Chapter 9. The Honourable Mayor

When the Mayor of the Shire was shown into the Thain's study, Ferdibrand Took rose to greet him, showing him to a chair by the great, intricately carved desk.

'What can I do for you?' Ferdibrand asked gruffly.

'I came to see the Took,' the Mayor said.

'He's out,' Ferdi grunted.

'Out where?' Samwise asked. 'I heard you'd had an accident here, and he was in the middle of it. So he's up again? And out?'

'Our of his head, mainly, the past two days,' Ferdibrand muttered, then shook himself as if realizing what he'd revealed. 'You heard of the accident? News travels fast, it was barely a week ago.'

'I came to borrow an engineer to help us plan a project in Hobbiton,' the Mayor said.

'Sorry, we've none to spare at the moment,' Ferdibrand said shortly.

'So I've been given to understand.' Samwise waited. 'Can I see him?'

Ferdibrand hesitated. The knowledge that the Thain was dangerously ill was being carefully guarded. Rising from the desk, he excused himself for a moment and left the room.

A moment later, Mayor Samwise was surprised to see the Master of Buckland enter the study.

'Merry!' he exclaimed. 'What brings you here?'

'I could ask the same,' the Master said, smiling, but the sharp-eyed Mayor detected in his face the subtle signs of strain.

'I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone,' Samwise said. 'We needed an engineer to plan some new diggings, and the nearest are here in Tuckborough. And while I was here I thought I'd see Pippin. I'd heard there was some sort of accident, but couldn't find out any other details.'

Merry met Sam's quizzical look calmly. 'That's probably because the Tooks are guarding the details with great care. I'm surprised you even heard about the accident.'

'Well I didn't hear much,' Sam admitted, his disquiet growing. 'Just what is going on?'

Merry shrugged. 'It's not my news to tell. You know how the Tooks are.'

Sam fixed him with the look that Frodo would have called his way of "staring through a brick wall". 'All right,' he said sternly. 'Enough is enough.' He blanched as a thought struck him. 'Is Pippin dead? ...and his son too young to be Thain, is that what all this is about?' He regarded Merry soberly. 'And you're here to try to keep Tookland from being thrown into an uproar.'

Merry met his gaze steadily, disconcerted by the Mayor's shrewd guesses. It could have been that way, could still happen as a matter of fact.

'He's ill,' he conceded. 'The only reason I know anything is because I was on the spot. I think they make allowances for the fact that I'm half Took myself. The Tooks aren't telling anybody anything at the moment, not until they see which way things are going to turn.'

'So what can you tell me?' Samwise asked reasonably.

'My hands are tied,' Merry said helplessly. 'As Mayor, the Tooks ought to inform you, but they're not talking to anybody right now.' He rose.

'Let me intercede for you with Ferdibrand,' he said. 'Samwise the Fellow Traveller might pull more weight at the moment than Mayor Samwise.'

He was gone some time. Samwise sat tight. Finally Merry returned with Ferdibrand Took, who seated himself behind the desk again, meeting Sam's gaze with a wary look of his own.

Sam said nothing, merely raised an eyebrow.

'You may rely on his discretion,' Merry said quietly.

Ferdibrand seemed to come to a decision, nodding abruptly. 'We had undertaken a major new excavation,' he began.

'The New Smials,' Sam nodded. At Ferdibrand's look of surprise, he said, 'The Thain told me about it on his last visit to Hobbiton.'

Subtly reassured, Ferdibrand continued. 'We were having problems with the shoring timbers; cracks were appearing in some of the beams. The Thain and his engineers were inspecting the worksite when it all came down on them.'

The Mayor stiffened, then asked, 'How many did you lose?'

'Two, the chief engineer and his assistant. The rest are all abed.'

'And the Thain?'

Ferdibrand shook his head. Merry laid his hand on his arm, in tacit request. At the other's nod, he said, 'You know how his lungs are. He got a knock on the head, that wasn't so bad in itself, but the dust he breathed is killing him.'

Samwise nodded. 'I know, it's why I told him he could never be a farmer.'

Ferdibrand guffawed suddenly. 'Pippin, a farmer?' He sobered, shook his head, apologized. Samwise could see clearly now the strain of the past week.

'May I see him?' he asked softly.

Ferdibrand nodded to Merry, who turned to Sam and said, 'I'll take you to him now.'