Kendrick had managed to sleep through the night. No nightmares had plagued him. He hoped that this was a good omen. He made his way to breakfast. Pervinca and Pimpernel were already partaking. As Kendrick sat down at his place, he heard Pearl come in.
Pearl was tired. The night had been long, but fortunately had gone well. Food was in order before bed. The eldest Took girl made her way to the table. As she approached her seat, her sisters gathered their plates and moved several spaces away from her. Pearl had long since stopped being bothered by her sisters' avoidance of her. Since she had join the Watch, she had grown apart from Pervinca and Pimpernel. She knew that they felt she was "unlady" like because of her willingness to join the Watch. They had even considered it scandalous when she went out in public wearing pants. Their relationship was so bad that the two refused to speak with her, much to their mother's lament.
Pearl took a her seat, putting her knapsack where Pimpernel's plate had just occupied. She felt her sisters' glares, but refused to rise.
"Pearl dear, please don't put your knapsack on the table," Eglantine chided. Pearl silently did as she was asked, and put her knapsack on the chair next to her. She could hear Pervinca and Pimpernel whisper to themselves. So could their mother. "Girls, no gossip at the table."
Kendrick gathered his plate and moved to sit next to Pearl. She seemed a bit irritated by this, but didn't stop him.
"How was last night?" Kendrick asked. He was genuinely interested in the goings on of the Watch. He knew Pearl wasn't fond of him. He was fit enough to join the Watch, but hadn't volunteered. He did feel ashamed that he hadn't, but the nightmares were so terrible. He didn't know if he could live through them twice. Unfortunately, his nightmares weren't something he could explain to Pearl, or the other Watch members.
"Better. We didn't find anybody. Granted that doesn't mean that we didn't lose somebody, but the air around Frogmorton seemed a lot calmer," Pearl answered. "Did Pippin come in for breakfast yet?"
"No dear, not yet. He's probably still asleep." Eglantine answered. She knew that her son needed his sleep, but it saddened her that he missed so many meals because of it. Because of the Watch. She began serving Pearl and Kendrick their portions of breakfast.
"Lazy lout." Pearl mumbled under her breath before taking a bite of her toast.
"I'll check on him after breakfast Aunt Eglantine," Kendrick offered.
–
Kendrick finished putting the last of the dishes from breakfast in the wash basin. He began the wash, but Eglantine wanted him to check on Pippin.
"I'll handle these. Go check on your cousin," She ordered.
Kendrick made his way to Pippin's bedroom. The door was shut and locked, which was very unusual. He knocked on the door.
"Pippin," Kendrick called out. No sound came from within. Not wanting to suffer his Aunt's tirade should he return to her with the news, he decided to enter the bedroom. He took a couple of pins he kept on the cuffs of his jacket. He placed the pins in the keyhole. He had long ago read on how to break into locks, but never thought he would have the opportunity to practice what he read. Until now, he had been using the pins in place of cuff links.
A gentle click alerted him to his success. Taking into consideration that Pippin might still be asleep, Kendrick slowly and quietly opened the bedroom door. Fear gripped him when he realized the room was empty. Pippin's bed was turned down as if he was going to bed, but otherwise looked unslept in. His sword lay on top of the comforter. Kendrick picked up the weapon. Tears threatened to fall from his eyes as he realized the truth. Pippin was gone.
"Okay you lazy bum. Time to get up...Kendrick, where's Pippin?" Pearl barged into the room. Kendrick was standing next to Pippin's empty bed. Holding his sword in his hands. Kendrick slowly turned towards her. Tears were falling from his eyes.
"He's gone Pearl." Kendrick whispered. He didn't even bother holding his tears back as he allowed himself to fall to the ground on his knees. He clutched the sword to his chest as he allowed himself to convulse in grief. He had failed.
"What do you mean?" She asked. Kendrick felt Pearl's arms wrap around his shoulders.
"He's dead," Kendrick cried onto Pearl's shoulder. "I saw it in my nightmares...how he would die. It's my fault. I convinced him to stay home last night. If he had gone with you, he would be alive."
Kendrick suddenly found himself on the floor. His face stung from where Pearl drew her hand across it.
"What sick game are you playing?" Pearl was livid. She gave him a good kick to his gut, not giving him time to answer her question. Kendrick could only groan in pain as Pearl stormed out of Pippin's room.
–
Kendrick stocked his knapsack with food from the pantry. There wasn't much to choose from since today was market day, which made this the perfect time to pack. He was leaving, and very likely wasn't going to be coming back. He had decided not to tell Eglantine that Pippin was gone. He merely told her that he was asleep. Pearl had holed up in her room, so he figured he'd have a few hours start before she told Eglantine the truth. He double checked to make sure he had everything he needed; knapsack full of provisions, cloak, sword. He let his hand rest on the hilt of Pippin's sword. He hoped that he wouldn't need to use it.
Confident that he had everything he would need, Kendrick set out for Bag End. Frodo and Sam had been the first to disappear. He hoped that there might be some clues as to what was going on at Bag End.
–
It was midday when Kendrick arrived at Bag End. The vines had been allowed to grow wildly and had overtaken the garden. The flowers were wilting from being choked to death by the vines. The hedge hadn't been trimmed in ages. The air around the smial felt ominous and dark.
The door to the smial was locked. Kendrick had expected that. He took Pippin's key and allowed himself in. It look liked no one had set foot inside the smial for months. A thin layer of dust covered every surface. Dust motes floated aimlessly through the few cracks of light that made it through the boarded up windows. Unsure if anyone was living in the smial, he slowly and quietly made his way through the home.
As he came upon the hallway leading to the bedrooms, ghostly figures entered Kendrick's vision. Bilbo's apparition was hurriedly walking down the hallway. Sting and phial in hand. The apparition hesitated when it gets to Frodo's room. Suddenly, a tall and gangly apparition appeared from the bedroom. It grabbed Bilbo and threw him down the hall, back toward Kendrick. He looked up to the creature, which was now gripping its arm in pain. Though the apparitions were colorless, the creature was unmistakeably wraith like. Kendrick recalled his cousins speak of the Nazgul during their sleep conversations.
Almost as soon as it began, the vision ended. However, time outside seemed to flow separate from the vision. The clock in the living room chimed six o' clock. It was nearly dusk. Kendrick made his way to the bedroom. There more apparitions appeared. Frodo was lying on his bed. He looked delirious and weak. Nothing like he had when Kendrick last saw him alive. Kendrick felt the apparition of the creature pass through him as it made its way to Frodo. He saw it cradle his cousin gently in its arms, then begin gnawing at his throat. The creature then screamed as Frodo returned the favor. It tried to get away from the Hobbit, but as it became weak, Frodo seemed to become stronger. The creature cried its final death knell as it exploded into a burst of fabric and blood.
Kendrick awakened from the vision to see that the room that had once witnessed horror and blood, was now clean and unassuming. The candle on the night stand gave the room a soft glow of warmth. Kendrick unsheathed Pippin's sword. Someone was here.
He slowly made his way back to the living room. He took care to check every shadow and hallway leading to the front of the smial. It wouldn't do him any good to be ambushed. The living room was as empty as the rest of the home. However, the house lamps were burning. Not wishing to say any longer, Kendrick made for the front door.
"Leaving already?" Kendrick heard Frodo call from behind him. He turned to see his cousin lounging in one of the living room arm chairs. A chair Kendrick could have sworn had been unoccupied mere seconds ago. "Why not say a while longer. We have so much to catch up on, cousin."
Kendrick's fingers slipped from the the door knob. He cautiously made his way to the chair across from Frodo's. His hand gripping Pippin's sword tightly. Frodo's eyes followed him from the door to the chair. As he sat down, Frodo's eyes fell to the sword.
"I don't think it's necessary to have weapons out. Besides, it's not really polite," Frodo suggested. Kendrick felt himself acquiesce to his cousin's request. However, he stopped himself short of sheathing the sword.
"Forgive me, but I feel a bit more comfortable otherwise. I'm sure you understand," Kendrick said as he placed the sword on the arm rest. He allowed Frodo the comfort of knowing that his hand would be on his lap and not on the hilt of his blade.
"I suppose it can't be helped, can it?" Frodo sighed. He pulled out the small leather bound journal. "I'm sure you know where I got this."
"Pippin's body." Kendrick responded curtly. He clenched his fists at the sight of the journal. The vision of Pippin's demise was still fresh in his head.
"Body? Dear Kendrick, Pippin is just fine. I can take you to him if you'd like." Frodo's words were like a siren's song. Kendrick felt the spell of them wash over him. However, the horrifying vision from earlier reminded him that this Frodo was no longer a Hobbit, but a monster.
"Like you took Merry? Like you made Merry take Pippin? Into Woody End? Into the shadows? You know, the visions didn't make sense until just now. The figures I saw, were you, Sam, and later Merry. You've become monsters. And monsters have no place in the Shire," Kendrick threatened. His hand was itching to take up Pippin's blade, but he stayed it. He waited for Frodo's reaction.
"Well, it seems I don't need to explain what happened since you seem to know all about it. Kendrick the Weird. It's such a shame. I was going to offer you freedom. Freedom from fear, weakness, weirdness...but, it seems you don't want my gift," Frodo's voice was calm if not a bit forlorn. Without warning, he lunged at Kendrick. However, the other Hobbit anticipated the attack. Kendrick grabbed Pippin's sword and slashed out in a general direction. Frodo screamed as he cradled his left arm, now a bloody stump. His forearm disintegrated into ash on the floor. Kendrick held the point of his sword to Frodo. Frodo was faster than Kendrick could react. He brushed passed Kendrick's sword arm and grabbed the the collar of his shirt with his right arm. Kendrick seemed to weigh nothing as Frodo flung him into the far wall. Kendrick hit the wall so hard that it cracked. Debris and dust settled on top of him as he felt himself slip into unconsciousness.