A/N: Estella has had a crush on Merry most all of her life, but how will
she ever get him to notice her..Poor Merry is getting very ill, but his
stubborn nature will not allow it.
Chapter 2
An eye for Merry
"I saw you talking to that Merry Brandybuck, Estell." Fredegar Bolger told her. "Don't be telling me you still have an eye for him again."
"Don't be silly, Freddy. I have long pass my crush on Merry years ago, when I was only a child." Estella told him as she looked towards the ground, not wanting her brother to detect her small white lie.
"You cannot lie to me, Estell. I know you all too well." Fredegar said. "You have been brooding over him all these years. I see your ears perk up whenever someone even mentions his name. I bet you know more about Merry than anyone in the Shire could possibly know of him."
"You're being ridiculous; that was years ago." Estella began to get impatient at her brothers prodding questioning. How could she ever admit her love for Merry, when he did not even know she was alive? Yes, she had loved him all of her life, as far back as she could remember. The first time she saw him, the first time he pulled her braids, all those memories came flooding back in her mind. She has practically thrown her arms around his ankles, but he still paid her no attention what so ever. Her heart has been broken so many times by Merry as he would just walk pass her without even one glance her way. She remembered how she had cried the year he was away and all that time believing him lying dead in the Old Forest or some distant land. Then, how her heart soared, when she saw him riding his horse gathering all the hobbits to fight the ruffians. He was her hero and will always be.
"You may spin that story to someone else, but you'll never be getting me to believe that for a minute." Fredegar told her. "And besides, Merry is the kind of a hobbit that would fall for someone like Diamond and not yourself."
Estella's tears began mounting in the back of her eyes as she fought to keep them under control.
"Estella, I could help you met some very nice hobbits that would make a fine husband for you." Fredegar offered.
"See here, Freddy! I will not be having you picking my husband or running my life!" Estella yelled at her brother, "If I do marry, I want it to be for the hobbit that I love."
"Now stop upsetting your sister with your teasing, Fred." Old man Bolger told his son, "She is still young enough and shouldn't be running off marrying no one."
"Da, she is well pass her coming of age. If she does not find a husband soon, she'll be a spinster for sure." Fredegar told him.
Estella turned and ran from the room as the tears came pouring down her face. She saw an open door and ran into the room and shut it behind her. She leaned up against the door placing her hands over her eyes as she began crying in earnest. Diamond turned as she heard the door to her bedchambers being closed and hearing someone crying. When she came out from her closet, it was Estella. She placed her shawl onto the bed and wrapped her arms around her friend. "Estella, What is the matter?"
"Oh, it is nothing really. my brother was teasing me, calling me an old sppppinster." Estella began crying again.
"Brothers can be so mean, but don't you believe it for a second, Estell." Diamond told her.
"He is right, I will never marry the hobbit I love. It is hopeless. I will never be as beautiful as you are Diamond." Estella wiped the tears from her eyes.
"You are beautiful Estella." She pulled her to her mirror so she could see herself.
"All I see is a very plain looking hobbit." Estella said as she took in her appearance and compared them to Diamond. Diamond had long beautiful blonde hair that glimmered and shined. While Estella had long light brown hair all tied up with pins. Diamond's eyes were a crystal blue with long black eyelashes that only empathized the beauty of them. Estella had deep full brown eyes that you could get lost in the depths of them.
"Well then let me show you how truly beautiful you really are." Diamond told her as she began pulling the pins out of her hair, as a long strand of hair tumbled pass her shoulders. When Diamond pulled all the pins and brushed her hair until it shimmered. The deep curls and waves were lustrously about her shoulders and the frame of her beautiful hair made her eyes all the more brighter and bigger. Her lips were full and beautiful.
Diamond went to the closet and found a dress that she thought would suit Estella's fair complexion. It was a green dress with a simple floral pattern that emphasized her small waistline and lower cut bodice that gave her a more of a womanly look.
Diamond again turned her around to face the mirror and Estella could not recognize the beautiful hobbit that stood before her. She wrapped her arms around Diamond and thanked her.
"Now tell me who is the hobbit that has stolen your heart?" Diamond asked her.
"You will only laugh at me if I told you." Estella said as she blushed a deep red color. "It is Merry Brandybuck, but he does not even know I am alive."
"Well the next time he sees you wearing this dress, I am sure he will!" Diamond exclaimed, "I am giving you this dress. It looks far better on you than it does me." Estella smiled with hope when she looked again at herself in the mirror, wearing Diamond's dress.
"Pippin told me that Merry will be here tomorrow. They are going to close the deal on the purchase of those horses that Merry will be bringing in a couple of weeks from now and I think having a very small dinner party to celebrate their meeting would be in order. Can you come, Estella?" Diamond asked her.
"Why yes, I would love to." Estella hugged Diamond again.
~*~
"Master Merry, please wake up." Old Hatty Hayward gently shook him. "You have slept late this day, it is well pass noon luncheon and I brought you a tray, are you feeling ill, Master Merry?"
"Thank you for awakening me, I am fine, don't concern yourself. I have much work to do. Leave the tray and I'll just eat in here." Merry shooed her out of his room.
Merry's head felt light and the room felt like it was spinning. His throat was sore and he grabbed the warm tea on his tray and began drinking it. He poured some honey on the flat bread and wolfed it down even though he did not feel much like eating. Merry did not touch the meat or potato on his plate, but hurried in getting dressed and headed outside to the corals.
The hobbits were laying the new posts for the fencing they were building and Merry grabbed a shovel and began digging the next hole for the post. The sun beat down on the hobbits as they labored in the late summer afternoon. Merry was profusely sweating with each shovel full of dirt he dug from the ground. His joints and muscled ached with pain, but he pushed himself to finish making the fences. They could not afford to get behind. Old Hatty brought out some cool lemonade for the workers to drink and she noticed Merry's face was flushed and how much he was sweating.
"Master Merry, you're not looking very well, the heat is getting to you, maybe you should come in and rest a spell." Old Hatty said to him.
"Nonsense, I am fine, it is just this heat and all this work to do. I do not have the time to be putting my feet up just yet." Merry told her. "I have to met with Pippin for evening meal, so have a bath waiting for me when we finish this section of fencing." Merry quickly downed the cool Lemonade and went back to digging another hole for another post.
When Merry finished for the day, he looked forward to a warm bath to soak his aches and pains he was feeling. His legs trembled as he tried to take his clothes off next to the tub. The water was cool as he felt himself beginning to relax soaking in the water. Old Hatty came in with a tray and a powder to help Merry feel better. She knew he was sick, but his stubbornness would not give into his illness. Merry did not say anything as Hatty mixed the powder into the warm tea and she added an extra spoon of honey. He was happy that Hatty had the sense to make this for him because his head was pounding in pain and so was his throat.
Hatty laid his clothes out on the bed, and told Merry, "It is to bed you should be going and not out socializing."
"I have to met with Pippin and Old man Bolger to pay for the shipment of hay and to collect the money on the horses that Pippin is buying. It shouldn't take me too long to close the deal with them. Besides, I am not that sick, just a little touch of something going around." Merry tried his best to smile to show her he was just fine. Hatty shook her head as she closed the door behind her.
Merry shivered when he dried himself off and put his evening clothes on. He still felt chilled to the bone even though the evening air was very warm. He grabbed a blanket and covered himself in the coach as it heading to the Great Smial to see Pippin.
~*~
Merry walking into the Great Smial and saw old man Bolger visiting with Pippin. He shook their hand as he greeted them. Pippin looked up into Merry's eyes after he felt how warm his hand felt as he shook it. "Are you feeling all right Merry?" Pippin asked him.
"Yes, for the last time, I am just great! All day long, I have been nagged at as to my health." Merry shortly told him.
"I am sorry Merry, it sounds like you had a very bad day." Pippin commented.
"It is just so much going on with the horses coming, so many things to take care of." Merry apologized for his short temper.
Diamond came into the room with Estella following behind her. Diamond greeted her guests and presented Estella. Merry's eyes widened in surprise in seeing how beautiful Estella looked. Her hair swayed at her shoulders with glimmering highlights as she stepped forward to take Merry's hand. Her eyes slowly raised to meet his.
"Estell, you look like a strumpet dressed like that! You go change your clothes at once!" her father bellowed when he saw how differently Estella looked.
Estella covered her face with her hands as she burst into tears and ran from the room.
"Mr. Bolger, how could you have embarrass her like that in front of everyone!" Diamond snapped at her elderly guest.
"I'll not be listen'n to you tell'n me how to raise my own child. You should have the sense to know that, dress'n her up like some high flutten hussy." Old man Bolger turned to Merry saying, "I'll not stay here a minute and be talked down to like that. I'll be stopping by Buckland tomorrow to conclude our business, Master Merry. I wanted to see to the hay meself, anyway."
Old man Bolger slammed the door as he left. Pippin apologized to Merry for the disruption and asked him to sit and eat with them.
"I'm sorry Pippin, but I am just not that hungry this evening. If we could get our business down, I would like to head home early and get some sleep."
"Yes, of course, come this way." Pippin lead Merry to his study.
Diamond knocked on the door to her bedroom and Estella was in tears lying on her bed crying her heart out.
"Oh, Estella, don't listen to your Da, he still thinks of you as his little girl, he has not realized you have grown up before his eyes. It just shocked him is all." Diamond tried to make her feel better.
"What must Merry think? He probably only sees a child as well and not someone that he could fall in love with." Estella said through her tears.
"No Estella, I saw the look in his eyes and that was not the look of a hobbit seeing a child. He understands about what your father said. He knows how over protecting fathers are. Go to him and talk to him." Diamond encouraged her.
The room spun as Merry placed his hands on Pippin's desk to steady himself, while Pippin counted his money to pay Merry for the horses. He swallowed hard as the pain became unbearable. He was glad when Pippin finally gave him the money and he shook his hand to leave.
Hob's open the coach door when he saw Merry just leaving the Great Smial. Estella called to Merry just before he entered the coach.
"Merry I wanted to apologize for that scene my Da caused." Estella said.
"It is alright Estella, I understand, real..ly" and Merry passed out falling into her arms.
Estella screamed for Pippin!
Chapter 2
An eye for Merry
"I saw you talking to that Merry Brandybuck, Estell." Fredegar Bolger told her. "Don't be telling me you still have an eye for him again."
"Don't be silly, Freddy. I have long pass my crush on Merry years ago, when I was only a child." Estella told him as she looked towards the ground, not wanting her brother to detect her small white lie.
"You cannot lie to me, Estell. I know you all too well." Fredegar said. "You have been brooding over him all these years. I see your ears perk up whenever someone even mentions his name. I bet you know more about Merry than anyone in the Shire could possibly know of him."
"You're being ridiculous; that was years ago." Estella began to get impatient at her brothers prodding questioning. How could she ever admit her love for Merry, when he did not even know she was alive? Yes, she had loved him all of her life, as far back as she could remember. The first time she saw him, the first time he pulled her braids, all those memories came flooding back in her mind. She has practically thrown her arms around his ankles, but he still paid her no attention what so ever. Her heart has been broken so many times by Merry as he would just walk pass her without even one glance her way. She remembered how she had cried the year he was away and all that time believing him lying dead in the Old Forest or some distant land. Then, how her heart soared, when she saw him riding his horse gathering all the hobbits to fight the ruffians. He was her hero and will always be.
"You may spin that story to someone else, but you'll never be getting me to believe that for a minute." Fredegar told her. "And besides, Merry is the kind of a hobbit that would fall for someone like Diamond and not yourself."
Estella's tears began mounting in the back of her eyes as she fought to keep them under control.
"Estella, I could help you met some very nice hobbits that would make a fine husband for you." Fredegar offered.
"See here, Freddy! I will not be having you picking my husband or running my life!" Estella yelled at her brother, "If I do marry, I want it to be for the hobbit that I love."
"Now stop upsetting your sister with your teasing, Fred." Old man Bolger told his son, "She is still young enough and shouldn't be running off marrying no one."
"Da, she is well pass her coming of age. If she does not find a husband soon, she'll be a spinster for sure." Fredegar told him.
Estella turned and ran from the room as the tears came pouring down her face. She saw an open door and ran into the room and shut it behind her. She leaned up against the door placing her hands over her eyes as she began crying in earnest. Diamond turned as she heard the door to her bedchambers being closed and hearing someone crying. When she came out from her closet, it was Estella. She placed her shawl onto the bed and wrapped her arms around her friend. "Estella, What is the matter?"
"Oh, it is nothing really. my brother was teasing me, calling me an old sppppinster." Estella began crying again.
"Brothers can be so mean, but don't you believe it for a second, Estell." Diamond told her.
"He is right, I will never marry the hobbit I love. It is hopeless. I will never be as beautiful as you are Diamond." Estella wiped the tears from her eyes.
"You are beautiful Estella." She pulled her to her mirror so she could see herself.
"All I see is a very plain looking hobbit." Estella said as she took in her appearance and compared them to Diamond. Diamond had long beautiful blonde hair that glimmered and shined. While Estella had long light brown hair all tied up with pins. Diamond's eyes were a crystal blue with long black eyelashes that only empathized the beauty of them. Estella had deep full brown eyes that you could get lost in the depths of them.
"Well then let me show you how truly beautiful you really are." Diamond told her as she began pulling the pins out of her hair, as a long strand of hair tumbled pass her shoulders. When Diamond pulled all the pins and brushed her hair until it shimmered. The deep curls and waves were lustrously about her shoulders and the frame of her beautiful hair made her eyes all the more brighter and bigger. Her lips were full and beautiful.
Diamond went to the closet and found a dress that she thought would suit Estella's fair complexion. It was a green dress with a simple floral pattern that emphasized her small waistline and lower cut bodice that gave her a more of a womanly look.
Diamond again turned her around to face the mirror and Estella could not recognize the beautiful hobbit that stood before her. She wrapped her arms around Diamond and thanked her.
"Now tell me who is the hobbit that has stolen your heart?" Diamond asked her.
"You will only laugh at me if I told you." Estella said as she blushed a deep red color. "It is Merry Brandybuck, but he does not even know I am alive."
"Well the next time he sees you wearing this dress, I am sure he will!" Diamond exclaimed, "I am giving you this dress. It looks far better on you than it does me." Estella smiled with hope when she looked again at herself in the mirror, wearing Diamond's dress.
"Pippin told me that Merry will be here tomorrow. They are going to close the deal on the purchase of those horses that Merry will be bringing in a couple of weeks from now and I think having a very small dinner party to celebrate their meeting would be in order. Can you come, Estella?" Diamond asked her.
"Why yes, I would love to." Estella hugged Diamond again.
~*~
"Master Merry, please wake up." Old Hatty Hayward gently shook him. "You have slept late this day, it is well pass noon luncheon and I brought you a tray, are you feeling ill, Master Merry?"
"Thank you for awakening me, I am fine, don't concern yourself. I have much work to do. Leave the tray and I'll just eat in here." Merry shooed her out of his room.
Merry's head felt light and the room felt like it was spinning. His throat was sore and he grabbed the warm tea on his tray and began drinking it. He poured some honey on the flat bread and wolfed it down even though he did not feel much like eating. Merry did not touch the meat or potato on his plate, but hurried in getting dressed and headed outside to the corals.
The hobbits were laying the new posts for the fencing they were building and Merry grabbed a shovel and began digging the next hole for the post. The sun beat down on the hobbits as they labored in the late summer afternoon. Merry was profusely sweating with each shovel full of dirt he dug from the ground. His joints and muscled ached with pain, but he pushed himself to finish making the fences. They could not afford to get behind. Old Hatty brought out some cool lemonade for the workers to drink and she noticed Merry's face was flushed and how much he was sweating.
"Master Merry, you're not looking very well, the heat is getting to you, maybe you should come in and rest a spell." Old Hatty said to him.
"Nonsense, I am fine, it is just this heat and all this work to do. I do not have the time to be putting my feet up just yet." Merry told her. "I have to met with Pippin for evening meal, so have a bath waiting for me when we finish this section of fencing." Merry quickly downed the cool Lemonade and went back to digging another hole for another post.
When Merry finished for the day, he looked forward to a warm bath to soak his aches and pains he was feeling. His legs trembled as he tried to take his clothes off next to the tub. The water was cool as he felt himself beginning to relax soaking in the water. Old Hatty came in with a tray and a powder to help Merry feel better. She knew he was sick, but his stubbornness would not give into his illness. Merry did not say anything as Hatty mixed the powder into the warm tea and she added an extra spoon of honey. He was happy that Hatty had the sense to make this for him because his head was pounding in pain and so was his throat.
Hatty laid his clothes out on the bed, and told Merry, "It is to bed you should be going and not out socializing."
"I have to met with Pippin and Old man Bolger to pay for the shipment of hay and to collect the money on the horses that Pippin is buying. It shouldn't take me too long to close the deal with them. Besides, I am not that sick, just a little touch of something going around." Merry tried his best to smile to show her he was just fine. Hatty shook her head as she closed the door behind her.
Merry shivered when he dried himself off and put his evening clothes on. He still felt chilled to the bone even though the evening air was very warm. He grabbed a blanket and covered himself in the coach as it heading to the Great Smial to see Pippin.
~*~
Merry walking into the Great Smial and saw old man Bolger visiting with Pippin. He shook their hand as he greeted them. Pippin looked up into Merry's eyes after he felt how warm his hand felt as he shook it. "Are you feeling all right Merry?" Pippin asked him.
"Yes, for the last time, I am just great! All day long, I have been nagged at as to my health." Merry shortly told him.
"I am sorry Merry, it sounds like you had a very bad day." Pippin commented.
"It is just so much going on with the horses coming, so many things to take care of." Merry apologized for his short temper.
Diamond came into the room with Estella following behind her. Diamond greeted her guests and presented Estella. Merry's eyes widened in surprise in seeing how beautiful Estella looked. Her hair swayed at her shoulders with glimmering highlights as she stepped forward to take Merry's hand. Her eyes slowly raised to meet his.
"Estell, you look like a strumpet dressed like that! You go change your clothes at once!" her father bellowed when he saw how differently Estella looked.
Estella covered her face with her hands as she burst into tears and ran from the room.
"Mr. Bolger, how could you have embarrass her like that in front of everyone!" Diamond snapped at her elderly guest.
"I'll not be listen'n to you tell'n me how to raise my own child. You should have the sense to know that, dress'n her up like some high flutten hussy." Old man Bolger turned to Merry saying, "I'll not stay here a minute and be talked down to like that. I'll be stopping by Buckland tomorrow to conclude our business, Master Merry. I wanted to see to the hay meself, anyway."
Old man Bolger slammed the door as he left. Pippin apologized to Merry for the disruption and asked him to sit and eat with them.
"I'm sorry Pippin, but I am just not that hungry this evening. If we could get our business down, I would like to head home early and get some sleep."
"Yes, of course, come this way." Pippin lead Merry to his study.
Diamond knocked on the door to her bedroom and Estella was in tears lying on her bed crying her heart out.
"Oh, Estella, don't listen to your Da, he still thinks of you as his little girl, he has not realized you have grown up before his eyes. It just shocked him is all." Diamond tried to make her feel better.
"What must Merry think? He probably only sees a child as well and not someone that he could fall in love with." Estella said through her tears.
"No Estella, I saw the look in his eyes and that was not the look of a hobbit seeing a child. He understands about what your father said. He knows how over protecting fathers are. Go to him and talk to him." Diamond encouraged her.
The room spun as Merry placed his hands on Pippin's desk to steady himself, while Pippin counted his money to pay Merry for the horses. He swallowed hard as the pain became unbearable. He was glad when Pippin finally gave him the money and he shook his hand to leave.
Hob's open the coach door when he saw Merry just leaving the Great Smial. Estella called to Merry just before he entered the coach.
"Merry I wanted to apologize for that scene my Da caused." Estella said.
"It is alright Estella, I understand, real..ly" and Merry passed out falling into her arms.
Estella screamed for Pippin!
