20. Thain of the Shire

On the last day of May, instead of bringing a tray with their dinners to the study, Diamond came bearing only a smile. 'Are you hungry, my love?'

'For love of my wife, I could exist on air alone,' Pippin answered, taking her hand and kissing the palm. 'Which it looks to be I'll be doing this night,' he added.

'O no,' Diamond said, laughing. 'We will eat in the great room this night; we have guests arrived for the pony races on the morrow.'

'Guests?' the Thain asked. 'Who?'

'O it must have slipped my mind,' the steward said, 'I meant to tell you that a group of Bucklanders arrived this afternoon while you were resting on the sofa.'

'You saw them from the window and didn't tell me?' the Thain asked with deceptive gentleness.

'Your eyes were closed; I didn't want to waken you.'

'Anything else slip your mind this day, cousin?'

Regi grinned. 'Well, the Mayor of Michel Delving has come to open the ceremonies tomorrow.'

'O really?' the Thain said, lifting his chin to give the steward a piercing look. 'I thought he always opens the Strawberry Festival in Southfarthing on the First of June.'

'Perhaps he wanted a bit of variety,' Ferdibrand said smoothly, coming to Pippin's other side. He and Reginard lifted the Thain between them.

'Anything else I need to know?' Pippin asked as they carried him down the corridor.

'O if I think of anything, you know I'll tell you.'

They entered the great room and Pippin's breath failed him. All the long tables were full of hobbits, Tooks and Brandybucks and others, he saw.

They must have been well coached, for none stared and no small hobbits asked awkward questions as he was settled in his chair at the head of the first table, Diamond taking the seat by his side. As one, the visiting hobbits rose and bowed to their host, and Pippin inclined his head to them. He spoke to the Mayor, on his right. 'Well, Samwise, what brings you here?'

Sam smiled. 'I've heard of the famous Tookland pony races for years now, and hardly ever got the chance to see one. Thought I'd bring the family along, it's not that far from Hobbiton.'

'Looks as if you've brought half of Hobbiton with you,' the Thain commented.

Ferdibrand laughed as he filled their winecups. 'The Gamgees make up half of Hobbiton,' he grinned.

'Yes, and the other half of Hobbiton will arrive on the morrow to see the races,' Mistress Rose said. 'Bywater as well, I hear. You'll have a fair day, Sam tells me, and hobbits are always ready for a holiday.'

Pippin turned to greet Estella on his left. 'Is Merry here?'

She shook her head with a smile. 'No, matters of business kept him, I'm afraid. He's still hoping he might get away at the last moment.'

'He'd hardly get here from Buckland in time for the races, then,' Pippin said. 'It's a long way.'

'O yes, but if he finishes early enough he'll make half the journey tonight, stay at the Crowing Cockerel, perhaps, and start early in the morning,' Estella said. The Thain gave her a sharp glance. Merry had probably travelled with the Buckland contingent as far as the Cockerel, then stopped off to stay the night. Good ale there, Pippin wished he were keeping Merry company at this moment.

Diamond watched with satisfaction as her husband ate generous portions of the festal food, chatting with their guests, relaxed and cheerful.

At the end of the meal, the visitors rose together to thank the Thain, and straggled out of the room amid a buzz of pleasant conversation, comfortable, contented, and well fed.

'Would you care to come back to the study for a glass of ale?' Pippin asked Mayor Samwise.

'That would be the perfect end to that meal,' Sam said. He knew the Thain was no longer able to enjoy a pipe, so he, the Mayor, would take an ale if that was what was on offer. Reginard nodded to him, and Sam rose to take Pippin from one side as the steward took the other. He did not let his grief show as he helped bear the Thain, talking and laughing, to the study.

They sat down with their ale and sipped in companionable silence while Regi built up a fire, then began to talk of inconsequential things. It was not terribly chilly, but the crackling fire whispered a homey and comfortable counterpoint to the conversation.

Finally, Samwise put his ale down and looked Pippin in the eye. 'What's this I hear about you stepping down as Thain?' he asked quietly.

Pippin looked into his glass, watching the bubbles rise, then met the Mayor's eye. 'Well, it's not my idea, really,' he said, 'but some folk seem to have taken it into their heads they'd be better off with a Thain who has legs.'

'You have legs,' Sam said. 'Plain as the nose on my face.'

'Ah, but not half so useful,' Pippin answered. 'On the morrow after the races, a delegation of Tooklanders is going to come and give me their decision. They've been wrestling with the problem a month now. They gave me notice on the First of May that they planned to depose me if they could find no reason not to.'

'Cheeky --' and Pippin saw that the Mayor controlled himself with difficulty, not allowing rude speech to pass his lips, though the word hung in the air between them.

'My thoughts, exactly,' the steward put in smoothly, adding more ale to their glasses.

'I'm glad you came to celebrate with us, Sam, since it might very well be my last day as Thain. Very fitting that you should come to see me out, just as you came to see me in when I was installed in the office.'

'I wouldn't give up hope quite yet, Mr Pippin,' Sam said, just as he might have back when they were climbing Caradhras, or trying to get up the nerve to jump a fissure in Moria. 'You never know what's going to happen ahead of time.'

'A good thing, too,' Pippin said thoughtfully. 'Or I'd've lost my nerve long ago.'

Regi snorted, but Sam shook his head. 'Wouldn't we all, Mr Pippin? Wouldn't we all...'

***

The next day dawned fair, bright with promise. Sandy laid out the Thain's fancy togs he'd got from Gondor, the black guardsman's uniform, the shining mail, surcoat, sword belt, helm, cloak.

'My, aren't we grand today?' Pippin said. 'Is it to be a fancy dress ball, then?'

'We'll give them a spectacle they won't soon forget, husband,' Diamond said encouragingly.

'That's the truth.' He grinned at his wife. 'Now aren't you glad you didn't stuff me as full as you thought you ought? It still fits!'

'It oughtn't,' she pouted. 'But we must take our blessings where we may find them.' She fastened the clasp on the cloak and stepped back. 'You look... almost kingly, my dear,' she said.

'Glad you said "almost",' Pippin answered. 'Wouldn't want to get a swelled head. This helm is uncomfortable as it is.'

Regi and Sandy picked him up, carrying him to the entrance where Ferdibrand waited with Socks and Diamond's pony. They helped him into the saddle, guarding his energy, keeping as much as possible in reserve for the ceremony to come. Regi handed up the Stick, and Pippin slipped it into the holder that had been riveted to the saddle to contain it.

He gave Diamond a bright smile. 'Are we ready, love?'

She nodded firmly. 'Quite ready.'

They could hear the clamour of the crowds surrounding the racecourse and covering the overlooking hills. The noise increased as they walked their ponies to the central spot where the Mayor waited to open the festivities. Looking out over the crowd, the Thain saw that most of Tookland must have come, along with a sizeable portion of Hobbiton and Bywater, hobbits from as far away as Michel Delving, and a large number of Bucklanders. Even as they reached the Mayor and prepared to dismount, he saw a flame-coloured pony pressing through the crowd to reach the front of the Buckland contingent.

'Ah, I see the Master of Buckland was able to tear himself away after all,' Pippin muttered to Diamond.

'It appears to be the case,' she answered with a smile.

Sober hobbits came forward to take their reins, and Pippin and Diamond dismounted, the Thain a little stiffly, but the practice of the last two weeks had paid off and he was able to slip from the saddle without any embarrassing upsets. He took down the walking stick and leaning heavily upon it, with Diamond on his other side, he managed the few steps to reach the Mayor's side.

Sam turned to acknowledge him, then turned back to the crowd and raised his arms. Relative silence fell. 'Ladies and gentlehobbits!' he shouted. 'Hobbits of Tookland! We thank you for your welcome and hospitality!' Tooklanders raised a shout. 'Hobbits of the Four Farthings, we thank you for coming to celebrate this fine day!' All the rest of the hobbits gave a cheer. 'As Mayor of the Shire, it is my pleasure now to declare the festivities open!' All the hobbits raised their voices in glad acclamation.

Mayor Samwise stood watching the crowd. As it was evident he had more to say, the noise quieted down again, gradually, and when he figured he had the attention of more than half, he raised his arms again for quiet.

'I wish to thank the Thain and his Mistress for hosting this event,' he shouted. He bowed to Pippin and Diamond, and they nodded back with dignified smiles.

'Very Thainly, my dear,' Diamond whispered.

'Thank you, love,' he replied. 'A very nice sendoff they're giving us, indeed,' Pippin muttered under cover of the cheering.

'Hobbits of the Shire!' Sam shouted again. 'May I present to you, Thain Peregrin, the finest Thain the Shire has ever known!'

Pippin raised an eyebrow at Diamond. 'Ever?' he mouthed at her.

'Ever!' she mouthed back, with a firm nod.

Merry stepped forward from the Buckland contingent, nodded to Pippin and Diamond, turned slightly to look at the Bucklanders, then turning back, he went down on one knee before the Thain, to Pippin's consternation. The rest of the Bucklanders followed suit.

'Merry! Get up, you idiot!' Pippin hissed.

Merry grinned at him, saying only, 'I know exactly what I'm doing, cousin,' and then he bowed his head. Pippin looked up to see Mayor Samwise and the hobbits of Hobbiton and Bywater kneeling to him as well, and then, as a ripple moves across a pond, Tooklanders knelt in an ever increasing swell, until Pippin and Diamond were the only hobbits on their feet.

'The Shire greets her Thain,' Merry murmured in the silence.

Regi muttered behind him. 'Somehow I do not think we need to worry any more about that little delegation, cousin.'

Pippin had a feeling that he was right.