Chapter Six: The Council of Frodo
Diamond and Rosie were escorted to the town hall to receive punishment the next day. The room had an odd, musky, dry scent to it. It smelled of barley, as though ale had been sipped there. And it had. The men of Isengard (the wizard's city) had treated the hall as though it were a pub. The room reminded Diamond and Rosie of what terror had been unleashed on their home. However, their minds were more preoccupied with the previous events.
The old women who had accused them was there to preside over the meeting and to serve as the prosecutor in the case. Another one of the prosecutors was Farmer Proudfoot, the man whose milk cow they killed and whose barn they destroyed. From then on they felt as though they were doomed.
Their defender was Samwise Gamgee, who came to help Diamond and Rosie, mainly Rosie. He had only met Diamond that morning but was very kind to her just the same. Perhaps their quest had effects on all of the hobbits who went on it, thought Diamond. Sam was somewhat plump, with a kind face, light brown hair, and a kind heart. He was determined to get Rosie out of too much punishment and her friend along with her. Their parents were not going to defend them, ashamed of their daughters' disgraceful situation.
The jury consisted of wise men and women of the Shire that could not be swayed since they hadn't witnessed any of the events. The only person they were waiting for was the judge.
At length, their judge did arrive. The hobbit had bright blue eyes. Yet no matter how bright they were, they still appeared troubled, focusing on something very far away. He had a kind face to cover up his sadness, and was currently animatedly talking to Sam. They were side by side though almost all of their journey, Sam had told them. His head was full of dark, chocolate-brown curly colored hair and amiable features that made him appear younger than he actually was—fifty one years old.
After conversing with his gardener and best friend, Frodo Baggins, the deputy mayor of the Shire and Bilbo Baggins' cousin, took his seat in the chair reserved for the judge. Their chairs were placed in a circular arrangement around a very large, round table. Frodo was at the head of the table, with the prosecution on the right hand side of him and the defendants on the left.
"Now then, what exactly is the case of your discontent, Mrs. Proudnick?" Frodo asked with a slow, clear tone of voice.
"Well, young Master Baggins, from what I saw of it, these young women here," she leered at Diamond and Rosie, "were riding in what appeared to be a horse cart at a tremendously fast speed that scared many of our Hobbiton citizens witless. They 'tried' to avoid hitting people and luckily succeeded. After they passed us, they kept right on going onto your house, Master Baggins, and were about to hit it when the horse sharply turned and hit Farmer Proudfoot's barn and sadly, his milk cow," Mrs. Proudnick finished.
"Well," Frodo said with an alarmed, yet amused look on his face, "That is harsh. However, I would still like to hear Diamond and Rosie's side of the tale. I do not believe they were planning to harm me. That is true, of course?" Frodo added, looking at the young ladies, who nodded, "Since that is confirmed, please enlighten us with your excuse for such 'outlandish' behavior," Frodo said with laughing eyes.
Rosie spoke for them, Diamond relieved. "Sir, I had never driven a horse cart, so I wanted to start to learn yesterday. However, I didn't know how bad I was. We only didn't hit your house because Diamond turned the cart at the last minute. We didn't know how to stop and we accidentally hit the barn and the milk cow because that was the direction we were going and we couldn't stop. By the way, Farmer Proudfoot," Rosie added to the still angry farmer, "I'm very sorry about your milk cow. If we could do community service to pay for a new cow, I think that would settle this. That is, if you don't mind," Rosie said to Frodo.
Frodo paused for a moment. His eyes looked thoughtful, but appeared to be thinking of something farther from the Shire. Then the depth of his blue eyes subsided and he smiled. "Well, this is a predicament, isn't it? A milk cow dead, Farmer Proudfoot's barn being reduced to a pile of toothpicks and the entire Hobbiton main road covered in mud and chicken feathers. However, they didn't steal anything, and from what I have heard, Flossie hadn't been giving very much milk lately. Honestly ladies, I think I played worse pranks when I was younger. One other factor to consider is if these ladies were convicted, how would you punish Diamond? Her leg is quite a setback to her doing any hard labor and these girls deserve equal punishment. I think we should give them some community service that Diamond will be able to handle. Diamond, am I right in knowing that you can quilt?"
Diamond nodded quickly but wondered how he knew that.
He then continued. "Since Quilting requires quite a bit of creativity, I was wondering if you would be willing to accept as your community service to decorate Brandy Hall for the ball that is going to be celebrated there in honor of the soldiers who fought in the battle of Bywater. You would, of course, be invited to the ball as well."
Rosie nodded excitedly and Diamond was about to when she realized that Brandy Hall was where Merry lives, and wherever Merry went, Pippin followed. Diamond felt her heart sink lower in her chest. If there was one thing she knew, then it was that she would rather have both of her legs broken than to be found out.
