Disclaimer - Still not mine. How disappointing, I know.

A/N - Sorry! Sorry! I truly meant to post this a month ago. Truly. Then my teachers got together and said, "Hey! Why don't we give our students two papers, a project, and a pile of tests?" Not a good thing, and I'm afraid I've gotten very used to writing in the formal paper style, so I hope this chapter isn't extremely boring. On the bright side, only 10 days of school left, and I'll be able to write more in the summer! :-) Also, I've (finally) figured out how to make accents over letters like in the name Éomer and I'll (eventually) update the past chapters to reflect this. Not too much of Dandy, Poppy, and Tru, but lots of Theo and Mat in this chapter. Hobbit lads tend to take over a chapter, I've found, but we'll get back to the older hobbits next time. Enough of boring you with my excuses, on to the chapter you've been waiting patiently for. ;-)

Chapter 14 - Crime and Punishment?

"What do you mean, 'Elves'?" Tru repeated. "And why do you two have such knowing looks on your faces?"

"Remember the day we first came to Brandy Hall?" Dandelion replied. Tru nodded while Rogo, Rolo, and Hedor listened silently. "Theo told us that day that there had been rumors of Elves being seen in Buckland, although no one in Brandy Hall had actually seen any. I had nearly forgotten about it."

"Aye, miss, now that you mention it I do recall something o' the sort being passed around in the pub up at Newbury, the Howling Dog," Rolo said helpfully. He reddened in embarrassment as all eyes turned his way. "Sorry, miss, I didn't mean t'interrupt."

"No, no, that's quite all right. What did you hear at the Howling Dog?" Dandelion questioned.

Rolo scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Hmmm, that must've been around the end o' Wedmath*, when I was talkin' to Carl Brown. 'Rolo,' he says to me, 'you would never believe what the big to-do is over at Brandy Hall.'

"'If you don't tell me, we'll never know,' I said back to him.

"'There's all sorts of folks a-saying they've seen Elves at night, in fields and yards, just dancing and having a time by themselves!' he said loud enough for the whole pub to hear. I elbowed him an' told him he'd had too much ale, but he said he had not and every word was true. I never believed him, an' looks like I was right, after all," Rolo finished proudly.

"I don't believe it." Tru sighed and shook his head.

"I do," Dandelion said, looking out of the doorway and down the hall as if she could see her cousin. "I can see Theo coming up with such a stunt, and Mat going for it willingly, but I don't know why they would behave like that. They should know better. Theo's seventeen, and Mat just turned seventeen as well, I think. Uncle Éomer will be livid."

* * *

Éomer paced the carpet in front of his son and his friend. The Master had found a small room, likely an unused sitting room, and Theo and Mat had sat down on two dusty chairs wordlessly. Both hobbit lads knew they were in big trouble; it was a risk they had taken to do, as Theo had put it, "something interesting." Mat toyed uncertainly with the hat, which Éomer had dropped on the ground and he had grabbed as they were being marched back in. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at Theo, who was slouched in his seat, head lowered, shadows flickering on his face in the candlelight. Éomer suddenly whirled to face them and the younger hobbits instinctively pressed back against their chairs as if to escape his gaze.

"Can either of you tell me what you were doing?" Neither answered, but each guiltily looked to the floor or at his furry toes. "Théoden, I believe you are the elder miscreant here. Can you explain what you could possibly be thinking? And face me when I'm speaking to you, young hobbit!"

Theo swallowed and slowly met his father's eyes. One eyebrow was raised questioningly and the expression in the light blue eyes was enough to freeze the Brandywine in midsummer. "We, um, were just playing, Father."

"What did your mother and I explicitly tell you not to do?" Éomer asked, voice steady but quietly menacing.

"Not to go out of Brandy Hall, sir. But I--"

Éomer crossed his arms. "But you what? I'd like to hear how you can word it differently and still be within Brandy Hall." Theo bit his lip, his eyes wavering as if trying to look away and not look away at the same time, and said nothing. "I thought as much. What do you have to say for yourself, Matta Goold?" he barked unexpectedly and Mat jumped slightly.

"I - I was - the bottom, sir," he squeaked quickly, then winced and stared at the floor again.

"I see. Do your parents know you are out?" Éomer queried, knowing well the answer. Mat shook his head, honey-colored curls bouncing. "Ah. So you have both left your homes without parental permission, only to arrive here - in the hopes of seeing a Man and scaring some people for no reason." Theo opened his mouth, silently objecting to this, and his father turned to him. "Oh? Was there a reason?"

Theo's mouth spoke before his brain had quite caught up with what was happening and blurted out, "We wanted to do something exciting. Like an adventure."

"An adventure," Éomer repeated. "And what if, on this 'adventure', you had gotten hurt, or sick again, or damaged someone's property? What then? And what if you had gotten lost?"

"We would't've," Theo protested. "Roan knows his way back home from anywhere in the Shire."

"You rode Roan here? Did you cool him down properly? I daresay you galloped all this way - from Brandy Hall to Crickhollow and then to the East Gate, I'd think nearly five miles, with no water or anything waiting at the end. You should know better than that, Théoden - you do know better than that. I'm very disappointed in you - this includes you, Master Goold," he added sharply. Mat's head came back up with a jerk. "It's too late to send you back now. I shall personally take you back to Crickhollow and inform your parents of this behavior. As for you, Théoden, I am too angry to talk to you at the moment. Go see to your pony, the pair of you. We'll talk in the morning."

"Yes, sir," the lads responded softly. Mat left the room with alacrity, but Theo paused at the door and half turned back. His father was standing facing the round window, hands clasped behind his stern back. Theo's shoulders slumped and he followed Mat. Éomer listened to their shuffling, retreating footsteps and sighed, only half noting the dark, menacing clouds getting closer.

* * *

Theo was glad Mat found a way out of the Bounder-house without having to go through the kitchen/dining room. He didn't want to have to explain their antics to Dandy and Poppy and Tru, not to mention the Bounders and Man. He couldn't, really, explain it to himself; there was just something exciting about sneaking off and pretending to be someone else. He knew Mat felt this way, as well. They both had a sense of - well, restlessness, in the Shire. Everything happened the same way every year. Yes, sometimes there were thieves or arguments over land or livestock, but nothing like the War. Nothing that demanded bravery and fighting and a chance to go to new places and meet new people, new races. Elves, Men, Wizards, even Dwarves were seen rarely, if ever in the Shire now. Theo wondered what it would have been like to have been in the War.

He realized with a shock that they had reached the ponies and lone horse. There was a slight cool breeze that smelled faintly of smoke, and Mat was looking at him expectantly. "What is it?" Theo asked.

His friend gestured vaguely. "How are we supposed to cool him down? We haven't a brush or anything..." He trailed off as Theo pulled a currycomb out of his father's saddlebags.

"My father is always prepared," he said simply as he put the currycomb down and unsaddled Roan carefully. Mat patted the pony's nose comfortingly and took off his bridle. The reddish-brown pony snorted and lipped his hands, searching for a treat.

"Sorry," Mat told him. "I don't have anything for you." Roan looked at him in a disapproving manner and a smile quirked the hobbit's mouth slightly. Mat looked at his friend and the smile disappeared. He knew the Master's opinion meant a lot to Theo and that his father was displeased with him was a bitter blow.

"I should've been more responsible." This statement was spoken so softly Mat wondered if he had actually heard it.

"What?"

"I said I should've been more responsible," Theo repeated. "Father's right, I need to start acting my age. I'm seventeen now; in a few more years I'll be a tween. I should act like I have some sense, not a head full of clouds."

Mat frowned. "But tweens are always irresponsible. And teens - which, my dear Brandybuck, you are one of - even more so."

"It's different for me. I'm going to be the Master of Buckland one day and I will have to be responsible for everything I do - for everything Buckland, as a whole, does." Theo sighed and, giving Mat the brush, walked to Roan's head. The pony nudged him and whickered affectionately. With his fingers, the hobbit began to untangle Roan's mane. In a low voice meant only for the pony's sharp ears, Theo said, "I cannot botch that, too."

A rumbling in the distance startled both hobbits and the animals as well. The gentle breeze suddenly increased in intensity and whistled among the tree's leaves. A few large drops of water splashed around the Bounder-house. "A storm is coming!" Mat exclaimed.

"I know," Theo replied, turning apprehensively to Roan and the others.

"Should we go ask your father what to do?"

"I think we--" Theo cut off abruptly as the Bounder followed by his father came outside, both shrugging on coats with hoods.

"Get inside!" the Master yelled over the clamor of the wind. "There is a stable nearby. Rogo and I will take care of the ponies and the Man's horse!"

"I'll help!" Theo said stoutly. Mat nodded. Both lads' resolve weakened for a fleeting moment as a forked streak of lightning lit the sky. Hedor's large beast reared, hooves pounding the air and growing rain.

Accompanied by a clap of thunder, Hedor crouched under the low doorway and sped to his animal, taking its lead rope and stroking its muzzle in an attempt to soothe it. Éomer pointed at the house and shouted, "Théoden and Matta, you will go inside!"

Stubbornly, his son protested, "You lot cannot take six ponies and a horse in one trip! Mat and I can assist you. You can get them all in the stable in one trip!"

Éomer huffed but gave in, tossing Snow's reins to Mat and grabbing the reins of Cloud, his own dapple gray pony, and Sunbeam. Rogo calmly took Dusk and the Bounders' pony, which had been contentedly eating grass and paying no heed to the storm. He assumed the head of the line to the stable, a house-like structure that was rather precarious in appearance but sturdy in form. Hedor had to pull his horse's head down so it would not hit the frame on the diminutive door. The hobbits quickly relieved the animals of burdens and stabled them, joined by the willing hands of the Messenger. They gathered around the door, hoping futilely for a lull in the rainstorm. "There's naught else for it," said the Master. "We'll have to make a dash for the Bounder-house." He tucked his cloak and hood snugly about Theo. Rogo gave his to Mat. "Ready? Go!"

* * *

Poppy looked anxiously out of the window in the Bounder-house. With the first snarl of lightning and thunder, Éomer and the Bounder had hastened outside, presently accompanied by Hedor. The four younger hobbits had been left inside with naught to do but wait, a situation that was not relished by Dandelion. The Took, clearly unused to and disgruntled by waiting, paced behind the other three. "Where could they be? Whatever could possibly be taking so long?"

Rolo piped up in an obliging manner. "To the stable, miss, where we keep message ponies for emergency post an' other Bounder business. It's back a bit, not terribly far. They should be along any minute."

Tru tried to calm Dandelion down, as it was clear her fretting would soon spread to Poppy, and then the hobbit was quite sure he would not know what to do. "It's just an autumn storm, Dandelion. They spring up fast but they can leave as quickly. Why are you so nervous?"

"I've never liked storms," she answered, going over to stand between him and Poppy. "Not ever since I was small." Poppy flashed her a quick grin, remembering all too well a stormy winter night, a frightened, shivering hobbit lass, and a short-lived argument. Another streak of blinding light tore through the sky, illuminating the dark yard for a fleeting moment. Dandelion pointed outside. "There they are!"

* * *

A scant hour later and both young lads had been bathed, courtesy of the Bounder-house washroom (and accompanied by quiet bathing songs Dandelion heard when she laid fluffy pile of towels outside the door, then walked away, smiling), warmly dressed in the smallest Bounder clothes that could be found (but which were, unfortunately, several sizes too large), and tucked warmly into bed with orders not to rise without the Master's leave. The Master in question was now sitting by the fire in his room (another courtesy of the Bounders), smoking on his pipe reflectively. His blue eyes glowed in the light from the dancing flames and the gray, misty smoke that twisted its way about his head seemed eerie and spectral in the dwindling bursts of lightning which shone through his window.

Not that any of this registered in Éomer's mind. Rather, his thoughts dwelt on his son, who at times seemed two different hobbits: one, the cheerful, albeit foolish, prankster he had once again proved himself to be that evening, and the other a strange, new, responsible hobbit who was capable of facing even a powerful storm (a horror that long hunted young hobbits) to help those in need.

Éomer took another pull on his pipe and breathed out the vapors slowly. He hoped June wasn't too worried; he would need her in a sensible mood on the morrow, when he would have a serious discussion with her. He quenched the pipe and placed it on the table next to the bed, then got into the bed and pulled his covers about him, quickly falling asleep.

* * *

"I still can hardly believe," Tru said, shaking his head and making his brown curls bob. "Elves and all that mess, and then going out into the rain an' lightning like that! Will wonders never cease?"

"Will young hobbits ever stop being surprisingly capable in small emergencies?" Dandelion replied rhetorically.

"I hope not." Poppy smiled.

"Aye, miss, and that's true to be sure!" Rolo exclaimed, then looked shocked to be doing so in front of hobbit 'gentry'. The younger three laughed at his expression, making him blush and seize the poker to stir the logs of the fire in the kitchen.

"So, now, you call this 'pipe-weed'?" Hedor asked with no small interest, inhaling a deep breath before exhaling it into a lopsided shape, somewhat recognizable as an oval. He beamed with pride.

Rogo gave a chuckle and emitted a perfectly round gray circle. "Aye, sir. I don't know what they would call it down in your country, but hobbits have been smoking it for years an' years."

"I did hear a rumor that the king himself could blow out smoke on a whim, but then I've also head that the king was once a drifting stranger who both looked and acted the part of a common thief." Hedor and Rogo both were startled at the giggles of laughter that arose from the other table, but when they turned to see all of the younger hobbits were standing up to go to bed with perfectly innocent countenances. They bid their elders good night and went off to their bedrooms and Hedor and Rogo were in such deep conversation about the plant that they did not hear the outbreak of merriment coming from the girls' room a few minutes later.

* * *

*Wedmath - Hobbitish name for August.

Return of the A/N - I hope that made up for lost time! Next chapter's in the works: Dandy and the rest return to Brandy Hall; June has a talk with both male Brandybucks; and (maybe) another journey begins! But not necessarily to where you think...

cheerleader15 - Mischief indeed. :-) Glad you liked it. I'm reliving a hobbity childhood I never actually had... (Now I feel old! I'm only a teen!)

acorngirl - After much searching and scouring (though not of the Shire), I managed to find a very nice new muse. Great to find someone else with my obscure reference passion! Friends think I'm nitpicky... If Dandy ever makes it there (ominous music)! Okay, that was a little melodramatic (perfect blue sky over a Shire-green field filled with cute bunnies muttering something about 'second breakfast' and nibbling contentedly on mushrooms). That was just strange...

Please review!