“Thank you, Merry and Pippin for your forgiveness,” Aragorn told them as the sky darkened. “Please understand I didn’t deceive you. I was sure Sam was going to recover quickly and he would have recovered if I hadn’t given him an allergic reaction.”

“We all understand that, Aragorn,” Gandalf reminded him, now becoming concerned himself. “We should get inside now. With the sun going down, the temperature is going to drop very quickly.

Aragorn nodded. “You should go ahead in,” he told them. “I would prefer some to have some time alone, if I may.” He walked off to the left side, being careful not to go too far from the entrance, just in case they needed him quickly. Gandalf followed him discreetly so Aragorn was surprised to look up suddenly and find the wizard standing next to him. Aragorn smiled briefly, and then looked down guiltily.

“I see you know why I am here,” the wizard told him a little sternly.

“What have I done, Gandalf?” Aragorn asked, unable to look up. “How could I let this happen? Elrond would never have done that.”

“What have you done, Aragorn?” Gandalf asked. “You treated your patient to best of your ability. You made him something to ease suffering and unfortunately he had a bad reaction to it, as could happen with any kind of medicine.”

“I was negligent, Gandalf!” Aragorn exclaimed. “It could all have been prevented had I taken a proper medical history, which is the first thing they teach healers in training. Such a simple thing, would Elrond have failed to do that? I think not!”

“Aragorn, Elrond has been a healer longer than you have been alive!” Gandalf exclaimed, “Do you doubt for a minute that he made his share of mistakes over the centuries? Make a mental note of this and consider it a good learning experience. That may sound insensitive, and if it does I apologize, but it does no good to keep condemning yourself. Try to think instead of many of your patients are going to benefit in the future for what happened here. ”

Aragorn considered this for a minute. “That makes sense when I think about it as a healer,” he admitted reluctantly, “but Sam is my friend and I could have killed him. And, for good measure, I managed to terrify every member of the Fellowship. Can you imagine what it must have been like for Frodo to see Sam like that?”

“Aragorn, who has more right to cast blame than anyone?” asked a clear, musical voice. Aragorn looked up, startled to see Legolas on a hill just above them.

“Who has more right?” Aragon repeated when he got over his surprise. “Sam, of course. He was the one I did it to. And Frodo as well; he and Sam are devoted to each other, more like two best friends than a master and servant.”

“And are Frodo and Sam still condemning you for your mistake?” Legolas continued.

“They never did,” the Ranger admitted. “In fact, they were very understanding and forgiving about the whole incident. So was the rest of the Fellowship, as a matter of fact.”

“Then who are you to hold this over your head?” Legolas asked, looking the Ranger straight in the eyes. Aragon gasped, but could find no words to say.

***************************

Boromir and Merry were gazing up at the sky as it darkened. Boromir’s hand was on Merry’s shoulder as they discussed the positions of the stars. Pippin was standing on the side listening, not wanting to get to close; despite the pleading glances Merry was giving him. Merry looked at Boromir who smiled sympathetically, but said nothing. Merry smiled at Pippin and tried to draw him into the conversation, but all he got was a cold stare. He even offered to take Pippin’s place on watch duty that night.

“Don’t bother,” Pippin replied, moving farther away. His voice was complete devoid of emotion. Finally, Merry’s composure snapped.

“Boromir, why is he acting like this?” Merry cried, just about to despair. “He never acted like before, never!”

Boromir thought for a minute. He had considered intervening on Merry’s behalf, but thought it best to let them work things out themselves. He suspected conflict resolution skills would be valuable asset during the quest and in the future if they made it back home. “I think you better ask Pippin yourself,” he told Merry.

“All right, Pippin, what’s going on here?” Merry asked, a little angrily as he marched over to where Pippin was standing. Pippin looked up at him, startled for a minute but then stubbornly tried to return to his distant mood.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he told Merry, but he failed to keep note of anxiety out of his voice. Merry took that as a good sign.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” he replied, now more assertive than angry. “You’ve been acting like a cold stone to me all day and you wrongly accused me of deceiving you earlier today and I think it’s very unfair.”

To Merry’s great satistifaction, Pippin gasped and just looked at him in shock. “Merry…ah…you never talked to me like this before,” he stammered.

“You never deserved it before,” Merry countered smugly, seeing Pippin’s composure beginning to crack.

At this point, Boromir found himself becoming a bit concerned about the way the discussion was going and decided to step in. “Pippin, I believe Merry has a point,” he said calmly. “Is it fair to be angry with him for something he had no control over?”

“I’m not angry,” Pippin said, looking down dejectedly, “just disappointed.”

“Is it because of what happened to Sam?” Boromir continued. “Or could it be something else?”

“I…I..don’t know,” Pippin stammered, looking like he felt trapped.

“Yes, I think you do,” Boromir pressed him gently. “Are you upset about what Merry told you?”

Pippin nodded, trying not to break down. Finally he took a deep breath and began to explain. “ Whenever I had a problem I went to Merry…”

“Tell him directly,” Boromir instructed Pippin, gently turning him in Merry’s direction.

“Whenever I had a problem or I was upset about something, I went to you, Merry,” he said, after gathering all courage he could find. “And you always know what to do. You could make me laugh or help me get the right perspective and things were all right after that. I didn’t think there was anything you didn’t know, or couldn’t do if you tried. Up until now that is.”

“I told you Sam was going to get well quickly, and it didn’t quite work out that way.” Merry spoke slowly, beginning to understand at last.

“No Merry, it didn’t. I never expected you to be so wrong.” Pippin looked down again, seeming depressed.

“No one expected this to happen, Pippin,” Boromir pointed out. “In fact, no one expected anything that has happened so far. When I left Minas Tirith, I never expected to end up here. I have no doubt the others feel the same way when they left their homes, and when Frodo inherited the Ring, being required to travel across Middle Earth to destroy it must have been the last thing he ever imagined. My point is, life can be extremely uncertain. You can’t blame Merry, or anyone for that.”

“You’re right,” Pippin whispered, shaking and almost in tears as he turned to his cousin. “I’m sorry, Merry. This wasn’t your fault.”

“I'm sorry too, Pippin,” Merry told him, feeling humbled. He had never before realized the depth of Pippin’s trust and respect for him. “I’m sorry I can’t make everything all right for you.”

Pippin tried to tell Merry that he understood and that he still loved him, but somehow he couldn’t get the words out. He just reached over and hugged him. For the next few minutes, the two cousins held each like nothing else mattered.

“It might surprise you to know,” Merry said authoritatively, as a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, “that this isn’t the first mistake I’ve made in my day.”

“Is that so, Master Brandybuck?” Boromir asked jokingly, relieved to see their eyes twinkling again.

“I was about ten,” Merry began, “It was an unusually warm evening and I was thirsty. So I went into the pantry and poured myself what I thought was a glass of apple cider. It tasted kind of strange to me, but I still liked it so I drank a whole glass. What I didn’t know was it was actually apple wine, with an alcohol level of over 10%.”

“I don’t think that was very good for you,” Boromir commented with a chuckle.

“Let me you, it wasn’t!” Merry laughed. “I couldn’t understand why I felt so strange. Anyway, Pippin’s family was over at our home for dinner that evening and they were all sitting at the table while my mother was making some final preparation in the kitchen. I didn’t tell her I wasn’t feeling right because I wasn’t supposed to have anything before dinner and I sneaked that drink.”

“So what happened next?” asked his squirming, but delighted cousin.

“I came staggering into the kitchen and my mother looked up and saw me learning against the wall and she asked me to take a large bowl of gravy over to the dining room table. That was quite a challenge. It took all my concentration to walk in a straight line. I would have made it though, but a bird landed on the dining room window sill and our cat suddenly jumped out in front of me to try and catch it.”

“Oh no!” Pippin squealed, barely able to contain his laughter.

“Oh no is right!” Merry laughed now almost beside himself. “The gravy went flying all the table, and everyone got splashed with it, even you. I was horribly embarrassed and what was worse, I had a headache for the rest of the night and I had to go to school the next day without one wink of sleep.” By the time he finished his story, they were all laughing uncontrollably.

“That’s one to tell the others,” Boromir said, when they had finally regained their composure. “Shall we go in now?”

“Good idea!” Pippin exclaimed, racing Merry to the cave entrance. “Everybody, you have to hear this!”