Chapter Twelve: Feuding Findings

"Mr. Merry!" cried a cheerful Samwise Gamgee as he spotted the hobbit looking out the window of his carriage.

"Sam!" Merry yelled back as he motioned the driver to stop the horses. "Sam! I haven't seen you in a half-year! How have you been?"

The gardener shook his head happily. "Oh, absolutely fine, Mr. Merry. How was your stay at old Marmadas' winter getaway?" he asked as Meriadoc jumped out of the carriage and came to him.

"Oh, it was all right, I suppose. Nothing really bad happened. I'm still alive and have all of my hair, surprisingly."

Sam motioned to the door. "Mr. Frodo has been wondering when you would come back. He has something to tell you. Well, I guess I could tell you it, but Mr. Frodo has a better way of explaining things than I do. And you best hear it before you get to Buckland."



Frodo paced around nervously in front of the dining table. Merry watched him from his seat, waiting for Frodo to speak. Finally, his older cousin turned to him and looked him in the eye. "Merry, did your father come with you in the carriage?"

Merry shook his head. "He took another carriage a few days ahead of me. He should be at Buckland already."

Frodo nodded. "Well, you see, Merry. While you were gone, things started to heat up between your family and the Tooks."

The young Brandybuck raised an eyebrow. "Heated up?"

"Well, it started with the argument, you know. And that was fine when you left in September, until it reached about mid-October. It seems your mother had an argument with Mrs. Took a while back before that, and then some of the Bucklanders damaged a few of the crops over at Whitwell by setting their cows loose to graze. Then your cousin, Terioloc I think, or it could have been Perioloc, one of the two, started spreading rumors about the Tooks. And, you know, this whole business with you and Pippin hasn't helped anything very much. And, believe it or not, even after this whole affair has happened, Paladin is still angry about the mule! Well, you know how Paladin is. One tiny thing can set him off, but this has outraged him. So it has been officially declared that there is now a feud between all Brandybucks and Tooks."

Merry almost fell out of his chair. "Oh, great. Just great! Here I was, expecting to come home to quiet Buckland and maybe patch things up with Pippin and get on with my life, and now there is a feud?!"

Frodo shook his head. "Well, you don't have to worry too much. It is more of an ignorance feud than a violent feud. You know, like what happened a few years ago with the Bracegirdles and Proudfoots."

"Uh, Proudfeet," Merry replied. "But don't compare it to that. That feud lasted three years!"

Frodo chuckled. "I don't think yours will be that long. Though, it is something like that."

"So you mean our families are now completely separated? Oh, no." His hand raised to his mouth in utter shock. He turned back to Frodo and became serious. "What about Pippin? Is he all right?"

Frodo nodded. "As far as I can tell. He really misses you, Merry. He's been very depressed the last three months that you have been gone. Why did you stay an extra month anyway?"

Merry shrugged. "Da wanted to stay for a part of Yule and then we decided we would come back. I needed more time to think anyway. But now that I'm back, I really want to get back Pippin." He looked down at his hands. "So Pippin, he was depressed without me, you say?"

Frodo smirked. "Yes. He still is."

Meriadoc looked back up to his older cousin. "Well, I'll see if I can change that."

"It isn't going to be that easy, Merry. Tookland is literally sealed off. If Paladin caught you over there anywhere near Pippin, that would only make the feud worse. I think you should stay away from Pippin, if only for a little while. Give the adults a chance to calm down. It might be a while, but we have to be patient," Frodo advised, sitting down next to Merry.

Meriadoc remained silent for a while, staring off into his hot tea as if the tea leaf trick might be in order to dish out answers. A thought popped into mind and Merry looked back over to Frodo. "You did give Pippin the address to Marmadas' home, didn't you?"

Frodo nodded. "Yep. Pippin wrote you at least five times."

Merry's expression was one of confusion. "Five times? I didn't receive any letters. I wrote Pippin though, two letters that I sent."

"He didn't receive them, I guess. That is very odd. Even if I hadn't had the right address to Marmadas' home, your letters should have reached Pippin by now. Perhaps they were delayed," Frodo contemplated, trying to reason with himself.

"I think something very strange is going on, Frodo. Someone is up to some funny business," Merry replied, glaring straight ahead. "But you are right, I suppose. We need to be patient and discover things as we go along, even though patience is something I haven't had a lot of these past few days."

Frodo put his hand on Merry's shoulder. "We'll figure it out. But I suppose you had better be heading to Buckland if they are expecting you."

Merry nodded. "Of course, Frodo. I do need to get going, but thank you for the news. And tell Pippin, if you see him, that I'll see him soon." With that, he stood quietly and went to the door, heading back to the carriage.

"Mr. Merry!" Meriadoc spun around and saw Sam coming down the steps towards him. "I was hoping to give you this earlier. Seein' as you're in for a good long ride, I thought you might need some food." Sam held out his hands, in which was a small basket of baked bread.

Merry smiled. "Thank you, Sam." He took the bread and placed it on the seat. "You take care of yourself, Sam. I'll see you soon!" He jumped in the carriage and sat down, closing the door. The driver gently tapped the reigns and the pony started trotting off down the hill, lost to sight within a minute.

Sam stood there near the fence a short while. "Pippin sure is going to be happy to see you." He grinned and turned back towards the door, going inside to escape the cold night air.