Chapter 71. Showers of Joy

'Samwise...' Pippin said again, as Bergil propped the Mayor with pillows. 'Sam, I want you to try some of this.' He held a bowl from which steam rose. The mingled scents of simmering soup and baking bread wafted through the tunnels and rooms of Bag End.

Sam opened his eyes and stared unfocused at Pippin. 'Time to start?' he said.

'Nearly,' Pippin said. 'Let's get some of this into you, first.'

Sam obediently opened his mouth for the spoon, then closed his eyes. 'Mmmm,' he said. 'That's good. Wherever did you...' his eyes opened and he seemed to see Pippin for the first time. 'What...?' he said.

'Mayor Samwise's Famous Mushroom Soup,' Pippin said. 'I got the recipe from the Mayor, himself. Good, isn't it?'

'Pippin?' Sam said.

'That's right,' Pippin smiled. He lifted another spoonful. 'Now, here's the old owl, gliding in to his hole with a mouse. Open wide.'

Sam stared at him, then Bergil. 'When did you get here?' he asked the guardsman. 'And how? The King's edict...'

'Eat your soup,' Bergil told him.

'Whoo-whoo,' Pippin said, in decent imitation of an owl. Sam opened his mouth, and the spoon glided in. 'Good lad, let us try that again.' He fed the whole bowlful to the Mayor, talking soothing nonsense, but with the last spoonful the Mayor put up his hand to intercept the spoon.

'What is Bergil doing here? The King will have him put to the sword!'

'It's all right, Sam, the King has lifted the edict for the duration of the emergency,' Pippin said. He put the bowl down and pulled the cloth free that he had tucked into Sam's nightshirt to catch any drips.

'And where did you get... onions?' Sam said, his mouth reminding him of the pleasures of the soup he'd just eaten.

'In the waggons that came two days ago,' Bergil said. 'I came with the waggons as well, though the King remained in Buckland.'

'Waggons...' Sam said.

'The food from Rohan. Do you remember? We asked the King for help.'

'How did they get here so soon? I thought it would take a month for them to reach us.'

'It did,' Pippin said. 'But you haven't been with us the whole time.' He laughed. 'I haven't even been with us the whole time.'

'You're not making sense,' the Mayor grumbled. 'But then, you seldom do.'

Pippin cocked a bright eye at Bergil. 'Do you see what I have to put up with?'

Bergil chuckled. 'Perhaps you ought to stop being Thain and come back to Gondor where you can get some respect.'

'Don't tempt me,' Pippin said, and Samwise actually chuckled. A rumbling sound was heard, and Pippin looked up sharply. 'What's that?'

Bergil said soberly. 'Sounds like war engines, but how could it be?'

Pippin abruptly rose and went to open the window. 'That smell...' he said. 'Quick, Bergil, wrap Sam up and bring him.' He was out of the bedroom, down the hall and into the kitchen, picking up Rose, striding to the front door, throwing it open, carrying her out into the front garden.

'Look at the sky!' she gasped, and they gazed at the majestic clouds building ever higher as a breeze teased at their hair and a rumbling was heard in the distance. Bergil emerged with Sam just as Pippin felt the first drop on his hand. The hobbits lifted their faces to the sky as more drops began to fall, spattering in the dust, kissing their faces with cold splashes. Pippin shouted aloud, and then they were all laughing. The Gamgee children emerged, blinking in astonishment.

Pippin put Rose down upon the bench in front of Bag End, nodding to Bergil to put Sam down as well, then they went back into the house to fetch Frodo-lad and Goldi from their beds. 'Do you think this is a good idea?' Bergil said worriedly.

'The fever's gone,' Pippin answered.

'Yes, but mightn't this bring it back?' Bergil asked.

Pippin shook his head. 'It's been a long drought,' he said. 'Let us water the garden.' They carried the young Gamgees into the rain, and were rewarded to see Frodo-lad's eyes open, and Goldi's smile as the rain softly caressed her face. Other hobbits were emerging from their doors, staring up into the sky, holding out hands to catch the drops, laughing and singing and dancing.

***

In the Thain's study at the Great Smials, Regi had given up every pretense of work and sat staring out the window, watching the clouds roll in, building ever higher, tops crowned in dazzling white. He scarcely breathed as he saw the grey blur in the distance that meant falling rain. He heard shouts of excitement in the Smials, and pushing back from the desk, strode from the study to the main entrance of the Smials, joining an ever-growing throng in the yard. He threw back his head at the smell in the air, that smell that comes just before the rain, and then the first drops blessed his face.

His joy was such that he wept, but it didn't matter, for the tears mingled with the rain on his face, to be washed away in the downpour, as the Tooks and Tooklanders danced in the rain and sang songs of joy.

***

King Elessar and King Eomer sat at table in one of the pavilions on the brown-stubbled hayfield near Brandy Hall. The last report had come in not long ago, that the furthest reaches of the Shire had received waggonloads of the food from Rohan. Water was still a problem; many wells had gone dry and the hobbits were hauling water from the rivers and those streams that had not yet dried up.

The unusually warm, dry weather had continued into November. This particular day had been uncomfortably hot and airless, with no breath of wind to give relief. Now as evening approached, servants looped back the tent flaps as a breeze sprung up, but the Kings, deep in their discussion, hardly noticed. Even when the first taps sounded on the canvas, they continued talking, deep in their plans to organise another shipment of food by waggon caravan. With the rivers so low, the idea of shipping more foodstuffs upriver did not seem workable, though it was a pity. Ships could carry so much more than waggons, and travelled with less waste. They'd had to feed some of the grain they were carrying to the horses that hauled the waggons, after all. However, the ship captains would not be happy to be asked to sail from Gondor all the way to the Havens now that the season of dangerous winter storms was upon them, so waggons seemed the obvious solution.

The tapping became a thrum, and a guardsman poked his head into the conference to interrupt the Kings. 'Sir,' he said to Elessar. 'I think you'll want to see this.'

Elessar rose and walked to the opening, to see a steady rain pattering upon the parched ground. In the courtyard were hobbits... some dancing, some waving their arms to catch the rain, some simply standing, faces raised, eyes closed, the better to feel the falling drops. A song began, and hobbits joined hands to dance in a long, snaking line, grabbing hold of bemused guardsmen and Rohirrim who stood watching, the line ever growing, the song swelling as more voices joined. Eomer saw his sister drawn into the dance, Faramir by her side, and then he saw Meriadoc, Knight of the Mark, beckon to him from among the dancers. He threw a grin at Elessar, and the two Kings allowed their long strides to carry them into the celebration.