"Beggin' your pardon, Mr. Frodo, but you said Pippin was too young to be of any use to Mr. Merry's scheming, but that ain't so. I seem to recall a flaming Took scaring off half the Shire at Bilbo's 90th Birthday party."

"Ah, yes," Frodo stated, "That was Merry's doing. Merry, would you like to tell about when you set Pippin on fire?"

Gimli chortled. "I must say, I have some friends of the family I dislike, but what an act!"

"I did not set him on fire!" Merry cried. "At least it was not intentional! Right, Pip?" He turned to his cousin for help.

Pippin, who had been laughing at Merry's discomfort a moment before, sobered up instantly and put on an expression of mock innocence and worry. "But Merry, I was so young at the time, I don't remember. And after that last story, I'm starting to remember how much you didn't like me following you around. Tell me you didn't try to get rid of me once and for all, cousin!"

"Knock it off! You remember as well as I do. Besides, it's Frodo's fault, really."

Frodo started to lift his hands in protest, but before he could get a word out, Marry added in haste, "Letting himself get cornered by those nasty Sackville-Bagginses. It was some family gathering in Bag End- nearly all the hobbits related to the Old Took came. Naturally there were the Baggins and the Brandybucks and, obviously, Tooks. And wherever there is something going on at Bag End, the Sackville-Bagginses manage to sneak in! So there I was, minding my own business-"

"Not for one moment do I believe that Merry Brandybuck was just 'minding his own business," Pippin said.

Merry huffed in response. "Well, fine. I had just snuck into the store room and grabbed a nice batch of Fallawater apples, but after that, I was back in the main room, minding my own business, and what did I see but my dear cousin Frodo cornered by Lobelia Sackville-Baggins herself. She kept trying to get into the spare room-"

"The Sackville-Bagginses did always think there was some secret tunnel back there," Frodo interjected, his eyes twinkling. "I suppose they thought it was overflowing with gold, too." Frodo interjected, his eyes twinkling.

Merry nodded. "Yes, but you wouldn't let them back. They tried all sorts of ways to get past you- she kept treating you like you weren't yet 10, though. Trying to convince you that Bilbo had invited them back there, or that Bilbo had given them a present and left it there. I was plotting on how to bust in and save the day when I felt someone grabbing at the tails of my coat. I turned around and saw a wee little Pip. He couldn't have been more than 6 years old, and he's going on and on about some song his mom had taught him."

"It was a very good song." Pippin said defiantly. "The first I ever learned- and you wouldn't listen to it."

"I thought you didn't remember any of this." Merry rolled his eyes. "I had more important things to do! I tried to stick him on someone else at the party but he was dead set on sticking with me. So I decided to use it to my advantage. I found a tea tray- the one with the best set of wheels, and place Pip dead center on top of all the napkins and place ware. People always worry about little ones- so if they saw Pippin flying through the room on a tea tray, there would probably be an uproar. Or enough a distraction so as to allow me to grab Frodo away from Lobelia. Anyways, I told Pip that we were going to make him the center of attention for a while, and he straightaway went off on that song again. It was such a pretty song- he said- his mommy said it would be great for parties and for getting people's attention. Please Merry, could he sing his song? So I gave in and told Pippin to sing his heart out. In the mean time, I arranged him at the end of the hall, directly across from the main room, and got ready to give him a strong push. He started singing, all high-pitched and squeaky, and I gave a hard shove."

"You pushed him down the hall on a tea tray?" Legolas asked, turning to the youngest hobbit. "And Pippin was not upset by it?"

"Oh no," Merry went on, "He just kept singing. It was going great- the tea tray was closing in on the main room entrance and already folks were beginning to peer into the hall to see what the ruckus was, when Pip got a bit too close to one of the lamps in the wall. One of the napkins was hanging over the side and brushed straight through the flame- obviously, the fire soon was spreading, and hobbit folk were screaming and shouting all over."

"I thought it was quite fun." Pippin piped up. "Until I got in trouble. For some reason they seemed to think it was my fault."

"Wonder why?" Sam whispered to Frodo, causing the older hobbit to smile.

"Yes, sorry about that Pip," Merry said. "Sometimes a sacrifice is necessary to help a friend in need. We did succeed in saving Frodo, though! Lobelia was quite distracted by all the fuss and Frodo and I were able to sneak outside and play in the garden-"

"And a right mess you made," Sam cut in, "Trampling through them flowers. We'd thought a dwarf had come through, or a troll, the way the poor petals were squashed so flat."