Notes to Readers:
Thank you for the comments! They are very motivating and give me insights into
the stories that make me dig deeper in writing, which I probably wouldn't do
were I the only one reading these stories...
PansyChubb, you crack me up! Great summation of the situation.
Bookworm, I dislike Poppy as well. She gets to go on my list of least-favourite
characters.
Xena, there is quite a bit of irony here... Pippin finally understands why folk
got so upset when he slipped his escort. Of course, that's not going to stop
him from taking measures, now that he's the one in charge.
Aemilia Rose, yup, right on the money. They were warned, because it's dangerous.
That just adds to the spice, I fear.
Ff.net permitting, expect to see the next chapter of this story two days from
this posting. If you cannot access ff.net, try www.storiesofarda.com. You can leave
reviews there, as well, and there is a "reply" feature where I can
reply to a review right there rather than within the text of the story. Amazing
place, that SoA.
The next chapter of "Truth" will be added on the morrow, if ffnet
agrees.
Enough admin notes. Let's get to the story.
***
5. Digging Out
The trail wound around the base of the big hill and up the backside in a zigzag
until it reached a flat area halfway up, a kind of doorstep for the abandoned
silver workings dug into the hillside. Here five hobbled ponies cropped away at
the grass, not seeming to mind the steady drizzle.
'Aha,' Ferdibrand said, pulling his pony to a stop. 'Methinks we are on the
trail.'
'Methinks we have arrived,' Tolly said, 'and not a moment too soon. Looks as if
another downpour is about to start.'
'Let us seek shelter, then, within yonder hole,' Ferdi said.
'No need to talk like a storybook,' Hilly grumbled. 'Let us get out of the
rain, and gather up the errant lads, and restore them to the bosom of their
families.'
'Now who's talking like a book?' Ferdi wanted to know.
'Hah,' was Hilly's rejoinder, as he kicked his pony into motion. They reached
the opening, with its posted warnings: "Danger! Abandoned mine! Do not
enter!" and a red-painted hand, the time-honoured symbol to tell
illiterate hobbits to halt, and go no further.
'Faramir!' Ferdi called, peering into the darkness. Funny that there was no
sign of the lads, perhaps they'd heard the riders pull up and were hiding. But
what was the point? Their ponies were in plain view outside. 'Faramir!
Adelgrim! Palangrim! Odobard! Hildibald! Lads! Time to come home!'
A slight rumble answered him, a sliding of small stones and dirt.
'Stay back,' he told the others. He advanced into the mine, tripping upon
something on the floor. Stooping down, he found a bag, and reaching in, found
the remnants of a picnic. The bread was still fresh, packed that day, it
seemed.
Ferdi waited, though it took patience, letting his eyes grow accustomed to the
dim light. He was careful to keep his back to the opening. When he fancied he
could see somewhat, he cautiously made his way further into the mine, calling
softly. He didn't go far before he ran up against obstruction: putting his
hands out, he felt dirt, rock, broken boards. The dirt was soft and crumbly, a
fresh fall, then.
Spinning, he ran back to the entrance. 'Ride for the engineers,' he said to
Tolly. 'There's a fresh fall in there. I suspect the lads are on the other side
of it.'
'Trapped?' Hilly gasped, as Tolly swung aboard his pony and kicked it into a
run across the plateau, to where the trail began its meandering descent.
'I hope they are trapped,' Ferdi said grimly. 'Better than being under it all.'
***
They weren't all that far from the Great Smials, and the engineers came relatively
quickly, accompanied by the fathers of the missing lads, including Thain
Peregrin. 'There are waggons coming, with shoring timbers, and more hobbits
with mattocks and shovels,' Aldebrand, the chief engineer told Ferdibrand.
Looking towards the Smials, Ferdi could see the waggons in the valley below.
'What are the chances they are still alive in there?' Pippin said.
'Good,' Aldebrand answered thoughtfully. 'As long as they didn't get caught in
the fall. The workings go back quite a ways; they'll have plenty of air. I
doubt they went very far in; there's a large crack about fifty paces from the
door where the floor fell in some years back.' He scratched his head. 'And,
from what you say, they've only been gone a few hours... since breakfast, at
the earliest?'
'That's right,' Redibard Took said. 'Odo said he was going to Adel's hole to
play for the day, and that was right after second breakfast.'
'Right,' Aldebrand said. 'Well, it's pretty unstable. We'll have to have some
shoring timbers in place before we start to dig. You might as well make
yourselves comfortable until the waggons get here.'
The four fathers settled uneasily, jumping up as soon as the jingle of
harnesses was heard outside. Shouting hobbits jumped down, pulling boards from
the first waggon. Willing hands helped to set them in place under the direction
of Aldebrand, and his chief assistant Samenthal, while Everard Took organised
the diggers, some to loosen the dirt and rock, others to scrape it aside, and a
last group to shovel the loose dirt into buckets and empty them outside.
The work was going smoothly, when Ferdibrand noticed, in the torchlight, the
Thain's pallor. 'Cousin?' he said. 'Are you well?'
'Just a little stuffy in here, is all,' Pippin said, his eyes on the
progressing tunnel.
Ferdibrand had noticed a tingle in his nose, something he associated with mould
and mildew, and he wondered how the Thain's lungs might be affected by such a
thing.
'Perhaps we should go outside, seek some fresh air,' he said, eyeing Pippin
keenly. He half expected a refusal, but to his surprise, the Thain agreed.
'Yes,' he said, 'I could use some fresh air.' Ferdi trailed him out of the mine
entrance, catching him when he staggered on the threshold.
'Pippin?' he asked.
'Just... having a bit of trouble catching my breath, is all,' his cousin
answered. His breath came in gasps, and he leaned against Ferdi as they stood
in the rain.
'Steady,' Ferdi said, easing him down. 'Tolly!' he snapped. Tolly came quickly,
seeing the Thain sitting on the ground.
'Get some shovels and a canvas out of the waggons,' Ferdi said, 'and send Hilly
for a healer, right away. I'm surprised one didn't come with you when you
fetched the engineers.'
Tolly dispatched Hilly to collect his hobbled pony and put the saddle back on,
then fetched the wanted items. Ferdi jammed the shovels into the soil, laying
the canvas over the top to make a makeshift shelter from the rain, then he
crouched to address Pippin. 'Pip,' he said. 'Is the air out here any better?'
'It might be,' Pippin answered, 'if I could just persuade my lungs to take it
in.' Ferdi nodded, worried.
'It seems there is a spate of babes aborning this day,' Tolly said, also
crouching. 'All the healers are already occupied.'
'Babes?' Ferdi said sharply. 'What of my Nell?' he asked.
Tolly shook his head. 'Happily, she's still waiting.' Or unhappily, as it were.
Ferdi's wife had been ready to have it over with for more than a fortnight,
according to Ferdi.
Hilly came up then, to say he was ready. 'Get a healer,' Ferdi told him,
'preferably Woodruff, but I'll settle for Mardibold. Perhaps they can have
their patients hurry things along, or else hold off a bit...'
'It's clear you've never been a father,' Pippin said.
'No,' Ferdi snapped, 'I'm just a da to Nell's children. Rudivacar was the
children's father; he was at all their births. But I've a birth to be attending
any day now.'
'Just don't tell Nell to hurry things along or hold off a bit,' Pippin gasped.
'You save your breath to cool your porridge and let me worry about Nell,' Ferdi
said shortly.
'I'd save it if I could get a breath,' Pippin said. Hilly gave his shoulder a
squeeze and turned away to mount his pony and take off at a run across the
plateau, and on down the switchback trail, across the plain, around the back of
the Smials, and on to Tuckborough.
Ferdi took off his own heavy wool cloak and eased it under Pippin. 'Shouldn't
be sitting on the damp ground,' he muttered.
'And you shouldn't be standing in the rain, you'll catch your death,' Pippin
retorted, but his words turned into a cough, which constricted his breathing
even more. At the end, he whispered, 'Everything's closing up, Ferdi, I
can't...'
'Hold on,' Ferdi said. He watched the workers bringing their steady stream of
buckets out of the mine, emptying the dirt to the side. Quite a nice pile was
growing. 'They're making good progress, it seems, Pip,' he said, to take their
minds off the problem of breathing. He sat down next to Pippin, holding him
upright to help his breathing, remembering how the healers kept him propped in
a sitting position whenever he had a bad spell.
'Hold on, Pip,' he said again, and his cousin turned to look at him blearily.
'Air everywhere,' Pippin said, waving vaguely at the panorama below them, 'but
none for me, it seems.' He closed his eyes, the better to concentrate on
drawing each new breath. Ferdibrand could hear the air whistling in and out, an
ominous sound.
'Where are those blasted healers!' he snapped, and Tolly looked at him in
astonishment. It was even more worrisome, that Pippin did not open his eyes and
reprimand him for swearing. Suddenly, Tolly pointed. 'There,' he said. Ferdi
looked, and saw two ponies, crossing the plain at a gallop.
'They're coming, Pip,' he said encouragingly, but the Thain gave no sign of
hearing.
It seemed to take forever, but was really not much longer before Healer
Woodruff pulled up her steaming pony before them and jumped down, running the
few steps to the Thain and kneeling on the wet ground. 'Thain Peregrin,' she
said urgently. 'Are you with us?'
She spoke to Ferdibrand as she pulled up Pippin's shirt, smearing pungent
ointment over his chest, and then over his back for good measure. 'How long ago
did he speak last?' she asked.
'It was awhile,' Ferdi said. 'When you were perhaps halfway across the plain.'
She nodded, calculating, then pulled out a flask. 'It's not hot anymore,' she
said to Pippin, 'but it's been steeping a good long time, so it's good and
strong.' She viciously pinched an earlobe between thumb and finger, digging in
her nails. 'Come on, Thain, rouse yourself, don't make me use a feeding tube.'
Pippin groaned and lifted his head. Woodruff released his ear, saying, 'That's
right. Come now, drink up.' She held the flask to his lips and tilted. Pippin
made a terrible face and she said, 'I know, it's awful stuff, but it'll open
things up for you. Drink!'
After she got the contents of the flask down, she took his wrist in her hand
and sat back on her heels. 'His heart is strong,' she said. 'Now if we can just
get those air passages opened up...' She looked at Ferdi again. 'Mould, was
it?'
'I think so,' Ferdi said. Woodruff nodded and turned her attention back to
Pippin. It seemed to Ferdi that he was already breathing easier, and soon he
opened his eyes and tried to sit up on his own.
'That's better,' Woodruff said. 'Let us get you back to the Smials.'
'No,' Pippin said. 'The lads...'
From inside the hole came a cheer. Ferdi said, 'Sounds as if we don't have to
worry about the lads anymore.' He jerked his head at Tolly, and the latter
entered the mine, only to return with a grin.
'All safe,' he said. 'Very dirty, but safe.'
'Very dirty,' Pippin said. 'That's a bonus. Hardly fair. They get an adventure,
they get lots of attention, and they get very dirty. What punishment can
overcome such advantages, I ask you?'
'Go saddle the ponies, Tolly,' Ferdi said. 'I assume the Thain's better riding
back to the Smials with us propping him in the saddle, than lying down in a
waggon bed.'
'You're probably right,' Healer Woodruff said thoughtfully. 'A smoother ride,
and propped up is better than lying down, any road.'
'We'll make a healer of you yet, Ferdi,' Pippin said.
Ferdibrand shuddered. 'Spare me,' he said. 'Nobody ever listens to healers.'
'I can attest to that,' Woodruff said dryly. A crowd came out, then, grown
hobbits leading blinking boys into the rainy daylight. The Took cousins'
fathers had firm hold of their sons, and Aldebrand led Faramir to the Thain.
'Here he is, Sir, none the worse for wear. A bit hungry, perhaps,' he said.
Pippin looked up to Faramir's grimy face. 'What do you have to say for
yourself?' he asked.
'Nothing, Sir,' came the answer.
Pippin lifted an eyebrow. 'Nothing? he asked. 'Not even a thank you to those
who dug you out of that pit?'
'Thank you,' Faramir said, grudgingly, to the engineer.
Aldebrand eyed him closely. 'I'd say "Welcome", were the thanks more
heartfelt,' he said.
'I'm sure my father will make it worth your while,' Faramir said sullenly, and
Ferdi sucked in his breath. Pippin stiffened beside him.
'Faramir,' his voice cracked, and the lad had the good grace to flinch.
'I beg your pardon, sir,' the lad said to everyone and nobody, then added, 'Can
we go, now?'
'Take him home for me, Aldi?' Pippin said. 'I'll deal with him when we get back
to the Smials.'
'Certainly, Sir,' the chief engineer said with grave courtesy, taking Faramir's
arm and leading him away.
As they walked away, they heard Faramir protest, 'I'm not a babe, that you have
to carry me.'
'Could have surprised me, lad, the way you're acting,' was the engineer's
reply, and then they passed out of earshot.
'Whatever's the matter with him?' Pippin asked in disbelief.
'He's merely reflecting the company he keeps,' Ferdi said quietly. He refrained
from saying I told you so, but Pippin could see it in his eyes, and he
nodded soberly.
