Chapter Twenty: Letters and Distraction
A/N: I just realized something.... Aruraya is now 14! I'm only older than you by two months and two days (May 19th), but Happy Belated Birthday still! Which also means.... this story is over a year old! Holy bejeebers! And, since it's the only thing I can do, this chapter is dedicated to Aruraya for a late birthday present.
Also if you didn't know, Bridgewater (the name at least) is not my creation. It's actually the town where a few of my cousins live. I just borrowed the name.
~*~
Bridgewater appeared when the three travelling hobbits breached another green hill. Merry's eyes widened as he realized why exactly it was titled Bridgewater. A clear stream meandered around and down the hill, and lying across the stream was a small, wooden bridge, artistically crafted, smooth, and durable so that hobbit wagons could cross it with ease.
Looking up, Meriadoc also saw something else rather unique about Bridgewater. The front door to the smials was not painted green as usual for hobbit doors, but rather it was an earth-tinted brown that boasted gold leaves engraved in the round rim of the door. It blended in surprisingly well with the grass of the hill, only appearing as a patch of dirt to untrained eyes. Pippin smiled at Merry and began to walk towards the path and the bridge, calling back behind him, "If it's this lovely on the outside, I can only wonder what the inside looks like!"
Berilac and Merry followed closely behind, the three halting at the door. With a tentative hand, Pippin turned the knob in the middle, gave the door a small push, and stepped back as the door swung wide to reveal the front hall.
"Oooh," Berilac awed and pressed Pippin forwards into the smials. Following, Merry closed the door behind them as they looked about at the newly furnished place, complete with polished wooden floors and smoothly arched ceilings of eggshell white. It seemed Merry's father had been right- the smials were rather barren of furniture, save a few more important objects here and there. He quickly passed Pippin and went to search the smials for a kitchen, hoping that the pantry had been filled before hand.
He looked through a few other rooms, recognizing two as bedrooms, one as a washroom, and another as a dining room.
When he had finally found the kitchen, he quickly looked into the pantry. "Pigeons!" he muttered and stepped back out. He thought a moment and smiled as an idea formed in his clever mind. "Berilac, do you mind going shopping for some food?"
"How soon?"
"Right now. There's none in the pantry, you see." He walked out of the kitchen area and nearly tripped over Pippin, who had come to investigate as well.
"No food!" the young Took exclaimed. "You'd better leave now, Berilac! We might starve today if you don't."
"All right, all right," Berilac agreed as he entered the kitchen from the other opening, quickly glancing around the room though not going near the pantry. "But why can't you go, Mer?"
"I just want to estimate what we'll be needing for the next few weeks. I'll go next time. I promise."
"Hmm... Well then, I'll be back soon." He nodded once to Merry and Pippin, turned, and left.
Pippin scuttled over to the pantry, shaking his head. "How can there be no..." He trailed off as he fully looked inside the pantry, then turned to Merry. "Mer, what are you talking about? There's some food in here."
"I know."
~*~
Berilac quietly whistled a familiar tune as he sauntered over the bridge and down the path again towards a more westerly direction, making for one of the rafts that he knew would be at the dock. "Hmm... Maybe I should give Merry the... Yes, I think I'll do that now before I go," he muttered as he stopped mid-stride and turned back around. "It'll only take me a moment."
Rummaging through his pack, which he had forgotten to take off earlier, he found what he was looking for and held it in his hand as he strode forward jauntily. He smiled, thinking of how pleased Merry would be when he returned.
He quietly entered through the door to Bridgewater and advanced down the hall, still smiling. "Merry-" he paused as laughing reached his ears. A pair of voices followed, broken here and there by a chuckle.
"And then you take the butter-"
"And I'll spread it across his forehead while he's sleeping."
He rounded the corner and his previous smile began to fade before an even larger smile replaced it. "Well, hello, you two. Hope I wasn't interrupting anything?"
Merry looked towards Berilac as he heard him, his face going dead serious. Dissolved in a fit of giggles on the floor, Pippin looked up as well and quickly halted his laughter. "Uh-h-hello, Berilac. What're you doing back here so soon?"
"Well, I just figured I would deliver these to you since I forgot to earlier. They have your names on them, anyway."
He tossed a bundle of papers to Merry. After fumbling with the bundle for a moment, Merry recognized what they were: envelopes. As he pulled off the string and looked closer, his eyes widened and he glanced towards Pippin in disbelief. "T-The letters."
Pippin seemed confused for a moment. "What lette-" He stopped as Merry held them up for him to see. He recognized five of the envelopes in the bundle for certain. They were white with the name 'Merry Brandybuck' written in his own scrawled handwriting. "I can't believe it.. It's really them! I had wondered where they had gotten off to." Pippin glanced imploringly at Berilac. "Where did you get these, Berilac?"
"Well, when I helped you flee last night, I looked through your father's desk to see if he had a few writing utensils so that it looked like you had written the note in a hurry and left it on his desk. While I was doing that, I found those in one of his drawers. I saw Merry's name on the first one and decided to take it with me."
Merry smiled appreciatively. "Well, thank you, Berilac. That solves that mystery."
"I just don't get why my father would want us separated that badly. Sure, he's angry about us being so close-"
"Actually," Merry interrupted, "I talked to Frodo a long time ago. I don't remember a whole lot of what he said, but I think he told me that your father might feel threatened by us."
Pippin knitted his eyebrows at Merry. "Why would he feel like that? No offence, Merry, but you aren't exactly a very threatening hobbit."
"I think that when Frodo said 'threatened' he didn't mean in the physical sense. I think he meant that Uncle Paladin felt threatened by our relationship, like he might be losing his only son to me."
Berilac whistled. "That was deep, Merry. Very deep." A pointed look silenced him.
Pippin shrugged. "I suppose. Da has never been a very rational thinker. Ha, this drove me farther away, I think. It would have been better if he just paid more attention to me. Maybe stop putting so much work into the fields around Tuckborough and start spending more time at home. I guess I just don't understand him."
"Like he doesn't understand you. At least, not until you let him."
A smiled formed on Pippin's lips. "That's probably it, isn't it? He really doesn't think that I'm a good-for-nothing, does he?"
"'Course not, Pip. You've never done anything to really upset him, and you know he isn't affected by rumors from the rest of the Shire. He's lived with them for most of his life. You know how the rest of the Shire feels about your line of family with all that fairy nonsense circling round."
"Hehe. All right, I suppose. Hey, Berilac, I-" Pippin paused and looked around the room, noting the older Brandybuck's absence. "Oh well. Now, when are we going to read those letters?"
"How 'bout tonight? Right before we carry out the 'other' plan."
"Sounds like a plan."
~*~
Once Berilac returned from grocery shopping, the three set about preparing a dinner of vegetable stew, biscuits, and pork, saving the apple tarts for supper. The pork preparation had gone to Berilac while Merry and Pippin decided to work on the vegetables.
Merry smiled as he glanced over to Pippin, noticing the Took was having a hard time with the chopping knife Berilac had brought him. "Do you want help with that, Pip?"
"Huh? No, I can do this. Just takes quite a while," Pippin replied, not looking up from the carrot he was chopping.
Meriadoc smirked and cocked his head at Pippin. "Oh, well, I just thought," he started, stepping around the counter to come up behind Pippin, "that you would go a bit faster if..." He trailed off as he circled his arms around Pippin's and rested his hands atop the younger's hands, guiding them to a different position with one hand around the handle and two fingers of the other hand pressed on the dull side of the knife. "You might go faster if you started at the tip of the knife -yes, that's it- and bring it down towards you, like that," he breathed in Pippin's ear, showing him the actions.
Pippin shivered and stared down at the carrot beneath his hands. "O-oh. Thank you, Merry." He blushed when Merry pressed his left cheek against Pippin's right one to get a better look over his friend's shoulder.
"Just like that, Pip. You've got it." He pulled away and returned to his vegetable pile, not noticing the red tinge that had accumulated on Pippin's face.
A/N: I just realized something.... Aruraya is now 14! I'm only older than you by two months and two days (May 19th), but Happy Belated Birthday still! Which also means.... this story is over a year old! Holy bejeebers! And, since it's the only thing I can do, this chapter is dedicated to Aruraya for a late birthday present.
Also if you didn't know, Bridgewater (the name at least) is not my creation. It's actually the town where a few of my cousins live. I just borrowed the name.
~*~
Bridgewater appeared when the three travelling hobbits breached another green hill. Merry's eyes widened as he realized why exactly it was titled Bridgewater. A clear stream meandered around and down the hill, and lying across the stream was a small, wooden bridge, artistically crafted, smooth, and durable so that hobbit wagons could cross it with ease.
Looking up, Meriadoc also saw something else rather unique about Bridgewater. The front door to the smials was not painted green as usual for hobbit doors, but rather it was an earth-tinted brown that boasted gold leaves engraved in the round rim of the door. It blended in surprisingly well with the grass of the hill, only appearing as a patch of dirt to untrained eyes. Pippin smiled at Merry and began to walk towards the path and the bridge, calling back behind him, "If it's this lovely on the outside, I can only wonder what the inside looks like!"
Berilac and Merry followed closely behind, the three halting at the door. With a tentative hand, Pippin turned the knob in the middle, gave the door a small push, and stepped back as the door swung wide to reveal the front hall.
"Oooh," Berilac awed and pressed Pippin forwards into the smials. Following, Merry closed the door behind them as they looked about at the newly furnished place, complete with polished wooden floors and smoothly arched ceilings of eggshell white. It seemed Merry's father had been right- the smials were rather barren of furniture, save a few more important objects here and there. He quickly passed Pippin and went to search the smials for a kitchen, hoping that the pantry had been filled before hand.
He looked through a few other rooms, recognizing two as bedrooms, one as a washroom, and another as a dining room.
When he had finally found the kitchen, he quickly looked into the pantry. "Pigeons!" he muttered and stepped back out. He thought a moment and smiled as an idea formed in his clever mind. "Berilac, do you mind going shopping for some food?"
"How soon?"
"Right now. There's none in the pantry, you see." He walked out of the kitchen area and nearly tripped over Pippin, who had come to investigate as well.
"No food!" the young Took exclaimed. "You'd better leave now, Berilac! We might starve today if you don't."
"All right, all right," Berilac agreed as he entered the kitchen from the other opening, quickly glancing around the room though not going near the pantry. "But why can't you go, Mer?"
"I just want to estimate what we'll be needing for the next few weeks. I'll go next time. I promise."
"Hmm... Well then, I'll be back soon." He nodded once to Merry and Pippin, turned, and left.
Pippin scuttled over to the pantry, shaking his head. "How can there be no..." He trailed off as he fully looked inside the pantry, then turned to Merry. "Mer, what are you talking about? There's some food in here."
"I know."
~*~
Berilac quietly whistled a familiar tune as he sauntered over the bridge and down the path again towards a more westerly direction, making for one of the rafts that he knew would be at the dock. "Hmm... Maybe I should give Merry the... Yes, I think I'll do that now before I go," he muttered as he stopped mid-stride and turned back around. "It'll only take me a moment."
Rummaging through his pack, which he had forgotten to take off earlier, he found what he was looking for and held it in his hand as he strode forward jauntily. He smiled, thinking of how pleased Merry would be when he returned.
He quietly entered through the door to Bridgewater and advanced down the hall, still smiling. "Merry-" he paused as laughing reached his ears. A pair of voices followed, broken here and there by a chuckle.
"And then you take the butter-"
"And I'll spread it across his forehead while he's sleeping."
He rounded the corner and his previous smile began to fade before an even larger smile replaced it. "Well, hello, you two. Hope I wasn't interrupting anything?"
Merry looked towards Berilac as he heard him, his face going dead serious. Dissolved in a fit of giggles on the floor, Pippin looked up as well and quickly halted his laughter. "Uh-h-hello, Berilac. What're you doing back here so soon?"
"Well, I just figured I would deliver these to you since I forgot to earlier. They have your names on them, anyway."
He tossed a bundle of papers to Merry. After fumbling with the bundle for a moment, Merry recognized what they were: envelopes. As he pulled off the string and looked closer, his eyes widened and he glanced towards Pippin in disbelief. "T-The letters."
Pippin seemed confused for a moment. "What lette-" He stopped as Merry held them up for him to see. He recognized five of the envelopes in the bundle for certain. They were white with the name 'Merry Brandybuck' written in his own scrawled handwriting. "I can't believe it.. It's really them! I had wondered where they had gotten off to." Pippin glanced imploringly at Berilac. "Where did you get these, Berilac?"
"Well, when I helped you flee last night, I looked through your father's desk to see if he had a few writing utensils so that it looked like you had written the note in a hurry and left it on his desk. While I was doing that, I found those in one of his drawers. I saw Merry's name on the first one and decided to take it with me."
Merry smiled appreciatively. "Well, thank you, Berilac. That solves that mystery."
"I just don't get why my father would want us separated that badly. Sure, he's angry about us being so close-"
"Actually," Merry interrupted, "I talked to Frodo a long time ago. I don't remember a whole lot of what he said, but I think he told me that your father might feel threatened by us."
Pippin knitted his eyebrows at Merry. "Why would he feel like that? No offence, Merry, but you aren't exactly a very threatening hobbit."
"I think that when Frodo said 'threatened' he didn't mean in the physical sense. I think he meant that Uncle Paladin felt threatened by our relationship, like he might be losing his only son to me."
Berilac whistled. "That was deep, Merry. Very deep." A pointed look silenced him.
Pippin shrugged. "I suppose. Da has never been a very rational thinker. Ha, this drove me farther away, I think. It would have been better if he just paid more attention to me. Maybe stop putting so much work into the fields around Tuckborough and start spending more time at home. I guess I just don't understand him."
"Like he doesn't understand you. At least, not until you let him."
A smiled formed on Pippin's lips. "That's probably it, isn't it? He really doesn't think that I'm a good-for-nothing, does he?"
"'Course not, Pip. You've never done anything to really upset him, and you know he isn't affected by rumors from the rest of the Shire. He's lived with them for most of his life. You know how the rest of the Shire feels about your line of family with all that fairy nonsense circling round."
"Hehe. All right, I suppose. Hey, Berilac, I-" Pippin paused and looked around the room, noting the older Brandybuck's absence. "Oh well. Now, when are we going to read those letters?"
"How 'bout tonight? Right before we carry out the 'other' plan."
"Sounds like a plan."
~*~
Once Berilac returned from grocery shopping, the three set about preparing a dinner of vegetable stew, biscuits, and pork, saving the apple tarts for supper. The pork preparation had gone to Berilac while Merry and Pippin decided to work on the vegetables.
Merry smiled as he glanced over to Pippin, noticing the Took was having a hard time with the chopping knife Berilac had brought him. "Do you want help with that, Pip?"
"Huh? No, I can do this. Just takes quite a while," Pippin replied, not looking up from the carrot he was chopping.
Meriadoc smirked and cocked his head at Pippin. "Oh, well, I just thought," he started, stepping around the counter to come up behind Pippin, "that you would go a bit faster if..." He trailed off as he circled his arms around Pippin's and rested his hands atop the younger's hands, guiding them to a different position with one hand around the handle and two fingers of the other hand pressed on the dull side of the knife. "You might go faster if you started at the tip of the knife -yes, that's it- and bring it down towards you, like that," he breathed in Pippin's ear, showing him the actions.
Pippin shivered and stared down at the carrot beneath his hands. "O-oh. Thank you, Merry." He blushed when Merry pressed his left cheek against Pippin's right one to get a better look over his friend's shoulder.
"Just like that, Pip. You've got it." He pulled away and returned to his vegetable pile, not noticing the red tinge that had accumulated on Pippin's face.