Notes to Readers:

Thank you for the comments! Reviews 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...

Xena, thanks for the encouragement. This story seems to be writing itself with very little input from me; I wonder where it's going?

Madeleine, forgot to tell you, there's an empty chair over there, have a seat, grab some teacakes, and how would you like your tea? I'm glad you like the Faramir bits; realised recently that I have some rewriting to do in "Merlin" as Faramir does not appear. Am still scratching head to try to figure out where he went. Was he in Rivendell for a long visit? Cannot believe he wasn't in the thick of things, knowing him.

Aemilia Rose, yes, that was the last chapter of "FirstBorn". I was hoping to write more, like the reunion of Ferdi and Nell, but the words just wouldn't come. Ah, well, that happens sometimes.

FantasyFan, I am as glad to hear from you as you are to hear from me, I think. When I am trying to think of how tall a hobbit would be, I look at my 5yo and think "That's a grown hobbit". Then I imagine how high a little hobbit would come on her, and I am astonished. Yep, seems as if a fox could be a serious menace to young hobbits. At our county fair, it was cute to see the little ones on the pony rides, with Big Folk walking next to the ponies to steady them. It gave me a visual reference, kind of a mental check: yes, Pippin would be eye-to-eye with Bergil or the King if he were seated on a pony and the Man stood beside him.

Hai, I haven't forgotten ff.net, I always try to upload here, first, but sometimes it won't let me and I have to try later, and the author alerts have not gone out, the last few updates I've made. Glad you took the effort to go to SoA and leave a review.

Ff.net permitting, expect to see the next chapter two days from this posting. If you cannot access ff.net, try www.storiesofarda.com. You can leave reviews there, as well (thanks Miriel and Hai and FantasyFan!), 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. Did I tell you it is 24 chapters in length?

Enough admin notes. Let's get to the story.

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2. In for a Penny

Ferdi threw another stick on the fire and shrugged deeper into his cloak. He had wrapped Faramir, under protest, in his own blanket.

'You came away from the Smials, on your way to Gondor, without even a blanket?'

'They would have noticed if it were gone,' Faramir mumbled. In truth, he had managed to make his way out of the Smials without being missed for some hours. At that, the minder had wasted valuable time checking all of Farry's usual haunts and then all the other places he could think of, before enlisting the escorts' help. Tolly, head of the Thain's escort, had come to Ferdi as the best tracker in the Smials, but by then darkness was falling and there wasn't much point in going out. Ferdibrand had made preparations for the hunt before seeking his pillow, but he was up betimes the next day.

Just before dawn, Ferdi had kissed his wife. 'Have to fulfill a little commission for the Thain,' he said.

'When will you be back?' Pimpernel asked. She was expecting again, their third such blessing in as many years, but not close to her time, so Ferdibrand felt secure in leaving her this time, not like the time a couple of years earlier when he'd gone after Faramir and ended up missing the birth of their first child.

'Mmmm, couldn't say,' he said. 'Keep your feet up, my dearest, and I will return to you as soon as hobbitly possible.'

'Take care!' she called after him.

He answered, 'Don't I always?' She merely shook her head at him, and he laughed.

'Rudi,' he said, catching their eldest, son of Pimpernel's first marriage and a son of his heart if not his body, 'Take care of your mum, now, and keep the little ones out of trouble.'

'I will, Da,' Rudi said with a grin. It took all of the older ones to keep the littler ones out of trouble, but it was as much fun as it was bother. 'Where are you off to?'

'Just a little commission for the Thain,' Ferdi repeated. With a jaunty whistle, he strode from the room.

He met Tolly in the stables. 'Everything ready?' he said.

'All you asked for,' Tolly replied. 'Will you take your pony?'

'No,' Ferdi said. 'The lad's on foot, it'll be easier to track him the same way.' He eyed the other. 'Keep the roof from falling in, will you?'

'Right up until the Thain returns and the whole Smials caves in,' Tolly said glumly.

'I'll try to be back before then,' Ferdi said.

'O aye,' Tolly answered. 'Diamond thinks the lad's with Pip. What'll we do if she finds out he's not?'

'She had better not find out,' Ferdi said grimly. 'Take charge of the post if you have to, stop her letters to Pip and his to Diamond, at least until you hear from me.' He was in for a silver penny, might as well go for the pound of gold.

Tolly shook his head, clearly unhappy, but then, if all went well, Ferdi'd be back in a day or two with Faramir and no one the wiser, especially if he took the lad on to Buckland to join Pippin, thus giving truth to the lie the escort had told Diamond. Ferdi shook his own head. He would become as false as a ruffian at this rate.

So began the long chase that had lasted nearly the entire day. Another indication of Faramir's stubborn pride was that he had not turned back when darkness had fallen, that first night.

'What did you do? Spend the night in a farmhouse?'

The son of the Thain looked down his nose at Ferdibrand, though he had trouble forcing his eyes to stay fully open. The bacon-and-bread, the warm blanket, the cheery fire and the feeling of safety were having their effect. 'You jest,' he said disdainfully. 'They'd know me, or they'd soon figure things out, and then where would I be?'

Back, safe, at the Smials, Ferdi thought but did not say.

'So what did you do?' he asked again.

'Burrowed into a haystack,' Faramir said grudgingly. Ferdibrand nodded. Warmth, shelter, and safety from predators, there in a farmyard with dogs about, warning off foxes and such, Ferdi might have chosen a haystack himself had he been in similar straits.

'What did you eat?' Ferdi asked. 'You said you'd run out of food by evening.'

'I milked a cow before the farmer was up, and "borrowed" some eggs,' Faramir said.

'That's stealing,' Ferdi said flatly.

Faramir shrugged but looked uncomfortable. 'They'd have fed me had I knocked on their door,' he defended.

'Indeed they would have, and that would not have been stealing,' Ferdi said. 'You'll have to pay them compensation for the eggs and milk you took.'

'I'm not going back,' Faramir said stubbornly. 'If you try to take me back, I'll run away again as soon as I get the chance.' He would, too; Ferdi could hear the ring of truth in his voice.

'Well this here food is not stolen,' he said, 'so eat up with a clear conscience.'

'I'm not going back,' Faramir repeated.

'Did I say I was taking you back? I said "eat up" and that is all I said,' Ferdibrand replied, keeping his tone even though he could have given the lad a good shake, or better, turned him over his knee. Farry could have used a bit more of that from his mother and father, as well as happier attentions, but who was Ferdibrand to tell the Thain his business?

Faramir ate, while Ferdibrand considered.

He wondered what the Thain would do to him if he discovered Ferdi's perfidy, arranging for Tolly to intercept letters between Pippin and Diamond, concealing their son's flight from them. Would Pip go so far as to throw him out of Tookland, perhaps? That wouldn't be all bad, he could always go to his sister Rosemary in Woody End.

On second thought, that wasn't such a bad idea.