Disclaimer: I don't own LOTR or any characters. I just write about them.



Chapter 7: The Mischief of Meriadoc Brandybuck

A sudden sharp pain awakened Frodo from his deep sleep. His shoulder was aching as if someone had hit him, but no one else was in his room with him. Outside the sun was shinning brightly and it seemed like it was a very beautiful day. Frodo wished he could be outside instead of stuck in bed waiting for his shoulder to heal. He was promised that in just another week he would be able to get out of bed and maybe start doing things again. Though not too much with his arm still in a sling and his Aunt wasn't going to let him outside. Frodo was drifting off to sleep when he found out what had woken him up. It seemed that something was moving under his bed and every so often his mattress was jostled because of it.

"Hello?" Frodo asked in confusion. Very quickly a curly haired head appeared at the edge of his bed. "Merry?" Frodo asked, "What are you doing here?" Frodo knew that Merry had been permanently banished from his room when his mother had found him eating Frodo's supper about a week ago. Merry frowned at his cousin and then ducked back under the bed. "Merry?" Frodo asked again.

"I'm running away," Merry said softly from under Frodo's bed.

"What? Where will you go to?" Frodo asked as he slowly attempted to roll over on his side without jerking his shoulder. Merry appeared again, this time with an apple in his hand.

"Here, I've run away to here," Merry said taking a bite out of his apple.

"Here? Where? To underneath my bed? Why?" Frodo asked now laying on his side and looking at Merry eye to eye.

"I'm safe here. Mama will not find me and make me do more chores," Merry said around a mouthful of apple.

"What did you do to make her give you chores?" Frodo asked with a sigh. Merry looked at the apple in his hand and then back at Frodo.

"I just borrowed some food from the cupboards… and I broke a window," Merry said taking another bite from the apple.

"What? How did you break a window?" Frodo asked in bewilderment.

"I threw a rock at it," Merry said nonchalantly as he picked at the stem of his apple. Merry had never been one to break things, especially something like a window. The fact that Merry was breaking things surprised and worried Frodo.

"Merry…. Why would-"

"It was an accident," Merry said, cutting off Frodo in the middle of his sentence.

"Merry…."

"Are you hungry? I have quite a bit of food here," Merry said, hastily changing the subject.

"No, I'm not hungry Merry. Tell me-"

"W-what? Why? That's not good for you Frodo," Merry interrupted Frodo again. "Mama says you're too thin for a hobbit as it is. Are you sure you don't want an apple? Or perhaps some bread? How about a potato?" Merry disappeared under the bed again.

"Potato?" Frodo asked, leaning as much as he could to look over the side of his bed.

"I have a whole sack of potatoes here," Merry said from somewhere underneath the mattress.

"Just how long have you been hording food underneath my bed?" Frodo demanded. Frodo couldn't believe that so many things could happen just while he was sleeping.

"Not long. If I had a fire I could cook the potato," Merry said appearing again with a potato in hand.

"You are not to be starting fires in my room Meriadoc," Frodo said sternly.

"Well, if you don't want one…" Merry said, setting the potato on Frodo's bedside table. Frodo stared at Merry curiously.

"How did you get your hands on so much food?" Frodo knew it wasn't possible to get that much food on only one trip to the cupboard.

"You taught me how, Frodo," Merry said simply.

Frodo couldn't believe it, "But you have never gone for food on your own and I've always been the one to actually take the food."

"It wasn't hard at all, I just waited until no one was around and I ran really fast," Merry said thoughtfully.

"What a mischievous rascal I've created!" Frodo exclaimed. Merry smiled proudly at Frodo's comment and took another bite of his apple. "Now Merry," Frodo began, "I know you can't help finding mischief, but you shouldn't go about breaking windows. You keep doing that and we'll have quite a draft coming through here."

"I didn't mean to Frodo. I had no way of knowing the window would break like it did," Merry said defensively.

Frodo sighed, "Why would you ever throw a rock at it in the first place?" At this remark, Merry looked away from Frodo and bit his lip.

"Mama had told me to weed out the flower bed because she thought I had stolen the sack of potatoes. I went outside and I found a rock and I was throwing it against the house, I was really mad Frodo, anyway I meant to hit the wall, but I missed and… I hit the window," Merry stopped and took a breath, "Mama was really mad, so I gathered up all the food I could before she could find me and I ran away to here."

Frodo eased himself back on to his back. He understood now. "Well, Meriadoc Brandybuck, your mother's going to skin you alive."

"Frodo!" Merry said, shoving his cousin as hard as he could. Frodo instantly felt a sharp pain in his shoulder and head. "Merry…" he hissed through clenched teeth. Frodo shut his eyes tightly while the pain diminished. Merry began apologizing over and over again; he had forgotten about his cousin's shoulder.

Suddenly, footsteps were heard outside of Frodo's door. With a frightened yelp Merry ducked back under the bed. Esmeralda Brandybuck quickly made her way through the door. She smiled when she saw Frodo was awake. "How are you feeling dear?" She asked, putting her hand on his forehead. Frodo said he was feeling better. "I'm glad to hear it," she said, still smiling. "You know I received a letter from your uncle Bilbo today. He's been very worried about you and he would like to come and pay you a visit."

Frodo practically sat up in his bed, he had been thinking about his uncle and how much he would like to see him. Bilbo's visits were always a special treat. Nothing could ruin the happiness he was feeling, except for maybe the slightest cough that came from underneath his bed just then. A silence consumed the room then. Esmeralda had quickly turned and began studying Frodo, it seemed to him that she knew exactly what was going on. Frodo was thankful when she quietly turned her attention to preparing his medicine. "Frodo?" She asked breaking the sudden silence, "have you seen Merry about? I haven't seen him for some time."

This wasn't a good thing. Frodo could steal food from cupboards, fields and gardens, but he found he never learned to lie properly. "No, I haven't," Frodo said, fully aware his voice had been much higher sounding than usual. His Aunt gave him a stern look, but then smiled and said, "Well, if you haven't seen him…" Another cough sounded from underneath Frodo's bed. Esmeralda wasted no time; in one swift swoop she had reached under the bed and snatched Merry out by his leg. Realizing he had been discovered, Merry began yelling and flailing his arms madly. She began scolding him for the broken window while Merry wailed over and over that he had done nothing. It ended when she dragged Merry from the room so that he could have a talk with his father.

She returned shortly to give Frodo his medicine. Frodo tried to smile gently at her, but she only shook her head at him, "Frodo Baggins that boy would have gotten into his own trouble eventually, but you had to be quick to teach him your own mischievous ways before he was any more than knee high."

Frodo looked away from his aunt. He had never broken a window in his life and he couldn't see how it was his fault. He hadn't meant to upset his Aunt and Frodo felt very upset when he realized how mad she was. Upon seeing Frodo's sad expression, however Esmeralda sighed, "I am sorry Frodo, I didn't mean to scold you. I know you have learned your own lessons." She said, her eyes wandering to Frodo's bandaged forehead and shoulder, "It's normal for a child like you to get into some mischief."

For the rest of that day, everything went as it usually did. Merry was not seen anywhere near Frodo's room and Frodo didn't ask his aunt what had happened to him. He could only assume that Merry would be having many more chores for quite sometime.

***

A week passed by without any mischief happening, and the day came that Frodo was allowed to be out of bed. Frodo wanted to be sitting up before his Aunt came to check on him. With much effort Frodo grabbed his blanket with his good arm and was able to pull himself into a sitting position. He wanted to show his Aunt how much better he was and maybe he could persuade her to let him outside for a bit. As Frodo sat leaning on his headboard, waiting for his aunt, he realized that there was an odd stench in his room. The more Frodo thought about it the more he thought it smelled like a dead animal. He tried not to think about it, but he couldn't help it. The smell seemed to be getting stronger. Very carefully Frodo slipped out of his bed and attempted to stand. His legs were a bit wobbly and he was content to let himself slip to the floor. He kneeled beside his bed wondering what in the world could be filling his room with such a horrible smell. Frodo looked about his room and soon discovered that it was coming from his bed, or rather, under his bed. Frodo eased himself down and peered underneath the bed. A second later all of Brandy Hall could hear Frodo yelling.

"MERIADOC BRANDYBUCK! WAIT UNTIL I GET A HOLD OF YOU! I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU EAT EVERY ONE OF THESE ROTTEN POTATOES!!"



To be continued….



A/N: Sorry about not updating! I've been so busy! Forgive me? It was really really late when I wrote this so excuse any grammar errors I frequently made. Please review. For those looking for Frodo angst, just hang on for a few more chapters, there's plenty around the bend.



shirebound: Thanks for the nudge, it helped a lot.

Tiggivon: Thank you for your wonderful comments, you're truly an inspiration.

Lady Baggins of the Shire: Thanks for the kind words. They're much appreciated and I love reading them.