CHAPTER 4

Merry clung to Frodo, trembling. His cousin held him tightly, patting the lad on the back, and dropping an occasional kiss on the sandy curls, while the story poured out of him. Frodo let the words wash over him, not truly listening, for he had already heard the most important fact from the servant who had showed them in.

Until he heard the words “--and it’s all my fault!”

He pulled Merry back and looked him in the eyes. “Why would you say that, sprout?”

Merry did not even notice the use of the old baby-name Frodo’d had for him, something that in recent years had made him bristle.

“Because I brought him down here in the first place!”

“Merry!” Frodo’s voice was stern but fond. “How many times did I bring you down here?”

“I don’t know, I never kept count, but a lot of times.”

“And it never occurred to you to go back there into the closed off tunnels, did it?” Merry shook his head. “And if it had, and I had forbidden it, would you have disobeyed me?” Again, a shake of the head. “I am sure you warned Pip to stay out of there.” An emphatic nod. “Did you have any reason to think that he would disobey you?”

Merry’s head shot up. “No. No,” he said slowly, “no, I *trusted* him He’s never disobeyed me before.” A slight glint of anger appeared in the smoky grey eyes. “I trusted him with our special place, Frodo.” His face fell. “He’s been missing since just after luncheon yesterday. I’m so afraid for him.”

Frodo sat down in one of the old chairs, and drew Merry into his lap, though he was very nearly too large for that anymore. “Merry, what is the rule about someone who gets lost in the Old Forest?”

“We search three days, hoping to find them alive and well. We search three days thinking to find them injured or ill. We search three more days in case the first six were not enough. And then we search three days for—“ his voice dropped to a whisper, “the body.”

“But you see, Merry, that this is very much a similar situation. And we have not even searched the first three days yet. It has only been one day, so far.”

Milo had been speaking with Saradoc, finding out what the situation was. “Of course, Aldo, Frodo and I will help in the search,” he said.

“I know that you will.”

Rorimac came up to his son. “We are going to have to change our approach to this search. I have sent Dinodas after the old plans of the smial, that includes these tunnels.”

“That sounds like a good plan, Uncle Rory,” said Milo. Though he was a Burrows, his mother had been one of Rorimac’s sisters.

Frodo, having calmed Merry, left him to speak to the others. “I want to help in the search as well, Uncle.”

Rorimac nodded at him. “I know you do, lad. And we will resume the search soon. But we are going to need to do it in a much more methodical way, if we hope to have any results.” He looked over and summoned his daughter-in-law. “Esme, dear, would you please see that every possible spare lantern or lamp in the Hall is brought down to us?”

“Certainly I will.” And she left to do his bidding.

Merry got up and came over to lean against Frodo’s side. Frodo draped an arm about his young cousin’s shoulders. “Frodo, why aren’t they looking?” he asked.

Rory glanced down at his grandson. “We are still looking, Merry. Merimac and Seredic are in there right now. But we will need to change the way we are looking, since we have not yet found him.”

“What are you planning, Uncle Rory?” asked Frodo.

“As soon as Dinodas comes back with the plans, we will know just how extensive an area we have to search. Then we are going to send in two teams of two searchers together, and the rest of us will begin passing in lanterns and lamps. We will place one in each room as we come to it, and then search the rooms as they are lit. I am hoping that the extra light will make it easier.” He turned to his son. “Sara, has Dodinas Younger returned?”*

Saradoc’s cousin Dodinas (called Younger, as he was named after his father) was a healer, one of the few male healers in the Shire or Buckland.

He was the family healer for most of the residents of Brandy Hall. He had gone to Bree to pick up some special herbs that he had ordered.

“He is due to return today, Da. I can check and see if he has arrived.”

“Please do so. I want him on hand. I am very much afraid young Peregrin will at the very least be ill from lack of food and water when we find him.”

Merry made a tiny whimper, but he bit his lip and kept silent. He did not want to be sent away from the discussion. He very much wanted to know how they were going to find his Pippin. Frodo gave his shoulder a squeeze.

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Pippin woke for a few moments. It was dark, and he was so uncomfortable. It took him a few seconds to remember his situation, and the tears began to run down his face. He was cold, he was hungry, and he was so very thirsty. He shifted his position, and dirt and stones rattled, sliding down from the rubble on which he lay.

The slight noise sounded like thunder in the silence.

He wondered how long he had been here, and whether anyone would know where to look for him. He was sure they would search for him, but how would they know where he was? Merry had told him to stay away from here, and he’d have no reason to believe that Pippin had not listened to him.

Oh, Merry, he thought, I’m so sorry. He sobbed as silently as he could, until he once more fell asleep.

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Uncle Dinodas returned to the small room with an armload of rolled up papers. He moved the game quickly from the table on which it still lay, and spread out the first of them. Rorimac and the searchers came over to see what he had found.

They looked at it, and Saradoc pointed to several areas indicated on the plans.

“We have searched here, here, and here fairly thoroughly already. Here, here, here and here, we have only searched fleetingly--those areas need to be checked more carefully, especially as Pippin may not be able to call out, if he is sleeping or unconscious. I do not believe--” and he ran his finger over a wide area on one side,”--that we have searched any of these tunnels or rooms at all. I had no idea that these old tunnels were so extensive.”

Rorimac shook his head. “Nor I. This portion of the delvings were abandoned several generations ago.

"According to what my father told me, they were some of the earliest parts of Brandy Hall. After a very wet spring one year, parts of them were flooded. Attempts were made to find ways to keep the water out, but every few years, parts of that area would flood once more. So it was decided to abandon them. By that time the more recent areas had begun to be dug out. I do not know why they were not filled in at the time, but it’s not so easy to fill in abandoned tunnels when they are this large.”

Merry had wormed his way up next to the table in front of his father, so that he could see the map of Brandy Hall as well. He was very fond of maps and he had never seen this one before. His eyes widened in dismay as he realized what a huge area was left still to be searched. He glanced up at his father’s face. He wanted to beg to be allowed to join the adults in their looking, but he knew they’d say ‘no’, and he might even be sent away if he tried.

Then his mother returned, carrying a large box filled with lamps and lanterns. “This is just the first load.” She gestured, and three servants came in with three more boxes, just as large. “There is one more box at the entrance to this level.” She looked at Merry. “Merry, could you fetch it for me?”

Happy to at last be doing *something* to help, Merry dashed off. His mother watched him go. “That is the first time he’s moved from this room since he brought us down here. I’d like him to go to his room for a bit of rest, but I don’t believe he will do it.”

Frodo looked at her. “Aunt Esme, I will try to persuade him. But he’s going to need to feel useful afterward, or he will never agree to it.”

Merry’s parents and grandfather exchanged a look, and then Rory said, “I think I know what he could do. If you can get him to take a break now, Frodo, I will be very grateful.”

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Merry grabbed the box of lanterns. It was not quite so large as the ones the servants had carried, but it was still awkward, and there would be no running to take it back. He carried it carefully, having to stop every few steps to shift the box into a more comfortable position. It was with a sigh of relief that he brought it into the room and put it on the floor with the others.

“Meriadoc.” His grandfather called him.

“Yes, Grandda?” He looked at Rory warily.

“It is going to be quite some time before we are ready to start the next phase of the search. We want to be very organized, and as it looks to be a long night, we will have supper first. I have a job for you to do: we will need someone to fill the lamps and carry them in to the searchers. I think that you could do this. But it will be a long and hard job. Do you think you are up to it, lad?”

Merry’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh, yes, Grandda!”

Frodo put a hand on his shoulder. “In that case, you need to get a little bit of rest. Why don’t you come up to the apartment with me, so you can wash up and have a bit of a kip before supper? I promise I will not let you sleep too long, and that you will not miss anything that happens.”

Merry looked up into his older cousin’s blue eyes. Frodo gave a little nod. He had never yet broken a promise to Merry, and he was not about to start now.

“All right.” But he was not happy about this.

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They went up to the family apartment. Instead of going to Merry’s own room, they went to Frodo’s old room, which was always kept ready for his visits. He had not been expected, so there was no water in his ewer. Frodo took it and went to fetch some. He was soon back, but while he was gone, Merry had sat upon the bed, and was now crying.

Frodo sat next to him and took him in his arms, and let him weep. When he began to subside into little hiccups, Frodo said “Why don’t we let you wash up now?”

Merry took up a flannel that lay folded on the washstand and washed his face and hands. Then he let Frodo persuade him to lay down on the bed. Frodo lay down alongside him, and smoothed his brow until he fell asleep.

Frodo, on the other hand, lay wide awake, thinking about poor little Pippin, alone in the dark.

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“Merry?” Frodo gently roused him. “Your mother has had supper sent up on a tray. She’s in the sitting room, now. As soon as we’ve eaten, we can go back down.”

Merry sighed and nodded. He did feel a bit better for the sleep.

He joined his mother and Frodo, and they had a light supper: chicken soup, bread, cheese and as a treat, strawberry pie. Frodo and Esmeralda had tea, but there was a cup of Merry’s favorite beverage, cold buttermilk, for him. He only ate one serving of everything, for he still had not much appetite. Every bite he took made him think of poor little Pippin hungry and thirsty in the dark. Even the strawberry pie did not have much flavor. Still, his mother was pleased to see that he did eat all of what he took on his plate.

They ate quietly, without much conversation, and when they finished, Frodo put the soiled dishes on the tray and set it in the hallway for the maidservant to retrieve.

“Merry, it’s a bit damp in those tunnels. You’re going to need a light jacket,” said Frodo.

Merry went to fetch his jacket without a word. Esmeralda watched him with worried eyes. “Thank you, Frodo. I don’t know what we’d have done with him if you had not turned up.”

“It was just an impulse, Aunt Esme. But I’m glad to be here. Are *you* all right?”

Tears swam in her green eyes. Not for the first time, Frodo was struck by how much she and Pippin looked alike. Some people, meeting them the first time, often thought she was Pippin’s mother rather than his aunt.

“We have to find him, Frodo.”

“We will Aunt Esme. I’m sure we will.”

Merry came back, buttoning his jacket, and he and Frodo left to return to the search.

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Not only Merry was to help with the lanterns; Berilac was also going to help. The lads were to fill and light them one at a time, and carry them in to the parties of searchers. This time, two would search together, and they would carefully inspect every corner of each room as they came to it, in case Pippin was asleep or unconscious in a dark corner of some room they had already searched. There would be teams of two going down each tunnel, so when a tunnel branched, two more would go in, and search the branching tunnel.

There was not much talking or conversation. It was the beginning of a very long night, and no one wanted to give voice to desperation.

Moving carefully, so as not to spill or douse the lantern, Merry carried the first one in, going to the right, and giving it to his father and Frodo, who were searching together. Then he turned and went out, and fetched another one to them, as they placed the light in the first room they had found.

Both of them also carried lanterns, and they went all around the room, before going out, and leaving the lantern Merry brought them in the doorway. Then they went on to the next room.

It was a slow and tedious task. Fetch a lantern and go a little further in.

The night wore on.

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*The healer, Dodinas Brandybuck the Younger, is a tribute to Ariel’s wonderful story, “Fear”. Though he is not actually the same character, the name is used with her permission.