Like Brothers
Chapter 3
Worms
During breakfast Pippin continued to perform his new talent, He tried spelling everything that was on his plate. He got nearly everything correct, but he missed. 'toast' and 'sausage'
Still the Brandybucks and Tooks were greatly impressed. Pippin's mother and father seemed to glow with pride. Everyone seemed to mention over and over again that Pippin was remarkable and the most intelligent six year old they've ever witnessed. They also praised Merry for his wonderful teaching skills.
"Merry's going to show me more after breakfast. Aren't you, Merry?" Pippin asked every few minutes. And Merry simply answered with a nod of his head.
Merry ate breakfast silently. He wasn't really paying any attention to the conversation that took place during breakfast. He was trying to think about what he was going to teach Pippin later on that day. He thought he would show Pippin lower case letters, and let him practice with that. He supposed that Pippin would be asking him how to spell all sorts of words, so Merry would go over those as well.
As soon as everyone finished breakfast, Pippin rushed over to Merry, "Come on let's get started!" He grabbed Merry by the wrist and tugged, but Merry remained motionless, "Come on!"
Merry had a sly grin on his face. He watched the little hobbit tug and pull for him to move, "Come on! Come on!" He released his grip on Merry. Pippin put his hands on his hips, "Very funny," he said shortly.
Merry laughed. Pervinca and Pimpernel's giggles were also heard from behind. Merry crossed his arms, and stuck his nose in the air as a stubborn child would do if they didn't get their way, refusing to move.
Pippin walked behind Merry. He put his hands on Merry's back, and leaned all his weight on him, "Merry! Come ON!" He pushed harder and the little hobbits feet slid slightly, and he almost lost his balance, "Merry! Merry, this ISN'T FUNNY!"
Merry laughed again.
"Come on, Merry. That's enough," said Pearl.
Merry relaxed, allowing his cousin to push him down the hall and into his room. Both of them laughing as they went. Once they were inside the room, Pippin immediately ran to the small desk, where they practiced the night before. He bounced up and down in his chair, "What're we going to do today, Merry? What're you going to show me today?"
Merry took a seat next to Pippin, "Well, let's see..."
"Merry, can we learn some new words? Can we? I need to know how to spell 'Brandybuck'! What did I do wrong last time? Are you going to show me the right way to spell 'toast'? How about the--"
"Calm down!" chuckled Merry, "Let me think..." he paused, "Right... I was going to show you lower case letters."
"What's that?"
"Remember the alphabet?"
"Sure I do! Of course I do! A...B...C...D...E--"
"Wait, wait, wait!"
Pippin stopped, "What? Did I do it wrong? What did I do, Merry?"
"There's more."
"What? More what? Letters? I thought you showed me the WHOLE alphabet!"
"I did. Well... look..." he picked up a quill and dipped it in ink. On a clean spread of parchment, he wrote, 'A'. "What's this?" he asked Pippin.
"That's A."
"Right. Now every letter of the alphabet has two parts to it. Yesterday, I showed you the entire alphabet, but only in capital letters. There are capital letters and lower case letters."
Pippin gave Merry a confused look.
"Um... You see Pippin, the letters I showed you the other night have a... er... partner."
"A partner?"
Merry nodded, "Right," he wrote, 'a', "This is A's partner. Its a lower case letter. Get it?"
Pippin studied the two figures for a while, "I think so... Merry? Why do they need partners?"
"Well, when you write you have to combine the two... When you spell things, they are normally in lower cases. Except when its a name. In that case the first letter is capital and the rest are--"
"Lower cases."
"Right. The same is with sentences. The first letter of every sentence is capital--"
"And the rest are lower cases..."
Merry nodded.
"Merry? What's a sentence?
"Er... never mind that. I'll go over sentences some other time. Here, let me show you the entire alphabet in lower case letters."
Pippin practiced writing the alphabet in both capital and lower cases. After a while, the hobbit didn't need to look at Merry's example, and could do it from memory. "I think I'm getting it, Merry."
Merry smiled, "Good." He looked out the window and noticed that it wasn't raining anymore. In the sky hung dark clouds, but it still looked a lot more welcoming than it had been for the last two days of nonstop rain. Merry found that he missed the outdoors greatly, and longed to get out of the house.
Pippin completed writing the alphabet out for the thirtieth time, "What now, Merry?"
"What? O, right... Now I'll show you how to spell your name using both capital and lower case letters." He took the quill and spelled out, 'Peregrin Took'. Pippin practiced this for several minutes, and all the while, Merry starred out the window. The outdoors seemed to be calling for him as the gray skies seemed to slowly disappear, and the sun shined for what seemed like the first time in ages.
Merry looked down at Pippin, "Well, that's enough for today, Pippin."
"What? But... but Merry... it's barely been an hour and a half! We practiced for three yesterday! O, please, Merry! Can't we practice for just one more hour? Please?"
Merry glanced at Pippin, then out the window, "Pippin... I promise we'll practice later on today, alright? We'll practice tonight for a whole hour, alright Pippin?"
Pippin bowed his head sadly, and nodded, "OK... but you promise?"
"Sure."
Pippin smiled again. Merry smiled back; he left the room and walked towards the front door. Pippin chased after him, "So what are we going to do now, Merry?"
Merry looked down at his cousin, "Pippin... why don't you go play with your sisters? Hm? Show them what you learned today."
"No. I want to go with you, Merry."
"But...er...Pippin," Merry looked at those huge green eyes, that once had no effect on him, but for some reason they now did, "O... fine. Come on, Pippin."
Pippin squealed with joy. Merry opened the door, and they went outside.
"What are we going to do, Merry? Hide and seek?"
Merry thought about it. He could easily get rid of Pippin with hide and seek again, but those eyes..."Pippin... I'm tired of hide and seek. Let's find something else to do."
"Alright!" Pippin looked around. He looked down at his feet, "O! Look! A worm! Look, another one over there! And another! And another, Merry, see? Why are there so many worms? Do you know why, Merry?"
"They always come out when it rains."
"Why?"
"I don't know. They just do."
"I can count to ten, Merry. I can count all the way up to ten. I bet there's a whole lot more than ten worms out here!"
Pippin began to run around collecting worms so that he could count them. Merry walked over to a tree, and sat beneath it.
"Merry!" called Pippin, "You have to look too! We have to find ALL the worms, so that we can count them!"
"I am! I'm looking right here!" Merry lied. He pawed at the ground pretending that he was looking for worms, but the truth was he was just trying to relax and enjoy the outdoors. He leaned against the tree's trunk. It seemed like he had been locked up in Brandy Hall forever, and the fresh air was a breathe of relief.
Pippin ran over to Merry and dropped a mess of worms at his feet, "I saw more over there, Merry," he said pointing somewhere off in the distance, "I'll go get them!" he said running in that direction.
Merry sighed. Hide and seek was starting to look like a very attractive game. He thought about it again and again, but every time those green eyes locked with his, he felt he couldn't do it. He figured it out... those eyes held a secret hypnotic power. They made everyone fall in love with him and give him whatever he desired. They made all the girls go, "Awwww..." and made them believe that he was indeed the most adorable thing they ever saw. They made all the adults go crazy, by making mothers give him cookies and cake, and by making fathers everywhere talk about what a good strong lad he was. Those eyes were it. Merry was certain. And he was foolish enough to fall under their spell.
Pippin returned with more worms, "How many are there, Merry?"
Merry counted, "Twenty-six."
"Do you think that's all? I better make sure!" he ran off and checked to see if he missed any worms, checking under rocks, behind shrubs, and so on. He returned once again, "No. I got them all." He looked at Merry, "What do we do now, Merry?"
"Why don't you go and see Pearl and the others?"
"No. I want to stay with you."
Merry thought for a bit, "Are you sure you got ALL the worms? Why don't you check again?"
"No. I got them all."
"Are you sure? Did you check down there, across the road... in those bushes, see?"
Pippin gasped, "I forgot!" He ran off to go look, and Merry quietly slipped back indoors.
"That should keep him out if my hair for a while," he said to himself as he walked back to his room. He stretched out on his bed. He had not noticed how exhausted he was until now, and it didn't take long for the hobbit to fall asleep.
Chapter 3
Worms
During breakfast Pippin continued to perform his new talent, He tried spelling everything that was on his plate. He got nearly everything correct, but he missed. 'toast' and 'sausage'
Still the Brandybucks and Tooks were greatly impressed. Pippin's mother and father seemed to glow with pride. Everyone seemed to mention over and over again that Pippin was remarkable and the most intelligent six year old they've ever witnessed. They also praised Merry for his wonderful teaching skills.
"Merry's going to show me more after breakfast. Aren't you, Merry?" Pippin asked every few minutes. And Merry simply answered with a nod of his head.
Merry ate breakfast silently. He wasn't really paying any attention to the conversation that took place during breakfast. He was trying to think about what he was going to teach Pippin later on that day. He thought he would show Pippin lower case letters, and let him practice with that. He supposed that Pippin would be asking him how to spell all sorts of words, so Merry would go over those as well.
As soon as everyone finished breakfast, Pippin rushed over to Merry, "Come on let's get started!" He grabbed Merry by the wrist and tugged, but Merry remained motionless, "Come on!"
Merry had a sly grin on his face. He watched the little hobbit tug and pull for him to move, "Come on! Come on!" He released his grip on Merry. Pippin put his hands on his hips, "Very funny," he said shortly.
Merry laughed. Pervinca and Pimpernel's giggles were also heard from behind. Merry crossed his arms, and stuck his nose in the air as a stubborn child would do if they didn't get their way, refusing to move.
Pippin walked behind Merry. He put his hands on Merry's back, and leaned all his weight on him, "Merry! Come ON!" He pushed harder and the little hobbits feet slid slightly, and he almost lost his balance, "Merry! Merry, this ISN'T FUNNY!"
Merry laughed again.
"Come on, Merry. That's enough," said Pearl.
Merry relaxed, allowing his cousin to push him down the hall and into his room. Both of them laughing as they went. Once they were inside the room, Pippin immediately ran to the small desk, where they practiced the night before. He bounced up and down in his chair, "What're we going to do today, Merry? What're you going to show me today?"
Merry took a seat next to Pippin, "Well, let's see..."
"Merry, can we learn some new words? Can we? I need to know how to spell 'Brandybuck'! What did I do wrong last time? Are you going to show me the right way to spell 'toast'? How about the--"
"Calm down!" chuckled Merry, "Let me think..." he paused, "Right... I was going to show you lower case letters."
"What's that?"
"Remember the alphabet?"
"Sure I do! Of course I do! A...B...C...D...E--"
"Wait, wait, wait!"
Pippin stopped, "What? Did I do it wrong? What did I do, Merry?"
"There's more."
"What? More what? Letters? I thought you showed me the WHOLE alphabet!"
"I did. Well... look..." he picked up a quill and dipped it in ink. On a clean spread of parchment, he wrote, 'A'. "What's this?" he asked Pippin.
"That's A."
"Right. Now every letter of the alphabet has two parts to it. Yesterday, I showed you the entire alphabet, but only in capital letters. There are capital letters and lower case letters."
Pippin gave Merry a confused look.
"Um... You see Pippin, the letters I showed you the other night have a... er... partner."
"A partner?"
Merry nodded, "Right," he wrote, 'a', "This is A's partner. Its a lower case letter. Get it?"
Pippin studied the two figures for a while, "I think so... Merry? Why do they need partners?"
"Well, when you write you have to combine the two... When you spell things, they are normally in lower cases. Except when its a name. In that case the first letter is capital and the rest are--"
"Lower cases."
"Right. The same is with sentences. The first letter of every sentence is capital--"
"And the rest are lower cases..."
Merry nodded.
"Merry? What's a sentence?
"Er... never mind that. I'll go over sentences some other time. Here, let me show you the entire alphabet in lower case letters."
Pippin practiced writing the alphabet in both capital and lower cases. After a while, the hobbit didn't need to look at Merry's example, and could do it from memory. "I think I'm getting it, Merry."
Merry smiled, "Good." He looked out the window and noticed that it wasn't raining anymore. In the sky hung dark clouds, but it still looked a lot more welcoming than it had been for the last two days of nonstop rain. Merry found that he missed the outdoors greatly, and longed to get out of the house.
Pippin completed writing the alphabet out for the thirtieth time, "What now, Merry?"
"What? O, right... Now I'll show you how to spell your name using both capital and lower case letters." He took the quill and spelled out, 'Peregrin Took'. Pippin practiced this for several minutes, and all the while, Merry starred out the window. The outdoors seemed to be calling for him as the gray skies seemed to slowly disappear, and the sun shined for what seemed like the first time in ages.
Merry looked down at Pippin, "Well, that's enough for today, Pippin."
"What? But... but Merry... it's barely been an hour and a half! We practiced for three yesterday! O, please, Merry! Can't we practice for just one more hour? Please?"
Merry glanced at Pippin, then out the window, "Pippin... I promise we'll practice later on today, alright? We'll practice tonight for a whole hour, alright Pippin?"
Pippin bowed his head sadly, and nodded, "OK... but you promise?"
"Sure."
Pippin smiled again. Merry smiled back; he left the room and walked towards the front door. Pippin chased after him, "So what are we going to do now, Merry?"
Merry looked down at his cousin, "Pippin... why don't you go play with your sisters? Hm? Show them what you learned today."
"No. I want to go with you, Merry."
"But...er...Pippin," Merry looked at those huge green eyes, that once had no effect on him, but for some reason they now did, "O... fine. Come on, Pippin."
Pippin squealed with joy. Merry opened the door, and they went outside.
"What are we going to do, Merry? Hide and seek?"
Merry thought about it. He could easily get rid of Pippin with hide and seek again, but those eyes..."Pippin... I'm tired of hide and seek. Let's find something else to do."
"Alright!" Pippin looked around. He looked down at his feet, "O! Look! A worm! Look, another one over there! And another! And another, Merry, see? Why are there so many worms? Do you know why, Merry?"
"They always come out when it rains."
"Why?"
"I don't know. They just do."
"I can count to ten, Merry. I can count all the way up to ten. I bet there's a whole lot more than ten worms out here!"
Pippin began to run around collecting worms so that he could count them. Merry walked over to a tree, and sat beneath it.
"Merry!" called Pippin, "You have to look too! We have to find ALL the worms, so that we can count them!"
"I am! I'm looking right here!" Merry lied. He pawed at the ground pretending that he was looking for worms, but the truth was he was just trying to relax and enjoy the outdoors. He leaned against the tree's trunk. It seemed like he had been locked up in Brandy Hall forever, and the fresh air was a breathe of relief.
Pippin ran over to Merry and dropped a mess of worms at his feet, "I saw more over there, Merry," he said pointing somewhere off in the distance, "I'll go get them!" he said running in that direction.
Merry sighed. Hide and seek was starting to look like a very attractive game. He thought about it again and again, but every time those green eyes locked with his, he felt he couldn't do it. He figured it out... those eyes held a secret hypnotic power. They made everyone fall in love with him and give him whatever he desired. They made all the girls go, "Awwww..." and made them believe that he was indeed the most adorable thing they ever saw. They made all the adults go crazy, by making mothers give him cookies and cake, and by making fathers everywhere talk about what a good strong lad he was. Those eyes were it. Merry was certain. And he was foolish enough to fall under their spell.
Pippin returned with more worms, "How many are there, Merry?"
Merry counted, "Twenty-six."
"Do you think that's all? I better make sure!" he ran off and checked to see if he missed any worms, checking under rocks, behind shrubs, and so on. He returned once again, "No. I got them all." He looked at Merry, "What do we do now, Merry?"
"Why don't you go and see Pearl and the others?"
"No. I want to stay with you."
Merry thought for a bit, "Are you sure you got ALL the worms? Why don't you check again?"
"No. I got them all."
"Are you sure? Did you check down there, across the road... in those bushes, see?"
Pippin gasped, "I forgot!" He ran off to go look, and Merry quietly slipped back indoors.
"That should keep him out if my hair for a while," he said to himself as he walked back to his room. He stretched out on his bed. He had not noticed how exhausted he was until now, and it didn't take long for the hobbit to fall asleep.