Watch the Clouds Go Sailing By

Chapter 13: Buckland to Bree

The clouds that had brought miserable weather the day before, had sailed clear on by as Faramir, Goldi and Pippin left the Prancing Pony just after dawn. But despite the glorious weather, Pippin was yet again in a vile mood. Goldi was beginning to doubt that he could be in any other mood, since he had seemed angry for most of the journey. This particular day was the worst. He was snappy at Goldi, which meant he was downright horrid to Faramir.

The only comfort his two companions took, was he only snapped at them if they spoke to him. They discovered quite quickly that if they left him alone, he walked in a brooding silence, which suited them quite fine.

“We should let him get into a mood like this more often!” Faramir whispered to Goldi. She stifled a giggle, not wanting to attract her brother’s attention.

*   *   *   *   *   * 

Peregrin and Sam waited impatiently outside Crickhollow for the second time while Meriadoc locked up the cottage. They had refused to allow him to return the keys to Brandy Hall, despite that the morning was much clearer than the previous day. Neither of them wanted to lose any more time than they needed to.

In relative silence they made their way to the eastern Gate of Buckland, until Peregrin voiced the question that had been worrying them the most. “You don’t suppose they went through the Old Forest, do you?”

“They wouldn’t, would they?” Sam said, with an edge of fear in his voice.

“Faramir might,” Peregrin admitted, grimly.

“And if he had the keys to Crickhollow, they have a key to the gate in the Hedge,” added Meriadoc. It was beginning to seem more and more likely that the three truants may have taken a “short-cut” through the queer Forest.

At last, Sam sighed. “I suppose there’s nothing that we can do, really, if they have gone through the Forest. We just have to press on to Bree and hope that someone has seen them.”

None of the three hobbits liked the decision, but they knew it was the only one they could make. So with rekindled fear for the safety of their children, the Mayor, the Thain and the Master made their way along the road.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Life at Bag End had become a living nightmare for those who had remained. Firstly, there was Rose and Diamond’s impatience. They had decided after only one day that Sam, Peregrin and Meriadoc had taken far too long to locate the children. When Estella pointed out that, not only did Faramir, Goldi and Pippin have a head start, but they were younger at fitter than those that chased them, both mothers dissolved into tears. If that wasn’t bad enough, there were also Merry Gamgee’s constant tantrums over how he had been left behind by both parties.

“And on my birthday too,” he often grumbled.

Young Théodoc whined persistently about the whereabouts of his father, especially since Meriadoc had promised to take him to Tuckborough after Merry’s party. The best Estella could do was assure her son, “Papa will be back soon.”

“Not likely,” Merry grumbled, in one of his foul moods. “No doubt they’ve all gotten caught in the Old Forest and won’t ever come back. Serves them right, too.” He received a clip on the ear from his mother, but didn’t seem to care.

“I just don’t understand why they went away!” an exasperated Diamond sighed.

“Faramir has always been a rather…flighty lad,” Estella stated, though she wished she could have found a better term. “Hardly surprising after all the stories he’s heard. And he and Goldi were always close friends as children.”

“But why did Pippin go too?” Rose asked. It was hardly fair that they were demanding answers from Estella, but she had always been exceptionally good at solving riddles.

Estella shrugged. “Sam did say that it appeared that Pippin had written his own name on the note. Merry, dear, what would you have done had you discovered your siblings and Faramir had run off, leaving a note to say they had gone, but not where?”

“I would have added my name to the note and followed them!” Merry replied without even thinking.

“There is your answer. Pippin somehow worked out what Faramir and Goldilocks were up to and followed them, but not before adding his own name to the note Faramir had left.” Estella took a sip of tea. “It’s completely logical.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Diamond sighed. She felt very slightly better, since she had been afraid that Faramir had run away because she had been a bad mother, or something of the sort. “Still, I wish they would return soon.”

“Oh, I doubt they will for a while yet,” stated Pervinca, one of Peregrin’s elder sisters. When she had heard about the situation, she had immediately come to Bag End. She was very fond of her young nephew, and also very good friends with Rose. “Faramir did not just run away for adventure. There was something else on his mind, though I don’t know what he’ll do now that Pippin’s in the way.”

“What do you mean?” the other three hobbit-maids asked. They knew that Faramir had always been particularly close to his aunt and would tell her things that he could tell no one else. She had even more time for him in recent times since her own two daughters had grown up and married.

“You mean you haven’t worked it out?” Pervinca smiled, but there was a strange look in her eyes that only Rose understood*. “Faramir is in love with Goldilocks. He has been since they were children. The few years apart allowed him to court others and realise that she was the only one for him. And you know what they say: ‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder’.”

“So true, Pervinca, so true,” Rose whispered, though no one heard her.

*   *   *   *   *   *

It took Sam, Peregrin and Meriadoc a full two days to travel to Bree, much as it had their children. Though the path they took was shorter, they were far slower and were not fuelled by the fear of queer trees and Barrow-wights.

It was only twilight when they came to the gate, so it had not yet been shut. The gatekeeper greeted them politely, but drew in a sharp breath when he recognised them.

“Why Master Peregrin!” he cried. “How strange to see you!” The hobbits obviously did not understand his surprise, so the gatekeeper continued. “Why, just a few days ago I let your son through these gates. Said he was taking two friends site-seeing in our lovely village.”

“You’ve seen Faramir?” Peregrin exclaimed.

“And he had two friends with him?” Sam joined in, equally as excited.

“Yes, sir,” the gatekeeper replied, made somewhat uncomfortable by the hobbits’ eagerness. “Another lad and a pretty young lass.”

“Thank goodness, they are okay!” Meriadoc laughed in relief. Seeing the expression on the poor gatekeeper’s face, he explained. “We have been tracking these three hobbits all the way from Hobbiton.”

“Well, I suggested that they go to The Pony,” the gatekeeper said, helpfully. “But I can’t say if they stayed there or not.”

“We shall go to The Pony anyway,” Sam decided. He took the gatekeepers hand in his own and shook it. “Thank you, sir, thank you so much.”

And the gatekeeper bowed his head. “I only wish I could have done more. Had I known that they were being tracked, I might have tried to keep them here longer.”

“You’ve done more than enough, my friend,” Sam called back, as he, Peregrin and Meriadoc ran in the direction of The Prancing Pony.

*   *   *   *   *   *

* This is a small reference to one of my other stories, “Life is What Happens”, in which Pervinca and Sam have a bit of a fling, for want of a better word, but realise the limitations of their relationship (since it is set in a time period when Sam’s family is still quite poor, and he is certainly not an eligible suitor for the daughter of the future Thain). I thought it would be interesting to have Pervinca make an appearance in this story, where the families of Took and Gamgee are once again coming together.