Author's Note: Another party! I've decided that hobbits love to party and get down just as much as us. Right. Okay. Yup.
Disclaimer: Wow! First one I've ever written! Though I'm sure you SMART, BEAUTIFUL, people out there would assume I do not own anything but the parties I invent. J.R.R. Tolkien was a genius, I admire him greatly.
Pippin's First Love Chapter Five
Diamond leapt into her window and into her bed. She couldn't stop thinking about him. She needed her diary more than anything right now. So much for her first date, she was so happy though. She couldn't stop smiling as she tried to sleep or squealing just as she thought she was drifting off. Meanwhile in Pippin's hole, he was getting a sound yelling from Paladin.
"Who do you think you are? Staying out past curfew! I hope you don't have plans tomorrow, Peregrin Took!" he shoved Pippin into his room and slammed the door. Merry sighed and leaped down from his top bunk.
"I couldn't think of a decent excuse, sorry Pip." he apologized. Pippin was dazed from the encounter in the clearing. Merry looked into his eyes, he was silent, yet screaming out clues. Merry frowned and waved a hand in front of Pippin's face. He didn't move an inch. "Hello?" Merry asked Pippin, concerned for a moment. Pippin jerked his head towards Merry and blushed.
"Sorry." he muttered then crawled into the bed with a lantern.
"Pippin, what happened?" he questioned. Pippin waved him off and pulled Diamond's diary from his jacket pocket. He bagan to read that day's entry over and over again. Merry walked over to Pippin's bed and snatched the book from his hands.
"Peregrin Took! What happened?" he was worried now, he didn't know why. Pippin snarled at his cousin and leapt out of the bed.
"Give that back!" he screamed. Merry held it above his younger cousin's head and asked him the same question, more calmly this time. Pippin told him he'd tell Merry if he'd give him back the diary. Merry shrugged and dropped the diary into his hands. The doorhandle began to turn, Pippin hurled the book under his bed.
"Peregrin, come out." Paladin Took's voice boomed into the room. Pippin walked out of the room sullenly and looked up at his father. "You too Merry, come on." he sounded very tired.
"Now. What happened that made you so late?" Paladin tried to ask again. The cousins sat down at the kitchen table, away from Pippin's mother and sisters. Pippin just shrugged and looked out the window. Merry sighed and began to tell what he knew happened. He knew it might get him off the hook if he told the truth.
"Diamond is moving away so we might never see her again. She's moving to Long Cleeve near Noth Farthing, you see she was just coming by to tell us without attracting a spectacle. She was very sad." he added seeing Paladin's eyebrows go up on the word spectacle. "Estella, Rosie, Pippin, and me. That's all." Merry tried to sound like they all left late.
"I saw Rosie and Estella leave, then just you came in the house. Pippin? What were you doing?" his father sounded worried now. Pippin knew he had to answer now.
"Talking to her for a minute alone. That's all." He didn't meet his father's eyes as he said this though. Paladin's eyes flashed and he stood up.
"You better start telling the truth my boy or you'll be inside with yer sisters the rest of the summer!" he roared. Pippin winced and sighed, feeling defeated.
"She kissed me." he muttered. He was bright red again. All of his sisters were crouched behind the sofa in the living room, listening to the conversation in the kitchen, fighting not to giggle.
"What?" Merry asked, girls didn't just do that here in the Shire. Not just one of them anyway. He remembered when Diamond saved him from the pack of girls at the dance.
"I kissed her back." he muttered even more quietly. The erruption of laughter behind the sofa was amazing. Four girls tumbled out of the small space, all laughing and trying not to be sat on.
"So. Been out kissing the girls, have you?" Paladin roared at his blushing son. Pippin looked up at him and wondered what his answer should be. He didn't have time. His father picked him up by his collar and carried him to the sowing room. His mother was busy fixing a quilt and looked up as they entered. She saw the way Paladin was holding his son and looked up at him dangerously.
"Put him down, Paladin." she seethed. It was a repeat of the day when Nob caught Pippin looking for Diamond. He fell on all fours and gasped for air. Paldin looked at him with mild disgust.
"Not even twenty yet Pippin." he said to his son, glaring at his wife who was looking thoughtfully at the heap on the floor.
"Peregrin honey, what happened?" she asked, yanking to his feet. He glared at his father for a moment before retelling most of the story to his mother. She nodded and frowned a few times. Then Paladin stepped in to end the story.
"Yes and after he left, our son here stayed to-" Merry leaped in the room and dragged Paladin away, making a phony excuse that the girls were making a ruckus in their room and he couldn't sleep.
"To what?" Pippin's mother asked him gently. Pippin blushed again and sat down, not wanting to be knocked down by his father when he returned.
"Just a goodbye kiss Mum. No need to get worked up about." he said softly. He watched a small smile spread over her face. She shook her head.
"No such thing as a no big deal kiss to a tweenager, Peregrin. You will find that out, now off to bed with you!" she said, hoping he would avoid his father long enough to get to sleep.
"Thanks Mum! Can I go out tomorrow, I promised I'd help her pack up to leave." he looked at her hopefully. She smiled again.
"Best leave when your father's not looking and I can truthfully not tell him where you were going." she informed him. He smiled and kissed her on the cheek. He walked out of the room and into his, almost leaping in the air to whoop with happiness.
"So. You were out kissing the girls, huh Pip?" Merry asked him. Pippin grunted and sat on his bed again.
"I'm nineteen, that's pretty close to twenty, enough not to worry about, right?" he asked his cousin. Merry sighed. The rule in the house was no dating until the age of twenty.
"The point is, that wasn't a date, she's not twenty, and we've got other things to worry about than girls!" he cried. Pippin shook his head.
"You just wait until Estella kisses you." he challenged. Merry managed not to blush as he thought of this. "Besides, I have things to tell you!" he whispered. Merry leaned into the bed and sat down. Pippin looked so awake, how he managed to at that hour was unbelievable.
"It wasn't the first one today." he told Merry. Merry gawked at Pippin and smiled. "She tried not to let me feel bad about the whole water thing so she kissed me, just on the cheek. I guess we figgered we wouldn't be seeing much of each other over the next week." he said more to himself than to Merry. Merry just shook his head and looked at the dreamy look on his cousin's face.
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Diamond watched the clouds drift over the moon for an hour or so before falling into a deep slumber. She awoke to Nob's never-ending shouting for everyone to get up. Diamond groaned and picked herself out of her bed. She had slept in her clothes. She changed and walked into the regular chaos of breakfast. The grab-what-you-could-off-the-table-before-you-were-checked-into-the-wall-by-one-of-your-siblings everyday routine she loved. She walked outside to watch the sun rise above the trees. Nob put a hand on her shoulder and smiled.
"Well, we're finally gonna get started packing." he said. She sighed and pushed his hand off her shoulder.
"Do you really need a lot of my help today?" she asked, trying to sound subtle. He looked at her suspiciously and nodded.
"Yes, but not a lot. You'll probably be watching your sisters more than hauling heavy things." he informed her. Diamond sighed and looked at the rising sun happily.
"Oy! Diamond, come here and help me with this!" one of her brothers yelled. She pulled her hair clip out of her dress pocket and messily threw her hair on top of her head. She pinched the hair to her head and trotted inside. Matteus was packing her books into various wooden crates and was dropping one. "These are yours! You load them onto the pony!" he whined and put the crate down. It tipped over, spilling her books everywhere. She sighed and began to pick them up again. Sometimes she felt like a loner in her own family.
She was the only one that could read, write, and now, swim in her entire family of thirteen. She looked at the shadow of Nob tower over the doorway and talk to someone outside. The shadow moved aside, and a smaller one entered. Then another.
"Need some help?" asked a cocky voice she knew. She looked up and saw Merry and Pippin standing above her. She nodded at them and hauled the crate upright. They began to pile books inside, some where so fat you could only pick up two or three at a time. Some map books were there as well. When that crate was full Merry and Pippin carried it to the cart outside and returned to help Diamond finish. They followed her into her tidy room and over to her closet. She opened it and brought back another crate. More books littered the interior, on the floor, shelves, and some in the hanging pockets of the dresses. She collected them all and hauled that crate out to the cart as well.
"Wow, she's got a miniture library." Pippin muttered. He looked at her bed, it didn't seem to sit quite right of the floor. When Nob and Matteus carried her bed out to the cart, they gaped again. Even more of those heavy books were under her bed, covered in dust and spiders.
"Well, how else is a girl supposed to learn about the outside world?" she asked them and smiled. She carried in a large trunk and set it down in front of the pile. "Let's get cracking." she commanded. They stacked, piled, and set all the books under the bed into that trunk. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and grinned at the two.
"Now that all my physical labor is done, are you ready to encounter the other half?" she challenged.
"You better believe it. Pippin's not going to get me up at nine o' clock to stack books without a second half." Merry said in an amused voice. She shook her head and led the two unsuspecting victims to the playroom. When she opened the door, four figures hurtled out and latched themselves onto the lads and onto Diamond.
"TAG!" one hollered, they all leapt away from Merry, who was looking at his captor in a confused way.
"What?" he asked Diamond. Diamond giggled and wrenched her younger sister off him.
"Do you wanna play?" she asked Pippin. He nodded and smiled then elbowed Merry.
"How about you?" Pippin asked.
"How do you play?" he questioned nervously. Diamond smiled and glanced at the hopeful children before her.
"Someone is 'it' they run around and try to tag someone else, when they do, the person they tagged is 'it.'" she explained. Merry grinned and nodded.
"Who's gonna start?" he inquired his friends. The one who had been attached to him giggled.
"You are! I tagged you!" she yelled. Diamond edged away from Merry, then broke into a full run. The room was enormous and bare. All the play things were gone but with four little girls, tag could last for hours. Merry looked around, Pippin was also running from him, a troop of little girls giggling and chasing him. Merry took off at a full sprint, chasing Pippin and trying not to step on anyone. Seeing the way Diamond was keeping exactly halfway across the room from him at all times, Merry turned and chased her for a change, more fun, less kids. She saw him coming and dove away as he ran towards the wall, she hit the ground and rolled to her feet. She continued to run as if nothing had happened. Merry saw she was dizzy though and managed to corner her. He reached out and tagged her arm, panting and smiling.
"You're it." he rasped out. She grinned and caught her breath. She whirled around in a flurry of dress and took off after Pervinca, her oldest sister. Pervinca squealed and ran in between Pippin's legs, caught off guard, Pippin nearly tripped over the young lass. The only objecct in the room was a water basin, full of cool, clean water. Pippin felt his feet fall out from under him and just as he neared the water basin. Diamond's hand whipped out of nowhere and pulled him back from the near disaster.
"You're it." she said and turned to run. Pervinca darted in between Diamond's legs endless times to avoid Pippin, but neither ever fell. Diamond plopped onto the floor moments later to rest and call a time-out when Pervinca came screaming around a corner.
"Eep!" she cried and lunged into Diamond's arms. Pippin hopped around the corner holding his shin and laughing.
"What happened?" Diamond asked. Merry came around the corner as well, laughing very hard.
"You should've seen it!" Merry wailed with laughter. "Pippin snuck up on her and when she turned around she kicked him right in the shin!" Pippin howled with laughter and leaned against the far wall. He looked at his shin, it was developing a bruise but it was nothing to be worried about. He'd had many more scratches before. He hopped over to the circle of girls and sat down across from Diamond. He shook his head and laughed again.
"More fun than trouble's worth." he repeated the well known idiom to her. Diamond laughed as well and scowled at Pervinca.
"Why'd you kick Pippin?" she asked her younger sister. Pervinca stuck her nose up in the air and snorted.
"I thought he was a monster." she said as if it were obvious. Luaghter from the three older hobbits echoed out of the playroom to Nob's ears. He frowned and followed his ear to the playroom door. He peered inside, and watched the game restart. Pervinca was "it" and chasing Rosa, her younger sister in a tight circle. Merry, Pippin, and Diamond were standing in a row by the far wall.
"Nob! Join us!" Diamond called out. Nob smiled but shook his head, he didn't have time for children's games. He looked at Pippin closely and observed his movements. He was very playful and open but a little to open in Nob's opinion. He lightly punched Diamond on the arm to catch her attention and both made fun of her as a joke.
"Come on Diamond! You can't expect us to treat you like a girl after you raid fields and played tackle-ball, can you?" Merry asked, irritated. She snorted.
"I had to prove myself, didn't I?" she replied coolly.
"Diamond! Come on!" Lily, her youngest sister cried. "Catch me!" she ran to her sisters' aid and soon it was a simple game of "don't let Diamond catch you." But Diamond wasn't going to play this way for long, she siezed Lily and tickled her for a while before her sisters came to her rescue.
"Merry! Help us!" Pervinca begged, pulling on his sleeve. He smiled evilly at Pippin and hauled him up to his feet as well. They managed to pry Diamond off her sister long enough to pin her to the ground. The wrestling began. Pippin watched for a minute as Merry held her head under his arm and tried to press her head down to the ground. Diamond spun herself around and put her arm under Merry's chin, pinning him to the ground. She smiled sweetly and sighed.
"Battle plan Merry! What will you have learned from me if not that?" she asked him before leaping up to her feet. Merry laughed and sat up rubbing his neck.
"This isn't Farmer Maggot's field, Diamond." he reminded her. She sighed and looked out the playroom window. At this rate they would leave by Tuesday. Four days, not seven to live here in Hobbiton.
"Battle plan for life." she told him. He rolled his eyes and looked at Pippin. He was looking thoughtfully at his feet and humming.
"So, what's going on tonight?" she asked, relieved Nob had let her friends over. Pippin looked up to Diamond's face.
"Autumn Solstice. Big party over at the Goodbodies' house." he said. Merry hit his head and cried out fakely.
"Oh wow! I forgot about that! Pip, who're you taking?" Merry tried not to look at Diamond or Pippin too closely. They were already blushing, he didn't need to embarass them anymore.
"I dunno." he said quietly. "I guess it depends on who goes." he was studying his feet again. Merry struggled not to smile.
"I bet Diamond's going, aren't you?" he tried to get his point across bluntly. She grunted and stood up.
"I suppose I'll ask." she muttered and skittered down the hall. Merry turned towards Pippin, surprised to see his face angry.
"What're you doing?" he hissed.
"Just trying to get you to have a date for the Solstice party, that's all." Merry replied hotly. "Excuse me for trying to help." Pippin snorted into his arms and looked up again.
"Please, don't get my hopes up." he begged. Merry shook his head and looked away. Diamond thumped down the stairs and bounced to her space in between all her sleeping sisters.
"Nob says we're going but I'll be busy with these four." she said, glaring at her sisters. The second oldest, Mirabella, rolled over and sighed, they looked peaceful now, but later when they were well rested...
"Malva Goodbody loves children, you could dump them off with her." Merry suggested. He was not going to live another two weeks with Pippin if he was going to be all mopey. Merry reasoned that if he got them together enough before they left, then Pippin wouldn't be so sad when she was gone. Bad judge of character.
"I suppose." Diamond said softly. She was happy to go with Pippin but she could sense some reluctance. She didn't know what the dance was going to be like, she guessed it would be like the last one. A thought hit her like a rock.
"And who is young Mister Brandybuck going with?" she asked pleasantly. He frowned and blushed.
"I don't know." he muttered. She smiled and pulled them to their feet.
"Well then, we'll just have to find you one. I know who'd love to do it." she said diabolically. Then she scurried over to the nearest window. She jumped up into the window and scooted through. Merry and Pippin followed hesitently. She was heaped at the bottom of a window side garden, pulling her dress out of a rose bush. She was wearing lad's breeches under her dress so she could run a little more recklessly. She untangled her dress and brushed herself off. Pippin and Merry thudded to the ground next to her. They left in a stealthy group for Estella's house.
"Estella! Get up!" Diamond whispered into Estella's open window. Estella groaned and threw a pillow at her. "It's me, Diamond!" Diamond cried, hoping this would wake her up. Indeed. Estella jerked her head up and looked about wildly. She saw Diamond in her window and leapt to her feet to greet her. When Estella caught sight of Merry and Pippin just outside her window she ducked out of view.
"Diamond! What do think you're doing? If my mother sees two lads outside my window..." she trailed off, uncertain. Diamond smiled.
"Merry has a question he has to ask you." she replied. She pulled Merry up to the window and turned away, for what little privacy could be given. Estella watched Diamond turn around to give her silent pointers. When Merry asked her if she was going to the Autumn Sostice party she nodded and when he asked her who she was going with Diamond mouthed, "no one" for her to say. So, Merry was set up to go with Estella Bolger for the party. As he was saying goodbye, Pippin crept up behind him and gave her his own pointer. He kissed air and pointed to his cheek and Merry at the same time then clapped his hands together silently in a pleading manner. Estella frowned and blushed. Both Diamond and Pippin turned away in time to hear Merry stop talking and the window close.
"Well. Look who's red as a beet now." Diamond exclaimed, grinning at Merry. His face was very red as he examined the dirt under the window sill.
"Told you so!" Pippin crowed. Merry looked up at him and growled.
"You told her to! Didn't you?" He cried to his cousin, reddening more every second.
"Depends on what she did." Pippin said testily. Merry blushed but glared at Diamond, Pippin knew he was right then.
"Lo and behold, I do believe you just got a kiss from our very own Estella!" Diamond said. Merry grunted and began to head back towards Pippin's house when he cried out to him.
"Revenge is sweet, Meriadoc, you said it yourself." and Merry knew he was right.
Disclaimer: Wow! First one I've ever written! Though I'm sure you SMART, BEAUTIFUL, people out there would assume I do not own anything but the parties I invent. J.R.R. Tolkien was a genius, I admire him greatly.
Pippin's First Love Chapter Five
Diamond leapt into her window and into her bed. She couldn't stop thinking about him. She needed her diary more than anything right now. So much for her first date, she was so happy though. She couldn't stop smiling as she tried to sleep or squealing just as she thought she was drifting off. Meanwhile in Pippin's hole, he was getting a sound yelling from Paladin.
"Who do you think you are? Staying out past curfew! I hope you don't have plans tomorrow, Peregrin Took!" he shoved Pippin into his room and slammed the door. Merry sighed and leaped down from his top bunk.
"I couldn't think of a decent excuse, sorry Pip." he apologized. Pippin was dazed from the encounter in the clearing. Merry looked into his eyes, he was silent, yet screaming out clues. Merry frowned and waved a hand in front of Pippin's face. He didn't move an inch. "Hello?" Merry asked Pippin, concerned for a moment. Pippin jerked his head towards Merry and blushed.
"Sorry." he muttered then crawled into the bed with a lantern.
"Pippin, what happened?" he questioned. Pippin waved him off and pulled Diamond's diary from his jacket pocket. He bagan to read that day's entry over and over again. Merry walked over to Pippin's bed and snatched the book from his hands.
"Peregrin Took! What happened?" he was worried now, he didn't know why. Pippin snarled at his cousin and leapt out of the bed.
"Give that back!" he screamed. Merry held it above his younger cousin's head and asked him the same question, more calmly this time. Pippin told him he'd tell Merry if he'd give him back the diary. Merry shrugged and dropped the diary into his hands. The doorhandle began to turn, Pippin hurled the book under his bed.
"Peregrin, come out." Paladin Took's voice boomed into the room. Pippin walked out of the room sullenly and looked up at his father. "You too Merry, come on." he sounded very tired.
"Now. What happened that made you so late?" Paladin tried to ask again. The cousins sat down at the kitchen table, away from Pippin's mother and sisters. Pippin just shrugged and looked out the window. Merry sighed and began to tell what he knew happened. He knew it might get him off the hook if he told the truth.
"Diamond is moving away so we might never see her again. She's moving to Long Cleeve near Noth Farthing, you see she was just coming by to tell us without attracting a spectacle. She was very sad." he added seeing Paladin's eyebrows go up on the word spectacle. "Estella, Rosie, Pippin, and me. That's all." Merry tried to sound like they all left late.
"I saw Rosie and Estella leave, then just you came in the house. Pippin? What were you doing?" his father sounded worried now. Pippin knew he had to answer now.
"Talking to her for a minute alone. That's all." He didn't meet his father's eyes as he said this though. Paladin's eyes flashed and he stood up.
"You better start telling the truth my boy or you'll be inside with yer sisters the rest of the summer!" he roared. Pippin winced and sighed, feeling defeated.
"She kissed me." he muttered. He was bright red again. All of his sisters were crouched behind the sofa in the living room, listening to the conversation in the kitchen, fighting not to giggle.
"What?" Merry asked, girls didn't just do that here in the Shire. Not just one of them anyway. He remembered when Diamond saved him from the pack of girls at the dance.
"I kissed her back." he muttered even more quietly. The erruption of laughter behind the sofa was amazing. Four girls tumbled out of the small space, all laughing and trying not to be sat on.
"So. Been out kissing the girls, have you?" Paladin roared at his blushing son. Pippin looked up at him and wondered what his answer should be. He didn't have time. His father picked him up by his collar and carried him to the sowing room. His mother was busy fixing a quilt and looked up as they entered. She saw the way Paladin was holding his son and looked up at him dangerously.
"Put him down, Paladin." she seethed. It was a repeat of the day when Nob caught Pippin looking for Diamond. He fell on all fours and gasped for air. Paldin looked at him with mild disgust.
"Not even twenty yet Pippin." he said to his son, glaring at his wife who was looking thoughtfully at the heap on the floor.
"Peregrin honey, what happened?" she asked, yanking to his feet. He glared at his father for a moment before retelling most of the story to his mother. She nodded and frowned a few times. Then Paladin stepped in to end the story.
"Yes and after he left, our son here stayed to-" Merry leaped in the room and dragged Paladin away, making a phony excuse that the girls were making a ruckus in their room and he couldn't sleep.
"To what?" Pippin's mother asked him gently. Pippin blushed again and sat down, not wanting to be knocked down by his father when he returned.
"Just a goodbye kiss Mum. No need to get worked up about." he said softly. He watched a small smile spread over her face. She shook her head.
"No such thing as a no big deal kiss to a tweenager, Peregrin. You will find that out, now off to bed with you!" she said, hoping he would avoid his father long enough to get to sleep.
"Thanks Mum! Can I go out tomorrow, I promised I'd help her pack up to leave." he looked at her hopefully. She smiled again.
"Best leave when your father's not looking and I can truthfully not tell him where you were going." she informed him. He smiled and kissed her on the cheek. He walked out of the room and into his, almost leaping in the air to whoop with happiness.
"So. You were out kissing the girls, huh Pip?" Merry asked him. Pippin grunted and sat on his bed again.
"I'm nineteen, that's pretty close to twenty, enough not to worry about, right?" he asked his cousin. Merry sighed. The rule in the house was no dating until the age of twenty.
"The point is, that wasn't a date, she's not twenty, and we've got other things to worry about than girls!" he cried. Pippin shook his head.
"You just wait until Estella kisses you." he challenged. Merry managed not to blush as he thought of this. "Besides, I have things to tell you!" he whispered. Merry leaned into the bed and sat down. Pippin looked so awake, how he managed to at that hour was unbelievable.
"It wasn't the first one today." he told Merry. Merry gawked at Pippin and smiled. "She tried not to let me feel bad about the whole water thing so she kissed me, just on the cheek. I guess we figgered we wouldn't be seeing much of each other over the next week." he said more to himself than to Merry. Merry just shook his head and looked at the dreamy look on his cousin's face.
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Diamond watched the clouds drift over the moon for an hour or so before falling into a deep slumber. She awoke to Nob's never-ending shouting for everyone to get up. Diamond groaned and picked herself out of her bed. She had slept in her clothes. She changed and walked into the regular chaos of breakfast. The grab-what-you-could-off-the-table-before-you-were-checked-into-the-wall-by-one-of-your-siblings everyday routine she loved. She walked outside to watch the sun rise above the trees. Nob put a hand on her shoulder and smiled.
"Well, we're finally gonna get started packing." he said. She sighed and pushed his hand off her shoulder.
"Do you really need a lot of my help today?" she asked, trying to sound subtle. He looked at her suspiciously and nodded.
"Yes, but not a lot. You'll probably be watching your sisters more than hauling heavy things." he informed her. Diamond sighed and looked at the rising sun happily.
"Oy! Diamond, come here and help me with this!" one of her brothers yelled. She pulled her hair clip out of her dress pocket and messily threw her hair on top of her head. She pinched the hair to her head and trotted inside. Matteus was packing her books into various wooden crates and was dropping one. "These are yours! You load them onto the pony!" he whined and put the crate down. It tipped over, spilling her books everywhere. She sighed and began to pick them up again. Sometimes she felt like a loner in her own family.
She was the only one that could read, write, and now, swim in her entire family of thirteen. She looked at the shadow of Nob tower over the doorway and talk to someone outside. The shadow moved aside, and a smaller one entered. Then another.
"Need some help?" asked a cocky voice she knew. She looked up and saw Merry and Pippin standing above her. She nodded at them and hauled the crate upright. They began to pile books inside, some where so fat you could only pick up two or three at a time. Some map books were there as well. When that crate was full Merry and Pippin carried it to the cart outside and returned to help Diamond finish. They followed her into her tidy room and over to her closet. She opened it and brought back another crate. More books littered the interior, on the floor, shelves, and some in the hanging pockets of the dresses. She collected them all and hauled that crate out to the cart as well.
"Wow, she's got a miniture library." Pippin muttered. He looked at her bed, it didn't seem to sit quite right of the floor. When Nob and Matteus carried her bed out to the cart, they gaped again. Even more of those heavy books were under her bed, covered in dust and spiders.
"Well, how else is a girl supposed to learn about the outside world?" she asked them and smiled. She carried in a large trunk and set it down in front of the pile. "Let's get cracking." she commanded. They stacked, piled, and set all the books under the bed into that trunk. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and grinned at the two.
"Now that all my physical labor is done, are you ready to encounter the other half?" she challenged.
"You better believe it. Pippin's not going to get me up at nine o' clock to stack books without a second half." Merry said in an amused voice. She shook her head and led the two unsuspecting victims to the playroom. When she opened the door, four figures hurtled out and latched themselves onto the lads and onto Diamond.
"TAG!" one hollered, they all leapt away from Merry, who was looking at his captor in a confused way.
"What?" he asked Diamond. Diamond giggled and wrenched her younger sister off him.
"Do you wanna play?" she asked Pippin. He nodded and smiled then elbowed Merry.
"How about you?" Pippin asked.
"How do you play?" he questioned nervously. Diamond smiled and glanced at the hopeful children before her.
"Someone is 'it' they run around and try to tag someone else, when they do, the person they tagged is 'it.'" she explained. Merry grinned and nodded.
"Who's gonna start?" he inquired his friends. The one who had been attached to him giggled.
"You are! I tagged you!" she yelled. Diamond edged away from Merry, then broke into a full run. The room was enormous and bare. All the play things were gone but with four little girls, tag could last for hours. Merry looked around, Pippin was also running from him, a troop of little girls giggling and chasing him. Merry took off at a full sprint, chasing Pippin and trying not to step on anyone. Seeing the way Diamond was keeping exactly halfway across the room from him at all times, Merry turned and chased her for a change, more fun, less kids. She saw him coming and dove away as he ran towards the wall, she hit the ground and rolled to her feet. She continued to run as if nothing had happened. Merry saw she was dizzy though and managed to corner her. He reached out and tagged her arm, panting and smiling.
"You're it." he rasped out. She grinned and caught her breath. She whirled around in a flurry of dress and took off after Pervinca, her oldest sister. Pervinca squealed and ran in between Pippin's legs, caught off guard, Pippin nearly tripped over the young lass. The only objecct in the room was a water basin, full of cool, clean water. Pippin felt his feet fall out from under him and just as he neared the water basin. Diamond's hand whipped out of nowhere and pulled him back from the near disaster.
"You're it." she said and turned to run. Pervinca darted in between Diamond's legs endless times to avoid Pippin, but neither ever fell. Diamond plopped onto the floor moments later to rest and call a time-out when Pervinca came screaming around a corner.
"Eep!" she cried and lunged into Diamond's arms. Pippin hopped around the corner holding his shin and laughing.
"What happened?" Diamond asked. Merry came around the corner as well, laughing very hard.
"You should've seen it!" Merry wailed with laughter. "Pippin snuck up on her and when she turned around she kicked him right in the shin!" Pippin howled with laughter and leaned against the far wall. He looked at his shin, it was developing a bruise but it was nothing to be worried about. He'd had many more scratches before. He hopped over to the circle of girls and sat down across from Diamond. He shook his head and laughed again.
"More fun than trouble's worth." he repeated the well known idiom to her. Diamond laughed as well and scowled at Pervinca.
"Why'd you kick Pippin?" she asked her younger sister. Pervinca stuck her nose up in the air and snorted.
"I thought he was a monster." she said as if it were obvious. Luaghter from the three older hobbits echoed out of the playroom to Nob's ears. He frowned and followed his ear to the playroom door. He peered inside, and watched the game restart. Pervinca was "it" and chasing Rosa, her younger sister in a tight circle. Merry, Pippin, and Diamond were standing in a row by the far wall.
"Nob! Join us!" Diamond called out. Nob smiled but shook his head, he didn't have time for children's games. He looked at Pippin closely and observed his movements. He was very playful and open but a little to open in Nob's opinion. He lightly punched Diamond on the arm to catch her attention and both made fun of her as a joke.
"Come on Diamond! You can't expect us to treat you like a girl after you raid fields and played tackle-ball, can you?" Merry asked, irritated. She snorted.
"I had to prove myself, didn't I?" she replied coolly.
"Diamond! Come on!" Lily, her youngest sister cried. "Catch me!" she ran to her sisters' aid and soon it was a simple game of "don't let Diamond catch you." But Diamond wasn't going to play this way for long, she siezed Lily and tickled her for a while before her sisters came to her rescue.
"Merry! Help us!" Pervinca begged, pulling on his sleeve. He smiled evilly at Pippin and hauled him up to his feet as well. They managed to pry Diamond off her sister long enough to pin her to the ground. The wrestling began. Pippin watched for a minute as Merry held her head under his arm and tried to press her head down to the ground. Diamond spun herself around and put her arm under Merry's chin, pinning him to the ground. She smiled sweetly and sighed.
"Battle plan Merry! What will you have learned from me if not that?" she asked him before leaping up to her feet. Merry laughed and sat up rubbing his neck.
"This isn't Farmer Maggot's field, Diamond." he reminded her. She sighed and looked out the playroom window. At this rate they would leave by Tuesday. Four days, not seven to live here in Hobbiton.
"Battle plan for life." she told him. He rolled his eyes and looked at Pippin. He was looking thoughtfully at his feet and humming.
"So, what's going on tonight?" she asked, relieved Nob had let her friends over. Pippin looked up to Diamond's face.
"Autumn Solstice. Big party over at the Goodbodies' house." he said. Merry hit his head and cried out fakely.
"Oh wow! I forgot about that! Pip, who're you taking?" Merry tried not to look at Diamond or Pippin too closely. They were already blushing, he didn't need to embarass them anymore.
"I dunno." he said quietly. "I guess it depends on who goes." he was studying his feet again. Merry struggled not to smile.
"I bet Diamond's going, aren't you?" he tried to get his point across bluntly. She grunted and stood up.
"I suppose I'll ask." she muttered and skittered down the hall. Merry turned towards Pippin, surprised to see his face angry.
"What're you doing?" he hissed.
"Just trying to get you to have a date for the Solstice party, that's all." Merry replied hotly. "Excuse me for trying to help." Pippin snorted into his arms and looked up again.
"Please, don't get my hopes up." he begged. Merry shook his head and looked away. Diamond thumped down the stairs and bounced to her space in between all her sleeping sisters.
"Nob says we're going but I'll be busy with these four." she said, glaring at her sisters. The second oldest, Mirabella, rolled over and sighed, they looked peaceful now, but later when they were well rested...
"Malva Goodbody loves children, you could dump them off with her." Merry suggested. He was not going to live another two weeks with Pippin if he was going to be all mopey. Merry reasoned that if he got them together enough before they left, then Pippin wouldn't be so sad when she was gone. Bad judge of character.
"I suppose." Diamond said softly. She was happy to go with Pippin but she could sense some reluctance. She didn't know what the dance was going to be like, she guessed it would be like the last one. A thought hit her like a rock.
"And who is young Mister Brandybuck going with?" she asked pleasantly. He frowned and blushed.
"I don't know." he muttered. She smiled and pulled them to their feet.
"Well then, we'll just have to find you one. I know who'd love to do it." she said diabolically. Then she scurried over to the nearest window. She jumped up into the window and scooted through. Merry and Pippin followed hesitently. She was heaped at the bottom of a window side garden, pulling her dress out of a rose bush. She was wearing lad's breeches under her dress so she could run a little more recklessly. She untangled her dress and brushed herself off. Pippin and Merry thudded to the ground next to her. They left in a stealthy group for Estella's house.
"Estella! Get up!" Diamond whispered into Estella's open window. Estella groaned and threw a pillow at her. "It's me, Diamond!" Diamond cried, hoping this would wake her up. Indeed. Estella jerked her head up and looked about wildly. She saw Diamond in her window and leapt to her feet to greet her. When Estella caught sight of Merry and Pippin just outside her window she ducked out of view.
"Diamond! What do think you're doing? If my mother sees two lads outside my window..." she trailed off, uncertain. Diamond smiled.
"Merry has a question he has to ask you." she replied. She pulled Merry up to the window and turned away, for what little privacy could be given. Estella watched Diamond turn around to give her silent pointers. When Merry asked her if she was going to the Autumn Sostice party she nodded and when he asked her who she was going with Diamond mouthed, "no one" for her to say. So, Merry was set up to go with Estella Bolger for the party. As he was saying goodbye, Pippin crept up behind him and gave her his own pointer. He kissed air and pointed to his cheek and Merry at the same time then clapped his hands together silently in a pleading manner. Estella frowned and blushed. Both Diamond and Pippin turned away in time to hear Merry stop talking and the window close.
"Well. Look who's red as a beet now." Diamond exclaimed, grinning at Merry. His face was very red as he examined the dirt under the window sill.
"Told you so!" Pippin crowed. Merry looked up at him and growled.
"You told her to! Didn't you?" He cried to his cousin, reddening more every second.
"Depends on what she did." Pippin said testily. Merry blushed but glared at Diamond, Pippin knew he was right then.
"Lo and behold, I do believe you just got a kiss from our very own Estella!" Diamond said. Merry grunted and began to head back towards Pippin's house when he cried out to him.
"Revenge is sweet, Meriadoc, you said it yourself." and Merry knew he was right.
