Notes to Readers:
Bookworm!!! You caught a typo!!! (or a brain fade, I suppose you could call
it). Thank you!!! It is now corrected, if you are reading this.
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...
Sunhawk, you made the Muse crack a smile. That's very hard to do! Usually we're
fighting over writing. (She's raring to go when I'm up to my ears in Real Life,
I'm ready to go and she's off to Hawaii...)
Xena, that's right. Folk ought to listen to Ferdi, and he's been telling them
so for years. Hey! He really is qualified to be a healer. Very observant, comes
up with good solutions, and nobody listens to him.
Hai, yup, a lot will be going on. As my friends and I used to say gleefully,
'The plot thickens...'.
Aemilia Rose, Farry is acting like a spoiled brat, all right. Somehow he's got
to turn his attitude around before the start of "Down and Out", which
is set two years later.
FantasyFan, your description of Faramir is apt. His head has been turned by
flattery and forbidden fun. "Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in
secret is delicious, but their way leads unto death..." You're right about
Pippin's breathing problems. Someone else suggested that the pneumonia had led
to asthma, along with the chronic bronchitis. Back to Farry, yes, there will be
consequences, but sometimes it is not easy to turn around a bad attitude.
(Sometimes? How about "often"...) Yes, I got the review at SoA, none
at ff.net however. O, BTW, in reference to your review of
"Truth"--"FirstBorn" is the 9-chapter story.
"Truth" looks to be coming in around 22 chapters.
To all: ffnet is acting a little odd lately. I am getting some reviews in email
that don't show up at the site, I am seeing some on the site that never show up
in the mail, and some are not showing up at all. If you sent a review and I
have not made reference to it above, I thank you for taking the time to review.
Reviews are helpful, and give me a viewpoint of a story that I have difficulty
achieving otherwise, since I can "see" the story all the way to the
end and don't know quite how it "looks" to someone who doesn't have
the outline handy.
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. I'm
also told there is an "author alert" feature. 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.
***
6. Kicking at the Traces
Diamond hugged her son, dirt and all, but his sullenness did not escape her.
'Not your fault?' she said in surprise. 'They bound you and forced you,
pony-back? The ruffians!'
Faramir did not smile, merely tightened his lips and shuffled his feet. He was
altogether too grown-up for an eight-year-old.
'Perhaps these cousins are too old for you to be going about with them,' Pippin
said quietly. His breathing was easier than it had been at the abandoned mine,
but there was no hiding the pungent odor of the salve. Diamond and Faramir both
knew he'd had another bad spell, and it didn't help matters.
'No!' Faramir shouted. 'Just because you cannot follow where I go, doesn't mean
you have to tie me to the Smials...' he stopped, shocked by his own words.
'You will bathe, and go off to your bed,' Pippin said evenly, and the fingers
of Faramir's minder tightened on the boy's shoulders. 'You'll be on water
rations for the rest of today, and tomorrow, to help you think on the
consequences of your actions.' He'd be in good company. The minder, Stoney, and
the escort were on water rations as well.
'Pippin...' Faramir heard his mother say as he was led away to the bath.
'No, Diamond, Ferdi was right...' his father was saying as the door closed
behind them.
***
In the depths of the night, when all in the Smials were asleep save the bakers,
shaping the loaves for early breakfast, and the guards who stood outside the
entrances to the Smials, even in these times of peace, a small figure stole
down the quiet, darkened corridors, eased open the door of the Thain's private
quarters, and slipped inside.
Creeping on silent hobbit feet, he entered Faramir's bedroom, slipped
noiselessly to the bedside, put a hand over Faramir's mouth. The son of the
Thain came instantly awake, eyes wide with alarm, but recognising young
Palangrim in the light of the watchlamp, he relaxed.
Palangrim smiled and nodded, pulling out a handkerchief stuffed with food. He
put his lips close to Faramir's ear. 'I heard,' he breathed. 'Saved you half my
supper.' He pressed the handkerchief into Faramir's hands, and with a glance at
the snoring minder, he glided from the room.
Faramir wasted no time eating the cold, somewhat flattened food, thinking all
the while how good it was to have a true friend.
***
The next few days were boring, forbidden as he was from playing with his
friends. Palangrim brought him more food the next night, both young hobbits
having to smother giggles at his boldness, and the stupidity of the grown-ups.
Faramir barely kept his expression sober, at his first meal following the
enforced fast. He had to stare at his plate and bite the inside of his lip,
hard, when his father said, 'I hope you have thought on your actions.'
'Yes, Sir,' he muttered.
'Farry, look at me,' Pippin said, but Faramir kept his eyes on his plate.
Pippin sighed. 'No need to be ashamed,' he said. 'We all make errors in
judgment, at some time.'
Some more than others, Faramir thought to himself. From the stories he'd
heard, his father had made more than his share. He didn't answer, and Pippin
let it go, thinking his son properly chastised.
Faramir moped around the Thain's quarters for a day or two, refusing to play,
even when Ferdibrand's son Rudivar stopped by to invite him. Rudi was so
perishingly dull. He almost never participated in the mischief that the other
lads thought so diverting.
'We haven't banned you from all your friends, you know,' Diamond said.
'I know,' Faramir answered. 'I just don't feel like playing.' He buried his
nose in a book to forestall further comment. Diamond sighed. At least he was
eating with good appetite, so she wouldn't worry about his spirits.
That night, Palangrim made another daring visit, and the two laid plans in
whispers.
The next day, Faramir looked up at breakfast. 'I'd like to play with Rudi this
day, if I may,' he said.
'That's a fine idea,' Pippin replied with a smile. 'Rudi's a good friend.' He
drained his teacup and set it precisely on the saucer. 'Well, my loves, I must
be off if I am to finish the day's work by teatime,' he said. He kissed
Diamond, and ruffled Faramir's curls. 'Don't do anything I wouldn't do,' he
added with a grin.
'I won't,' Faramir promised. After all, his father had done any number of
stupid things in his youth. What Farry and Palan were planning hardly held a
candle to him.
Faramir did seek out Rudi, and they played through the morning hours. He even
sent word to Diamond that he would share the noontide meal with Rudi's family,
and so he did. Shortly after that, as the two lads were tossing pony shoes in
the yard, Faramir manufactured an argument and stalked away. Rudivar called
after him, but he stiffened his shoulders and shook his head, plainly furious.
Since Farry was headed into the stables, probably to feed apples to his pony,
or maybe his father's, Rudi shrugged and turned away. Faramir couldn't get into
trouble with the stable hobbits present.
At the far end of the stables, in an empty stall, Palangrim slapped Faramir on
the back. 'Nicely done!' he said. 'You got rid of that old stick-in-the-mud
very neatly, I'd say.'
'Yes, and he won't be calling Stoney back to duty anytime soon,' Faramir
whispered. 'They figure that I'll spend an hour or two talking to the ponies
and grooming them, 'cause that's what I always do when I'm mad.'
'You're not mad now, are you, cousin?' Palangrim said with a grin. He shook his
head in delight. 'A neat trick, very neat indeed. They'll never miss us.'
'Where are the others?' Faramir asked.
'Gone ahead; they have the fishing gear and worms and everything, even a
snack,' Palan answered. He poked his head out of the stall, to see no stable
hobbits nearby. 'All's clear... come on!' The two eased themselves out of the
stall, and out the side door of the stables with no one the wiser, save an old
pony that pricked its ears at them and snorted in annoyance when they didn't
stop to chat.
When Pippin missed Faramir at tea that afternoon, Diamond said, 'O that's
right, he's taking tea with Ferdi's family this day.'
'Ah,' Pippin said. 'I'm glad to hear it.'
