~*~*~*~
Marroc's Tale
Chapter 8:
By Hippy :) Hobbit
Dedicated to Niph
~*~*~*~
"Is that him?"
"Yeah."
"Why's he have a goat in here?"
"I dunno. But Mother said we shan't bother him. She says he's a 'problem child'."
The two girls giggled to themselves, watching Marroc cross the hall with Butch walking by him. Saradoc had allowed the goat to stay with Marroc because it seemed to make the lad feel better. He began to eat more often, though it was still tiny bites and nibbles, and he was finally able to sleep without being with his mother. Besides, Butch wasn't that much trouble. He was clean, tame and didn't like staying in the stables when he had to share a pen with 3 other goats anyway.
Marroc looked up. He could hear their chortling, and knew immediately whom they were giggling at. He felt his heart sink to his stomach and looked down to the ground, holding back the tears.
You could never say that Marroc didn't want friends. He did. He wanted them badly. But he had been raised in a very dysfunctional family- something none of the well-to-do Brandybuck children would never understand. He had an abusive father and a loving mother, in denial of her husband's actions until she had witnessed him beat their son.
Maggie had always been the pride of the Buckland. She was credited as being the sweetest; kindest; and, not to mention, fairest hobbit-lass to ever be born in the Shire. This was probably very much an exaggeration, but her parents often boasted of her to visitors. They even promised a gentle-hobbit from Tuckbourgh her hand in marriage.
Maggie loved playing out in the fields near the Old Forest as a child with her cousins. She often would braid sunflowers in her golden hair, and that was how she became known as The Flower of Brandyhall.
But then came Tarroc, the young, wild refugee of Tookland. He met Maggie one evening out in the wheat fields and they became instantly attracted to each other.
Tarroc was clever and also very curious about the world outside of the Shire. Maggie was too. She was known to hide along the Withywindle paths to observe strangers and listen to them talk of the ways of the wide world, which often got her into much trouble. But the two bonded for 2 weeks, before Tarroc brought Maggie to the harvest festival, which made everyone convinced that they were courting.
Tarroc announced their engagement two years to that date, while the elders of Brandyhall scoffed and scowled at him. They knew their Maggie could do SO much better. But she refused to decline from Tarroc's proposal and they were married before either had even come of age- Tarroc was 27 and Maggie was 23.
Perhaps that's why they waited so long to have children. 20 years, nearly. They hadn't been ready. But Maggie knew now that it should have happened earlier.
Perhaps if it had, they wouldn't be here now. If they had had Marroc 20 years ago, he would be a tweenager, almost of age, probably courting a lass himself. But now he was young, and innocent...hurting...
~*~*~*~
Marroc had actually been on his way to go see his mother when he'd seen the girls laughing at him. After a few haze spazes had returned from the stress she'd been under, Brandyhall's healer had ordered Maggie to bed until she began to feel better. She'd been sleeping all week and Marroc had not been allowed in to see her, until this morning when he and Butch had managed to slip away from cousin Merry's watch.
Marroc had also managed to coax the cooks into making him up a tray for afternoon tea. ~Sad puppy-dog eyes seem to work well~ he noted for future reference, carrying the awkward tray out. They had been reluctant as the tray it's self was about as big as the lad, and Marroc had a reputation for being not-so-graceful when it came to walking, especially while carrying large items. But he managed to make it to his mother's room with no incident.
He placed the tray down to open the door, then picked it up and carried it in, before setting it down again. Slowly creeping over the edge of the bed, Marroc boosted himself up and crawled towards his sleeping mother.
He stared at her face, soft and smooth it was- though almost 50 years old, she still looked like a young lass.
Just as he was reaching down to touch her face, she jumped and let out a small scream, "MARROC!"
Marroc smiled, not knowing he had scared her right out of her skin, "MUMA!, he yelled, hugging her.
Maggie tried to slow down her breathing, "Marroc! Why did you do that?" she asked in a firm tone.
Marroc's face went sort of pouty, "I jus' wanned to have tea with you, Muma, 'cause Meriadoc norra let me come see you in a while, Muma, so I ran away from him and brought you tea," He said it all in one breath, then nodded, making his curls bounce up and down like springs.
Maggie sighed, "They're keeping you away from me for a reason... this may be contagious and that means you might get sick... no one is sure yet."
Marroc pouted, " I only wanted ta come have tea with you, Muma..."
His mum began to stroke his soft hair, "Sweetie... I just don't want you getting sick...you're very susceptible to diseases since you have had problems with your hear-"
But the lad had pulled himself away from his mother, jumped off the bed, grabbed Butch's collar and left the room in a huff.
~*~*~*~
The Autumn Festival was almost here, and that meant that a lot of other hobbits were coming to stay at Brandyhall through the Festival and Yule.
Among them this year was Paladin and his family, for the first time in a while.
Paladin was smug- the news of the Buckland Tooks had reached him and he spent a great deal of time gloating about it to his wife and children, all of whom were starting to get pretty annoyed, especially since they had been in the carriage with him for a few hours, and all he did was repeat himself.
So when they arrive at Brandyhall, FINALLY, all were rather relieved to get off the carriage and get away from their father.
Eglantine hurried off to find Esmeralda (she was eager to see Maggie- she'd brought her all the healing herbs and salts that she could fit into a basket). Pimpernel, Pervinca and Pearl went off to find some cousins to play with, and Pippin went to find Merry.
Paladin stepped out of the carriage last, which happened to be right as Marroc was passing by with his goat. The two locked eyes at once, and both sets narrowed. They didn't say anything to each other, nor did they come any closer, but Marroc kept on walking in the direction of the Old Forest. As soon as he'd passed, Paladin went inside, to talk with Saradoc.
~*~*~*~
A/N: ACK! So much was supposed to happen in this chapter that didn't! At first I had another mushy moment between Marroc and his muma, but then I decided not to add it in since there was one LAST chapter. That took off a lot of this chapter. But next one shall be longer and more fulfilling (I hope...) and... YAY! Pippin'll be back! Frodo and Bilbo Baggins also might decide to grace us with their presence *cough*mushrooms*cough*... erm... R/R PLEASE! Reviews next chapter...
Love ya,
~Hippy
P.S. this will be posted as soon as possible. We are having a series of thrunderboomers where I live, so it may be a while since the server went down.
Marroc's Tale
Chapter 8:
By Hippy :) Hobbit
Dedicated to Niph
~*~*~*~
"Is that him?"
"Yeah."
"Why's he have a goat in here?"
"I dunno. But Mother said we shan't bother him. She says he's a 'problem child'."
The two girls giggled to themselves, watching Marroc cross the hall with Butch walking by him. Saradoc had allowed the goat to stay with Marroc because it seemed to make the lad feel better. He began to eat more often, though it was still tiny bites and nibbles, and he was finally able to sleep without being with his mother. Besides, Butch wasn't that much trouble. He was clean, tame and didn't like staying in the stables when he had to share a pen with 3 other goats anyway.
Marroc looked up. He could hear their chortling, and knew immediately whom they were giggling at. He felt his heart sink to his stomach and looked down to the ground, holding back the tears.
You could never say that Marroc didn't want friends. He did. He wanted them badly. But he had been raised in a very dysfunctional family- something none of the well-to-do Brandybuck children would never understand. He had an abusive father and a loving mother, in denial of her husband's actions until she had witnessed him beat their son.
Maggie had always been the pride of the Buckland. She was credited as being the sweetest; kindest; and, not to mention, fairest hobbit-lass to ever be born in the Shire. This was probably very much an exaggeration, but her parents often boasted of her to visitors. They even promised a gentle-hobbit from Tuckbourgh her hand in marriage.
Maggie loved playing out in the fields near the Old Forest as a child with her cousins. She often would braid sunflowers in her golden hair, and that was how she became known as The Flower of Brandyhall.
But then came Tarroc, the young, wild refugee of Tookland. He met Maggie one evening out in the wheat fields and they became instantly attracted to each other.
Tarroc was clever and also very curious about the world outside of the Shire. Maggie was too. She was known to hide along the Withywindle paths to observe strangers and listen to them talk of the ways of the wide world, which often got her into much trouble. But the two bonded for 2 weeks, before Tarroc brought Maggie to the harvest festival, which made everyone convinced that they were courting.
Tarroc announced their engagement two years to that date, while the elders of Brandyhall scoffed and scowled at him. They knew their Maggie could do SO much better. But she refused to decline from Tarroc's proposal and they were married before either had even come of age- Tarroc was 27 and Maggie was 23.
Perhaps that's why they waited so long to have children. 20 years, nearly. They hadn't been ready. But Maggie knew now that it should have happened earlier.
Perhaps if it had, they wouldn't be here now. If they had had Marroc 20 years ago, he would be a tweenager, almost of age, probably courting a lass himself. But now he was young, and innocent...hurting...
~*~*~*~
Marroc had actually been on his way to go see his mother when he'd seen the girls laughing at him. After a few haze spazes had returned from the stress she'd been under, Brandyhall's healer had ordered Maggie to bed until she began to feel better. She'd been sleeping all week and Marroc had not been allowed in to see her, until this morning when he and Butch had managed to slip away from cousin Merry's watch.
Marroc had also managed to coax the cooks into making him up a tray for afternoon tea. ~Sad puppy-dog eyes seem to work well~ he noted for future reference, carrying the awkward tray out. They had been reluctant as the tray it's self was about as big as the lad, and Marroc had a reputation for being not-so-graceful when it came to walking, especially while carrying large items. But he managed to make it to his mother's room with no incident.
He placed the tray down to open the door, then picked it up and carried it in, before setting it down again. Slowly creeping over the edge of the bed, Marroc boosted himself up and crawled towards his sleeping mother.
He stared at her face, soft and smooth it was- though almost 50 years old, she still looked like a young lass.
Just as he was reaching down to touch her face, she jumped and let out a small scream, "MARROC!"
Marroc smiled, not knowing he had scared her right out of her skin, "MUMA!, he yelled, hugging her.
Maggie tried to slow down her breathing, "Marroc! Why did you do that?" she asked in a firm tone.
Marroc's face went sort of pouty, "I jus' wanned to have tea with you, Muma, 'cause Meriadoc norra let me come see you in a while, Muma, so I ran away from him and brought you tea," He said it all in one breath, then nodded, making his curls bounce up and down like springs.
Maggie sighed, "They're keeping you away from me for a reason... this may be contagious and that means you might get sick... no one is sure yet."
Marroc pouted, " I only wanted ta come have tea with you, Muma..."
His mum began to stroke his soft hair, "Sweetie... I just don't want you getting sick...you're very susceptible to diseases since you have had problems with your hear-"
But the lad had pulled himself away from his mother, jumped off the bed, grabbed Butch's collar and left the room in a huff.
~*~*~*~
The Autumn Festival was almost here, and that meant that a lot of other hobbits were coming to stay at Brandyhall through the Festival and Yule.
Among them this year was Paladin and his family, for the first time in a while.
Paladin was smug- the news of the Buckland Tooks had reached him and he spent a great deal of time gloating about it to his wife and children, all of whom were starting to get pretty annoyed, especially since they had been in the carriage with him for a few hours, and all he did was repeat himself.
So when they arrive at Brandyhall, FINALLY, all were rather relieved to get off the carriage and get away from their father.
Eglantine hurried off to find Esmeralda (she was eager to see Maggie- she'd brought her all the healing herbs and salts that she could fit into a basket). Pimpernel, Pervinca and Pearl went off to find some cousins to play with, and Pippin went to find Merry.
Paladin stepped out of the carriage last, which happened to be right as Marroc was passing by with his goat. The two locked eyes at once, and both sets narrowed. They didn't say anything to each other, nor did they come any closer, but Marroc kept on walking in the direction of the Old Forest. As soon as he'd passed, Paladin went inside, to talk with Saradoc.
~*~*~*~
A/N: ACK! So much was supposed to happen in this chapter that didn't! At first I had another mushy moment between Marroc and his muma, but then I decided not to add it in since there was one LAST chapter. That took off a lot of this chapter. But next one shall be longer and more fulfilling (I hope...) and... YAY! Pippin'll be back! Frodo and Bilbo Baggins also might decide to grace us with their presence *cough*mushrooms*cough*... erm... R/R PLEASE! Reviews next chapter...
Love ya,
~Hippy
P.S. this will be posted as soon as possible. We are having a series of thrunderboomers where I live, so it may be a while since the server went down.