remember where?"
"I am not totally positive yet, but still I am quite sure. We will have to wait for more information from Gandalf, but I think I saw it carved on the stones of the ruins of a temple, near the Grey Mountains."
"It is north of Mirkwood," Legolas added. "I have not heard of such a place myself, but we silvan elves seldom wander that north of the border of the forest, especially that close to the mountains."
A slight sniggering escaped Gimli's throat. The elf stared at him. "Sorry," the dwarf just said.
"Unfortunately," Aragorn went on, "I am afraid I can not linger here until Gandalf's return. I left Minas Tirith for your birthday, and my absence from Gondor was supposed to last a few days only."
"Can you not stay a little longer?" Sam asked.
"I will wait until the end of the week, but eventually I will have to leave. I have important matters to discuss with King Eomer, and I have no messenger to warn about a delay."
"Let us hope Gandalf will be back before the end of the week, then."
"I fear Gandalf's searches for information can be extremely long at times…" Frodo stated.
Aragorn nodded. "That is true. Anyway, I will do as I said. If Gandalf is not back yet at the end of the week, I will have to go back to Gondor."
Merry looked around him warily. He hadn't liked the Old Forest the first time he had ventured there, and it was not any better this time. He was not sure which way to follow, and Pippin had not been very helpful considering how reluctant he was to tell him how to find her. How had Pippin learned about her existence, anyway?
But despite this Merry seemed to have reached his destination at last as he was now facing a little yet strange looking thatched cottage. He hesitantly knocked on the door.
As no answer came, he called. "Huh, hello?"
As if animated by a will of its own, the door opened.
"All right…" Merry mumbled to himself. "This is absolutely not weird at all… And everything is going to be fine… I am just going to get in, ask her what this book is all about, and go home… Nothing will turn ill…"
He slowly stepped in, and jumped when the door closed right behind him.
"Welcome young Hobbit…"
Merry froze at the sight of the… witch? He was not sure how she should be called. Her gaze was very insightful, and she oddly reminded him of Galadriel. "Good evening, Lady…" He hesitated, as he didn't know her name.
"I have many names, but most people call me Lanera."
"All right, huh, Lady Lanera…" he answered lamely. "Well… My friend came here a few days ago…"
"That I already know…" the witch stated.
Merry gulped uneasily. "And, you gave him a book and ink…"
"The birdie asked for something stupefying… And something stupefying I gave him …"
"Absolutely, but… I would like to know what is this book exactly."
Lanera arched an eyebrow. "Being curious, are we? What is done is done, and can not be undone."
The Hobbit laughed nervously. "Of course, but –"
"The fishes are not ready yet. Come back next week."
"Huh, actually I just want to know about the book…"
"I can not leave my sandals alone."
Merry stared at her. How exactly had Pippin made her understand what he wanted? She was totally crazy. "Look, just tell me if it is evil and I –"
Anger flashed in her eyes. "Evil? What do you know about evil? Maybe you are evil yourself?" The witch's gaze suddenly became distant as she began to talk to herself. "Yes, the new birdie is evil… Only evil knows about evil… Yes, evil…"
"Huh… And about that book?"
Lanera rested her eyes on the Hobbit. "This is beyond your comprehension. A stupefying book it is, yes… But the clouds will gather in the sky and when the pond floods, make sure you do not exacerbate his wrath…"
Wrath? Whose wrath? Merry wondered. None of this was making any sense. He will not manage to get anything out of her. "Mmh, I… think I will leave now…"
Merry slowly stepped out while the witch kept on babbling. Once out and the door closed, he let out a sigh of relief. He had better hurry back to the Shire. He felt more and more worried about that book, and feared he and Pippin had done something terribly wrong when they gave it to Frodo…
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Here we are again!
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~ The 3 She-geeks ~
