PART THREE: It begins

By the next morning, Merry was not better; in fact he was much worse. In addition to the fever that had risen throughout the night, he itched all over and felt not just a little unwell, but genuinely sick. He ached all over, and his head was pounding. He had come awake with a groan, but decided rather quickly that being awake was not a good thing, so he turned over and tried to sleep some more. Now, if he just lay completely still, maybe everything would go away and he wouldn’t feel so sick or itchy and maybe his head would stop hurting too.

He wasn`t aware that someone else was in the room before a cold little hand patted his cheek. Pippin looked at him with large, scared eyes. Merry was very hot and he looked to be in pain.

“Morning, Pip.” His voice was a bare whisper, not sounding like his merry Merry at all.

“Merry?” Pippin peered into Merry`s flushed face. Merry leaned into the coolness of Pippin`s touch and Pippin put his other hand on Merry`s other cheek. “You`re hot.”

“Yes. I`m sorry.”

“You`re still sick then?” Pippin said, disappointed. He had hoped that Merry would be better and chase him through the fields as he had promised.

“I think so, Pippin.”

“You won`t get up today then?” Tears gathered in the green eyes, and his lip quivered a little.

“I don`t think that I will. I am sorry, Pippin. I promise to make it up to you.” Merry tried to sit up but everything started spinning so he flopped back down.

“Would you like breakfast?” As Merry had scarcely eaten the previous day Pippin thought he must be completely starving now.

“I don`t think so. I would love a little water though.” He could at least do his cousin the courtesy of trying to get some water down. He had his doubts about it, but he felt so bad letting Pippin down with not only being able to get up, but not eating either. And he was very thirsty.

The previous night Eglantine had put a pitcher with water on Merry`s nightstand and now Pippin poured out a mug for his cousin. Waiting for his Pippin to get him water, Merry huddled down in the bed again, feeling cold. Pippin thought he might be asleep again and anxiously whispered “Merry?”

Merry stirred and peered out from under his blankets. “I have some water for you.” He put the pitcher back on the nightstand and held the cup out for Merry.

“Thank you, Pippin.” Merry said. The water felt good and soothing. His throat didn`t hurt, but he was so hot and the cool water helped a little. Wearily he lay back.

“Good morning, Merry, How are you feeling?” Eglantine said, coming in to the bedroom. She sat down on the bedside and felt his face for fever. She had only to look at him to see that he was doing worse than yesterday.

“Good morning, Auntie. I feel awfully tired, I`m hot, and everything itches. I`m aching all over too.” Merry wriggled a little as if his back itched.

“Hm… “She stroked his curls, brushing them out of his eyes. “Everything itches, does it?”

“Yes.”

Eglantine pulled away the covers a little and unlaced the top of Merry`s nightshirt. Merry just lay there, too weary and aching to really move much, and feeling that if he did move all he`d eaten the past week would come up. Pippin looked anxiously on, and Merry smiled at him. “It`s all right, Pip. I`ll be fine. You just wait and see.”

If Merry had what Eglantine suddenly suspected, she could very soon have a smial full of sick daughters on her hands as this could spread like a whirlwind. There was nothing much to be done for it but stay in bed if the child had a fever. Merry seemed more ill than what she thought was normal with this ailment, but then she reminded herself that he was older than children usually were when getting this and the older the child was, the more dangerous and painful it was. Pippin had suffered through this just a year ago or so, fortunately when his sisters had been visiting their Grandmother Banks in Springdell. He hadn`t had any fever and was up and about most of the time. Uncomfortable, yes, but certainly not like Merry seemed to feel now. Thankfully this was an illness that could only be suffered once, and as Pippin had had it, he wasn`t in danger of catching it, and could therefore stay with Merry without the risk of becoming sick himself. Eglantine was grateful that she wouldn’t have two sick lads on her hands. The problem was that Merry had likely been contagious for the past couple of weeks and he had hugged his cousins on more than one occasion, which meant that any of the lasses could get this too. She sighed. She needed to do what she could to prevent any of the lasses becoming ill, but it was probably too late.

As the nightshirt fell open she saw what she had suspected would be there: All over Merry`s chest there were little red spots that would be very uncomfortable and itch horribly for several days.

“Oh, Merry.” She sighed. “It’s the pox I am afraid. You will have to try and not scratch, dearest. If you do you will soon be covered in these red spots.”

Merry looked down at his chest, frowning. He had seen this before; it was something that went through the Hall from time to time. He remembered Merimas and Ilberic having the pox earlier in the year and that he couldn`t play with them as long as they were ill. He couldn`t have got it from them as it was too long since they were ill. Who could he have got it from then? Well, where he got it didn’t really matter at this point. He had it, and that was that. He would just have to focus his energy on getting well again. Merry sighed. It was very uncomfortable, but if he lay very still and did not move about, he might just sleep it all away.

“All right. I`ll try not to scratch then.” He closed his eyes again.

“Do you think you might want some breakfast, sweetie?” Eglantine wet a cloth and put it on his forehead, brushing away sweaty curls.

Merry shook his head minutely. “No, thank you.” He swallowed hard. “I don`t think I could hold it down.” Alarmed, Eglantine looked for Pippin.

“Pippin dear, go and fetch the wash basin, will you?”  She turned back to Merry. “Do you need to be sick?”

Merry pondered that a little. It felt as if he was on the brink of it, but he could control it if he lay still. “No, not at the moment.”

Pippin rushed back to the bed with the basin and held it out to his mama. “We`ll just put this here then, just in case.” Eglantine said and set the basin on the other bedside table so that Merry could reach it if he needed it.

“I`ll go make you some willow bark tea, Merry. It will help with your headache.” She patted his cheek and stood to leave.

“Oh Merry!” Pippin said in sympathy.

“What is it?”

“That tea tastes horrible.” Pippin couldn`t help but make a face at the memory of the taste.

“Oh.” Merry didn`t really know what else to say to that. He couldn`t remember being given willow bark tea before, so he just waited. A few minutes later Eglantine came back with a steaming cup and a bottle of tonic. She sat down on his bed again and lifting his head with one hand she helped him drink the tea. She then measured out a spoonful of tonic from the bottle, giving him that too. That Merry didn`t even ask what it was alarmed her a little. He just obediently swallowed it down, not even making a face at the taste.

“There you go my Merry-lad. You`ll feel better soon.” She settled him back on the pillows. “Is there something else you want?”

“No thank you, Auntie.” Merry closed his eyes and snuggled down deeper in his blankets, feeling cold despite how hot his face felt. He couldn`t think of anything else he wanted, except maybe his mum. She always made him feel better, but she was home in Brandy Hall and it would take days for her to come here, and Merry didn`t want to bother her. Surely he`d be well in a day or two. Aunt Tina knew what to do when someone wasn`t feeling well, he knew that from watching her tend to Pippin, still she wasn`t his mum and there were some things only mums were good for. She was the next-best thing though, and Merry was a big lad now, almost a tween. His thoughts got muddled as he fell asleep, but before sleep took him completely he thought that when he woke up again he should thank his aunt for taking such good care of him.

Eglantine kissed his cheek and rose to leave. “Sleep tight then, Merry-lad. We`ll be in the kitchen if you want anything.” She took Pippin by the hand and together they left for a delayed first breakfast.

“Mama? What is wrong with Merry?” Pippin said as he started on his second helping of bread and cheese. He had wanted to ask that all morning but every time he was about to voice his fears, something else came in the way. Now they had sat down to eat and he decided that he couldn`t wait any longer. Whatever Merry had, Pippin thought he was very brave, drinking that awful tea right down as if it was nothing.

“Well,” Eglantine paused in pouring out Pippin’s milk. “Do you remember last year when you had those itchy spots all over?”

“Yes! That was awful!” Pippin remembered that all too well. He had thought he was going to go mad with itching.

“Merry has that now.” She explained

“Oh.” But Merry seemed to feel much worse than he could remember feeling and he hadn`t needed to be in bed when he had this illness. So he asked his mama about that.

“He is feeling worse than you did because he is older and the older the child is, the worse this illness makes you feel.”

“Oh no!” Pippin`s cheerful mood disappeared completely then. Poor Merry! Maybe he would die after all, because if Pippin were to judge by how Merry looked this morning, he didn`t have long left. He had hoped that Merry being sick was something that would be over very fast and that Merry would be back to his own self now that Pippin’s mama had seen to him, but that hadn’t been the case. Mostly when Pippin was sick, he felt better when his parents or Merry or his sisters or Frodo came to check on him and talk to him, but he knew that sometimes he needed medicines too – foul tasting things he`d rather not think about – and his mama had even given Merry a spoonful of the tonic she usually gave him when he was ill. Pippin didn`t rightly know what it was, but he often felt better for it. He hoped Merry would feel better now too.

What if Pippin and his mama couldn`t help Merry? Maybe Frodo or Merry`s own parents were who Merry needed? Aunt Esmie was almost as good as his own mama for making him feel better when he was ill and she and Merry had always made the days go faster when he was ill while at the Hall. But maybe they couldn’t help either. Maybe this was one of those times that talking to someone or being fussed over didn`t help. What if he couldn’t do anything to make Merry better? What was he to do? Pippin sniffed a little. He couldn`t bear to see Merry like this and he had promised to take care of him! Seeing the reaction her words had on Pippin, Eglantine sat down beside him and took his little hands between her own, looking into his eyes. “You can help him you know.”

“I can? How?”

“By talking to him, playing with him and just being there with him. As you already have had what he has got you can`t get it again. I need to trust you to look out for him for me. Can you do that Pippin?”

There was something he could do! Pippin knew that what his mama asked of him was what Merry often did for him, and that helped him so much! Pippin nodded vigorously. “I will Mama! I will do all I can to make Merry better.”

“That`s my good lad! Now finish your breakfast and go do your chores and then you can go to Merry.”

“But I want to go now!”

“I know that, dear. But we have a farm to run and the animals need their breakfast too you know.”

“Mama?” Pervinca had listened to the conversation and saw how distraught her brother was. They were all worried about Merry, of course they were, but Pippin looked so sad. “I can do Pippin`s chores this morning. I think he needs to be with Merry.”

Eglantine looked from daughter to son for a moment. When had Pervinca grown up so? She was just a child herself, but she was beginning to act very maturely. “All right. That is very considerate of you, but only for today.”

“Thank you Vinnie!” Pippin gave his sister a hug.