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Watch the Clouds Go Sailing By  by Pervinca

 Watch the Clouds Go Sailing By

Chapter 4: Faramir’s Plan

After dinner, Faramir disappeared. Goldi searched the entire field, but could not find him. When she asked Lily if she had seen the young Took, Lily smiled slyly. "Even if I did know where he was, would I tell you? You may have been dancing with him, but he’s not yours yet."

It took every bit of control in Goldi’s body not to hit Lily. Instead, she thought up the perfect comeback. "Let me just tell you something, Lily. You don’t have a chance with Faramir – you don’t have a chance with anyone! You are a walking joke around here. And I have never EVER thought of you as my friend."

With that, Goldi ran to the only place she had not yet looked: Bag End.

* * * * * *

The hobbit hole was dark and empty. The front door creaked loudly as Goldilocks pushed it open. For probably the first time in her life, Goldi wished that she had some Took or Brandybuck in her – something to make her a little braver. She took a deep breath, and stepped into the hole, trying to pretend that the shadows of normal household items did not appear twisted and evil in the darkness. She tried to ignore the black shapes that reached out to grab her feet like the hands of wights. A noise from up ahead made her almost squeal, but she held it back, and, gathering all the courage she had, continued forward to where the noise had come from.

The noises became louder as she approached her own bedroom. A loud thud was followed by a hoarsely whispered curse. Goldi started trembling. Someone – or something was in her room.

The door was shut, but light was seeping out from underneath it. Goldi grabbed the first thing that her right hand came in contact with – a heavy book. Brandishing the book as a weapon, Goldi opened the door.

"Argh! Goldi! What are you doing!?" cried Faramir. He stared at her like a stunned fish.

"What am I doing? Faramir, this is my room! What are you doing!?" Goldi was nearly breathless, a combination of fear and anger. Faramir was standing next to her bed. On the bed was a bag, nearly full with her clothing. The doors of her cupboard were open, as were her drawers. Another bag was on the floor. It was filled with what appeared to be Faramir’s clothes.

"Well…I…uh…" Faramir stammered. Goldi started to tap her foot; a sure sign that she was quite angry, and that he had better explain himself quickly. "I was going to surprise you tomorrow morning, but…"

"Oh, I think I’ve had quite enough of your surprises, Faramir Took!"

"You did not let me finish! Do you remember, how when were younger, we used to have pretend little adventures? And Merry and Pippin would on a team together, and they had to capture us?"

"Yes…" Goldi did not know what Faramir was getting at.

"Well, I want to go on a real adventure. And since you were always on my team, I wanted you to come with me. I figured that you probably would not agree if I just asked you to come along, so I was going to run off – with your things already packed – and hope that you chased after me."

"Wh-where were you planning to go?"

"The way our fathers went." Seeing the horrified look that appeared on Goldi’s face, Faramir quickly added: "Oh, not to Mordor! I only meant as far as Rivendell or something. But by following the roads that our fathers took!"

Goldi was half worried that this was another one of Faramir’s little jokes. But then again, he had always been an adventurous child. And the idea of going to Rivendell did seem quite fun. "Well, I suppose it would be all right…"

"Great! So, let’s go." He threw a few more things into the bag, gave it to her, then dragged her out the door.

"Faramir! Wait!" Goldi cried.

"What’s the problem?" he asked.

"Well, firstly, I’m not about to go on and adventure wearing my party dress. Secondly, we should leave a note to tell everyone where we have gone…"

"We cannot do that! They will follow us, and take us home. And THEN, we will be punished."

Goldi released that he was right. But she also knew that they could not just leave without telling their parents something. "Well, we should at least leave a note saying that we have left. They do not need to know where we have gone."

"As you wish." Faramir ran to the study, found a piece of paper, and jotted down a quick note. As he did, Goldi quickly took her party dress off, quite regrettably, for it was very beautiful, and dressed in some clothes that were more suited to travelling.

Faramir returned and read aloud the not he had written:

Goldi and I have gone on a little adventure. We shouldn’t be away for too long. Don’t worry about us. - Faramir Took

"There. Happy?" Faramir left the note above the fireplace, after he had addressed it to The Tooks and Gamgees. "Can we leave now?"

"Oh, all right," Goldi sighed. I hope Merry will not be upset that we missed the rest of his party. Faramir and Goldi left Bag End, and snuck away, careful to avoid the Party Field.

As they marched along, Goldi asked Faramir, "You do know the way to go, right?"

"Of course!" he replied. "My father has told me many times. Plus, I brought this along." Faramir held up a sheet of paper. In the dim moonlight, Goldi could just make out the lines of a hand-drawn map. The names of places (and several side notes) were written in the handwriting of Frodo Baggins.

Goldi gasped. "That’s Frodo Baggins’ map! You stole it! You stole it from the Red Book!"

"Actually, it was in our copy of the Red Book. The one we keep at the Smials. Therefore, I didn’t steal it. It was mine to begin with."

Goldi accepted Faramir’s explanation, but she still looked at him suspiciously. If he had stolen the map, it certainly would not have been the first time.

The two of them walked in relative silence, cutting across the fields and meadows, rather than using the road. Goldi assumed that Faramir was taking this route for sentimental reasons – they both knew that Frodo, Sam and Peregrin had not used the roads on their journey to Buckland. But Faramir had another reason. If they used the roads, they would have more of a chance of being caught, and then taken home. Their adventure had only just begun, and Faramir was certainly not ready for it to end yet.

Faramir started to hum softly to himself. Eventually, this became a song, one that most hobbits knew very well.

Ho! Ho! Ho! to the bottle I go

To heal my heart and drown my woe.

Rain may fall and wind may blow,

And many miles be still to go,

But under a tall tree I will lie,

And watch the clouds go sailing by.

"Isn’t it ‘let’?" Goldi asked, presently.

"What?" Faramir turned to look at her.

"It’s suppose to go ‘let the clouds go sailing by’ not ‘watch’."

Faramir shrugged. "I like to sing ‘watch’ instead, since that’s what I like to do. I watch the clouds. It’s a lot of fun."

"I see." Goldi smiled to herself as Faramir continued walking, and singing. He had a pleasant singing voice, and as he sung, many of Goldi’s doubts disappeared.

Suddenly, Goldi heard another noise above Faramir’s singing. A sound that neither of them wished to hear. Something had fallen over just behind them, landing with a crash. Faramir ran in front of Goldi, arms out, protecting her fromwhatever had been following them.

"Show yourself!" he commanded. Goldi had to admire his courage, foolish as his deed was. For all they knew, their follower could have been anything from a hobbit to a wild beast. But Faramir stood his ground, undaunted by fear. "I said show yourself!"

Faramir was about to step forward and confront the follower, when a figure came from ahead. Goldi screamed as the figure crash tackled Faramir to the ground.

* * * * * *

Hehehe. Like my little explanation about the title of the fic? To be perfectly honest, it was an error on my account. I had convinced myself that the Drinking song finished with "watch the clouds go sailing by" and thus I titled my fic. Then I read the poem/song again, and saw how it really ended! Faramir’s explanation was a little better than mine! Lol





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