Chapter 35. Unraveling

The Thain laid down the paper with the schedule for the pony races and stretched. 'So, we've got everything covered, then?' he asked.

'I think so,' Ferdibrand answered, looking back through his notes. 'It ought to be the biggest pony race day ever. We've had to squeeze in extra heats, with all the entries we've received.'

'I saw that,' Pippin said. 'Puts the final race after teatime.'

'I don't think people will mind stretching out the celebration a bit,' Reginard said. 'But speaking of tea...' he looked meaningfully at the Thain's plate.

'O you're right, Diamond will be back soon to check on these elevenses,' Pippin said, hastily dispensing with half the sandwich on his plate and washing it down with a swig of lukewarm tea.

The wry face he made did not escape the attention of his steward. 'Here,' Regi said, picking up the kettle steaming on the hearth. 'Let me warm it up for you a bit.'

'Not quite as good as fresh,' the Thain remarked, holding out his mug, 'but better than what I just had. Can you do anything about the food?'

Regi just shook his head. The Thain had joked weeks ago that the food coming out of the kitchen had no taste, and his steward understood better Pippin's struggle to eat enough to keep himself going. A hobbit who couldn't taste his food... what would be the point of eating, then?

As if guessing his thoughts, Pippin said softly, 'Ah, well, as long as somebody takes pleasure from it, I might as well keep eating. Diamond will be glad to see the plate clear.' He picked up the final bit of sandwich and popped it into his mouth.

He choked, and suddenly was struggling for air. Regi was at his side immediately, slapping his back hard; the bit of food did not want to dislodge easily. Finally, it did, to everyone's relief, but the Thain went immediately into a violent coughing fit, until he was holding his ribs and gasping for air.

'You all right, then?' Regi asked, and Pippin shook his head. 'Go get Woodruff,' Regi told Ferdi urgently. 'What is it?' the steward asked as he bent to the Thain.

'Ribs... knife...' Pippin gasped. Regi nodded soberly. He'd heard of hobbits coughing hard enough to break a rib, but he desperately hoped the Thain was simply exaggerating the situation. For once, anyway.

The healer came and made her examination. 'I do not think you've broken a rib,' she said finally, 'but you've pulled a muscle at the very least. Is it a stabbing pain?' The Thain nodded. 'With every breath?' she asked soberly, then shook her head. 'Not much to be done for it,' she said softly. 'It'll take time to heal.'

Pippin nodded, straightened as well as he could. 'Just have to make the best of it,' he said. At Regi's quizzical look, he grinned weakly and said, 'Every pain is another breath. Think of the alternative.'

'I think you ought to lie down, Sir,' Woodruff said. 'Try to get some rest.' He nodded, and Regi and Ferdi lifted him from his chair to the sofa, arranging him as comfortably as possible.

Still hugging his ribs, he closed his eyes and sighed. 'Don't forget to wake me for tea,' he murmured. 'Hate to miss a meal, you know.'

He slept through nooning, Woodruff insisting that rest was more important than food at the moment. Pippin awakened shortly before teatime, and at his insistence, Diamond brought Faramir and the twins to share tea before the study fire. Twins and jammy-bread made a riotous combination, bringing a smile to every face.

Diamond tried to intercept little Ruby as she toddled towards her father, jam-smeared hands outstretched. 'No, love, we must wipe off the stickies before you kiss your Da!'

Pippin stretched his arms to the wee lass. 'I live for sticky kisses!' he declared, and proceeded to prove his words. Little Merry joined the fray, and soon the Thain was needing the tender attentions of Diamond's dampened flannel as much as the twins.

At a nod from the Thain, Regi and Ferdi lifted him down onto the rug before the fire. His breath came short, but he smiled on the twins as they cuddled close. 'How's about a story, then?' he said. They clamoured, and the steward smiled at the cosy sight of the Thain sprawled on the rug with his family. Pippin's next words made him frown with concern. 'A dwarf and an elf went a-journey in...' his voice trailed off and he hugged his ribs again. 'I think that Faramir is going to practice his storytelling on us today. Hurrah for Farry!'

The twins hurrahed, mobbing their brother, knocking him backwards on the rug for a grand tickle. He came up spluttering, finally, laughing, 'And how am I to tell a story with you tickling the life out of me?' Diamond laughed and the Thain smiled. 'All right, then...' Faramir said, taking up where his father had left off. 'An elf and a dwarf went a-journey in the Wild. D'you remember their names, now?'

He did a creditable job, spinning out the tale long enough for Ferdi to have to add wood to the fire, keeping the twins spellbound and quiet, hanging on every word. At the end, the Thain said, 'I might have to appoint you official storyteller, you know. Put you on salary.'

'How much would I get?' Faramir asked consideringly.

'O, not nearly as much as the Thain, but you could always work your way up,' Ferdi answered. 'Look at me, I'm chancellor already.'

'Yes, you'll be a dishwasher in the kitchen before you know it, you keep on the way you're going,' Regi said acidly.

'Ah, that would be too much to hope for, I fear,' Ferdi said, shaking his head sadly. 'But perhaps I might rise as high as stable-sweeper, d'you think?'

The Thain nodded slowly. 'Perhaps,' he said judiciously. 'You'll have to work awfully hard, though.'

***

Pippin did not sleep well that night. It was hard to rest when every breath cut like a knife. He kept his pain to himself as much as possible, not wanting to worry Diamond. The healer had said it would heal, given time. Given time.

He was up early the next morning, managing to put away half the breakfast on the tray before he had to push the rest away in disgust. The exercises that kept the muscles in the useless leg built up were more of a trial than usual; he kept being distracted by the knife in his ribs.

He shook his head at second breakfast. 'No, Diamond, I'm fed up at the moment.' He was, in more ways than one. It was a relief when Regi interrupted the argument, having come with Ferdibrand to take him to the study for the day's work.

The knife in the ribs made working harder, too, interrupting his concentration, making him short of temper, but Regi and Ferdi pretended not to notice. When elevenses came, he drank the tea but pushed the food away. To his relief, no one commented. Regi silently gave Ferdi half the contents of the plate and ate the other half himself, to spare the Thain his wife's ire.

Pippin forced down as much of the nooning meal as he could manage. To his humiliation, Diamond had to cut the meat for him; the pain in his ribcage intensified when he tried to wield the knife himself. 'As if you didn't have enough cutting up to do for the twins,' he said.

She smiled and squeezed his shoulder. 'Just another great babe for me to take care of,' she teased. 'Mother of four, I am, and it's soon to be five.'

He didn't catch her meaning at first, then his eyes widened. 'You mean...?' he said joyfully. She nodded, and Regi and Ferdi tendered enthusiastic congratulations.

Although they moved him to the sofa for his customary afternoon rest, he could not seem to find a comfortable position. The steward noted how he hugged his ribs, and when he'd made sure the Thain was settled as well as could be, he went in search of Woodruff.

He quizzed the healer but came away unsatisfied. There was nothing to be done to give the Thain ease, only time could do that. He worried that the constant pain might upset the slim gains in health Pippin had made over the past year.

His worries proved justified as he watched Pippin losing ground over the next few days. There came a day when the Thain refused even a bite of breakfast, and sent the healers away without exercising the bad leg. 'I think I'll take the day off,' he told his troubled wife. 'Don't worry about me, I'll be all the better for it on the morrow.'

'All right, my love,' Diamond said, bending to kiss him. 'I've got to see to the twins now. You get a good rest.'

She stopped the steward in the corridor. 'Regi,' she said, 'I think you ought to send for Merry now.'

He nodded. 'I think you're right,' he said. He wanted to say something comforting, something to alleviate the fear in Diamond's eyes, but instead the truth forced its way out. 'The pain is wearing him down faster than he can fight it off.' He put a hand on her shoulder, then, in apology. 'It'll be all right, Diamond,' he said, trying to convince himself as well. 'He's fought worse than this before.'

***

Author's note: My mom always maintained that "unraveling" is not a proper word. Was she right? I tried "raveling" but it made me think too much of ravioli... and I am not in the mood for Italian food at the moment, having had it for lunch this day...