Chapter Three: Three's A Crowd
"It's not fair!", Merry looked dejected; he lay in bed scowling at Pippin, wearing his cloak as if to go outside after Mrs. Longbottom left. "You get to go outside and look at all the trees turning different colors, while I lay in this wretched bed another day!"
"Can I help it that Sam's mother did such a great work on me?" Pippin proudly held aloft his wrist with splints and bandage. "And I never cried once!"
Merry didn't believe that story for a second! "I heard Frodo and Pearl had to hold you down!"
Pippin rolled his eyes, "All right, it did hurt just a little!"
Pippin watched as Merry gazed out his window to the brilliant red, gold, and orange leaves, and then said, "All I want is to take a small walk outside and breathe in the fresh air."
"I've got an idea!", Pippin said, as he stepped over to the window and opened it.
A cool breeze fluttered the drapes, and Merry drank in a breath of crisp, clean air.
"So do I!", Merry replied. He laid aside his blankets and scurried over to his wardrobe where he pulled back on his trousers and found a clean shirt.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, cousin?" Pippin grinned.
"I'm one step ahead of you!", Merry replied as he took off his nightshirt. "How far is the drop from the window?"
Pippin leaned out and surveyed the small decline, "Maybe three feet, and then we can slide down the rest of the way, which isn't far at all."
Merry strapped on his braces, then quickly threw on his overcoat. "I should go first; I don't think I shall trust your judgment of distance for a while!" He leaned over the windowsill where Pippin was just moments before, swung over one leg at a time, then jumped. He landed on the soft grass under his window, then waited for Pippin. At three-foot and three-inches, all Merry had to do was let Pippin lean into his grasp and carefully ease him to the ground; he didn't want to re-injure his cousin's wrist--no outing would be worth that.
The two young hobbits cautiously made for the backside of the barn before heading out in the direction of the woods.
"Merry! Pippin! Where are you two heading off to?" Pervinca stepped out from the barn and into the sunshine, setting down two pails. Gone was the pinafore and pretty green hair bow she wore at breakfast. She now wore a simple work dress with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. The sunlight caught the highlights in her curly golden-brown hair as she smoothed it out with her fingers, and then re-tied it with a leather thong. Beside her on the ground sat the two large buckets; they were filled with water for the troughs in the barn. "I thought you were to stay in bed, Merry?"
Pippin and Merry looked at one another; in the midst of their escape, neither had anticipating running into anyone. "Er, well...," Pippin started, "he's coming with me to...visit the ponies!"
Pervinca crossed her arms and shook her head, "Did you think I was born yesterday, Pippin? You usually come up with something better than that!"
Merry couldn't lie to his sweet cousin. "We're going for a short walk; I couldn't take the stifling air in my bedroom any longer!"
Pervinca smiled broadly, "Take me with you!"
"No!", cried Pippin. "This is a lad's journey, and you're a lass!"
Undaunted, Pervinca pulled out her trump, "If you don't take me with you, I shall scream until Mother hears me! Then you two will be caught in the very act of escape!" She smiled at her own cunning.
Merry tried another angle, "Dear Pervinca--we don't wish to interrupt your chores! We'll go on ahead, and when we return we shall tell you everything we did and everything we saw!"
"Not on your life!" She rolled down the sleeves of her dress and buttoned the cuffs. "And don't 'dear' me, Merry Brandybuck! You had better take me with you or you will regret it!"
I already do!, he thought to himself.
