PART NINE: Visitors

In the kitchen Pippin was getting impatient. He`d tried to creep into Merry`s room a couple of times but had quickly been sent out again by his father. “You can`t come back yet Pippin. I`m sorry but I`ll come get you as soon as Miss Daisy says it`s all right.” Defeated Pippin had trudged back to the kitchen. Food usually made him feel better and perhaps a biscuit or two would do the trick now? Pippin reached for the tin and took out a ginger biscuit. Taking a bite, he almost choked. One of his favourite treats tasted like ash and he quickly drank a little water.

Impatiently he looked out of the window. It was past luncheon now, and the healer had been in Merry`s room for several hours. Finally his father came to get him, but Pippin hesitated just outside Merry’s door, suddenly afraid, then squared his shoulders and entered the room, his father behind him. Miss Daisy and his mama were still there. Eglantine sat on the side of the bed, one of Merry`s hands in hers, softly humming a lullaby. The healer had taken one of the chairs over to the bedside table and sat sorting out some herbs.

Pippin padded over to the bed on silent feet and standing beside his mama he looked carefully at Merry. Merry seemed to sleep more peacefully now, but he still looked like Pippin knew he himself looked when he had a fever. Once, when Pippin was very little, he had wondered why people could sometimes tell just by looking that he had a fever and he had climbed out of bed to look at himself in the looking glass. His eyes had looked wet and his cheeks had been bright red. His curls had looked like they did after he had been out in the rain, lying limply against his head. Now Merry looked like that. He turned his gaze to his mother. She looked tired and as if she had been crying and that made Pippin`s stomach knot and the lump in his throat grow.

Suddenly Merry started to mutter and move about again, and with a force Eglantine didn`t think was possible for one so weak and fevered Merry wrenched his hand from hers and in the process almost struck Pippin with it.

“Mama!” Pippin jumped as Merry almost hit him and grabbed his cousin’s flailing hand.

“He`s dreaming, sweetie. He doesn`t know what he is doing.”

Pippin nodded. “Is he having a nightmare?” Pippin had woken up beside Merry when he was having a nightmare once, and then Merry had turned and twisted in bed before waking up. Now he was behaving once again as he had this morning when he had called Pippin`s name over and over.

“Yes, I think so.” Eglantine said.

Merry cried out for Pippin, begging him to please not leave him and Pippin took a firmer hold on Merry`s hand and leaned over. “Don`t worry Mer, I`m here. I won’t leave you, not ever. Please wake up.” But Merry didn`t hear him and that made Pippin more scared. Earlier in the day Merry had at least reacted in some way to Pippin being there and talking to him. Now he just continued to flail about helplessly and moan in his sleep. Tears ran from Merry’s eyes, and Pippin felt tears of his own run down his cheeks. He turned to his mother, frightened. “He doesn`t hear me Mama.”

“I`m sorry, dearest. He`s very sick you know. Sometimes, when you are very sick and dream in your sleep, you don`t hear us when we call you either, but we are always here and I think Merry knows that we are here now too. He just needs to focus all his energy on being well again. And you want him to get well fast, don`t you?”

“Yes.” Pippin nodded eagerly. Oh, but he wanted Merry to be well now! It just hurt so much to watch him struggle so. He understood now why sometimes when he was ill himself, he woke up to find traces of tears on Merry’s face. This was hard, as hard as being ill oneself, even worse in a way because there was so little he could do to help ease his cousin’s suffering. What he really longed to do was take it away completely, even if it meant bearing the suffering himself, and he had no doubt that Merry felt the same way every time Pippin was ill, and he felt his heart swell with this even greater understanding of how much his cousin loved him.

“That`s my brave lad. Come here.” Eglantine lifted Pippin up onto her lap and hugged him tight. “Why don`t you sit here with me and we`ll watch over Merry together?”

Pippin nodded and snuggled into his mama`s lap. He was safe here and mamas always knew best what to do when someone was sick, and Miss Daisy and his da were there. Surely everything would be all right very soon with so many people to help him take care of his Merry.

When they needed to replace the cool cloth that constantly lay on Merry`s brow. Eglantine wrung it out and Pippin reached over from her lap to lovingly put it in place, caressing Merry`s face in the process. Merry slept and dreamed, sometimes quietly, sometimes in distress, and so the day went by. At frequent intervals the healer administered some tonic or tea. Paladin helped when the sheets and Merry`s nightshirt needed changing or when they needed to replace the poultice. Pippin finally fell asleep in his mother`s lap and Eglantine lay him down in his own bed for an hour or two. Waking up, he came back and resumed his vigilance. Tea came and went, but none of the watchers ate much. Paladin went to see to the animals and be with the lasses for a little time. They were equally worried about their cousin and were sad they couldn`t sit by him.  Pervinca had spent much of the afternoon sitting in the doorway of Merry’s room, which was as far as she was allowed, and both Nell and Pearl had joined her when they could. 

Merry seemed to dream of all those he loved for he murmured the names of Pippin, Frodo and his parents over and over, and was even overheard to call for Gandalf on several occasions.

Eglantine thought a little. Frodo and Bilbo could arrive any time now. It was more than 24 hours since she`d sent their letter. It was not that far to Hobbiton, and as the ground was mostly frozen the roads would be good for riding on. If they rode fast, they should be here about supper time. It was not unusual or frowned upon to cross frozen fields if one was in a hurry and rode light, and doing that they would arrive sooner than if they took the roads all the way. In some places there were also paths that went through the woodland and they could cut quite a bit of length off the journey, taking those.

*****

Frodo had been beside himself with worry when the letter from Eglantine arrived. Poor Merry! Frodo didn`t remember having the pox himself, but he had been told he had it when he was very little. Cousin Esmie had said as much once when it went through the Hall and a lot of the children were sick. Trust Merry, though, to not get it when he was the most acceptable age for it, but to wait until now.

“Do not fret Frodo-lad. Our Merry`s going to be right as rain in a little while. Having you there will mean a lot to both him and little Pippin.” Bilbo said. He was worried about Merry too, and kept a steady pace towards Whitwell as they rode.

“I know, but I can`t help worry about him.” Frodo had watched Merry grow up but was as little used to Merry being sick as anyone else. When he`d told Sam about it, he too had worried. Sam and Merry had become fast friends and spent quite a bit of time together when Merry came to stay at Bag End. Merry had started to develop a keen interest in plants and growing things, especially herbs, and both Sam and the Gaffer were knowledgeable about such things and able to answer many of Merry`s numerous questions. On his last birthday Frodo had given Merry an Introduction to Herblore and the lad had devoured the book in a few days. Merry was born to be Master of Buckland, but if he hadn`t been Frodo thought he would make an excellent herb master or even healer. He certainly had the ability for both in him. Then there was the lad`s keen interest for everything to do with animals and ponies especially…

*****

“There`s a letter for us both here.” Saradoc said as he looked through the post. “It`s from Tina.”

Esmeralda sat down beside her husband and together they read the short, but important letter.

“Oh, Merry! We must go at once.” Esmie was devastated by the news. With a mother`s sense, she had wondered if something was amiss for a couple of days. Merry had constantly been in her thoughts and now she had the confirmation she needed.

Saradoc went to tell his father. Concerned, Old Rory wished them a good journey and hoped Merry soon would be back on his feet. He said nothing to his son, but he thought about his Cousin Marulas, his childhood friend. Marulas had been stricken with the pox, at just about Merry’s age, and had lost his sight. Rory knew just how dangerous the pox could be for an older child, and he hoped that their Merry-lad would come through this. He was a strong lad, but still…Well, there was nothing he could do but wait for word from Whitwell. He returned to his work with a heavy heart.

*****

Daisy Took was worried. She hadn`t seen such severe complications to the pox before. The herbs she administered didn`t seem to work effectively and the sick lad was getting worse. He had stopped thrashing about now and lay completely still. Despite the cooling cloths, the fever was still raging and he seemed completely oblivious to his surroundings. He`d not shown any signs of coming awake for many hours, yet he had not slept peacefully, and now his stillness was just as worrying. When they tried to rouse him to give him some broth, he hadn`t responded in the slightest. Had it not been for the stiffness in his neck Daisy would have put him in a tub of cool water hours ago, but she knew that he was in pain and would be even more so if they moved him about. Again she felt his brow. Little Pippin was beside himself with worry and if Merry didn`t get better soon she feared he`d worry himself sick over his cousin.

Mistress Eglantine had gone out for a few moments to get a little fresh air and to help with making supper, leaving her alone with Pippin and his unconscious cousin. Sitting on the bedside she removed Merry`s covers and started to feel along his limbs.

“What are you doing?” Pippin asked, standing beside her now and watching intently as she felt along Merry`s left arm.

“I`m checking to see if any other muscles besides his neck are stiff.”

“How can you tell that?”

“I can feel if his muscles are tight or not. Here,” Daisy placed Pippin`s hands on Merry`s upper arm. “Feel this? If Merry’s muscles were stiff they would feel less soft. Now, very, very gently feel his neck.” Pippin did so. “Do you feel the difference?” Pippin nodded. He could gently press his fingers into Merry`s arm, but he couldn`t press them into Merry`s neck.

It wasn`t often that Daisy let people help her check someone over, but seeing how very gentle and careful Pippin was with Merry, she deemed it safe enough to let him help her check Merry`s arms and legs, and it let Pippin feel that he was helping his cousin. Thankfully the stiffness hadn`t spread and that meant she could administer some strong painkiller before they finally risked a cool bath. Watching Pippin help, Daisy remembered allowing Merry to help her with Pippin once. She had let him listen to Pippin`s lungs and heart when Pippin had had the Winter Sickness and Merry had understood a lot more after he had listened to the sounds in Pippin`s chest. When Pippin was well again and she had checked him over one last time, Merry had asked if he could listen to how it was supposed to sound and she had watched in amusement as he had put his ear to Pippin`s chest, as serious as any apprentice she had ever had.

“Now I can listen for myself if you`re getting better or worse” Merry had said, and then Pippin of course insisted upon checking if Merry`s heart and breathing sounded as they should. Pippin was just as serious and worried now as Merry had been then, and Daisy smiled in encouragement.

“See, Pippin. He`s not getting worse. I am going to prepare some more medicine now. You sit here, and let Merry know you are with him.” She rose and Pippin took her place on the bedside and started to tell Merry a story.

*****

Frodo and Bilbo arrived a little before supper. As soon as he entered the farmhouse, Frodo briefly greeted his cousins and together with Bilbo he hurried to the room where he knew Merry always slept when he visited his Took family. Frodo was not prepared for what he saw, and he was shocked and saddened to find Merry so terribly ill. Pippin didn`t look much better, exhausted as he was. Frodo rushed over and gathered Pippin in a hug. Pippin cried a little, and Frodo did his best to comfort him. When Pippin was spent, aided by the healer he told Frodo what had happened and together they settled down to watch over their Merry. Keeping Pippin in his lap, Frodo reached for one of Merry`s hands. “I`m here, Mer. Please, please be well.”

Bilbo had followed Frodo into Merry`s room and was just as shocked as Frodo to see how the young lad was doing. He went over to the bed and patted Merry`s free hand. He talked a little to the healer and then went out to the kitchen. Frodo would need some food in him if he was to sit there all night, and knowing him, Bilbo knew that there was no other place Frodo would want to be now.

Bilbo ate supper with Paladin, Eglantine and the lasses and together with Paladin he brought trays for Frodo, Pippin and Miss Daisy. When they had eaten, Paladin sent Nell, Vinnie and Pippin to do the evening chores in the barn; Pippin needed a break from his vigil and wouldn`t take one voluntarily. Daisy needed help and Paladin, Bilbo and Frodo listened to what she had to say. The painkiller should be working by then and if they were very careful they could try giving him a cool bath. Paladin made the bath ready and very gently and carefully lifted Merry and carried him there. Frodo and Daisy went with him while Bilbo changed the sheets once more.

As slowly and gently as they could uncle, cousin and healer put Merry down in the cool water, holding him still as his body protested weakly, still unconscious. Frodo held Merry tight, murmuring reassurances as the water did its work on the feverish body. Merry barely stirred.

“All right, take him out now.” Daisy said. Merry had been submerged in the water for ten minutes and his skin felt cooler to the touch. He hadn`t woken up though, something the healer found disturbing. She felt his neck and shoulders, and could feel a slight lessening of the tight muscles. She held out a large towel and as Paladin and Frodo lifted her patient out she wrapped it around him.