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The Road to Edoras  by Dreamflower

CHAPTER 37

The next morning as the hobbits were preparing a breakfast--it was Freddy and Jolly’s turn to cook--they noticed a rider they had not seen before come into the camp and speak to Yric. Yric summoned Éothain and Targon to listen to the rider’s words, and then Éothain called out:

“Master Fredegar! A word with you please?”

Curious, Freddy left Jolly to see to the sausages and griddlecakes, and went over to see what they wanted.

Éothain said “This rider has just come from Orthanc. It seems as if somehow word of your presence has come to the Ents--the Tree-shepherds. It seems that Treebeard himself would like to see you. He will be arriving in only a very short while. He thought it well that you had some warning of his coming.”

Freddy gazed wide-eyed back at Éothain. “An Ent? One of the tree-people who gave Merry and Pippin the draught that made them grow?”

“Yes, Master Fredegar. They are an amazing sight.”

“How did he know we were here?”

“We have probably been observed from the time we approached near to the Fords. From a distance, we would never know an Ent from another tree.”

Freddy went back to the cookfire, to help Jolly finish making breakfast, and as the hobbits ate, he gave them the news. There was a good deal of excitement and trepidation among them.

The meal had been consumed, and Bergil had only just finished clearing up after, when there came an expectant silence at the sound of a distant rumble.

Poppy gazed at the sight that met her eyes. So *that* was an Ent! Amazing, in spite of the description she had from Peregrin Took, they looked nothing like she had imagined.

Striding with great long steps, that seemed to move *through* the very earth came a great being. It seemed to be singing or humming to itself--they could hear its deep voice--”Hoom! Hmm!” It was huge: fourteen feet tall at the very least. And while from a very great distance it might have passed as a tree, seen as it drew closer, it was clearly nothing of the sort. And its eyes were intelligent and penetrating--brown, shot with a green light, and as full of ancient wisdom as Elves’ eyes.

He stopped at the edge of the campsite, and all, Men and hobbits alike, gazed up at him in respectful awe. “Hoom! Hmm! Hungry as hunters, the Hobbit children, the laughing folk, the little people!" He turned his gaze upon them, and the deep eyes seemed filled with both amusement and fond respect. “I was most pleased to hear I would have a chance to see some of the kinfolk of my small friends, Merry and Pippin!”

Freddy stepped forward, prepared to introduce his party to this ancient being when they were suddenly stopped by a strangled cry from the direction of the tents.

“Help!”

Turning, they saw that Clodio had apparently fallen in a swoon. It was Cado who had called out. Poppy and Viola immediately ran to the older hobbit’s side.

He was already beginning to recover from his faint, but he was pale and clammy. Poppy reached for his wrist, to take his pulse. She bit her lip, and then took off her pendulum. She held it over him, and after a brief moment of studying its patterns, she turned to Viola. “Viola--bring me the tincture of foxglove. Also a small amount of willow-bark powder…”

Cado sat looking worried. “What is wrong with my father?”

Poppy looked at him as though she would prefer not to answer, but she did not hesitate to say, “It is possible he’s had a small seizure of the heart. It does not appear to have been a serious one, but we should dose him, and he should rest for a few hours.”

She looked at her patient. “Do you have any pain?”

He shook his head, and answered in a whisper. “No, only as though I couldn’t breathe. I felt as though a great weight was upon me. That-that creature--what is that monster?” His breath caught in his throat.

Éothain and Targon stood over them. “That is no monster. He is an Ent, the chief of the Ents of Fangorn, and a good friend to the free peoples of the world,” said Éothain.

Clodio gazed in the Ent’s direction, and giving a little moan, averted his gaze. Poppy nodded to Éothain, who picked Clodio up, and carried him back into the tent. Viola came rushing back with the items her mistress had sent her for, and the two healers went into the tent to attend their patient. Cado, with a fearful glance at some of the Men, turned and followed. Dago and Clovis stared apprehensively, but made no move.

Freddy looked up at Treebeard, who had been watching all this with an unfathomable expression in his dark eyes. “I am sorry,” said the hobbit, “for this interruption.” But his own gaze was worried as he too glanced over at the tent.

The Ent blinked slowly. “Hoom-hum,” he said. “I think it is I who should apologize. It seems to me as though he was stricken by my appearance.”

Freddy could not deny this. “Perhaps,” he replied. “But I do not think he had any need for fear.” He cast one more glance at the tent, and then shook his head. Mistress Poppy was a good healer, and whatever was wrong with the elder Banks, he was certain she could handle it. He cast his gaze up at Treebeard once more. “I was charged with messages to you, should I encounter you on this journey--messages of greetings from my cousins Pippin and Merry.”

“Indeed! Har-room!” The Ent made a rumbling noise which Freddy realized must be laughter. “And what do my small friends have to say for themselves?”

Freddy delivered Merry’s and Pippin’s greetings, and soon was cautiously joined by the other hobbits of the delegation. Mosco, Rolly and Denny rather kept in the background, but Beri and Jolly were not so cautious, once they had noted the being’s friendliness towards Freddy.

They had been listening in some fascination for a while to Treebeard’s slow sonorous words, as he told of his encounter in Fangorn with the two hobbits--his first inkling that such creatures existed in the world. It was the first that Mosco, Rolly and Denny had heard about it, save in passing reference, and they slowly approached closer and closer as the Ent spoke. Freddy and Beri had heard about it from Merry, of course, and Jolly had heard some of it from Sam, but not in the sort of detail as they heard now. It was an eye-opener for all of them, to hear of this first encounter between Ent-kind and hobbit-kind.

Still, as amazing as it was to speak to this creature, immeasurably old and wise, Freddy could not help but cast glances from time to time at the tent, and wonder what was unfolding there. He hoped that the prisoner was not so ill as to cause them another major delay--not when they were so close to their destination.

However, soon he saw Mistress Poppy come out of the tent and approach them.

“How is he?” asked Freddy.

She sighed. “I thought at first it was a seizure of the heart, but now I think it was somewhat less than that--his heart has been strained, however, by all that has happened. It is gradually failing him. However, with caution, he should be all right. I do not anticipate more than a day‘s delay.” She looked up at the Ent with a bright and curious eye. “Fredegar, I do not believe you have yet had a chance to introduce me to this remarkable person.”

Freddy shook his head in both relief and amusement. “Treebeard, this is Mistress Poppy Burrows, a healer of the Shire. Mistress Poppy, this is Treebeard, the Master of Fangorn Forest, and a friend of Merry and Pippin.”

She looked up at him astutely. “I am *very* pleased to meet you. I have a number of questions for you.”

The Ent rumbled deep in his chest, and replied “I am pleased also to meet you, harroom! I will be glad to answer any questions that I am able to answer, though the answers may be very long and tiring to listen to.”

“I do not think so.” She squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. “I’d like to talk to you about a certain draught that you gave to our lads when they met you.”

Freddy looked shocked, and Mosco hissed “Aunt Poppy!” but she ignored them.

There was a long silence, and then it seemed that Treebeard bent ever so slightly. “I shall be glad to tell you what I can, though the answer may not be what you wish to hear.” He looked at the other hobbits. “May I speak with her alone?”

Freddy swallowed and nodded. He hoped the being would not be offended by the blunt little healer’s prying; yet he could not blame her for asking--to learn about this sort of thing was exactly why Poppy Burrows had made this journey, after all. He gestured to the others and they walked away, though Mosco seemed a bit reluctant.

When the other hobbits were out of earshot, Poppy repeated her question, adding “Pippin told me that their remarkable growth and their quickness in healing after their injuries was due to the draught you gave them. Could it not be beneficial to others?”

“Hoom-hararum! Little Mistress, it is true that my draughts had a great effect upon Merry and Pippin, but I must tell you that it was exceptional. Our draughts were never meant for beings such as yourselves, and I did not realize what would happen. Yet there was more to it than just the Ent-draughts. Our small friends had also been eating of the waybread of the Elves, lembas, and they had bathed directly in the waters of the Ent-wash as well. Furthermore, the draught of which they partook was of a special vintage no longer possible, for it was brewed long ago. I am sorry to dash your hopes.”

She sighed. “I was afraid of something like that. Still, I had to know.”

“Merry and Pippin had tasks to fulfill. There was more than chance that led them to me in Fangorn, and more than chance that brought together all the circumstances that made the Ent-draught so effective for them.”

“So, then, I don’t suppose that a bit of your draught would cure my patient after all.”

Again there was a deep rumble, and Treebeard said “While Ent-draught would no doubt be beneficial to him, it would not completely cure him. And I am afraid I have none with me--it is deep within the forest at my home in Wellinghall-- many days journey for your people.”

There was a brief silence, and then the little healer nodded. “I do understand, but it would be nice--”

“It would,” replied the Ent. “And yet if it were so, we would be beset by mortals seeking to alleviate all their ills with our draughts, so that we’d not even have time to see to their brewing, and the trees would suffer from the hordes who would make their way into the forest.”

“I thank you for being so honest with me, Master Treebeard,” she said sadly.

_____________________________________________

Cado sat by his father, worried. Mistress Poppy and Miss Viola had said that it was not so serious as it had first seemed, still what they had to say was disturbing. His father had not had a seizure of the heart, yet his heart was failing none the less. The healer had told Clodio to worry less, to not allow himself to get agitated or distressed. And how, pray tell, was his father to do that in such circumstances as these? They faced an uncertain future in a world peopled by stranger creatures than he could begin to imagine--like that tree-like giant outside. Cado shuddered at the thought.

Clodio was sleeping now, after the draught that Mistress Poppy had given him. But Cado could not help but wonder at what she had said--that they’d be able to travel on the morrow.

He glanced across the tent, where Dago and Clovis sat. Clovis was avoiding meeting his brother’s eyes. That was another thing that had distressed his father: the way Clovis seemed to have turned his back on his father and brother, and had taken up with the Bracegirdle.

What was going to happen to them? The question loomed larger and larger, the closer they came to the destination of Edoras. Now they were only about five or six days from there, from what he had overheard the captains saying to Freddy Bolger and Berilac Brandybuck.

Cado shuddered again. He felt as though he had a lump of lead in his stomach, that was just getting heavier and heavier.

___________________________________________________

After Treebeard had taken his leave, Éothain and Targon spoke to Mistress Poppy.

“Are you certain that he will be able to travel tomorrow?” asked Éothain.

“Yes, he should be able to do so. We may have to stop and rest more often than usual, but I don’t think we will have any other problems.”

“Well,” said Targon, “I had hoped to be on our way today. Still, if it is as you say, we should not be long delayed.”

Mistress Poppy nodded. “I do think that it is as well for him that we reach our destination. I think that an end to journeying for a while will be beneficial to him.”

_____________________________________________

Freddy had been thinking it over for a while. In the Shire, the custom of pretending banished people did not exist any longer was not very difficult to follow. One simply did not speak of them, or, if circumstances made it necessary, one did not refer to them by name.

But travelling with these four had been difficult, and ignoring them did not help matters. The elder Banks might not have collapsed if he’d had some idea ahead of time what sort of creature he might see. And if they had been speaking to the prisoners from time to time, perhaps Bracegirdle and Clovis would not have tried to escape--although he doubted that. He’d spoken to Clodio and Cado then. He could not, in justice, do less than that now.

Clodio had been resting fitfully through the day under the influence of Mistress Poppy’s draughts, but he was more awake now, as he sipped the broth which Viola had brought to him. She took his pulse, and dangled her pendulum over him, and with a nod to Freddy went off to report to her mistress. Cado still remained by his father’s side, but when Freddy approached, he stood up and moved away slightly. Freddy sat down by Clodio’s pallet.

The elder Banks looked at him in surprise. Freddy gave him a nod.

“Are you feeling any better?” he asked, in as neutral a voice as he could manage.

Clodio nodded warily, but did not speak. He knew that the protocol was being broken here, but he did not wish for Freddy to leave without saying whatever it was he’d come to say.

“Perhaps we should have told you what to expect this morning. I apologize that no one thought to do so. The creature that you saw here this morning was no dreadful monster, but was a friend to Merry and Pippin when they were caught up here in a dreadful war. He took care of them for a while, and was of help in defeating the evil wizard Saruman. Saruman, as you may or may not know, was Sharkey’s real name.”

“I--I’d overheard a little of that. But I didn’t really believe it could have happened that way…” Clodio’s reply was barely a whisper.

“Well, now you know that the truth is even stranger than you could have imagined.” Freddy stood up, and before he left the tent, turned and spoke to Cado. “You and your father should get plenty of rest tonight. We will be on the road again in the morning. If it looks likely that we are going to encounter anything else out of the way, I will see that you are informed ahead of time.” He nodded once more, a bit curtly, and left.

“He spoke to us, father,” said Cado, as he stared at the tent’s flap.

“I know.” Clodio’s voice was puzzled and disturbed.





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