80.
Bread and Breakfast
Pippin wakened to the crackle of a bright fire on the hearth and a delicious
smell in the air. He heard Faramir talking quietly, then a chuckle from...
Legolas? He opened his eyes to see Faramir and Legolas at the little table, Faramir
in one of the chairs, and Legolas upon the floor to be at proper table height.
Had the table a voice, it would have groaned for the weight of food piled upon
it, and the merry twain were making a hearty meal.
Seeing the Thain awake, Legolas turned slightly from the table to bow in his
direction. 'Good morning!' he said cheerily. 'Your son kindly invited me to
join him at breakfast, and I told him I would show him something of the wood
elves' fare, when we were talking over Bilbo's tales last evening. You are in
good time; we have not yet eaten all.'
'That's a relief,' Pippin said, throwing back the covers. He took the empty
chair, and Legolas soon loaded a plate and placed it before him. The delicious
smell was coming from the steaming bread; he took a bite, and said, 'I remember
this! It is what Gildor served us at the beginning of our journey.' ...surpassing
the savour of a fair white loaf to one who is starving.
'Not quite what they bake in the ovens in my father's halls,' Legolas laughed,
'but it will serve.' He took another bite from his own plateful of food, then
said, 'Faramir was just telling me the story of the elf and the dwarf.'
'Which one?' Pippin asked.
'There are more than one?' Legolas said, amused.
Pippin threw back his head and laughed. Faramir said, 'He could tell a tale a
night for a year and not be half done.'
Legolas shook his head, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. 'I didn't
realise we had afforded so much... amusement.'
'Years of pleasure for many a hobbit,' Pippin said. 'You're famous throughout
the Shire.'
'I had thought of accompanying you to Tookland,' the elf said thoughtfully.
'Now I wonder if it is a wise idea.'
'We don't have to tell them that you are the elf,' Pippin said.
'I had thought the tale was very specific as to names,' Legolas pointed out.
'We can just say it was "some other Legolas",' Pippin said,
off-handedly.
'And would the hobbits believe that?'
'No,' Pippin answered, 'but it might give you the illusion of anonymity.'
Legolas laughed at that, and added more food to Pippin's plate. 'Eat up, you
are falling behind.'
'When are we going back?' Faramir asked his father.
'Yuletide starts tomorrow. I doubt they will even begin offloading the cargo
until after Yule. The messengers will be going out today to tell the Shirefolk
and Breefolk to send wagons to Bucklebury Ferry landing, and to the Bridge.
We'll be offloading at both ferry landings; the carpenters have already started
working to build upon the landings so that ships may offload there. What gets
taken off on the Buckland side will be carted throughout Buckland and then
northwards, through the North Gate and then eastward towards Bree and westwards
to Bywater, and the northern part of Westfarthing, and the Northfarthing.'
'And that which is unloaded on the western side will go along the Stock Road to
Eastfarthing, Tookland, Southfarthing, and the southern parts of Westfarthing,
I take it,' Faramir said.
'And up the road from Stock to the East Road, to join the shipments crossing
the Bridge,' Pippin said. 'We'll just spread the food as far as it'll go.'
'I think you'll find it will go far,' Legolas said. 'Not only will the measure
be full, but heaped up and running over. Ithilien sent food as well as Gondor.
Every one of those ships is filled with food until no more could be added
without foundering the ship.'
He saw Pippin's smile fade slightly, but then the Thain nodded and said, 'Our
King doesn't do things by halves, does he?'
'No, I find that he doesn't,' Legolas answered quietly. 'The Shire will have
food enough to last until harvest time, and beyond, if needed, and if for any
reason next year's harvest should fail, there is plenty more in the storehouses
of Gondor.'
'Though we should have to sell ourselves into slavery to pay for it. I hope
there is enough gold in the Shire to pay for those ships full of food out there
on the River.'
'Ah, well, you'll just have to mine more gold, I suppose,' Legolas said, but
the Thain did not smile, and pushed his plate away. Legolas took this
opportunity to load more food upon the plate. 'Do not let this food go to
waste,' he said. 'I was up betimes baking that bread, I will have you know, and
I do not intend to eat it all by myself.'
'I will help you,' Faramir said, his mouth full of said bread.
'We would not want your sacrifice to be for naught,' Pippin said with a wry
smile, and accepted his loaded plate back with a sigh, deigning to begin to eat
once more.
'So when are we going back?' Faramir asked again.
'As I was saying, Yuletide begins tomorrow. If we leave the day after, make an
easy two-day journey with a night's rest at the Crowing Cockerel, we can arrive
at the Smials by tea-time the day before Year's End,' Pippin said.
'I've heard of the Crowing Cockerel,' Legolas said. 'Someone mentioned the best
beer on the road between Stock and Tuckborough.'
'O aye,' Pippin said, 'and they ought to have some beer left, I think. One of
the few crops that didn't fail completely was the hops.' He shook his head. 'At
least we do not have to wait for a new brewing, from the supplies on the ships,
to age and mellow.'
'And what, after Yule?' Legolas said, to distract him momentarily from the
thought of the ships and the debts they represented.
'I have been away so much since the babe was born; I rather think Diamond would
like me to stay awhile,' Pippin said, but then came back to the topic of the
ships. 'When Merry sends word that the offloading of the ships is nearly done,
and the fleet is ready to depart, I will return to Buckland with Tookland's
gold.'
He sighed, then brightened. 'You are welcome to stay at the Smials for as long
as you wish, Legolas, or wander about the Shire, or return to Buckland. Once
the Tooks get used to you, I don't think you need to worry about being shot
full of arrows should you travel without escort on our roads and paths.'
'That's reassuring,' Legolas said, 'I think.'
'They still haven't got over the ruffians, you know,' Pippin said. 'Strider
came close to losing a score of his guardsmen, had not one of my cousins decided
to ask questions before shooting. Anybody over hobbit-height is automatically
suspect. Dwarves may pass through with impunity, they're short enough. Fair
Folk... they're tall, and might be mistaken for Men at first glance, but they
have an air about them, when they choose to be seen at all, and so we have not
shot any by accident... at least, not yet.'
'What if I travel upon my knees?' Legolas asked.
Pippin snorted. 'Well, that would make you shorter, in truth, but might make
for slow travel.'
'Indeed.' Legolas nodded solemnly. 'I will be safe enough, I suppose,
travelling with you and Faramir?'
Pippin made a great show of considering before nodding. 'I think so,' he said.
'As long as you stay close to us, you ought to be out of harm's way.' He paused.
'Would Gimli be coming as well?'
'The Master has invited him to play the part of Father Yule at the Hall,'
Legolas smiled. 'I think he will spend Yuletide here in Buckland, though he
wishes to come to visit Tookland after Yule.'
'He would receive a warm welcome from the Tooks,' Pippin said. 'We sent some
engineers to study with the dwarves of the Lonely Mountain, and they brought
back much valuable knowledge with them.' He scratched his chin. 'Come to think
of it, you could probably travel safely about Tookland were Gimli by your side.
The people would not shoot at you quickly were you walking with a dwarf.'
'I am sure Gimli will be gratified to hear that,' Legolas answered.
There was a knock on the door and a deferential servant stuck his head in at
Pippin's hail.
'Your bath is ready for you, Sir,' he said, withdrew his head, and closed the
door again.
'My bath?' Pippin said, surprised.
'Ah, yes, when we saw you stir I let the staff know that they could prepare
your bath,' Legolas said. 'It's a bit chilly this morning, even with the fire,
don't you think? A hot bath will do wonders to warm you up.'
Pippin stared at him, speechless.
'I imagine you took quite a chill on the ride here from Hobbiton,' the elf
continued. 'Would you not find "water hot steaming in a tub"
preferable to "water cold streaming from above"?'
'Legolas,' Pippin said, eyeing him with concern, 'I do believe we have
corrupted you.'
'I have come to the conclusion that we are long-lost relatives,' Legolas
answered. He laughed at the hobbit's look of astonishment. 'Think on it,' he
continued. 'Hobbits and elves must be cousins of a sort: we love good food,
good wine, song, dance, making merry. And we can be warriors fierce and
fearsome when pressed.' He took another bite from his plateful, closing his
eyes to savour the mouthful.
'You go ahead and have the first bath, Da,' Faramir put in. 'I've not quite
finished telling Legolas the tale of the elf and the dwarf, yet.'
