PART FIVE: Tonic and tea

“I think that we should send for the healer.” Eglantine said as she sat down with Paladin in the study. “I don`t like this and Merry`s so much worse than Pippin was. And then there is the fever. Pippin didn`t have fever.”

“How is he?” Paladin had been out and about the farm all day, as animals couldn’t be left to fend for themselves.

“I don`t know. I thought he seemed a little better after first breakfast, well at least not worse, but then he threw up and he`s still so hot and sleeping all the time. I know we`ve handled about every childhood illness there is in this smial and with Pippin ill so often as he is, I really shouldn`t be in doubt, but –“

“But this is about Meriadoc and he`s always well and happy, isn`t he?”

“Yes.” Eglantine sighed. “I have heard that if an older child gets the pox then one must be aware of complications, but I don`t know what to look for.”

“I`m not sure either.” Paladin sat back in his chair, looking into the fire. He`d had the pox as a child and so had Esmie. They had been mad with itching and resorted to scratching each other`s backs in desperation, but they hadn’t been much worse off than Pippin had been last year. But there was a cousin, he remembered, only a few years older than Paladin who`d somehow got the Winter Sickness from having the pox. Maybe Eglantine was right, maybe they should send for the healer.

“I think you might be right, dear. It`s no use to sit here and wonder when our lad is suffering so and we don’t know exactly what to do to make him well. I`ll ride down to Tuckborough right now.”

*****

Paladin was glad it didn`t take too long to ride to Tuckborough and to his relief the healer was at home.

“Now then, let`s take a look at this lad of yours,” Daisy Took said as she and Paladin entered the little farmhouse just after Eglantine had given the children their supper. Merry hadn’t felt able to eat again, and that was very worrying, and Pippin had barely pecked at his own food, which was understandable. Eglantine followed her husband and the healer into Merry’s bedroom and entering they found Pippin sitting remarkably quiet in the bedside chair, reading his book, and Merry again fast asleep.

“You may wake Merry now, Pippin.” Eglantine said. “The healer is here, and I think she wants Merry to be awake when she looks at him.”

“Yes, that would be best. Go ahead Pippin dear.”

Pippin scrambled off the chair and very gently stroked Merry`s cheek, softly urging his cousin into wakefulness. He didn`t like the healer being here though. He knew her of course, as she had been to look at him several times, and she was very nice, but he didn’t like the idea of his Merry needing a healer at all.

“Mer?”

“Hm…?” Merry`s voice was slurred with sleep.

“You need to wake up now. The healer`s here.”

“What? The healer?” Merry struggled to come awake and rolled over to lie on his back.

“Yes, sweetie. We were worried about you so we thought it was best.” Eglantine said. “Just lie still and rest.”

To Merry`s great relief the examination was over quickly and he was glad he didn`t have to move about much, weary and aching as he still was.

The healer recognised Merry at once as the cousin that often sat by Pippin`s bedside when he was ill. She remembered him as a bright-spirited, cheerful lad that had Pippin`s best in mind and who was clearly devoted to his little cousin. She had shooed him out of Pippin`s sick room on more than one occasion, but never been called in because he was ill. She was worried though, when Paladin came and told her his lad was ill. She`d seen to Pippin when he had his nasty cold recently and thought he had got a relapse but understood when Paladin had explained it was his other lad that had fallen ill.

Merry had looked quite groggy when he finally came awake. He was covered in red spots and the fever was high but not frighteningly so. Fever was a normal complication to the pox when older children got it, but nothing else seemed to be out of the ordinary.

“I don`t see any signs of complications at the present time,” Daisy Took said to Paladin and Eglantine after she was finished and they sat in the kitchen.

“Thank you! I was worried about that. What should we look for? Is there anything that we can do to help him get better?” Eglantine said, pouring out tea and putting a plate of fresh biscuits on the table.

“Keep him on liquids and if the fever rises again come get me. Other than that I don`t think there`s much to worry about now. If he is too itchy and he`s up to it, let him have a bath, with a cup or two of finely ground oatmeal in the water, or baking soda. That sometimes has a soothing affect on the itching. Also, you need to trim his nails and make him wear soft gloves when he sleeps so that he won`t wound himself. If a rash is scratched too much it can cause infections in the blood that are very serious.”

“What about the weariness? Merry`s usually very energetic and has never been one to sleep much.” Paladin asked.

“I think that mainly is because of the fever, but if the fever goes and he still sleeps too much, send for me. Also be aware of any stiffness in his limbs, especially his neck. That can be a sign of serious complications, and you should send for me at once.”

“Thank you. I`m sorry, I am afraid it must seem that we are overreacting for us to call you in for just a simple case of the pox, but Merry is never ill and that made us worry even more.”

“That is all right, Mistress, it’s always better to be safe. He seems to be a strong and healthy lad and he`ll probably be over this in no time. The rash might last as long as a fortnight though.”

“What about our lasses? All but Vinnie is older than Merry. Is it not risky for them to be around him? Pippin has already had this, but none of the lasses.”

“I should not fear overmuch, but it would probably be for the best if they tried to avoid touching Merry too much as this really is a skin disease. Although it may already be too late for that. We shall just have to see. “

“We`ll be careful with them then. Thank you for your time, Miss Took.” Eglantine said.

As Paladin escorted the healer back to Tuckborough, Eglantine went back to the bedroom to see to her lads.

*****

Pippin had watched the examination with a certain amount of fear. Was Merry that ill? The healer was almost always called in when he was sick himself, and she had been to see him when he`d been sick just recently. And almost every time she came he was given some foul medicine. She`d even left some for Merry that Pippin had watched his cousin choke down. He didn`t want Merry to have to take that awful stuff, but it was good to see that he wasn`t always the only one subjected to such treatment. He`d hugged Merry afterwards and said he was strong and brave, but Merry had only smiled and wearily laid back, sipping a little water to take the taste away. And suddenly Pippin missed Merry`s laughter. A day never went by without Merry laughing, but today he hadn`t laughed at all, only smiled the littlest bit.

Mama had come back and trimmed Merry’s fingernails, and had him put on her second best pair of nice, soft, kid gloves that she wore when she went visiting. She refilled the water pitcher, and then left to tuck the lasses in. Now Merry was sleeping again. Pippin didn`t think the medicine made Merry sleepy, as he certainly had been managing to do that very well on his own, and his mama, and da and the healer had all reassured him that it was not a bad thing that Merry slept so much now as he had a fever. Pippin sighed. Maybe Merry would be better tomorrow?

Silently, so as to not wake Merry, he climbed down from his chair. He went over to the bed and very, very carefully put his hand to Merry`s face, stroking his hot cheek. He looked at the closed eyes that when open could turn the most interesting shades of blue. Blue like Frodo`s eyes, yet different. Today they had been dull and glazed, like a clouded sky. But when Merry laughed they were the most sparkling blue he`d ever seen. Not even Frodo`s eyes turned that shade of blue when he laughed.

In his sleep Merry turned toward the soft touch and a whispered “Pip?” escaped his lips.

“Sssh Merry. Sleep and get well. I`ll be here.” Merry grunted and settled into a deeper sleep, turning his head so that Pippin’s hand was unexpectedly trapped between Merry’s cheek and the pillows. Pippin was at a loss. He tried very carefully to slide his hand away, but froze when Merry made a disgruntled moan in his sleep.

And so he stood there with one hand trapped. He adjusted Merry`s blankets a little with his free hand, but if he was not to wake Merry he couldn`t move the hand Merry slept on unless Merry himself moved. Not being able to do anything else, Pippin`s stomach suddenly informed him that he was hungry! He had barely thought about food this day, and now, standing here stuck, he suddenly was hungry. He almost felt a little ashamed for thinking about food while Merry was ill, but he really couldn`t help it. He was a growing hobbit!

And it was like that, nearly a quarter hour later, Eglantine found them. “Pippin? What are you doing?”

“I`m trapped. And I`m hungry.”

Eglantine stifled a laugh, and extricated her son without disturbing her slumbering nephew. Then she felt Merry`s brow and wrung out a cloth in cold water before washing his face and neck. She wrung it out anew and placed on his brow. Merry shifted a little, and blinked up at her. She smiled at him gently.

“Sssh. Just sleep my love.” Eglantine adjusted the pillows a little and as Merry settled back to sleep she stroked his hair, gently untangling some of the curls.

Stirring up the fire and seeing to that everything was set for the night, Eglantine sat down in the bedside chair, taking Pippin in her lap.

“What are you thinking about, Pippin-lad?” Eglantine had noticed how her little energy-bundle of a lad had suddenly grown into this quiet child. That he would not leave his Merry for all in the world did not surprise her, but his care and tending of his older cousin, Pippin’s behaviour so quiet and considerate, was an eye-opener. She knew they were devoted to each other, and had seen Merry behave similarly towards Pippin, but seeing it the other way around was new to her, and she was proud of her son.

For a few moments Pippin didn`t answer. After looking at Merry for a moment he said. “When will he be well Mama?”

“Well… I think that as soon as the fever is gone he will be much, much better and also able to get out of bed. I think that he will be a little tired for some days but then he will only have the rash to worry about and it won`t be too long before that is gone either.”

“Promise, Mama?”

“Pippin…. I promise that we will take as good care of our Merry as it is possible, and I hope that he will be well soon. I can`t promise that he`ll be well by tomorrow, but we can hope that it will be so.”

“That is all right then.” Pippin knew from hard-earned experience that he didn’t always get well when he wanted to and sometimes wasn’t when he thought he was well again.

They sat like that for a little while longer, but soon Pippin`s stomach grumbled again and Eglantine laughed softly. “Let`s find you a bedtime snack, shall we? And then it`s bed for you, young master. I’ll stay with our Merry-lad this night.”