Chapter Nineteen: Why, Yes, My Dear Brandybuck
A/N: This is a bit long of a chapter. I had intended it to be really short, but then again intending isn't a word that should be used when referring to writing. Thank you to my loyal and sweet reviewers. Without you, I wouldn't have the encouragement to continue such works.
~*~
"Are you insane?" That was the first question that Merry directed towards Berilac when he was given an explanation. In his arms lay Pippin, quiescent in the circle of his arms, and across from him stood Berilac, guiltily staring down to the floor, all three in Merry's bedroom.
"Well, Merry, I just thought-"
"You could have been caught, Berilac! Do you know how much trouble we could have gotten into-how much trouble we're going to get into when Mum finds out about this? She'll have both our heads!" Merry scolded, holding Pippin tighter. "Did you really think this was going to work out? I don't want him to leave, of course, but he can't stay here freely."
"Now, wait just a minute, Merry!" Berilac took a breath and began. "First off, I agree that it is a risky plan, but I also have to say that I have most of the details planned so that we won't be mortally wounded for life. You see, before I grabbed Pippin, I left a note on Paladin's desk-"
"You were in Da's office?" Pippin piped up, curious.
"Yes. Now, as I was saying, I left a note for Paladin, saying that Pippin was to be spending two weeks with Frodo at Bag End to be tutored. I'm sorry, Pippin, but I had to forge your signature since I used first person."
"First person?"
"Yes, you know, Pippin. I, me, my, mine-get the picture?"
Merry glared at Berilac. "But if Paladin doesn't recognize the handwriting- "
"Handwriting? I wrote it fast; there is no real handwriting." Berilac smiled. "And as for the rest, I sent a message to Frodo explaining this whole situation, and if anyone asks, Pippin shall be at Bag End."
"But I thought I was staying here."
"You are, Pip. It's just going to seem like you're at Bag End."
Pippin cocked his head, thinking, then shrugged and settled back down.
"All we need to do for the rest of the time is either hide Pippin in your room or explain to Aunt Ezzy about the situation." Berilac smiled at Merry, awaiting his cousin's agreement.
"Mum won't like this," Merry began, sitting back and releasing Pippin so that the younger could sit beside him. "We can't explain to her what we're doing. These adults have caused us enough trouble... And we can't hide him...so, we'll have to leave and go somewhere else for those few weeks."
"Merry?" both Pippin and Berilac inquired.
"Da created a new area of smials down in the southern area of Buckland...er, Bridgewater, I think he called it. If I ask him, maybe we can stay down there for those two weeks. It'd be easier than staying here."
Berilac seemed intrigued, head nodding and lips curving upwards. "True, but how can we convince him to allow us to stay down there?"
Merry frowned and looked from Berilac to Pippin. "Well... I suppose we can say that we're tidying it up a bit."
The other two nodded and agreed before the three started planning for the weeks ahead.
~*~
"Da, left for Bag End to be tutored by Frodo. Won't be home until-what is that, a two? Yes, two weeks from now. See you then...Pippin." Paladin set down the note he was reading back onto the desk and sighed with a mixture of relief and annoyance. His son could be right foolish at times, but perhaps he was starting to grow up if he decided to be tutored by someone, especially by a hobbit like Frodo Baggins.
The Took walked out of his office, shoving his hands into his trouser pockets, and meandered into the dining room where his wife was already eating first breakfast, pausing near the doorway.
"Hello, dear," she said as she forked another helping of fried eggs onto her plate, not looking up to see the forlorn expression splayed across Paladin's face.
"Good morning, Eglantine," he replied, sauntering over and taking a seat next to her, folding his hands neatly in his lap.
"Where are the girls?"
"Asleep," he replied off-handedly, barely making a dent in his food with the point of a butter-knife.
"And Peregrin?"
"Hmm? Oh...gone to Bag End."
"Really?" Eglantine dabbed her lips with a crème-colored napkin, wiping crumbs from her lips. "Why to Bag End?"
"Frodo shall be tutoring him." Paladin glanced off with a faraway look, tapping his fingers against the back of his other hand when he put his hands back down onto his lap.
Eglantine looked up to him and frowned at Paladin. "Oh, I see. Well, for how long?"
"Two weeks."
"Hmm, well that's not so long, then. A good occasion, actually, to be tutored by that sweet Frodo boy. Pippin will learn quite a bit in that case. Are you all right, Paladin?" Eglantine leaned over her chair's armrest towards him when he did not respond. "I asked if you were all right, Paladin."
"What? Oh, yes, I am. Don't worry about me, dear. I'm perfectly all right." He smiled, grimly to Eglantine noticing. She furrowed her brow at him but said no more to her unusually silent husband as she turned back to her breakfast, shaking her head.
~*~
"Do you need something, dear?" Esmerelda asked as Merry entered the sitting room, carefully walking up towards his mother.
"I was just looking for Da, actually. Do you know where he is?" he asked, clasping both hands behind his back as he spoke.
"Well, no, actually. Though you could try outside in the garden. You know your father, always trying to get that patch of strawberries ready to grow sooner than usual. Takes pride in his garden more and more." She sighed and glanced down at the book in her lap.
"They should be pretty big strawberries this year, Mum. The ground is softening a bit. We should have a full batch by the end of May, maybe the beginning of June. They could make strawberry jam for months." Merry smiled and kneeled before his mother, the smile turning to a frown when he noticed her sad expression. "Mum? What is it?"
"Oh, it's nothing, Merry. Just a little headache, I suppose. But tell me, how are you?"
"Me?" Merry paused a moment, thinking. "I'm fine, Mum. Why?"
Esmerelda nodded towards the door. "I thought you were looking for your father."
"Well, yes, I was." He glanced down at the floor before standing and carefully placing a kiss upon her forehead. "Feel better soon then, Mum."
She nodded and smiled to him as he left. Sighing, she continued to read, frowning even more. "How could he leave her for another woman? She was everything to him!" she exclaimed as she read on, getting caught up once more in the story.
~*~
"Hey, Da! Can I talk to you for a bit?" Merry asked as he came up behind his father, stooped over the dirt that would eventually sprout strawberry plants.
Saradoc glanced up from his scrutiny of the soil and grinned at his son. "Certainly. What about? Don't tell me you got into trouble again."
Merry laughed, hoping that the nervous edge in his voice did not seep out. "Trouble? Nah. I was just going to ask you a bit about that new section of Buckland. You know, Bridewater? Anyway, I was wondering, uh... Has it been finished yet?"
"Yes. It's been finished for a week and a half actually. Why?" Saradoc continued to trace the soil with his hands, counting out the seeds he had prepared.
"Well, you see, I was hoping that Berilac and I could go down there for a while and sort of...uh..."
"Give it a few homey touches?" his father finished. He nodded. "Well, I don't see any harm in it. Though I'd be up here in Brandy Hall with your mother for most of that time, I suppose. How long do you think you'll be staying?"
"Oh, about... two weeks?"
"Two weeks? Well, I suppose. Yes, actually. That's a good idea. We did need someone to see out the furnishing that still needs to be done. You can do that, can't you, Merry?"
"Of course, Da!" Merry exclaimed, happy that his plans were finally working. "You know I'd be happy too! I'll leave right now, in fact! Well, as soon as I'm finished packing a bit, anyway. Erm, thank you!" The young Brandybuck rushed away to start just that, leaving behind his very baffled father.
"Um, all right, then," he muttered, shaking his head as Merry ran through the front door, almost forgetting to turn to knob in the middle.
~*~
After he had explained to Berilac and Pippin what the plan was, the two Brandybucks packed for the trip ahead. Merry had lent a few of his clothes to Pippin for awhile, though many of them were just a bit too large on the smaller hobbit. Pippin often found himself tugging at the trousers so that they would not fall past his hips as he tried to find suspenders. Fortunately, he found a pair of suspenders that could fit his height and carefully put them on. He put his favorite blue jacket over it and was set.
Slinging their packs over their shoulders, the three decided to take the back way to not get caught. They sneaked around the back parts of the smials until they were far enough south of Brandy Hall to get back onto the road. Occasionally they would stop and take a short rest or have a snack. Along the way, they joked and sung songs they made up spontaneously, usually with it being Berilac who started the song and Pippin and Merry finishing it.
"The bees go a hum, hum, hum
and a buzz, buzz, buzz.
But never was there a bee who
Said were and was!"
The other two laughed at the short ditty. "Berilac, that makes no sense!" Merry chuckled.
"It makes perfect sense!" Berilac retorted. "Think about it. Bees don't live in the past. They only live in the present, so they don't say were and was!"
"They don't say anything, actually." Pippin smiled. "But I see your point. Let's try another shall we? Uh.
Down, down! Up and up!
I'm walking down the road.
Up, up! Down and down!
So I'll shrug off this heavy load!"
He slung his pack off his shoulder and carefully set it down, sitting next to it. The other two sat with him. "Well, Merry, it's your turn," Pippin said, stretching out.
"Well, then, let's see.." He grinned mischievously and glanced to Pippin.
"Down the lane lives the old farmer Maggot
With watermelons grosser than old stew.
He lives with his wife, who's a real fine hatchet,
And he's got the meanest dogs too!"
Pippin burst out in a fit of giggles and couldn't stop until Berilac hoisted him up from the ground. Smiling with a wide grin, Pippin decided to finish the song.
"Two pie-pinching cousins went there one day
to get them some of his good old food!
But they fell down and broke their crowns
And they didn't get any watermelon, too!"
Berilac shook his head. "I don't get any of it, though I suppose it isn't intended for me to get."
"Oh, that's all right. Sort of an inside joke, you see." Merry smiled at Pippin and nodded towards the road. "Well, let's get going again."
A/N: This is a bit long of a chapter. I had intended it to be really short, but then again intending isn't a word that should be used when referring to writing. Thank you to my loyal and sweet reviewers. Without you, I wouldn't have the encouragement to continue such works.
~*~
"Are you insane?" That was the first question that Merry directed towards Berilac when he was given an explanation. In his arms lay Pippin, quiescent in the circle of his arms, and across from him stood Berilac, guiltily staring down to the floor, all three in Merry's bedroom.
"Well, Merry, I just thought-"
"You could have been caught, Berilac! Do you know how much trouble we could have gotten into-how much trouble we're going to get into when Mum finds out about this? She'll have both our heads!" Merry scolded, holding Pippin tighter. "Did you really think this was going to work out? I don't want him to leave, of course, but he can't stay here freely."
"Now, wait just a minute, Merry!" Berilac took a breath and began. "First off, I agree that it is a risky plan, but I also have to say that I have most of the details planned so that we won't be mortally wounded for life. You see, before I grabbed Pippin, I left a note on Paladin's desk-"
"You were in Da's office?" Pippin piped up, curious.
"Yes. Now, as I was saying, I left a note for Paladin, saying that Pippin was to be spending two weeks with Frodo at Bag End to be tutored. I'm sorry, Pippin, but I had to forge your signature since I used first person."
"First person?"
"Yes, you know, Pippin. I, me, my, mine-get the picture?"
Merry glared at Berilac. "But if Paladin doesn't recognize the handwriting- "
"Handwriting? I wrote it fast; there is no real handwriting." Berilac smiled. "And as for the rest, I sent a message to Frodo explaining this whole situation, and if anyone asks, Pippin shall be at Bag End."
"But I thought I was staying here."
"You are, Pip. It's just going to seem like you're at Bag End."
Pippin cocked his head, thinking, then shrugged and settled back down.
"All we need to do for the rest of the time is either hide Pippin in your room or explain to Aunt Ezzy about the situation." Berilac smiled at Merry, awaiting his cousin's agreement.
"Mum won't like this," Merry began, sitting back and releasing Pippin so that the younger could sit beside him. "We can't explain to her what we're doing. These adults have caused us enough trouble... And we can't hide him...so, we'll have to leave and go somewhere else for those few weeks."
"Merry?" both Pippin and Berilac inquired.
"Da created a new area of smials down in the southern area of Buckland...er, Bridgewater, I think he called it. If I ask him, maybe we can stay down there for those two weeks. It'd be easier than staying here."
Berilac seemed intrigued, head nodding and lips curving upwards. "True, but how can we convince him to allow us to stay down there?"
Merry frowned and looked from Berilac to Pippin. "Well... I suppose we can say that we're tidying it up a bit."
The other two nodded and agreed before the three started planning for the weeks ahead.
~*~
"Da, left for Bag End to be tutored by Frodo. Won't be home until-what is that, a two? Yes, two weeks from now. See you then...Pippin." Paladin set down the note he was reading back onto the desk and sighed with a mixture of relief and annoyance. His son could be right foolish at times, but perhaps he was starting to grow up if he decided to be tutored by someone, especially by a hobbit like Frodo Baggins.
The Took walked out of his office, shoving his hands into his trouser pockets, and meandered into the dining room where his wife was already eating first breakfast, pausing near the doorway.
"Hello, dear," she said as she forked another helping of fried eggs onto her plate, not looking up to see the forlorn expression splayed across Paladin's face.
"Good morning, Eglantine," he replied, sauntering over and taking a seat next to her, folding his hands neatly in his lap.
"Where are the girls?"
"Asleep," he replied off-handedly, barely making a dent in his food with the point of a butter-knife.
"And Peregrin?"
"Hmm? Oh...gone to Bag End."
"Really?" Eglantine dabbed her lips with a crème-colored napkin, wiping crumbs from her lips. "Why to Bag End?"
"Frodo shall be tutoring him." Paladin glanced off with a faraway look, tapping his fingers against the back of his other hand when he put his hands back down onto his lap.
Eglantine looked up to him and frowned at Paladin. "Oh, I see. Well, for how long?"
"Two weeks."
"Hmm, well that's not so long, then. A good occasion, actually, to be tutored by that sweet Frodo boy. Pippin will learn quite a bit in that case. Are you all right, Paladin?" Eglantine leaned over her chair's armrest towards him when he did not respond. "I asked if you were all right, Paladin."
"What? Oh, yes, I am. Don't worry about me, dear. I'm perfectly all right." He smiled, grimly to Eglantine noticing. She furrowed her brow at him but said no more to her unusually silent husband as she turned back to her breakfast, shaking her head.
~*~
"Do you need something, dear?" Esmerelda asked as Merry entered the sitting room, carefully walking up towards his mother.
"I was just looking for Da, actually. Do you know where he is?" he asked, clasping both hands behind his back as he spoke.
"Well, no, actually. Though you could try outside in the garden. You know your father, always trying to get that patch of strawberries ready to grow sooner than usual. Takes pride in his garden more and more." She sighed and glanced down at the book in her lap.
"They should be pretty big strawberries this year, Mum. The ground is softening a bit. We should have a full batch by the end of May, maybe the beginning of June. They could make strawberry jam for months." Merry smiled and kneeled before his mother, the smile turning to a frown when he noticed her sad expression. "Mum? What is it?"
"Oh, it's nothing, Merry. Just a little headache, I suppose. But tell me, how are you?"
"Me?" Merry paused a moment, thinking. "I'm fine, Mum. Why?"
Esmerelda nodded towards the door. "I thought you were looking for your father."
"Well, yes, I was." He glanced down at the floor before standing and carefully placing a kiss upon her forehead. "Feel better soon then, Mum."
She nodded and smiled to him as he left. Sighing, she continued to read, frowning even more. "How could he leave her for another woman? She was everything to him!" she exclaimed as she read on, getting caught up once more in the story.
~*~
"Hey, Da! Can I talk to you for a bit?" Merry asked as he came up behind his father, stooped over the dirt that would eventually sprout strawberry plants.
Saradoc glanced up from his scrutiny of the soil and grinned at his son. "Certainly. What about? Don't tell me you got into trouble again."
Merry laughed, hoping that the nervous edge in his voice did not seep out. "Trouble? Nah. I was just going to ask you a bit about that new section of Buckland. You know, Bridewater? Anyway, I was wondering, uh... Has it been finished yet?"
"Yes. It's been finished for a week and a half actually. Why?" Saradoc continued to trace the soil with his hands, counting out the seeds he had prepared.
"Well, you see, I was hoping that Berilac and I could go down there for a while and sort of...uh..."
"Give it a few homey touches?" his father finished. He nodded. "Well, I don't see any harm in it. Though I'd be up here in Brandy Hall with your mother for most of that time, I suppose. How long do you think you'll be staying?"
"Oh, about... two weeks?"
"Two weeks? Well, I suppose. Yes, actually. That's a good idea. We did need someone to see out the furnishing that still needs to be done. You can do that, can't you, Merry?"
"Of course, Da!" Merry exclaimed, happy that his plans were finally working. "You know I'd be happy too! I'll leave right now, in fact! Well, as soon as I'm finished packing a bit, anyway. Erm, thank you!" The young Brandybuck rushed away to start just that, leaving behind his very baffled father.
"Um, all right, then," he muttered, shaking his head as Merry ran through the front door, almost forgetting to turn to knob in the middle.
~*~
After he had explained to Berilac and Pippin what the plan was, the two Brandybucks packed for the trip ahead. Merry had lent a few of his clothes to Pippin for awhile, though many of them were just a bit too large on the smaller hobbit. Pippin often found himself tugging at the trousers so that they would not fall past his hips as he tried to find suspenders. Fortunately, he found a pair of suspenders that could fit his height and carefully put them on. He put his favorite blue jacket over it and was set.
Slinging their packs over their shoulders, the three decided to take the back way to not get caught. They sneaked around the back parts of the smials until they were far enough south of Brandy Hall to get back onto the road. Occasionally they would stop and take a short rest or have a snack. Along the way, they joked and sung songs they made up spontaneously, usually with it being Berilac who started the song and Pippin and Merry finishing it.
"The bees go a hum, hum, hum
and a buzz, buzz, buzz.
But never was there a bee who
Said were and was!"
The other two laughed at the short ditty. "Berilac, that makes no sense!" Merry chuckled.
"It makes perfect sense!" Berilac retorted. "Think about it. Bees don't live in the past. They only live in the present, so they don't say were and was!"
"They don't say anything, actually." Pippin smiled. "But I see your point. Let's try another shall we? Uh.
Down, down! Up and up!
I'm walking down the road.
Up, up! Down and down!
So I'll shrug off this heavy load!"
He slung his pack off his shoulder and carefully set it down, sitting next to it. The other two sat with him. "Well, Merry, it's your turn," Pippin said, stretching out.
"Well, then, let's see.." He grinned mischievously and glanced to Pippin.
"Down the lane lives the old farmer Maggot
With watermelons grosser than old stew.
He lives with his wife, who's a real fine hatchet,
And he's got the meanest dogs too!"
Pippin burst out in a fit of giggles and couldn't stop until Berilac hoisted him up from the ground. Smiling with a wide grin, Pippin decided to finish the song.
"Two pie-pinching cousins went there one day
to get them some of his good old food!
But they fell down and broke their crowns
And they didn't get any watermelon, too!"
Berilac shook his head. "I don't get any of it, though I suppose it isn't intended for me to get."
"Oh, that's all right. Sort of an inside joke, you see." Merry smiled at Pippin and nodded towards the road. "Well, let's get going again."