~VI~ Nicely lengthy review, I devoured every bite. I write as obsessively as I used to read; since February I have turned out between one and three chapters a day, and if I don't I get twitchy. You are writing a book????? You are a real-live author???? O my. I am overwhelmed. Wish I could do such a thing, but I seem to be stuck in Middle-earth and that belongs to somebody else. Glad you haven't given up on my other stories, you'll find they all hang pretty much together (except the ones labeled AU, but they still try to be true to the characters as I see them)

Xena and Dana: I put this note in the wrong story, thus confusing myriad readers (okay, maybe a bare half dozen, whew, I feel better)... so here it is, where it belongs... Texas Tea? Really? Ah, well, that falls upon the ear better than the crazy- mixed up lyrics in my brain. Oil, that is. Black Gold. Movie Stars. (no no no no no, that cannot be right! Mixing two verses up! Imagining movie stars covered with bubbling crude, now. Well, from the tone of some of the movies that are out these days, it might not be so far from the truth...)

LadyJea: Would you believe, I dig this stuff up out of my subconscious? Shhhh, don't tell the men in their nice white coats or they'll be coming to take me away, haha. (anybody old enough to recognize *that* quote?) And "quash" is a lovely word. I don't know just where it popped out from, but it fit nicely into the conversation. Must be one of those Scrabble (TM) words Dh is always springing on me (ok, I get 72 points for that word... what? you've got xdfhggs? Hah. Good luck making a word from that!)

Jo: Nice to see you here! Thanks for reviewing!

Dana: Stay in the bed! (Pippin said reflectively, "And why do they call it a cold when you feel so miserably hot?" "None of your nonsense, now, lad,' Regi said sternly. 'Stay in the bed!' --dialogue from upcoming chapter in one of these stories, I forget which.)

To all... Auntie Regi cracks me up, too. I want to write a story where Pippin is nagging at HIM to stay in the bed!

***

Chapter 5. A Long-Awaited Proposal

'What are you thinking about, my love?' Diamond said, bending to plant a kiss as she picked up Pippin's breakfast tray.

'About how easy it is to neglect one's duties,' he said, looking up with a smile.

'Anyone in particular?' Diamond asked.

'Yes, my steward.'

Regi looked up. 'What have I done now?' he said.

'It's what you haven't done,' the Thain chided him. 'I wanted that report on crop readiness yesterday. You've been spending all your time watching those engineers again, haven't you?'

'Well, you wanted a report on how they were working with that black powder they brought back from Buckland,' Regi said.

'And how long does it take to talk to them and write out what they tell you?' Pippin asked.

'I needed to watch a bit, get a better idea of what they were talking about,' the steward defended himself.

Pippin smiled. He'd been fascinated with the black powder, himself, when he'd been steward of Buckland and the King had sent Merry information on the stuff. Gandalf had given the King the secret of the powder before passing over the Sea, that fireworks should not disappear from Middle-earth with him. The King had thought that the peaceable hobbits could be trusted with the secret, and that the stuff might come in handy in their excavations. Though dwarves were diggers as well as hobbits, they were a shade too aggressive to be given the powder, the King had decided, and they might scorn its use in any event, considering the care they took plying their hammers in the crystal caves.

Funny how the stuff burned with a quick hot flame in the open air, but cage it, put it in a box, and it exploded violently. Doderic had experimented, and Pippin had stolen time from his duties as steward to watch as often as he could. It was dangerous stuff, but then so many useful things were dangerous. Take a knife, for example. You could carve a toy for a wee hobbit, or cut your meat, or stick yourself seriously enough to need a healer. And fire could keep you warm, or cook your food, or light your pipe, or burn the life out of you were you to treat it casually.

'So has anyone blown himself to pieces yet?' the Thain enquired.

'You know Aldebrand is more careful than that. And Everard seems to have a real gift.'

'With his explosive temper, he ought to feel right at home with the stuff,' Pippin answered. 'Now let's get to work. Time is wasting, and teatime will be here before you know it.' He looked up at Diamond. 'What are we having for tea this day?' he asked.

'It's such a lovely day, I thought we'd take Faramir on a picnic,' she answered.

'Lovely,' he said. 'We can go to the little pool and teach the lad to swim.'

'Swim!' Reginard said, alarmed.

'O aye,' the Thain said, eyeing his steward with amusement. 'Every Brandybuck knows how to swim, you know. Should we let them get ahead of the Tooks?' He looked back down at the stack of papers before him. 'Let's get to business, you know I won't work past teatime.'

'Yes, Sir,' Regi answered. That was one custom of old Thain Paladin's that his son had chosen to continue. Reginard rather enjoyed having the afternoons free, himself. There was a certain lass in Tuckborough whose family he'd been taking tea with, now, and he'd beaten her father at Kings several times in the past week. He figured he'd soften him up a bit more, let him win a few games, then ask him for his daughter's hand. Autumn, when the leaves turned to gold and scarlet flame, was a fine time for a wedding...

***

'Swim!' Rosamunda said, alarmed.

'Swim!' Hilly shouted in excitement, along with two brothers slightly older than himself. 'O what fun! Can we learn too?'

'*May* we learn, too,' Rosa said absently.

'May we learn, too?' Hilly demanded.

'*May we *please* learn, too,' Rosa corrected.

'May we please learn, too?' Hilly persisted.

'No!' his sister answered. 'I cannot imagine such a thing.'

' 'Tis a shallow pool,' Regi put in, 'and the Thain knows how to swim already, so young Faramir's in no danger, it seems.'

'It might be a good idea at that,' Mardibold mused, to be answered by a horrified look from his daughter. 'It'd be a good skill to have, should one fall into a brimming ditch during the wet months.'

'If people stayed properly at home during the wet months, there'd be no need to learn such a thing,' Rosa said hotly, then coloured and dropped her eyes. Regi smiled. It was good to know the lass had a temper, ahead of time. He put down his teacup. 'Mardi, would you care to share a pipe?' he said.

'Indeed,' came the answer. 'A pipe would go well after that fine meal.'

'Rosa's a good cook, indeed, though I understand her sister Lilianora made the pudding,' Regi said.

'That she did,' Rosa affirmed, smiling at her younger sister. 'And a fine job she made of it, too. We ate it all up!'

Regi and Mardi got up from the table and walked out to the back garden, filling their pipes, lighting them, smoking in silence for a bit while the sounds of singing, laughter, and washing up drifted through the kitchen windows.

At last, Regi spoke. 'I hear Rosa's a fine helper to you.'

'Aye,' her father said, then sucked on his pipe to get a good draught going. 'She not only runs the house, but she's becoming a fine healer as well.'

'Makes it hard to ask,' Regi said. Mardi waited in silence, knowing what was coming. '...but I can wait no longer, Mardibold. You've raised a fine daughter,' he said. 'I'd like to ask for her hand, if you can spare her.'

'No father can spare his daughter,' Mardi answered quietly. 'But we must make do.' He sighed. 'Kittens grow up, and so do daughters.' He smiled. 'She's been in training all her life to become a wife, learning to keep a home at her mother's knee and cuddling the babes when she was scarcely more than a babe herself.'

'And a healer in the bargain,' Regi said.

The father gave him a sharp glance. 'You won't keep her in the kitchen, then?' he asked.

Regi looked surprised. 'Why would I do that?' he said.

Mardibold sucked on his pipe, then took it out and said, 'Some would, is all.'

'She would have to come live in the Smials,' Regi went on.

Mardi nodded. 'Aye, I know. Been avoiding the Smials all my life, the Tooks who live there seem to think themselves higher than those who choose to live elsewhere, but now it looks as if it'll be hard to avoid.'

'Ah, well,' Regi said. 'Pippin and Diamond have shown them a thing or two. They're not quite as cocksure as they used to be.'

Mardibold snorted. 'Could have fooled me,' he said. 'They could still use being taken down a peg or two.'

'O always,' Regi said. 'But Pippin will keep chipping away. He'll wear them down. He's nothing if not persistent.'