In his dreams, he felt himself being lifted up and floating across the room. Leaving the warmth of the bed in which he slept next to his mother sent immediate shivers down Faramir's back. However, a new sensation began to linger as he felt himself drift in his sleep of strong arms around him and the warmth at is side. Faramir snuggled closer to it and nestled his head against it. He became aware that he was being carried and it began to pull him from his dreams.
His eyes fluttered just a bit and took in a deep breath trying to force himself awake. His nose could smell a scent of fresh dirt and grime and somehow this seemed familiar to him. Imagines played in his mind from the strong scent and being somewhere in between dreaming and wakefulness he felt he was back in the dark tunnels in Estella's arms. His heart raced in panic and his breathing became short as he began to thrash about in the arms of the hobbit that carried him.
He could see the scary hobbit's face perfectly in his dream, but somehow he seemed more scarier and frightful with a gleam of evil from those dark eyes that peered at him. With a start, Faramir's eyes opened wide and he let out a sudden yelp of fear.
"Easy, there now!" came the gently sound of his father's voice as he set him down upon his feathery pillow in his own small, little bed. Taking the covers, he tucked them warmly around his son.
Faramir smiled seeing his father's face and reached up to hug him.
Pippin wrapped his arms around his son and held him gently almost rocking him. He knew his must have had a bad dream and began to calm his son.
"There's nothing to be fretting yourself with, your Da is here, right by your side."
"What took you so long?" asked Faramir with thick tears still in his eyes from being so frightened and then so relieved to see his father. Wiping his tears with his sleeve of his nightshirt, he added. "I waited for you until I fell asleep."
"I'm sorry, Faramir," he gently told his son. "There was grow-up business to tend to and your uncle Merry needed my help."
"Your clothes are all dirty. Did you go into the rabbit hole to find a rabbit?" he asked with a little excitement in his voice.
"You could say that, son. Now settle yourself down upon your pillow. It is still the middle of the night and you need to go back to sleep," insisted his father.
"But Da, I already got some sleep and I'm not tired anymore!"
"Yes, you are Faramir," insisted Pippin. "How would you like it if I sang you a song until you were well back to sleep?"
"If I go back to sleep, I will see that scary hobbit again in my dreams!" Faramir said, as his eye grew wider from the frightening thought.
"If you had another bad dream, your Da is here to chase it away from you. Now rest yourself down and listen to my song I'll sing for you."
His soothing gentle tones of his voice echoed softly in his ears and Faramir smiled feeling so much warmth and love from his father.
"Sleep my little son by my side,
It's time to close your bright-green eyes.
In your dreams we'll seek and hide;
While the moon in the sky drifts on by.
Tucked within your bed you'll stay,
Until the morning when you wake;
The sun will give us a brand new day,
And then my son, you and I will play."
The soft gently flow of his father's song soothed Faramir and his eyes slowly closed. Pippin froze sitting at the side of his bed and watched the blissfulness of sleep in his son's face. His long soft eyelashes rested upon the pink glow of his tender cheeks and made his father smile. How he loved his son and his pride in him burst every corner of his being. Becoming a father for the first time was the single most important thing that had ever happened to him. With each day his love for Faramir only grew beyond what he could possibly imagine of how much that he could love another. 'My son', he must of quoted a thousand times in his mind, 'my dear, sweet, little son!'
Pippin gently stroked his small hand and tiny fingers that rested upon his pillow and marveled at them. He almost giggled at seeing the wild, thick-curls of his brown hair and his small, little, button-nose that he knew would straighten in time to become the noble, proud-nose of the Took lineage.
He stood and paused for just a moment and then taking one last look at his son before he turned and tiptoed out of the bedroom. Taking the handle of the door, he lightly closed it leaving a sliver of light to penetrate the darkness of the room.
Turning away, he walked the short distance to his bedroom and began to feel a great weakness hit him all at once. He felt dizzy and lightheaded as he approached his bed.
Sitting upon his bed next to his sleeping wife, Pippin's stomach rumbled loudly and he grasped it moaning.
Diamond woke up and saw her husband in pain. "Pippin, my dear, what's the matter?" her voice sounding very alarmed and full of worry.
"It's nothing my dear, my stomach is so empty it hurts!" he commented and rubbed his stomach again.
"Why don't you go to the kitchen and have Hatty make you something to tide you over until first breakfast!" she said with an almost disbelief look upon her face.
'Husbands! Did they really need their wives to tell them if they missed their evening meal that their stomachs would rumble!' she thought to herself.
Her mind became clear as the haze of sleep wore off. Remembering what her son told her about what had happened in the kitchen earlier in the day about Hatty becoming so angry with her husband, she realized why he was so hungry. A slight giggle tickled the corners of her mind with the memory of evening meal where everyone wondered why the plates and teacups had cracks and chips upon them and every other plate at the table was mismatched. She bit her lip to contain her laughter over her husband's predicament.
Giving him a knowing smile, she gently stroked his hand.
"You're worried about the cook and what had happened in the kitchen yesterday, aren't you?"
Pippin nodded and wrinkled his forehead as his eyebrows fell in a worrisome look. He could only whisper loud enough for her to catch just a few of his words.
"I'm fearful of her, if truth be known!"
Diamond sat straighter in the bed and a look of disbelief upon her face at her husband. "Fearful! Fearful of old Hatty!" she paused a moment after seeing the fear on her husband's white face.
"Oh, Pippin!" she began to laugh at him, "Don't be so silly! Hatty would never hold on to a grudge and you know it!"
Seeing that her husband fully believed differently and his sober expression upon his face, her laughter instantly faded as she tried to convince him.
"See here, Pippin. You might have made her angry, but old Hatty is a forgiving soul. You'll see the next time you set eyes upon her. Don't take it to heart so much."
"She's as mad as a wet bantam hen on a rainy day!" said Pippin. "Seeing how we messed her kitchen and her staying up the entire night cleaning it, she took a broom after me when I........."
Thinking that her husband was about to cry, she put her arms around him. "When Estella brought Faramir back, he told me all about what happened. Why didn't you just tell Merry to grab you a bite of something to eat."
Pippin's eyes widened with his retort. "And have Merry know that I fear the old cook and willing to starve myself rather than cross her path again! What would he think me?"
A giggle almost escaped her lips as she jumped from the bed and pulled at her husband's hand. "Come now, I'll take you to the kitchen and find you something to eat. I'll protect you from Hatty and not let her take her broom to you!" She grabbed her robe and rushed tying it around her slender waist.
Taking her husband's hand, they stole out of their apartment and down the corridor heading towards the kitchen.
XXX
Merry bid Sheffield and Tom a good night as he walked back to his father's room to see how he was faring. He nodded to the guards that stood in the hallway as he made his way into their room.
From the moment he shut the door, he heard his father's loud voice yelling. "Enough, Esmeralda! That's enough! I cannot do it anymore!"
Not knowing whether to proceed into their bedroom or not, he loudly cleared his voice and stated his greeting that he was coming in to see them.
Merry walked into the room and he almost bit his lip to keep himself from laughing.
The master of Buckland sat in the middle of his bed with fluffy lacey pillows all around him and a warm comforter tucked about him. His mother had a napkin folded cross his chest as if it was a bid and she was spoon feeding him as if he was a young child.
"Merry, my son, please tell your mother that I can feed myself and I don't need all this fussing about me!" begged Saradoc.
"Da, I'm sure Mum is only looking out for your comfort!" Merry advised him trying to hold down a mirthful chuckle.
"You see, Saradoc, even your son knows you need looking after until you're completely healed!" pouted his wife. "Now please dear, one more bite and I'll tuck you in so you can get some much needed sleep."
The second he opened his mouth to say something to his son, Esmeralda plopped the spoon in his mouth and he had no choice but to chew and swallow it. Glaring at her and holding his hands up to stop her from spoon feeding him again, he snapped at her.
"Enough, Esmeralda! I can not take any more, my poor stomach is bursting!"
Esmeralda dabbed her husband's chin with the napkin that was folded out upon his chest and kissed him sweetly upon his cheek. Taking the tray of food away, she placed this on the table next to his bed. Returning back to him, she leaned him forward and took away a couple of pillows and helped him find a comfortable spot to sleep. She tucked the blanket around his shoulders as Saradoc waved her hands away from him.
"There, there now. That's enough fussing, my dear. I quite comfortable!" he said doing his best to hold back his temper from being so pampered and doted over.
She stroked his hair back with her hand and asked him. "Are you sure you do not need anything else? A drink of water, perhaps?"
"No! I'm quite satisfied, my dearest!"
Esmeralda stood and stared at her husband thinking of anything else she could do to help him feel any better. Not coming up with anything else, she turned to her son. "Say your good nights to your father, Merry and let him go to sleep!"
Merry approached his mother and kissed her cheek saying his good nights to her and turned to his father. "I see you are in the best of hands for your healing, Da. Don't worry yourself about running Brandy Hall. I have taken care of everything for you!"
Saradoc bent a worried brow as he looked up towards his son, sizing him up. "Have you seen to the guards that they are properly stationed in securing the halls to make sure no other villains could be about?"
Merry nodded.
"Have you seen to the servants that they are doing their jobs properly?"
Merry nodded.
"Are the guests seen to and made comfortable?
Merry nodding another boring nod.
"Have you seen to the shipments of supplies for the kitchens and the stables? Is the bookkeeping finished and the numbers balanced?
Merry looked at his father and cringed. Scratching his head he tried to think of away to get out of doing them. "But, Da! I've been so busy........I can see to them perhaps......Maybe I can try to get to them......."
"Merry Brandybuck! It takes more than just overseeing to run Brandy Hall. If you forget the bookkeeping, how will you know what supplies are needed and how much it will cost and if you have enough money to pay for the things you will need next week or next month? The Bucklanders are counting on you to know these things, to manage these things, Merry!" said Saradoc with concern and worry of whether his son could truly run Brandy Hall.
"Okay, okay, Da! I promise, I'll see to them the second I leave this room. You know I still have a wife somewhere in Brandy Hall that I just married. I've not had one moment with her before we were married and now I have less time now that I am married."
Saradoc smiled at his son and understood his frustration. "I know, son. It was not my plan that I ended up on my back and incapable of helping you. But someday I will be gone and you will be the master of Buckland. You and Estella will take over after me. No better time to learn than right now!"
Merry nodded, "Okay Da, I will see to everything no matter if I don't get any sleep this evening." Merry pouted slightly.
Saradoc chuckled and then clutched his shoulder from the pain of his mirth. "You'll do fine, my lad. Your wife is the most capable that I've ever seen. Perhaps you should call on her to assist you." Saradoc gave him a wink and a smile.
Saying his good night to his father, Merry walked from the room and into the hallway where the guards stood poised and at attention. "See to it that no one enters or leaves this room!"
The guards nodded to Merry and watched him stroll down the hallway heading for his own room.
XXX
From under the rim of his straw hat his eyes followed the Tooks as they raced down the corridor heading towards the kitchen. An evil smile crossed his lips as he waited in the dark until they were out of sight.
The hinges on the front door slowly creaked open and quiet feet stole into the apartment. A straw hat was taken off his head and placed on the table next to the door.
Quickly he looked into the first bedroom and saw that it was empty as well as the rest of the rooms that he walked into. Seeing the last door that was barely opened to a sliver, he placed his hand upon the door and carefully opened it widely. When the dim light from the hallway filled the bedroom and the small bed that sat in the middle of the room, he could see the sleeping lad in his bed.
Standing over the lad his evil eyes stared at the young lad and a wicked smile crossed his lips. "There you are little one. My escape from Brandy Hall is now secured!"
He gently lifted the blanket and cast it to the side exposing his small form. His thin arms reached down and lifted the lad in one quick motion. The boy did not move but nestled himself up against his chest remaining in a deep relaxed sleep. Taking the blanket with one hand he tossed it over upon the lad and completely covered him.
Turning quickly and rushed out of the room and all the way to the front door. Looking out into the empty corridor, Faradom smiled at his luck and the few minutes it had taken to steal little Faramir from the Tooks. His revenge was now complete. Thinking how easy this was just like the time long ago when he had taken another little lad from his bed and made him a brother in his family. This little lad was going to make another good little brother for him and to teach him all his tricks of thievery.
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A/N:
ShireElf: Sorry for this evil little twist in my story, but I could not help it. It just seemed to fit so very well! Hehehehehe.....evil laughter......mawa!
Wartol was actually Faradom in disguise as a smithy. The only clue I gave in last chapter was the yellow streak in his hair that blends into the brown curls of his hair. Remember his is very tricky and can easily blend into any group when it suits him. Faradom is the worst of the lot of the Tweksburys and accomplished thief.
Poor little Faramir, just when he thinks he is safe, Faradom finds him and captures him, hopefully someone will save him in those dark tunnels under Brandy Hall that he is so afraid of.....I hope he finds a rabbit in those tunnels to help him feel better since he loves them so much!"
BedTimeMonster : Oh, no more vacations......I want a vacation........I bet New Hamshire would be awesome to see....anyplace would be awesome rather than just here in the middle of corn fields and cows...farm living is just no fun, pouting, pouting......
Anyway, sorry about my little twist I stuck in there, but now Faradom does have little Faramir and what is Pippin going to do?