Chapter 44. A Hobbit Tale

They sat on the wide porch, watching the Lake sparkle in the August sunshine. The King noticed a puzzled look on Pippin's face, watching the little princess playing at tea party with Faramir. 'What is it?' he asked.

'She doesn't have much to say,' Pippin said. He looked up and the King read concern in his glance.

Queen Arwen smiled. 'Elven children do not talk much when very young, you know.'

Pippin shook his head. 'I don't think I saw any at Rivendell or Lorien.' Seeing sadness cross the Queen's face, he tried to lighten her mood by saying, 'Hobbit children, now, their mouths are never at rest. Either food is going in or talk is coming out, and all too often the eating and talking are going on at the same time.' He was rewarded by her laughter.

'Young Faramir is very patient,' Arwen said.

'He gets a lot of practice with his younger cousins and the twins,' Pippin said. 'I suspect he'd rather be out fishing than having a tea party.' He chuckled, intercepting a glance from the princess. 'She doesn't say much, but she's taking it all in! Just look at those eyes...' the little chin dimpled in a smile as the princess bent to pour out the tea for her guest.

The fond parents watched awhile longer. 'They are nearly a match for size,' the Thain mused aloud. His eye glinting with mischief, he went on, 'Will she get much bigger than that?'

Elessar snorted, but Arwen answered, 'Of course she will. What are you playing at, Peregrin?'

'Pity,' he sighed. 'They look so well together. I'm still looking for a suitable match for my son, you know.' King and Queen joined him in hearty laughter.

A nurse came out carrying the heir to the Throne. 'He's hungry again, my Queen.'

Arwen sighed. 'The young prince is always eating, it seems,' she said, taking her precious son and nestling him close.

'He'd make a proper hobbit, he would,' Pippin laughed, 'a giant of a hobbit, of course, but he's got his priorities straight.'

The princess looked up, and the Thain beckoned to her. 'Come here, little bird,' he said. 'Come perch upon my knee. I'll tell you about a giant of a halfling.' Faramir also came over, to settle at his father's feet. The King and Queen watched and listened, charmed.

'Once there was a kingdom in the North country, you know,' Pippin began softly, the storyteller's lilt in his voice, 'before ghosts walked the ruins and wolves skulked from shadow to tree.' The princess shuddered and sat a bit closer, and he stroked her back reassuringly. 'Some ways to the South lived a clever-handed and quiet-footed little people, so deep in the woods and so quiet that none of the Big People even knew they were there. They lived by gathering nuts and mushrooms and wild fruit and greens, and taking fish from the streams, and snaring birds and rabbits. They dug out houses beneath the roots of great trees, and lived very comfortably there, you should know.'

The King bent a bit closer to his carving, to work out a tricky bit, but smiled as he listened to the story.

'Something terrible happened in the kingdom in the North country,' Pippin said. 'What it was, this tale does not tell. But one night before the dawning, a furtive figure stole through the woods carrying a bundle. The figure stumbled and rested against a tree, leaving a smear of blood when again it stood. And it left the bundle as well...

'That morning, when Snowdrop the Woodcarver's wife went to kindle a fire in the kitchen hearth, she was startled to find the cradle overfull of a bundle of blankets. She knew her own babe still slept in her bed, for she would fetch him only when the kitchen warmed a bit. When the bundle stirred, she picked up the little hatchet and crept over, not knowing what could have stolen into her hole in the night.' Pippin's eyes twinkled as he looked into the princess' wide ones. 'And what d'you think she saw?'

The little head shook slowly. 'A giant of a babe, there in the cradle, twicet the size of her own!' he laughed. 'A wee babe for all that, she could see he was not long come into the world. Her mother's heart melted within her as the babe wakened and whimpered, and she gently lifted him from the cradle and cuddled him close, crooning comfort.' The Queen smiled and cuddled her own nursing babe more closely.

'Her husband, Tam Woodcarver came in with an armload of sticks for the fire and nearly dropped the load seeing the babe. "What's happened to young Tom, then?" he cried.

' "This is not young Tom," his wife said, "but a cuckoo that's come and been laid in the nest."

' "Where'd he come from, then?" Tam Woodcarver said.

' "Does it matter?" Snowdrop answered. "He's little and he's needing a mother's care and I can give that to him, poor wee tyke."

'Tam Woodcarver laid his wood in the woodbox and scratched his head. "What if someone comes looking for him, then?" he asked.

' "They'll find him safe and sound and cared for," his wife answered firmly. And that was that.'  The Thain stretched and said, 'You know, storytelling dries the mouth, indeed.' The princess got down to pour him a tiny cup of tea, which he took with grave thanks. Arwen's eyes met her husband's, sparkling with suppressed laughter at the sight, for the tiny tea set was just about right for a hobbit hand.

The King put down his carving and rose. 'How about some food to go with your tea?' he asked. He bent to kiss Arwen's cheek and smooth the blanket over his son.

Pippin looked up with a smile. 'You know a hobbit will never turn down an offer like that,' he chuckled. The princess met his gaze, and he nodded, still smiling. 'We'll take up the tale again after tea,' he promised.