Chapter Four: High Up And Low Down
"When I went into my grandmother's room the next morning (for I had moved back into mine the night before), I found her eating breakfast with Déagol and my mother. She was eating her meal in bed on a tray; the others ate with their plates balanced on her nightstand.
"'We thought you'd be awake soon,' said my mother. 'I saved you some potatoes.'
"'You know I can't stand the things,' I said.
"'Sméagol, a person who has twenty children cannot be expected to remember each and every food each and every one dislikes.'
"I blushed, feeling like a petulant and spoiled child. 'I'm sorry.'
"'Here, I'll take yours, if that's all right,' said Déagol, reaching for a third plate from the stand. 'They're very good.'
"'And you could use some more meat on your bones,' said my grandmother as I gestured for Déagol to take the plate. 'Someone who knows so much about healing ought to take better care of himself!'
"'Mother!'
"'Oh, that's fine,' said Déagol, and the startled look on my mother's face melted a bit. 'Mistress Violet is right, I don't eat like I should.' He handed me my plate, the potatoes now gone.
"I learned that my mother had finished to tour of the smial that I had started. 'But I left outside for you,' she said, smiling.
"I led Déagol outdoor, intending to take him down to the river. The sun was excruciatingly bright; I squinted until my eyes were almost closed. 'Come on,' I said to Déagol. There was a quarter-mile of forest to travel through before we reached the river bank, and for once I welcomed the branches more than the roots. Their broadness would shield me from the sunlight.
"'Do you ever climb these trees?' Déagol asked as we approached the forest.
"'It never occurred to me,' I said truthfully.
"'They're perfect for it. You could probably climb them better than I could too, you're more muscular.'
"For no reason I could understand, my stomach felt queasy but not unpleasant at his remark.
"'I prefer to keep my feet on the ground.
"'Suit yourself, then,' said Déagol, and reached for a branch.
"I could hear him climbing overhead as I walked along, the moss caressing the soles of my feet.
"'It's lovely up here, Sméagol,' he said. 'You ought to try this sometime. The leaves are so vibrant.'
"I shuddered. 'I'd fall,' I said.
"'Then I would catch you.'
"'It's too bright up there,' I said. 'Direct sunlight hurts my eyes.'
"'Then how do you tolerate the sun shining on the water? The reflection is the brightest light I have ever seen, save the sun itself.'
"'I spend most of my time under the water. I can hold my breath for a very long time.'
"'You shall have to teach me,' he said. 'I do not swim well.'
"'What!' I exclaimed. 'A Stoor who does not swim well?'
"'I was very sickly as a child, and I never learned properly. That was where I got my interest in healing. I wanted to make myself well.'
"'You are not weak now,' I said, 'not if you are strong enough to climb from tree to tree. I can teach you.'
"When we reached the end of the forest, I found one of my family's boats at the shore. 'Come,' I said, "I will take you down the river to my island.'
"'What is it called?' he asked.
"'I do not know. I think that I am the only one who ever uses it.'
"'Sméagol's Island, then,' he said, grinning.
"As I pushed the boat out into the river, the sunlight hit his face in such a way that I noticed dark circles under his eyes. I must have looked at him for longer than I thought, for when I climbed into the boat and began to row, he asked, 'What are you thinking about?'
"'I was trying to decide how old you are,' I said.
"'Thirty-three.' My eyes widened involuntarily. 'Yes, I know I look much older.'
"'Not so much older – '
"'But at least forty.'
"'Well…'
"Suddenly, he laughed. 'You do not have to worry about offending me, Sméagol,' he said. 'It happens very rarely. I understand that you are wondering about me, as I am about you.'
"'So,' he said, leaning back and resting one foot on his knee, 'ask away.'
"'What is your family like?' I asked, thrusting the oars into the water. 'Besides your grandfather and Fallohide cousin.'
"'Well, I am a fourth Fallohide, and the rest is Stoor,' he said. 'My father has been dead these past two years, which leaves me as the oldest male in the family. The only other is my brother, and he is only four years old.
"'I am the oldest, he is the youngest, and between us are ten sisters. The oldest seven are employed as maids in various households.'
"This surprised me, as his voice suggested that he had been raised a gentlehobbit. I told him this as politely as I could.
"'My father died and left us nothing but gambling debts,' he said quietly. 'His attorney sold the smial and now we are living in a large cottage.'
"'I am sorry,' I said.
"'It is not as horrible as it sounds,' he said. 'My sisters are hard workers, and we are comfortable, if no longer rich.'
"'That is why you seek employment in healing, then,' I said.
"'That is why I seek employment. I heal because of a genuine respect for the powers of herbs and roots.'
"We reached the island.
"It was small, yet covered with great towering willow trees whose branches hung over the water. The bottom of the boat bumped into the roots a good two meters before we reached the land.
"I tied the boat to a willow branch and got out. 'Well, here it is,' I said.
"He also climbed out of the boat and stood next to me. Lightly, he ran one finger over the willow leaves.
"The tenderness of his pale finger stroking the soft green of the branch send chills down my spine, and for a moment I understood how a person could love the branches of a tree more than the roots. I had never paid much attention to them before, but somehow, there with him, they were beautiful."
