Chapter 40. Finders Keepers

 ‘Here, pup-pup!’ Nordhil called softly. His grandfather whistled between his broken teeth. There was no answering bark, only another small, frightened sound.

 ‘Come, pup-pup!’ the boy called again, coming closer to the cluster of barrels. He tapped at one, peeped into another, half-climbed onto the top of a third to peer into the barrel jammed into the corner, blocked by the other three. ‘Pup?’ He heard a gasp.

 ‘Grandfa!’ he called. ‘Bring the torch!’

The old rag-picker brought his torch closer and the light shone on two pairs of eyes in the black depths. ‘Two!’ the boy called.

 ‘Two pups? In a barrel? What sort of madman would treat pups so?’ the old Man grumbled.

 ‘Not pups,’ the boy said, catching his breath in wonder.

 ‘Not pups,’ his grandfather echoed. He moved one of the empty barrels aside to join Nordhil. He brought the torch to bear and stared a long moment at the tiny upturned faces. ‘Dolls?’ he whispered. ‘Be they dolls?’

 ‘Mama,’ one of the little creatures whimpered, and the other buried her face in her sister’s shoulder and sobbed as if her heart were breaking.

 ‘Grandfa,’ Nordhil whispered. ‘It’s them... it’s the Halflings the guardsmen are seeking, the ones that disappeared in the market today.'

 ‘Here now,’ Grendil said, shoving the torch hastily at the boy. He leaned over into the barrel, crooning reassurance to the trembling lasses. ‘There,’ he sang low. ‘There now, let us lift you up and out of here and bring you safe to Mama.’

Little arms lifted to meet him, grasping him trustingly around the neck as he lifted the first twin out, his back creaking audibly with the effort. ‘Here now,’ he said again, and handed her over to Nordhil.

 ‘What, me?’ Nordhil said, stunned.

 ‘Take her!’ the old Man said, his tone brooking no contradiction. Holding the torch away from himself, the boy took the tiny hobbit in one arm and settled her on his hip, much as he’d seen his older sister carry a babe. The little lass fastened her arms as far around him as they’d go and laid her head against his shoulder with a sigh.

Grendil reached into the barrel for the other, but she was more timid and cowered in the bottom of the barrel, hiding her tear-streaked face. ‘Come, little lassie, I mean you no harm,’ he coaxed.

He knows my name! the little one thought. He must be a friend! She reached up and he lifted her out of the barrel and then snuggled her against his chest.

 ‘There now,’ he said in the same soothing tone. ‘We’ll bring you to Mama in no time at all.’

 ‘The guardsman,’ Nordhil suggested, starting after the guardsman they’d seen only a few moments ago. ‘We could take them to him! He’s undoubtedly searching for them.’

 ‘I think not,’ Grendil said. ‘He was much too high and mighty for my taste! I don’t happen to feel like doing him any favours, I don’t! He won’t get a promotion with my help...’ Deliberately he turned the other way, back towards the market. Lowering his voice, he said, ‘We’ll go out by another way, just to make sure we don’t run into him again.’

***

Merigrin and Forget-me-not sat on either side of Diamond, their arms about her as she wept. There were no words of comfort that they could speak, no songs that they could sing, no hope that they could offer. It had been hours since their tiny sisters had disappeared, and everyone seemed to think the madman had taken them. Who knew what awful fate had befallen them? Forget-me-not buried her face in her mother’s shoulder, trying not to think of her sweet little sisters in mortal danger... or perhaps already dead.

There was a booming sound, as of one of the great doors, then a babble of voices mingled with rapidly approaching footsteps, and suddenly Bergil was there, a twin in either arm and a broad grin on his face. ‘Safe!’ he cried. ‘Found safe!’

Diamond started up, her empty arms stretched yearningly, and the guardsman knelt to fill them with her littlest daughters. Sobbing still, but tears of joy and blessed relief, she hugged Lapis and Lassie to herself as they clung to her.

 ‘Don’t cry, Mama,’ Lapis said bravely. ‘Don’t cry. We lost ourselves, but the nice Man found us.’

 ‘Don’t cry,’ Lassie echoed.

 ‘O my darlings,’ Diamond sobbed, hugging them tighter. ‘O my dears.’ She looked up to thank Bergil but he was already gone.

***

 ‘Someone sent them off to sleep and then hid them in a barrel for safekeeping,’ Bergil was reporting to the King. He took a cloth from his tunic and held it out.

Elessar took the cloth and sniffed at it cautiously. He handed it to Cuillon.

 ‘It’s what we use to put a Man to sleep before we do any cutting,’ the head healer said after taking a careful whiff of the lingering odour. ‘But I cannot imagine anyone from the Houses of Healing trying to steal little Halflings.’

 ‘He dampened the cloth and laid it over them in the barrel,’ Bergil said. ‘Evidently he meant to keep them sleeping until he could fetch them.’

 ‘Dangerous,’ Cuillon said.

 ‘I don’t think he had their well-being in mind,’ Elessar answered. ‘What of Pimpernel?’

 ‘No sign yet,’ Bergil said. ‘The search continues.’

 ‘Where did the search turn them up?’ the King asked.

Bergil hesitated and then admitted, ‘It didn’t. The place where they were found had already been marked off.’

Elessar’s lips tightened to a fine line. He knew that finding Pimpernel in that great City was  like shooting at a target on the other side of the Anduin, but they couldn’t not search. At the very least, the search would hopefully put pressure on the madman to keep moving to avoid discovery. The sort of torture he employed required time and a quiet, hidden place. Elessar had no intention of availing the madman the time he needed.

 ‘You are expanding the search?’ the King said.

 ‘Constantly,’ Bergil said. ‘Men of the City, when the knock comes at their door, are joining in the search as soon as they hear the explanation. Each passing hour brings ever more searchers.’

 ‘Let us hope they are thorough,’ Elessar said. ‘Very well,’ he added. ‘Carry on.’

 ‘Yes, my lord,’ Bergil said, and left.

Elessar went to see to Ferdibrand and his old friend.

Ulrich looked up.

 ‘Any change?’ Elessar said.

 ‘No,’ Ulrich answered. ‘Have they found his wife?’ He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know the answer to this question. There were two possibilities, after all, for finding Nell. Either she’d be alive and well, in which case she ought to be bursting through the door to take up Ferdi’s hand and scold him back into the world, or else...

 ‘No,’ Elessar said, ‘but there is a glimmer of hope. They found little Lassie and Lapis.’

 ‘Untouched?’ Ulrich said. ‘Unharmed?’

 ‘Safe,’ Elessar said.

Ulrich bowed his head to hide the tears that came to his eyes. ‘Thanks be,’ he whispered. ‘They remind me so much of my own little ones...’

 ‘I know,’ Elessar said. He hesitated, then asked, ‘Is there aught you need? Food, or drink, or...’

 ‘All I need is a new life,’ Ulrich said. ‘You don’t happen to have any of those lying around, do you?’ He looked to Ferdi, lying unmoving and unresponsive. ‘On the other hand, if you did happen to find such a thing, I suppose I’d only pass it on to this fellow here. He needs it more than I do, at this point.’

Elessar was silent for a long moment, then he said softly, ‘I’m sorry, old friend.’

 ‘You’re not the only one,’ Ulrich said. ‘I’d do it all over, if I could.’

 ‘I know,’ Elessar said. He stood a moment longer, and then turned and left the room.