PART FOUR: A fish story

“I assume it`s to be fish for supper too?” Pippin said as he jumped out of the boat, his pack and bedroll in hand.

“Yes,“ Aragorn laughed. “It`s a bit difficult to hunt from a moving boat even for a Ranger, and it`s too dark to set out now. Perhaps our skilful fisher-hobbits will take pity on us?”

“Well, Merry,” Frodo said. “It looks like it is up to us to feed this Company once more! It appears we have to go fishing again. There is plenty of starlight, even if there is almost no moon, so we ought to catch something.”

Frodo picked up two straight sticks from the wood Sam and Gimli had already gathered and handed one to Merry and again they made spears. They waded into the river and started to look around for the glint of starlight on silvery, slim bodies that would pass before them in an instant and disappear down the river if they weren`t fast enough.

A flash of silver caught the corner of his eye and Merry whirled around as fast and silently as he could and thrust his spear down. He lifted the spear with the fish, and was disappointed to see how small it was. Frodo caught his eye and shrugged, Merry understanding him perfectly. It was a start. Merry took the fish off his spear, tossed it to the bank, and began searching the water again. A few minutes later, eight more small fish lay on the bank with the first one.

“That should be enough, don`t you think?” Merry said, wading back to shore with the last one he had caught.

“Yes,” Frodo said and thrust down with his spear one last time. This one seemed to be a lot larger than the others. “Merry!” He turned to his cousin. “It`s a big one! Lend a hand, would you?”

Merry put down his own spear by the fish and ran back in and reached under the water, taking hold of Frodo`s spear and forcing it deeper into the struggling fish. It was a big one. He could feel the slick surface of it under his hands and when it stilled, he reached around it with both hands and lifted it up. Frodo let go of his spear and reached to help. The fish had not been killed however, and it began struggling violently around in their grasp. Frodo had hold of the head and with a swift movement the fish slid lower in Merry`s grasp and bit down on Frodo`s palm just as Merry managed to grab it again. Frodo yelped and within seconds the whole Fellowship – minus Gimli who was guarding the camp – was down on the shore, Aragorn and Legolas running into the water. Boromir stayed Pippin and Sam with a hand on each shoulder as both hobbits set out after the others, Sam forgetting in his haste to reach his master that he couldn`t swim.

In the water the fish was still fighting, thrashing with such force that both Frodo and Merry lost their balance, the fish now in Frodo`s arms. They both went under and when the hobbits surfaced Aragorn was there and lifted both a spluttering Frodo and the belligerent fish out of the water. An instant later, arms reached around Merry`s waist and Legolas helped him to his feet, standing aside as Merry shook his head and water flew from his drenched curls. Aragorn took the fish from Frodo and slammed it against a rock with such force that the head almost was dislocated.

Everything happened so fast that no one saw that Frodo wavered on his feet before he made it to shore and sat down, shocked by the violence and by the stabbing pain in his hand.

“Are you both all right?” Aragorn asked, laying a steadying hand on Frodo`s shoulder as the hobbit stood up again. The Ranger looked him over critically before turning his gaze to Merry who was making his own way to shore. Both hobbits were dripping wet.

“Yes, I`m quite all right,” Frodo said as Sam draped a blanket over his shoulders.

“I`m fine. Just very, very wet,” Merry declared accepting a blanket from a hovering Pippin. But had he heard a quaver in Frodo‘s voice? He resolved to have a quiet word with his cousin later as Aragorn offered them both a supporting hand and began steering them towards the fire.

“Good. Let`s get back to camp. Both of you should change into dry clothes immediately. It`s late and it`s getting colder. Sam, can you and Legolas get more firewood? We shall need it tonight.”

Back near the fire Pippin looked from one cousin to the other and sat down on the warm nest of blankets that was the hobbits` bed while his cousins changed into dry clothes and hung the wet ones to dry on low branches. Frodo favoured his right hand, and when he single-handed buttoned his jacket both Merry and Pippin looked at him sternly.

“Frodo? What`s wrong with your hand?” Pippin rose and went to his cousin.

“Did you hurt yourself?” Merry was beside them in a heartbeat, buttoning his shirt as he spoke. “Frodo?” Merry took Frodo`s hand between his own and turned it with the palm up, peering at it in the firelight. “It`s a bite. That fish actually bit you. I think Strider should take a look at it, don’t you?”

“No, no. I`m fine. It`s just a little bite, it doesn`t even hurt that much any more,” Frodo lied, wincing when Merry turned the hand to better see.

“No? Then why couldn`t you use it when you buttoned your jacket? Have Strider look at it,” Merry said, letting go of the hand.

“All right,” Frodo lied. He had no such plans and could only hope Merry and Pippin would forget about it.

The three cousins went over to the fireside where the rest of the Fellowship had gathered. To show his cousins that nothing was wrong, Frodo went to Sam and helped him cut some of the greens he had been gathering before the adventure with the fish. He couldn`t hold the knife properly though, and it slipped out of his hand, landing with a loud clink on the stone. Frodo muttered something under his breath and tried to hide his hand from Sam`s view.

“Mr. Frodo?”

“It`s nothing, Sam. It just slipped right out of my hand.” Frodo took up the knife again and started cutting.

“Begging your pardon, but that’s not what I saw. I think Strider should have a look at it,” Sam said and took the knife from Frodo.

“I should have a look at what?” Aragorn had been piling up firewood just by where Sam and Frodo sat, and heard the exchange. He knelt down beside Frodo in concern.

“It`s nothing,” Frodo said, trying to hide his hand.

“Let me be the judge of that,” Aragorn said. “Now, let me see that hand.”

Reluctantly Frodo held out his hand for Aragorn to see. On the other side of the fire, Merry noticed and moved over to them, standing close behind Frodo and Aragorn. Pippin joined them and stood beside Merry, both of them watching anxiously as Aragorn examined Frodo’s injury. On the palm of his hand there were several red marks. They had stopped bleeding but it was clearly a bite mark.

“The wound is shallow,” Strider said after scrutinizing it. “Can you flex your fingers?” Frodo wriggled his fingers a little and tried to curl his hand into a fist but only managed to slightly bend his fingers. Aragorn scowled. “Do you feel any numbness around the wound?” At Frodo’s grudging nod, Aragorn spent a few moments manipulating Frodo’s fingers and then seemed to come to a decision. “I think that perhaps that fish had the power in its bite to paralyse its food for a time, prey much smaller than you, to stop it struggling. Such ability is not unknown. It should wear off soon given your size, but I cannot say exactly when, not being familiar with the creature. I shall bathe it well, and I`ll wrap a poultice around it in case there is any chance of infection but it looks clean, so I do not fear that.”

A little while later, Frodo`s hand was wrapped in an herbal mixture that Aragorn had instructed Sam on how to make. Usually Merry tried to pay close attention when Aragorn talked about herbs or instructed someone in their use, but he was finding it difficult to concentrate. He must be very tired, he thought, to be so distracted.

“Tell me if you feel any changes or if you start feeling unwell,” Aragorn told Frodo. “I`ll look at it again tomorrow morning.” Now Aragorn turned to look sharply at Merry who was still standing behind Frodo. “How about you? You battled that fish too.”

“Yes, but it didn`t bite me,” Merry said.

“Let me see your hands,” Aragorn demanded.

“Really Strider, I am fine,” Merry insisted.

“Merry!” Pippin attached himself to Merry`s side and Frodo stood up, facing them. Aragorn held his ground. Knowing that he was outnumbered, Merry sighed and held out his hands.

Aragorn turned Merry`s small hands over in his own large ones. At first he couldn`t see anything but by turning Merry’s hands to a slightly different angle he saw that there was a faint scratch along Merry’s palm that looked like it could have come from the point of a sharp tooth scraping across it.

“How did you get this?”

Surprised, Merry looked closer. He hadn`t noticed the scrape. “I don`t know. I haven`t seen it before.”

Gently Aragorn felt the scrape with his own fingers.

“It`s nothing,” Merry said, wincing slightly at the touch. It was a little sore. He didn`t see the need for Aragorn to be concerned about a little scratch though. They all got them from time to time and both he and Aragorn had other things to be concerned about.

“That may be, but I think you got this from the fish. Does it hurt?”

“No.”

“Merry!” Frodo had seen Merry`s little wince and knew he wasn`t telling the truth. “Don`t lie.”

“All right,” Merry said, defeated. “It is a little sore.”

“And numb?”

Merry flexed his fingers, and was surprised that his hand was numb, just a bit.

Aragorn nodded. “I thought so. I’ll put a poultice on that too, and look at it again in the daylight.”

When Aragorn had finished, Merry looked around. “Where are the fish?” Merry asked.

“Mr. Boromir went down to clean them,” Sam said.

Merry went down to where Boromir knelt on the bank, cleaning the catch. The man had gutted five of the fish, three bream and two chub, and was working on another chub, but three more bream and the strange fish that had fought them were still untouched. “Boromir? Do you know what kind of fish this is?” Merry asked, pointing to the strange one. It was pretty to look at - the skin multicoloured and it had large fan-shaped fins and a wide mouth. Merry could see the sharp teeth, and couldn’t help but think that he and Frodo had come off lightly.

“No,” Boromir said. “I`ve never seen anything like it before.”

“It might seem like well deserved revenge, but I don`t think I would like to eat a fish that bit my cousins,” Pippin said, coming up to stand beside Merry.

“That is understandable,” Boromir said. The whole Fellowship was now gathered around to have a closer look at the odd fish.

“I say we stay away from fish from now on,” Gimli said, not much liking the look of the thing.

“I`m not sure we have the luxury of that,” Legolas commented.

“Maybe not,” Aragorn replied. “But I think we will stay away from that particular fish. We will have enough for our supper without it. It will be safer so, as we do not know its kind.“ 

Uneasiness had come over the whole Company now that they had all had a closer look at the vicious fish and they were rather subdued as they ate their supper. Frodo didn`t eat much at all. His hand was beginning to really hurt and he felt faint. Merry sat beside him, looking searchingly at him from time to time, feeling uncomfortable and a bit sick himself. Was nothing safe? Could they not even have a meal in peace? He had learned many things during the Quest and one of the most important ones were that things that looked safe quite possibly were not and that some of the birds and beasts they saw could be harmful and slaves of the Enemy. Was this fighting fish a device of the Enemy, or was it just a natural predator of the River? Merry didn’t want to ask the question in Frodo’s hearing. He looked at Frodo again. It wasn’t surprising that he wasn’t eating much, he seldom had a good appetite anymore, but Merry thought that Frodo had paled and that he was sweating a little. He leaned closer, but as he was about to ask his cousin if he was all right, Merry yawned hugely and quite unexpectedly and to everyone’s joy Frodo laughed.

“Looks like someone is tired,” Pippin said, elbowing Merry but shooting a concerned glance at Frodo. He had seen Frodo go pale too.

“Yes, and to bed we should all go,” Aragorn said. “We will start early tomorrow, so three watches should suffice. Pippin will take the first, Legolas the next and Sam the last.”

*****

“Are you feeling all right?” Merry whispered as he and Frodo snuggled down in their blankets. “Do you want to talk?” He put a hand on Frodo`s shoulder, squeezing gently. “You`ve been so quiet today.”

Frodo turned to lie on his side, and looked at Merry. “Why did you lie about your hand hurting you?”

“What?” Merry shook his head. Was Frodo angry?

“Don`t ‘what’ me. Did you think that not telling that your hand hurt you was going to help me?” Frodo looked at him sternly. “Merry. You know that any little scrape or injury can cause infection if it`s not looked after properly.”

“You’re a fine one to talk. Are you any better? You weren’t intending to tell Strider at all, and you actually tried to hide your injury from Sam, and you know he sees everything Frodo. He knows you perhaps better than I do,” Merry said, looking over Frodo`s shoulder at the slumbering Sam.

“All right,” Frodo said, smiling a little. “I guess I deserved that.” Frodo turned even more now, looking his younger cousin in the eye, his smile gone. “Merry,” he whispered. “I`m so scared. Is nothing safe? I should not have allowed you to come at all, or sent you home earlier, or made you stay in Lothlòrien until the elves could escort you back to Rivendell.” Frodo shook his head.

Merry felt tears gather in his eyes as Frodo spoke. Merry was scared too, but he couldn`t tell Frodo that. And if he was scared, how much more scared was Frodo? Oh, how he wished he could take the Ring away from Frodo and bear his burden, and make his cousin happy and carefree and safe once more! But there was nothing he could do. Frodo had to go through with this and Merry would help him in any way that he could. He would not leave his side. “I know you are scared my dear. And that you are scared for Pippin and me, and Sam too. But you know that would not have worked, don`t you, that we would not have stayed? And they told us before we left the Golden Wood that the borders there aren`t necessarily safe any more. We wouldn`t have been safe there either. We`ve been over this before, Frodo dear, and you know we would only have followed after you anyway if you had tried to leave us in the Shire, or in Rivendell, or any other place along the way.”

“I know Merry, and I really am glad you came along, though I do feel guilty for wanting you with me. If I`m not safe then you and Pippin and Sam aren`t either. I don`t want any harm to come to you or to lead you into peril,” Frodo said.

“Frodo! Pippin and Sam and I walked right into this of our own initiative, with our eyes wide open. We chose to come with you, remember?”

“Yes Merry, I do. I remember that. You all got the best of me that night at Crickhollow. I didn`t know how to tell you that I was leaving you all and then you unmasked your conspiracy! I still marvel at how you all managed to keep from me that you knew I was going away for all that time.”

“Well,” Merry laughed. “We know you very well, you know. And we had our chief conspirator in Sam. He could tell us exactly what you were doing and alerted us when you started pouring over Bilbo`s old maps.” Suddenly Merry felt a pang of homesickness and he wondered how much hold of Frodo the Ring had got. “You do remember the Shire, Frodo?” He asked, tentatively.

“Yes of course I do. What makes you say that?” Frodo said, surprised.

Merry thought a little. He could see the Ring taking hold of Frodo`s soul and being, but he didn`t know to what extent it did so, and Frodo had never talked much about it. “I`m worried about you, is all.” He tried to smile despite the seriousness of their conversation. Then he yawned again.

“We should sleep,” Frodo said mirroring Merry`s yawn. “I suppose it`s no use telling you to stop worrying, but you could try to worry a little less Merry.”

“All right. I shall try. And you need to stop hiding what hurts you. We love you and we care about you and are here for you. Come to us.” Merry said, looking his cousin earnestly in the face. “Does your hand hurt now?”

A moment passed before Frodo answered. “Yes it does. And yours?”

Merry tried flexing his fingers and curling them over the bandage on his hand, but couldn`t move them. “It is still sore and my fingers feel numb.”

“My whole hand feels numb,” Frodo said. “Let`s hope it`s over by tomorrow.”

“Yes,” Merry yawned again, so hugely that it brought tears to his eyes. “We need to get some rest.” He reached over and gave Frodo a hug. “Good night, Frodo.”

“Good night, Merry dear.” Frodo returned the hug and curled up beside his cousin, pillowing his head on Merry`s shoulder. Within moments the two of them slept, Sam long since asleep on Frodo`s other side.

*****

In the disorientation of his first waking moments, Merry thought he was somehow trapped or pinned down. He was shivering, feeling cold as ice at the same time as his face felt on fire and his stomach ready to turn on him at any moment. He managed with difficulty to twist his head a little, his neck stiff and sore. Pippin was lying fast asleep beside him, an arm draped lightly over Merry`s chest, and Legolas could be seen standing on the shore. He`d only been asleep for a few hours then. Why was he suddenly feeling so bad? He tried to reach for his blankets, wanting to draw them up higher, but he could barely move, his arm completely numb, a very scary sensation, Merry thought. Not pins and needles like he had slept on it wrongly, but dead, as though it just was not there at all. Merry fought down a rising panic. What if he never could use it again? What had happened? Why couldn`t he move? Then he remembered: Frodo and the odd fish and the bites came rushing back to him and Merry suddenly felt much worse. If he felt so sick from a small scratch, how was Frodo feeling? Merry tried to turn his head in Frodo`s direction but could barely move and let out a whimper in distress, immediately waking Pippin.

“Merry?” Pippin sat up and tried to study his cousin`s face in the dim starlight, a hand touching his cheek to get his attention.

“I don`t… feel…so good. I…can`t move,” Merry managed, feeling suddenly very faint. “Frodo?” His eyes shut and the world spiralled away and he knew no more.