Chapter 89. Back in Time for Tea

Pippin, Samwise, and Rose sat in the parlour with the Master and Mistress of Buckland, sipping unenthusiastically at their tea. Only the presence of the ladies kept the Travellers sitting quietly. In their minds, of course, they were following a waggon from the Crowing Cockerel towards Stock, driven by a mithril-shirted hobbit, with a cargo of hidden guardsmen and a covert escort of Tookish archers.

Pippin became aware that Sam was staring at him. 'You're letting your tea go cold,' he said, but Sam did not seem to hear him. 'What?' Pippin asked. 'Do I have crumbs upon my chin?' He picked up his napkin and assiduously wiped at his face. This broke the seeming spell, and Sam shook his head and sipped again.

Rose spoke softly from his side. 'It's the two of you,' she said. 'I wonder what Frodo would say?'

Merry looked to the portrait behind his cousin and said, 'I never noticed that before... Pip, has anyone told you how much you resemble Frodo?'

Pippin sipped at his tea, raising one eyebrow. 'O really?' he said. He put down his cup and scratched thoughtfully at his neck, finally shaking his head. 'No,' he said slowly, 'I cannot recall that it's come up before.'

Rose choked on her tea, apologising after the coughing fit was over.

Estella eyed him. 'It would make an interesting portrait,' she said thoughtfully, 'you and cousin Frodo.'

'Yes,' Pippin agreed. 'Why don't you see if you can get him to visit from Elvenhome and we can sit for you?'

'You'd never sit still long enough for me to take your likeness, in any event,' Estella said.

'Then let him sit twice as long and paint him twice over,' Pippin retorted, becoming annoyed, 'since we resemble each other so well.' He had been amused at first, but the joke was beginning to wear thin.

Samwise broke in, 'I wish he could come back, even if it were just for a visit.' His eyes were very sad, and Rose silently squeezed his hand.

'Whatever would he say, seeing us?' Pippin said, in tacit apology to Sam, who must feel Frodo's absence most keenly of them all.

'Mayor, Master, and Thain,' Sam said. 'He knew, somehow, where we'd be...' He looked at Rose. 'I told you how he named the ones to come after Elanor. I wonder if he was allowed a glance into the future, into what he would not be here to see, as a comfort to him.'

Merry and Pippin murmured agreement, and went back to sipping their tea, and waiting.

***

'The Thain is in Buckland,' Elessar said patiently, clinching his argument. Pointing out that Buckland was closer than Tuckborough had not been successful; Ferdi still insisted that his place, now that the ruffians had been dispatched, was at the Great Smials, guarding the Thain's family. 'He is not yet well enough to ride, and he will insist on seeing you when he hears a full report.'

'Very well,' Ferdi said curtly. 'For the sake of the Thain, I will agree to be carried to Buckland.' He shifted, uncomfortable despite the pain-reducing draught the King had forced upon him. 'But I really should be returning to Tuckborough, to see to the safety of the Thain's family.'

'The guardsmen I sent there ought to be adequate until you and your archers return,' the King said gravely. 'I know they are not so experienced in protecting your Thain as you are, but they have performed to my satisfaction in protecting the royal family of Gondor.'

'Very well,' Ferdi repeated with a jerk of his chin. 'When do we leave?'

'Carrying you in a litter should not jostle your shoulder overmuch,' Regi said, 'not like riding in a waggon or on a pony. We could leave immediately. I'm sure the Thain is eager to hear our report.'

'Immediately?' the King repeated.

'Yes, the Goose is losing business with the lot of us here,' Regi said. 'With such a crowd of great oafs in black and silver loitering about, you won't find many Tooks coming in for a mug.'

'Or other hobbits, for what it's worth,' Tolly said. 'I must say, cousin, I'm curious, now that we're this close to Buckland. Is the Brandywine really as wide as they say? Wider than the Water?'

'It would have to be wider than the Water,' Ferdi snapped. 'How else would they get all those great ships up the River?'

'It is wider,' Regi said quietly. 'You'll see for yourselves soon enough.' He looked to the King. 'We are ready to march at your command.' The other Tooks bristled at his deference to the King, but he turned a quelling eye on them. Even when the Thain told one of his stories, or called the King "Strider", there was always an undercurrent of respect in his tone, and the steward's loyalty to the Thain meant that he would follow Pippin's example.

Even with the litter, the journey was uncomfortable for Ferdi, though he never complained. When they got to Stock, Elessar was in for another argument. The archers were adamant about not taking the Ferry.

'It will add another twenty miles to the journey,' the King said.

'No boats!' Tolly repeated, echoed by the others.

Elessar turned to Reginard. 'At least let us carry Ferdibrand over the River on the Ferry,' he said. 'I want to see him in a bed, and an end to this jostling, the sooner the better.'

Regi bent to address Ferdi. 'I can order you, you know,' he said quietly.

Ferdi's lips were white and thin with pain. 'You can order me to fly over the River, if you like,' he said, 'but I doubt that I will sprout wings.'

'Do you feel up to getting out and walking the extra miles?' Regi asked.

Ferdi gave a jerk of his chin. 'If I have to.'

'What if I ride the Ferry with you?' Regi persisted.

The other shot him a look of shock and disbelief. 'You?' he demanded.

Regi took a deep breath, then nodded. 'Aye,' he said. He tried not to imagine he could hear the River rushing by, though it was perhaps a mile from where they stood, hungry waters grasping at the shore, reaching for any unwary hobbit that might come too close... 'Aye,' he said again, and swallowed hard.

Ferdi gazed searchingly into his face, then said, 'You don't have to do that, Reg. I'll let them take me. If I drown, then the King does, too, I imagine.'

'I can swim,' Elessar said, 'and I would be happy to pull you to safety.' Ferdi glanced at him sharply, and saw the twinkle in his eye.

It was decided that Elessar and Bergil would take Regi and Ferdi with them to the Ferry, the rest would ride or march to the Bridge, Tolly driving the waggon with the bodies of the renegades, including the one who had died of his wounds shortly after questioning. The Thain had decreed that their bodies should not foul the fair soil of the Shire, and the King agreed. They would be cast, instead, into a single grave in the Wilds, unmarked, unmourned.

Bergil handed the injured hobbit up to the King, and Ferdi found that riding in the King's arms was in fact easier than the litter. The King asked questions about Tookland, which helped distract the hobbit from his pain.

'And so, are you the Captain of the Thain's Guard?' Elessar asked.

'No, I'm his Chancellor,' Ferdi said.

'And what do you do, as Chancellor?' the King asked.

'Whatever needs doing,' Ferdi answered. 'Write letters, keep records, run messages, fetch whatever's wanted, saddle ponies, arrange escort for the Thain, eat his meals for him when he's not hungry to spare him his wife's ire...' he cocked a mischievous eye at the King. '...but don't tell Diamond that, she's worse than a dozen ruffians.'

'I won't,' the King promised. 'And lead out the Tooks' archers as needed, I take it?'

'O aye, worthless lot that they are,' Ferdi grumbled. 'They had that ruffian dead to rights and they would not shoot the Man!'

'I had heard he was using you for a shield at the time,' the King said mildly.

'Do you have a point, or are you just speaking to hear yourself talk?' Ferdi demanded, then winced, putting his good hand to his bad shoulder. King or no, he was not one to suffer fools lightly. His archers should never have hesitated, no matter who was involved. Well, had it been the Thain, maybe... but Pippin would have been as furious as Ferdi at the near-escape of the ruffian.

'Easy, now,' the King said. 'You don't want to jar that.'

'You're telling me...' Ferdi grumbled. His eyes widened and he gasped, and the King looked up to see what had startled the hobbit. They were approaching the Ferry landing; all he saw was the broad expanse of shining River, great ships riding at anchor.

'That's a river?' Ferdi whispered. 'Looks more like the Sea to me.' He stared at the Brandywine, and at the great ships, growing larger as they rode down to the landing. The sight made him feel... small, somehow... an uncomfortable feeling. He began to realise that perhaps there was a world out there, beyond Tookland. It had never seemed quite real to him before.

When they boarded the Ferry, the King noted that the hobbit's good hand clutched his cloak with enough force to turn the knuckles white, and that Regi, standing beside Bergil, was sweating and scarcely breathing, but he did not comment, saying only to Bergil, 'It looks as if we might be in time for tea.'

***

Merimas Brandybuck stuck his head in at the parlour door. 'The King is on the Ferry, halfway across the River by now,' he said. 'There's a guardsman with him, and two of our people.'

'Two?' the Thain demanded sharply.

'He's carrying one, the other's on his own feet.'

'Amazing that he got two Tooks on the Ferry at all,' Merry said. He got up and helped Pippin out of his chair.

'Carrying one?' Pippin asked Merimas. 'I don't like the sound of that.'

'We'll go and see for ourselves,' Merry said soothingly.

Pippin gave him a sharp glance. 'Don't humour me, cousin,' he warned.

'When have I ever humoured you?' Merry asked. Pippin only snorted, then put his hand to his chest. That had hurt.

'Let that be a lesson to you,' Merry said. 'When you take a sword to the heart you've got to give yourself time to get over it.' Sam made a sound suspiciously like a chuckle, but his face was bland when Pippin glared at him.

'Are Tooks always so bad tempered?' Merry asked Estella.

The Mistress of Buckland smiled. 'Yes,' she nodded. 'It's what makes them so indomitable. They have never yet been conquered, by ruffians or by adversity.' She lowered her eyelids. 'I'm part Took myself, you know.'

'I thought you'd been conquered by a Brandybuck,' Merry said.

His wife looked at him archly. 'Quite the other way round, I assure you,' she said.

Sam moved to Pippin's other side, and the Mayor and Master escorted the Thain out of Brandy Hall. As they reached the entrance, they saw the King walking up from the Ferry landing, carrying a muffled-up hobbit in his arms, Bergil following with Reginard.

'Ferdi!' Pippin exclaimed, starting forward, forgetting his aches.

'I'm all right, cousin,' Ferdi called, 'do not bestir yourself. I thought you were supposed to be in bed!'

'Which is where I am taking you, Sir,' Elessar said firmly. 'You can give him your report once I have you comfortably settled, and preferably after you have another draught.'

'I would rather not,' Ferdi said. He'd hated the fuzziness the previous draught had caused; if pain was the price to be paid for a clear head, he'd pay it. However, the Thain had another idea, walking with them to the room Merry designated for Ferdibrand, pulling back the covers on the bed so that the King could lay him down, ignoring his own hurts to make sure Ferdi was put comfortably to rest. He sat with Ferdi until the King returned with a covered cup.

'I'm fine,' Ferdi insisted, settling back on his pillows with another wince.

'Of course you are,' Pippin said. 'That's why your arm is in a sling and bound to your side. Drink the stuff down, and let us hear no more nonsense. Do I have to make it an order?'

Ferdi complied with poor grace, shoving the cup back at the King without thanks.

'You're most welcome,' Elessar said graciously, with a bow and a smile.

Ferdi humphed. 'And you spent the better part of a year with this fellow?' he said to Pippin. 'However did you put up with all his managing ways?'

'He is King, after all,' Pippin said diffidently, then straightening, he put on his official manner and said, 'Now how about that report?'

The Thain, the Master, and the Mayor listened in silence as Regi and Ferdi took turns telling of the long drive from the Crowing Cockerel, starting at dawn, watching the shadows as the miles crawled by, growing weary as the hours passed, thinking, after passing the last inn before the Ferry landing, that the plan had failed and their quarry had not taken the bait.

Then, just past the Blue Goose, the trap was sprung, the false guardsmen appeared. They knew for certain that these were the ruffians, for the King had ordered the movements of all his guardsmen that day, and these appeared where none were supposed to be.

'However did you let him get hold of you, Ferdi?' Pippin demanded. 'You knew him to be no true guardsman.'

'They were spread out,' Ferdibrand said coolly. 'I had to let him come closer, so that they would all come closer, and none would escape into the trees.' He shook his head. 'If only the archers had shot on command, things would have gone much more smoothly.'

The Thain was nodding. 'Yes, that was a serious failing on their part,' he said. Elessar looked at him in astonishment, but then Pippin reached out a hand, resting it on Ferdibrand's good arm. 'Still,' he said, 'I'm glad that you didn't end up full of Tookish arrows. I hardly know how I could spare you, cousin.'

Ferdi looked away, then nodded. 'I... thank you, cousin,' he said softly.

'All in all, it was a good day's work,' Regi broke in, to give Ferdi time to straighten his countenance. 'This group of ruffians is done for. Let's hope the bright idea of posing as guardsmen died with them.'

'We will keep a more careful accounting of messages and messengers in future,' the King said grimly. 'This time we will be aware of a problem at first sign of trouble.' The draught was beginning to take effect; he noticed Ferdibrand sagging against his pillows, trying valiantly to keep his eyes open.

'I think this is a good place to stop,' he said, rising from his sitting position on the floor. He fixed the Mayor with a sharp glance. 'And are you not supposed to be taking a nap?'

'Ah, yes,' Samwise said. 'How could I forget? My life is not complete without a nap after tea, you know.'

'I'd heard,' Pippin answered. 'Actually, they've been trying to convince me of the same thing.'

Elessar said, 'Merry, you take care that Pippin goes to his rest, I'll see to Sam.'

'Your wish is my command,' Merry grinned. 'Come on, Pip.'

Pippin shook his head. 'I wish you would not take so much pleasure in your work, Merry,' he said. 'It's rubbing salt in the wound for you to be so... cheerful! ...in carrying out your orders.'

'I am simply returning the compliment, dear cousin,' Merry said. 'Think of all those days you saw to it that I was on speaking terms with my bed.'

'My bed and I get along fine without any help from you...' Pippin was heard to grumble as he and Merry left the room.

'I'll watch with him,' Regi said in answer to the King's lifted eyebrow. He pulled the covers up under Ferdibrand's chin and settled himself in the chair next to the bed. 'It'll be nice and peaceful, probably the most quiet I've had in days. Wonderful thing, those draughts of yours...'

Sam laughed. 'Come on, Strider, let's let him have that peace and quiet before the draught wears off.' Together, the King and the Mayor left the room. Regi got up to throw another log on the fire in the bedroom hearth, then settled back in his chair with a satisfied sigh. It had been a productive day.