Chapter Four

Blotmath (still), 1425

Pippin was really beginning to wonder what had gotten Diamond so upset. What exactly had he done? He wondered. Sure, there was that time, he had hid in that tree throwing fruit at passersby, and the time I snuck up behind Fredegar and—oh, and the time that—well, maybe she did have a point, as those were all occasions when I was supposed to meet her, he thought.

But even so…urgh...how could he make her understand? Wait, he thought, maybe if I was to pick some flowers, and, and go to her door and apologize—lasses like that kind of thing, right? Well, it was worth a try.

Pippin stood by a side door to Diamond's hole, pondering whether to go in or not. Not being able to find a good reason not to, he took a deep breath, and knocked.

"Pippin?" He held out a bouquet of daisies, trying to look apologetic, but probably looking more than a little pathetic. It was good thing Merry wasn't there, he thought, or he'd never hear the end of it.

"Forgive Me?" To his utter surprise, she ran up and leapt into his arms, babbling something about missing me and how something was all her fault. "Is that a yes?" he asked encouragingly.

"Fool of a Took!" she exclaimed. He cringed, regretting that he had told her about that. She kissed him on the tip of his nose, like a butterfly had landed there. He smiled; he was glad that things were back to normal between them.

Later that morning they were sitting on the swing in the backyard. Or rather he was sitting, thought Pippin, as Diamond was lying against him, giving off an appley sort of scent with her eyes half closed.

"So, you couldn't live for a day without me, eh?" He ran his fingers through her curls.

"Don't get too full of yourself, Peregrin Took," she replied, feigning annoyance. "I could leave at any time," she continued, getting up and pretending she was about to walk away.

"Could you now?" he mocked her.

"Yes I could," she said, probably really annoyed by this time. But he couldn't stop himself.

"I bet you couldn't!"

"Do you?" She sat down on his lap and cupped her hands behind his head. She leaned in closer, but to his annoyance, stopped just short of an actual kiss.

"I'm going to get you, Diamond." But she was already off. Pippin quickly got to my feet and gave chase, catching her just as a young hobbit lad, of about fifteen, possibly a few years past, ran up.

"M- Master Peregrin, you must come quickly, Mistress Pimpernel is in trouble!"

"Don't you think I have better things to do than mind my bothersome older sisters?" Pippin asked returning to his captive and kissing her soundly on the mouth. "That'll give the lad something to joke to his friends about later," he whispered to Diamond. She giggled.

"With all due respect, Master Peregrin, this is serious!" It was subtle, but the mood of the morning had changed.

"What's wrong?" he said, giving his full attention to the messenger.

"Mistress Pimpernel's trapped under a cart in the market just up the road and you were the only one we knew of who could lift it around here."

"I'm sorry, Diamond, but I must attend to this," he yelled over my shoulder, already partway up the road.

Pippin ran as fast as his legs could carry him up the road, stumbling several times on the cobbles, the third of these times, falling and scraping his hands and knees. He stumbled back up and kept running, finally reaching the market. It was surprisingly deserted, and he immediately spotted his sister under the cart, her lower arm completely crushed and bloodied under one of the wheels. Quickly he started giving orders.

"You there, go and fetch the nearest healer," he shouted, addressing the messenger. "You, bring me some water and bandages, Hurry!" he called to a lass standing nearby. "Come here," he said to another hobbit. "I'm going to lift this cart up. When I do I want you to pull Pimmie out as quickly and carefully as possible. Ready? One, two, three!" He strained to lift the heavy cart high enough to get his sister out and waited, sweat pouring down his face until she was free. By this time Diamond had arrived.

"Pippin! Oh, Pippin!" she cried looking at the unconscious Pimpernel with her mangled arm sprawled out at an odd angle. "Pippin, is there anything I can do?"

"Quickly, Diamond, go fetch my parents and my sisters. Hurry!" She shot down the road, a rabbit, running from a fox. Pippin glanced around him. Seeing the healer had not yet arrived, he knelt down in the road beside his sister, the one who had always annoyed him to no end. Funny, you don't notice how much you care about someone until something happens to them, he thought. As he ripped off one of his sleeves in an attempt to create a makeshift bandage and stem the flow of blood from Pimmie's arm, he thought about Diamond and how upset he would be if anything ever happened to her. He sighed and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

After what seemed an eternity, the healer finally arrived with herbal compresses and clean bandages; the hobbit lass he had sent for them had never returned. His parents arrived not long after, trailed by Pearl and Pervinca. Diamond wasn't there.

While Pippin's family all clustered around Pimpernel, Pippin, who in his desperation had played the hero, was now exhausted. The reality of what had happened finally sank in. He walked off to a corner of the market and buried his face in his arms.

After some time he was aware that Diamond was sitting next to him, whispering words of comfort in his ear. He took her hand and held it between his, gently kissing it and then returning it. They sat in silence, Diamond leaned against his side. Time passed and he became dimly aware that Diamond had drifted off to sleep. Then he knew no more.