Chapter 4 - Accidentally On Purpose

Sam sat in the front seat next to Frodo and hummed a song as Frodo drove the little cart through Hobbiton; Merry sat in the back in his own thoughts. He had simmered down just a bit, but was still determined to prove to Pippin that he wasn't the "key ingredient" for trouble. As the cart pulled up to Bagshot Row, Merry jumped out the back and kept looking about and behind him--as if he were looking for.... What are you doing? Pippin isn't here!, he reminded himself. The trio entered Bag End, and shut the door behind them.

Frodo dropped his pack in the dining room and went to see about preparing elevenses. "Sam, would you put the water on for tea, please?" Frodo was gathering ingredients to make biscuits.

"Right away, Mr. Frodo!" Sam busied himself with fetching water out at the well.

"And Merry, would you please go to the cellar and get about six, no...eight nice round potatoes?" Frodo asked.

Merry stirred out of his thoughts, "How many will we need?" His cousin looked at him strangely, "Oh, right--eight." Merry answered his own question, "Be right back."

Merry went to the cellar and found the potatoes exactly where Frodo said they were. He took them back to the kitchen and started to peel and cut them into little pieces. Then Merry remembered that it was always Pippin's job to peel and cut the potatoes whenever he visited Bag End; and he always cut them into little pieces. He said he learned it from his mother, but truthfully, he did it on his own so that he could sneak a few bits without his mother noticing! Pippin liked to help cook--almost as much as he liked to eat--he always came away with extra morsels in his pockets. Then, without paying attention to the task at hand, Merry missed the potato and cut his own finger. "Ow!!" He dropped the knife and clutched his hand.

Frodo rushed over to Merry, "Let me see it!" Merry winced as he uncovered his finger and saw the blood run to the surface and drip to the floor. Sam entered the kitchen carrying two buckets of water. "Sam! Throw me a damp towel over here--quickly!"

Sam found a towel lying on the table, dipped it in one of the buckets and handed it to Frodo. Frodo examined the cut in Merry's finger as he wiped it clean with the towel. "You're lucky; it doesn't look too deep, but it will need to be bandaged right away." Frodo held the towel to Merry's finger, "Where has your mind been away to, Merry?" He sighed, "Is your mind on Pippin?"

"No!" Merry was lying and Frodo knew it. Frodo saw the troubled look on Merry's face, "Come along. Let's bandage up your hand."

Merry sat on a stool in the washroom holding his finger wrapped in the towel and watched Frodo rip clean linen into bandage strips. It took a while for the bleeding to stop long enough for Frodo to begin to bandage Merry's finger. Frodo took the towel from Merry's hand and held out the index finger to start the wrapping process. "So, Merry, what do you think Pippin is up to at this moment?"

"How should I know? And why should I care?" Merry watched Frodo carefully wind the bandages around his finger, then around his hand. "He apparently feels he can do better without me--or my help."

Still wrapping Merry's hand, "I don't know about that, Mer. I think it's probably a matter of his pride being hurt", Frodo said as he was tying a knot with the linen ends.

"Pride?" Merry replied, "Didn't you hear him, Frodo? Pippin pretty much told the ferry master to stop the ferry and then proceeded to push me off into the water!"

"And you pretty much told him he was an accident waiting to meet up with disaster!" Frodo was finished with Merry's hand, and now tried to "bandage" his heart. Frodo leaned against the wash tub and surveyed his friend.

"Well, he is!"

"Of course he is, Merry! He's a twelve-year-old hobbit-boy!" Frodo smiled, "It's a natural occurrence that happens to all hobbit-children--and teens, and tweens!" Frodo laughed and indicated to Merry's hand, "I mean, look at you; and you did that all by yourself! Pippin was nowhere to be found!"

Merry let out a long breath and thought about Frodo's words. "Perhaps you're right", he said. "I don't know, Frodo...sometimes I forget he's only twelve; we like to do the same things--and he's fun to jest with!" Then he grew serious, "Do you think he's still angry with me?"

Frodo shrugged, "Knowing Pippin? No. He loves you Merry! And I have a feeling in my heart that the two of you were meant to be friends--as you and I have been. And as close as he is to his father, he needs you, Merry--he needs a good friend, and for all that you've been through in your own life, you need a good friend as well."

Merry nodded in understanding. Then following his cousin into the kitchen, he held up his newly bandaged hand and grinned at his own "disaster". "How shall I blame this one on him?"