Chapter Eleven - Going Home

Upon entering Fiodrin’s house, Cousin Millie handed Degger a scrub-brush, washcloth and soap, and then was promptly shown to the washtub. Later when he emerged from the wash room squeaky clean he joined the household in a simple meal. Simple to them, a feast to Degger. There was hot stew, various breads, butter, and meats. Meat! Degger hadn’t tasted meat in a very long time--far before his father fell into debt and became ill. It all tasted so good! He ate hungrily as the rest of the hobbits stared at him in silence. He blushed when he become conscious of it and swallowed the food in his mouth, “Beggin’ yer pardon; I’ve forgot’n my manners.” He paused to take a draught of milk, then wiped his mouth with his napkin. He ate the rest of his meal more slowly.

Young Pippin took his muffin and placed it next to Degger’s plate, “I was going to save it until later, but you can have it.” Then whispered, “It tastes even better with lots of butter on it!”

Millie got up and went to the oven and took out another pan of muffins warming inside. “Pippin, you’re such a sweet laddie! There are plenty more muffins, if you like.”

Pippin tried his best to hide his relief. “Yes, ma’am,” he exclaimed, as he jumped down from his chair and went to get a fresh muffin.

Paladin was also pleased with his son’s gesture, but teased him, “Oh, but Millie, you’re only just seeing his good behavior today!” He swept up the boy as he returned from getting a warm muffin and settled him onto his lap.

Pippin buttered his muffin (with lots of it!) and had finished licking the excess from his fingers, saying, “But I’m good all the time--aren’t I papa? It’s that naughty Merry--always making me to do wicked things.” He said the last part with an impish grin on his face.

Merry nearly choked on his stew, “I do not!”

“Do.”

“Not!”

“Do.”

“All right, lads, that’s enough.” Said Paladin. Perhaps they are brothers.... “When you are both through with supper I want you each to take a bath so we can make an early start tomorrow. Degger has already had his bath and may go directly to bed when--” He looked over to the lad and saw that he was sitting back in his chair with his eyes closed. Apparently the large ‘feast’ had taken it’s toll on the youngster. “I daresay he’s already there.”

Each hobbit was in his own thoughts for much of the journey returning to Whitwell. Pippin and Merry tried singing a few songs, but they soon faded out as their hearts weren’t in it. Merry had much on his young mind; the image of their departure from the Bunces filled his head. Heather was a young ten-year-old girl--about a year younger than his cousin, Pervinca was, though not as quick with a smile. She seemed a sad little girl to Merry. Her brown eyes filled with tears when she learned her only surviving brother was leaving Michel Delving, but after a bit of thought she knew it was much better for him than living and sleeping in the alley, and eventually she did smile, though melancholy it was.

Merry’s reflections constantly hovered around the three Greenhill children: Tad, Degger, and Heather, and how he and his dream fit into the scheme of things. In his dream, Merry figured he had basically lived out the last two days of Tad Greenhill in an abstract sort of way. Apparently, it was Tad’s wish that he and his brother leave Michel Delving, yet Tad was no longer alive, but...Degger was--and here the boy was riding back to Whitwell with them. In the end, it seemed Tad’s wishes were being fulfilled. If it hadn’t been for his dream, no one would’ve given young Degger a second thought. The purpose of the dream was now becoming clear to Merry.

Paladin, for his part, wondered what Eglantine would say in response to his bringing home an extra child. For over an hour he rehearsed in his head what he would say to her, and as he rounded the last bend in the north lanes of Great Smials, he reckoned his whole speech useless. His Tina would see through his scheming words--she always did. He did hope in his heart that she would sympathize with the lad’s plight, though he knew she would. His love for children was surpassed only by his wife. He grinned; he felt like a boy bringing home a stray kitten. But no, this was no stray kitten--this was definitely a child, albeit a child who had recently met up with a hard, cold world and still too young to cope with it. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder at her reaction.

For what seemed to be the one-thousandth time, Degger’s fear fluttered up inside his stomach. The meadows and hills that they rode upon were quite strange to him, and his aching heart inwardly cried out for his brother. From there, his thoughts wandered to events earlier in the morning--of their visit to the Bunces and saying goodbye to his sister flooded his thoughts. How was it that he allow himself to have gotten this far? Perhaps he made a mistake in leaving Michel Delving. He watched as the road swept away from the tail-end of the cart. He wanted to jump off and run back, but knew he’d be lost among the woods in a matter of minutes. He nervously fingered the trinket in his hands. It was Tad’s timepiece. Just before visiting his sister, Mr. Took, as Degger had begun calling him, stopped at the mill. He and the lad Merry had gone inside and after a few minutes returned with the stolen object. The timepiece was how he and Tad kept time so they wouldn’t be late for work, and it was taken from him the day before he died by his Overlooker. This little timepiece would be how he’d remember his dearest brother...and their father.

“It’s not far now,” Pippin offered to Degger. The boy looked sad and down in the mouth, but Pippin was glad to be nearing home and smiled, “My momma said she was going to make all my favorite pies today for our return. Do you like pies, Degger?”

“Pippin,” Merry reminded his young cousin, “There isn’t a pie that you don’t like.”

“Yes there is,” Pippin replied. “An empty one!” In spite of his intense thoughts Merry couldn’t help but laugh.

Degger slipped the trinket back into his pocket. He began to reply to Pippin’s question. “Last year,” he started slowly, “when we all lived in a room above the Blacksmith’s shop, my sister made an apple pie. But she burned it.” He smiled sadly, “Me an’ Taddy acted as if it was the best pie in the whole world--but it made her smile. I s’pose for that reas’n my fav’rite is apple.”

Merry could see Degger was still heavy of heart. “Don’t be afraid, Degger,” he said. Merry was beginning to honestly like Degger and wanted to lift his spirits. “You will like my auntie and cousins.”

“I’m not scared, Merry,” Degger replied. “But...so much has happen’d just since my dad died. Only months ago me, Taddy, Heather, and our dad were all livin’ in a room rented to us. It was close quarters, mind ye, but....we were happy...for the most part. Until Mr. Thatch bought the house and then told our dad he owed him lots of money. Dad got sick soon after.”

Degger looked like he was near tears--again. Merry wanted to get the boy’s mind off of what was behind, and see what lay ahead. “Do you see these hills, Degger?” He watched the lad nod. “This is Great Smials--where most of the Tooks live--and the Thain, of course, too. My uncle brings us here all the time on business, and Pippin has lots of cousins here.”

Paladin laughed, “Pippin has cousins in nearly every town of the Shire!” He could hear snips of conversation going on in the back of the cart and guessed what his nephew was trying to do. Then as he himself was musing on the Smials, a fantastic idea sprung into his head.