by Sally Gardens
Chapter Thirteen: What the Rain Brought
"All right, lad." Frodo shook the dice in his hand and rolled them onto the game board that lay between himself and Fro. "How many?" he asked Fro, his hand hovering above his game piece.
Winter had begun in earnest, with a howling wet storm that had arrived in the night and been rattling the shutters ever since. On such a day, the rug in front of the parlor hearth was a cozy place to take refuge. Frodo was lying on his stomach, sprawled on the rug, and Fro was likewise sprawled across from him, his elbows propped on the rug and his hands cupping his little round face. So very like Sam, thought Frodo, smiling as he remembered his first acquaintances with Bilbo's gardener's youngest son.
The child scrunched his face and counted the dots on the dice. "Six!"
"Very good." Frodo tapped the game piece along the squares. "Into the apple orchard!" he crowed, glancing over at Fro.
"Oh, no you're not!" protested the lad. "You said we have to land on an exact count, and you had six, but the apple orchard's only five."
Frodo winked, and dutifully moved his piece. "I was just testing your maths, my lad." Fro gave him a lopsided grin that as good as said I don't believe you, but he said nothing as he reached for the dice.
A great slam of a door made both Frodos jump.
"Hullo, hullo! Is anybody home? I should hope so, with the front door—"
"Merry!" cried Frodo, scrambling to his feet and running down the hall to embrace his cousin.
Merry returned the embrace with a strength that threatened to knock the wind out of Frodo. "Oh, Frodo, it is so good to see you again!" He gave Frodo a hearty pat on the back and stepped back to have a better look. "You are looking well," was the verdict. "I must say, Sam and Rose are keeping you fed."
"Uncle Merry! Uncle Merry! Uncle Merry!"
"And my other favorite Frodo." Merry grinned at the child, who was jumping around excitedly in circles, and gathered him into his arms to swing him around in a playful hug. "How's my lad?"
"Uncle Frodo's playing Apples and Plums with me, and I'm winning!" Fro bragged.
"Well, that's none too difficult," Merry dryly remarked, and was rewarded with a light jab in the ribs from the elder Frodo.
"Come play with us!" urged Fro, pulling on Merry's arm.
"Half a minute, lad, half a minute." Gently Frodo took hold of Fro's hand and pried it loose from Merry. "Give him a moment to hang up his things and dry off. You're soaked through," he said to Merry, clicking his tongue.
"Not at all," countered Merry, "though I couldn't help getting a bit damp. It is raining cats and dogs, and sheep and pigs as well. Have to watch your head, in weather like this," added Merry, winking at Fro. Fro giggled.
"Why don't you go set up a new game, for the three of us," suggested Frodo to Fro, "while I help Uncle Merry with his things?"
"Yes, Uncle Frodo," and he was scurrying down the hall.
Merry watched Frodo watching after him. "You're quite fond of your namesake," he commented, hanging his dripping cloak on a hook in the front hall.
"I am." Frodo smiled. "Though I was rather less than fond when I learned he'd been terrifying his little sister with tales of nasty sharp-toothed hedgehogs that devour Hobbits for breakfast."
"Go on!" gasped Merry, grinning. "What an imagination!"
"Oh, he thought he was clever, indeed," said Frodo, eyes alight. "But not so clever by the time Uncle Frodo had a word with him. A solemn look in the eye and a sigh of, 'Fro, I am so very disappointed in you,' and I swear, I thought he was about to flood the valley."
Merry ran his hands vigorously through his damp hair. "Poor mite."
"Hm," snorted Frodo. "Poor Rose-lass, who woke up half out of her skin with fright dreaming about the nasty hedgehog devouring Mummy and Daddy and everyone else within range."
"Uncle Frodo! Uncle Merry!" called Fro from the parlor.
"Coming, Fro," answered Merry, giving Frodo a playful cuff on the arm. Under his breath he added, "Can't blame the lad for being a rascal. Look who he's named after." That earned him another elbow in the ribs, and he and Frodo were laughing as they entered the parlor to settle in for a round or two of Apples and Plums.