A/N: I know it's been a while. If you don't remember what happened please skim through the other chapters. You should know who Old Adda is and maybe Frewin.
I obviously don't own anything here.
Chapter 11: Mushroom Quest
"Frodo, I'm bored!" Merry complained from his position on the floor. Frodo had been falling asleep on his bed when his young cousin had come into his room and sat on his floor, practically demanding to be entertained.
"Why don't you go take a nap," Frodo suggested with his eyes shut, still trying his best to fall asleep.
"No," Merry answered quickly, "I'm not tired."
"Go play outside, Merry"
"It's no fun alone, come with me."
"I'm not your only cousin, I'm sure you can find someone to share an afternoon with you."
"Frodo..." Merry pouted.
"Merry, I can't... I don't feel well today. Maybe tomorrow," Frodo said with a sigh. Frodo hadn't been feeling well since the jam jar incident. He was certain the jarring of his shoulder had made his condition worse and he would have to wear the horrible sling for the rest of his days.
"Tell me a story Frodo?" Merry suggested.
"No, Merry."
"Frodo, please Frodo, please?" Merry whimpered crawling over to Frodo's bed and putting his face near Frodo's ear.
"No, Meriadoc Brandybuck. I'm not telling you a story," Frodo said opening one eye to glance at the small lad. Merry's insistent whining continued in Frodo's ear. "Fine, Merry. Once there was a bad hobbit lad who wouldn't leave his poor hurt cousin alone..."
"Frodo!" Merry shouted, "Tell me a real story."
Frodo thought for a moment and then he abruptly began. "Once there was a lonely frog. One day a young lad took his lunch outside and found the frog sitting alone. He felt sorry for the frog and decided to eat his lunch with him," Frodo stopped to see if Merry had any objections, he didn't. Frodo began again, "Everyday after that the lad would eat his lunch with the frog."
"Was the frog's name Frewin?" Merry asked suddenly.
"No," Frodo answered.
"Please, let the frog be Frewin, Frodo."
"Merry..."
"Please?"
Frodo grumbled, "Fine, everyday after that the lad would eat his lunch with Frewin, the frog. They soon became really good friends and Frewin wasn't lonely anymore..." Frodo paused for a moment, "One day the lad's mother saw him eating lunch with Frewin and she was so disgusted by the frog that she ran outside and stomped the frog dead. The lad cried and never ate lunch with frogs again. The end, Merry."
Merry's mouth had fallen open. "That's how the story goes Merry. It's not my fault you named the frog before I could finish telling the story properly," Frodo said turning his head towards Merry. For a moment, Merry didn't make a sound, but then his eyes watered and he was soon sobbing hysterically on Frodo's floor.
***
A few days had passed. Frodo felt bad for upsetting Merry so much, but it hadn't really been on purpose. After he had been crying for a while, Merry's mother had come into Frodo's room and carried Merry away, thinking he was just throwing a temper tantrum. It had been two days before Merry could look at Frodo and not start to cry while calling him a 'frog stomper.'
To make up for the frog story, Frodo decided to take Merry on a walk with him. Frodo called it a Mushroom Quest. It was a noble name for a simple walk that involved looking in certain places for mushrooms. The Quest started out fine and Merry had almost completely forgiven Frodo for killing Frewin in the story. Frodo knew of a little creek that was surrounded by mushrooms. However, in order to get to the creek, the lads had to pass a broken down fence and walk through Old Adda's land.
They were just picking up some fine mushrooms when they heard someone approaching. Frodo knew it was Old Adda; she was bent and walked with a limp. No other hobbit would walk making so much noise. Frodo handed Merry the bag of Mushrooms, "We best make a run for it. We'll be in trouble if she sees us, but we'll be in it for the worse is she catches us on her land. Go Merry." Frodo whispered urgently. Merry understood and took off as quickly and quietly as he could. Frodo followed not far behind. Soon they were both running as fast as their legs would carry them.
They were almost clear of Old Adda's land. They only needed to pass her fence. Only a few more steps...Suddenly Frodo was wrenched back and he let out a sharp cry. He tried to turn but found he was caught. His shirt had snagged on the fence post. His shoulder had been jerked and it was throbbing. Merry realized something was wrong and stopped running. "Go on, I'll catch up," Frodo called. Merry reluctantly turned and kept going.
Frodo wasn't any good at lying, but if Old Adda caught him he was going to try his best at it. It wasn't long before Old Adda found her way to Frodo, who was struggling to free himself.
"You're that Baggins," the white haired hobbit declared, "Been after mushrooms have you? Seen what you done now? See what you done..." Old Adda trailed off. She was staring at Frodo's sling.
Frodo wasn't sure what to do. He was obviously stuck in her fence and though he didn't have any of the mushrooms on him, she seemed to already know what he had been up to. She didn't seem angry, but she was acting odd.
"You listen to me lad. Stay away from the creek. The rivers are rising. I knew your parents. You stay away from water..." She trailed off again and looked off into the distance, towards the river. Frodo didn't know what to do. His insides felt like they had gone cold. "I can hear the river," Adda said in a voice just above a whisper, "it is restless, it has called your name before. It calls you, it's not satisfied with just your parents. It wants you...Stay away from the water, lad. If I catch you near the creek again I'll go straight to your Aunt. I warned her, told them you were a marked child.... no they don't listen. Someday it will take you, pulling you under, stealing the life out of you and then they will see." She reached over and yanked Frodo's shirt from the fence. "Now go on, don't come here ever again."
Frodo ran. He ran until he felt he couldn't breathe. He never looked back.
***
Merry came rushing into the kitchen towards his mother. "Mama, mama, you have to come!" Esmeralda was busy cooking and at first didn't pay attention to Merry's sudden urgency. "Mama, please! It's Frodo. He got sick outside. You have to come!" Merry was too worried to explain. Fortunately, Esmeralda did not need much encouragement to leave the kitchen to find out what was wrong. She found Frodo kneeling in the grass holding his arms and trying not to cry. He seemed to almost be choking and he started to retch.
"What happened Frodo?' Esmeralda asked kneeling by the lad and wrapping her arms about him. Frodo didn't answer, but leaned into the embrace. He felt safer that way. Soon he was able to calm down enough that his Aunt was able to lead him inside, away from the suddenly cold night air.
To be continued...
A/N: Hey, I'm not dead after all. You have to understand, this chapter was hard to write and I just didn't want to deal with it. Plus I gave myself the creeps writing Old Adda's bit. I've missed writing this and I hope this part was ok. I just finished and it's like 5:00am I hope it makes sense, I'm so tired.
The story Frodo tells Merry is actually based on a Brother's Grimm story. It was so awful that I wanted to include it somewhere.
Thank you to all my reviewers for encouraging me and thanks to Shirebound for being an inspiration. Please review and I'll try to get the next part up as soon as I can.
I obviously don't own anything here.
Chapter 11: Mushroom Quest
"Frodo, I'm bored!" Merry complained from his position on the floor. Frodo had been falling asleep on his bed when his young cousin had come into his room and sat on his floor, practically demanding to be entertained.
"Why don't you go take a nap," Frodo suggested with his eyes shut, still trying his best to fall asleep.
"No," Merry answered quickly, "I'm not tired."
"Go play outside, Merry"
"It's no fun alone, come with me."
"I'm not your only cousin, I'm sure you can find someone to share an afternoon with you."
"Frodo..." Merry pouted.
"Merry, I can't... I don't feel well today. Maybe tomorrow," Frodo said with a sigh. Frodo hadn't been feeling well since the jam jar incident. He was certain the jarring of his shoulder had made his condition worse and he would have to wear the horrible sling for the rest of his days.
"Tell me a story Frodo?" Merry suggested.
"No, Merry."
"Frodo, please Frodo, please?" Merry whimpered crawling over to Frodo's bed and putting his face near Frodo's ear.
"No, Meriadoc Brandybuck. I'm not telling you a story," Frodo said opening one eye to glance at the small lad. Merry's insistent whining continued in Frodo's ear. "Fine, Merry. Once there was a bad hobbit lad who wouldn't leave his poor hurt cousin alone..."
"Frodo!" Merry shouted, "Tell me a real story."
Frodo thought for a moment and then he abruptly began. "Once there was a lonely frog. One day a young lad took his lunch outside and found the frog sitting alone. He felt sorry for the frog and decided to eat his lunch with him," Frodo stopped to see if Merry had any objections, he didn't. Frodo began again, "Everyday after that the lad would eat his lunch with the frog."
"Was the frog's name Frewin?" Merry asked suddenly.
"No," Frodo answered.
"Please, let the frog be Frewin, Frodo."
"Merry..."
"Please?"
Frodo grumbled, "Fine, everyday after that the lad would eat his lunch with Frewin, the frog. They soon became really good friends and Frewin wasn't lonely anymore..." Frodo paused for a moment, "One day the lad's mother saw him eating lunch with Frewin and she was so disgusted by the frog that she ran outside and stomped the frog dead. The lad cried and never ate lunch with frogs again. The end, Merry."
Merry's mouth had fallen open. "That's how the story goes Merry. It's not my fault you named the frog before I could finish telling the story properly," Frodo said turning his head towards Merry. For a moment, Merry didn't make a sound, but then his eyes watered and he was soon sobbing hysterically on Frodo's floor.
***
A few days had passed. Frodo felt bad for upsetting Merry so much, but it hadn't really been on purpose. After he had been crying for a while, Merry's mother had come into Frodo's room and carried Merry away, thinking he was just throwing a temper tantrum. It had been two days before Merry could look at Frodo and not start to cry while calling him a 'frog stomper.'
To make up for the frog story, Frodo decided to take Merry on a walk with him. Frodo called it a Mushroom Quest. It was a noble name for a simple walk that involved looking in certain places for mushrooms. The Quest started out fine and Merry had almost completely forgiven Frodo for killing Frewin in the story. Frodo knew of a little creek that was surrounded by mushrooms. However, in order to get to the creek, the lads had to pass a broken down fence and walk through Old Adda's land.
They were just picking up some fine mushrooms when they heard someone approaching. Frodo knew it was Old Adda; she was bent and walked with a limp. No other hobbit would walk making so much noise. Frodo handed Merry the bag of Mushrooms, "We best make a run for it. We'll be in trouble if she sees us, but we'll be in it for the worse is she catches us on her land. Go Merry." Frodo whispered urgently. Merry understood and took off as quickly and quietly as he could. Frodo followed not far behind. Soon they were both running as fast as their legs would carry them.
They were almost clear of Old Adda's land. They only needed to pass her fence. Only a few more steps...Suddenly Frodo was wrenched back and he let out a sharp cry. He tried to turn but found he was caught. His shirt had snagged on the fence post. His shoulder had been jerked and it was throbbing. Merry realized something was wrong and stopped running. "Go on, I'll catch up," Frodo called. Merry reluctantly turned and kept going.
Frodo wasn't any good at lying, but if Old Adda caught him he was going to try his best at it. It wasn't long before Old Adda found her way to Frodo, who was struggling to free himself.
"You're that Baggins," the white haired hobbit declared, "Been after mushrooms have you? Seen what you done now? See what you done..." Old Adda trailed off. She was staring at Frodo's sling.
Frodo wasn't sure what to do. He was obviously stuck in her fence and though he didn't have any of the mushrooms on him, she seemed to already know what he had been up to. She didn't seem angry, but she was acting odd.
"You listen to me lad. Stay away from the creek. The rivers are rising. I knew your parents. You stay away from water..." She trailed off again and looked off into the distance, towards the river. Frodo didn't know what to do. His insides felt like they had gone cold. "I can hear the river," Adda said in a voice just above a whisper, "it is restless, it has called your name before. It calls you, it's not satisfied with just your parents. It wants you...Stay away from the water, lad. If I catch you near the creek again I'll go straight to your Aunt. I warned her, told them you were a marked child.... no they don't listen. Someday it will take you, pulling you under, stealing the life out of you and then they will see." She reached over and yanked Frodo's shirt from the fence. "Now go on, don't come here ever again."
Frodo ran. He ran until he felt he couldn't breathe. He never looked back.
***
Merry came rushing into the kitchen towards his mother. "Mama, mama, you have to come!" Esmeralda was busy cooking and at first didn't pay attention to Merry's sudden urgency. "Mama, please! It's Frodo. He got sick outside. You have to come!" Merry was too worried to explain. Fortunately, Esmeralda did not need much encouragement to leave the kitchen to find out what was wrong. She found Frodo kneeling in the grass holding his arms and trying not to cry. He seemed to almost be choking and he started to retch.
"What happened Frodo?' Esmeralda asked kneeling by the lad and wrapping her arms about him. Frodo didn't answer, but leaned into the embrace. He felt safer that way. Soon he was able to calm down enough that his Aunt was able to lead him inside, away from the suddenly cold night air.
To be continued...
A/N: Hey, I'm not dead after all. You have to understand, this chapter was hard to write and I just didn't want to deal with it. Plus I gave myself the creeps writing Old Adda's bit. I've missed writing this and I hope this part was ok. I just finished and it's like 5:00am I hope it makes sense, I'm so tired.
The story Frodo tells Merry is actually based on a Brother's Grimm story. It was so awful that I wanted to include it somewhere.
Thank you to all my reviewers for encouraging me and thanks to Shirebound for being an inspiration. Please review and I'll try to get the next part up as soon as I can.