Chapter 17, Rhymes and Reasons

_{Degger’s eyes glistened as he tenderly placed a finger over the letters of his parent’s names. “Then it’s true,” he said softly.}

_{“Aye,” Pippin whispered just as softly. He suddenly had a fear that Degger would not return to Great Smials with him and his father. “What are you going to do?”}

_{Degger let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t know.” - Chapter 16}

“This is good training, I suppose,” said Pippin, doing some fancy footwork upon the steps as he went up to the guest room, “but I don’t see any real purpose for having bedrooms on an upper level away from the kitchen and parlour. Personally, I don’t like the idea of sleeping upstairs.”

Degger casually followed along observing the younger teen’s display of nimble feet. “I’d rather be sleepin’ on the lower level, too,” replied Degger, “but I guess they’re good for getting ye tired and ready for bed, though.”

With first and second breakfast finished, the next item on the agenda was that Rick, Paladin and the two teens would spend the morning in the library looking over the family tree books and answering any questions the three visitors had before they left for home in the afternoon. Pippin bounded up the stairs to his room while Degger sauntered up behind him.

Just as Pippin neared the top, his nimble feet became tangled and he fell atop the staircase with an oomph. Degger grinned and then snorted a laugh after he saw Pippin was not injured. “Are ye all right, Mr. Pippin?”

The only thing bruised about Pippin was his pride; however, he feigned injury and held out his arm to be helped up. Now concerned, Degger complied and took his friend’s hand and arm.

When Pippin felt Degger’s firm grasp he pulled his friend down upon the staircase and commenced to tickle him. Pippin liked to horseplay with Degger. With Degger, he was more on equal ground, as the lad wasn’t much bigger than he. Additionally, Pippin knew he’d get away with tickling his friend mercilessly; Degger wouldn’t cry out or laugh hysterically. Hence, Pippin waited until Degger’s eyes watered and was out of breath from silent laughter before he leapt to his feet and brusquely walked toward their room so as not to attract the attention of adults.

Degger had nearly caught up with Pippin when Thistle, Cammie, and Holly exited their apartment.

“Good morning, lads! Are you feeling well, Degger?” asked Cammie, noticing the lad was flushed and gasping for air.

“Perhaps you ought to get outside more often to build your stamina,” offered the eldest sister, Thistle, “Staircases aren’t for everyone.”

Now it was Pippin’s turn to grin and snort a laugh at Degger.

“My sisters and I are going out to the gardens for a walk,” said Thistle, “Would you and Pippin like to join us?”

“No thank ye, Miss Thistle,” Degger answered. “Mr. Paladin wants me an’ Mr. Pippin t’ do some packin’ b’fore we settle int’ the library for the mornin’.”

“Packing? You’re not packing to leave, are you?” asked Cammie.

Pippin and Degger exchanged looks, shrugged, and then nodded in unison.

“Mother told us that you are going to live here at Ivy Bellflower,” she said to Degger.

Degger wondered at this unsettling news. “Far as I know, I’m leavin’ with Mr. Paladin after lunch.”

“Surely you won’t go against Mother,” said Thistle, “After all, she is your Auntie. Our mothers were sisters, so that makes us first cousins.” She stole a glance at Pippin. “We’re your family now.”

Now Pippin decided to jump into the conversation; he could tell Degger had suddenly grown tense. Furthermore, Pippin wasn’t going to let Mistress Layla take Degger away without a fight. “Really?” he said aloud, “I think I can make that claim as well.”

Cammie asked, “On what grounds?”

Pippin looked the lass straight into her eyes, “According to your own Book of Family Trees, it appears Degger and I are third cousins.”

“First cousins have more blood than third cousins,” said Thistle. “You may not have to pack at all, Degger,” she added, then lead her sisters down the stairwell.

Pippin gaped open mouthed at the audacious lass. He opened the door to his and Degger’s guestroom and shoved Degger inside. Once inside, Degger sat upon the bed with a stricken expression upon his face.

“We can’t just sit here and wait for them to make the first move,” said Pippin impatiently, pacing back and forth much like his father did while lecturing him on a misdeed. “We have to do something!”

Degger said nothing, his arms wrapped round his drawn-up knees as he sat on the bed looking like a lost little child.

“My father won’t let them take you away, Degger,” Pippin said to his friend. “But we’re not going to stay in this prison like a couple of sitting ducks. How much money do you have with you, Degger? Degger?”

The nineteen-year-old started at the second call of his name. He answered absently, “I got a few pennies, that’s all.”

“I brought some, too,” said Pippin, “that ought to get us a meal or two in town until Papa can find us. I’m going to leave him a note in his bedroom.”

* * * * *

“I wonder what is taking those lads so long to pack?” asked Paladin, then turned the page of the book of Trees he was reading. “I know they would want to hear about Griggory and why he passed on at such a young age.”

“They probably took a short cut through the kitchen,” said Rick, lighting his pipe.

“‘Short cuts through the kitchen are not “short cuts” with Pippin’ is what we say at home,” said Paladin. “I hope they get here soon or they might miss out. I wrote and told Tina that we’d be home soon, and in order to do that in a timely fashion we must leave Ivy Bellflower after luncheon.”

* * * *

Inside the guestroom, Pippin threw open the curtains in the window to assess how they should proceed with their escape. It didn’t look promising; he opened the window for a better view. Pippin felt Degger standing beside him.

“That’s a bit of a drop,” Pippin remarked casually at the two-storey chasm, but inwardly he was stunned. He had never seen such a height--not even while climbing trees. Well, he thought, there’s nothing for it, as Sam would say. Either we find a way to the bottom, or Mistress Layla steals Degger right out from under our noses. Pippin licked his lips nervously then swung a leg over the windowsill to give himself a lift up. Instantly he felt himself being pulled back inside the room and fell hard to the floor.

“What were ye thinkin’, Mr. Pippin? This won’t do!” Degger asked breathlessly, still holding his dear friend round his middle. “A fall from there would kill ye.”

“What do you mean, what was I thinking? I’m doing this for you! What else are we to do--sit here and wait for your auntie to take you away?”

“I‘m not worried ‘bout my auntie anymore, an’ there’s always somethin’ better than makin’ believe we’re a couple o’ eagles with wings t’ fly t’ the ground. I got a plan.”

“You have a plan?” Pippin asked incredulously, “Degger Greenhill has a plan?”

“Aye, I do,” said Degger, frowning at Pippin’s disbelief and then grinned. “I learnt from the best, ye know! For the present, though, I s’ppose we ought t’ just go down t’ the library an’ find yer dad. I need t’ talk t’ him, first.”

“All right, but when I’m grown up and married,” said Pippin while getting to his feet, “all of the bedrooms in my home are going to be on the lower level. If my children want to run away, they shouldn’t have to hurt themselves in the effort.”

Degger smiled. “Right, but Mr. Pippin, yer bedrooms are already on the lower levels--ye’ll live in Great Smials.”

Pippin cocked his head in thought and then smiled. “You’re right--but so will you, I hope.”

The would-be eagles used the staircase to descend to the lower level. Approaching the open door of the library, they heard the distinct voice of Degger’s Aunt Layla intermittent with that of two other hobbits.

The voice of Layla drifted into the hallway, “So you agree, Paladin, that Degger ought to stay with his people here at Ivy Bellflower?”

Pippin froze in his tracks near to the doorway, Degger beside him.

Pippin recognised the next voice as belonging to his father. “I did agree that Degger, at his age, is still very much in need of a father-figure and the valuable guidance that hobbit is willing to offer him. But...”

Outside in the hallway Degger nudged Pippin beside him and exhaled heavily. “C’mon. Nothin’ good ever comes from eavesdroppin’.” Pippin gave a slight nod of acknowledgement, then commenced to walk beside his friend to lend his support.

Paladin’s voice continued as the teens entered the room. “...I did not agree to--”

When Rick loudly coughed, Paladin interrupted his response to Layla and then looked at his cousin oddly. Taking Rick’s cue, Paladin looked over his shoulder to see the teens enter inside the library. “Pippin...Degger. Just in time, I might add.”

“Hullo, Papa,” Pippin addressed his father in a soft voice. “Degger has--”

“I have somethin’ t’ ask ye, sir,” said Degger. He spoke barely above a whisper, his brown eyes cast to his feet. “If ye please.”

Degger felt every eye upon him; some were comforting, others...well, they seemed to be looking to him for something that he couldn’t give right now.

After a moment of silence, Paladin spoke up. He took note of the young lad’s unease, thus speaking kindly. “What’s on your mind, son?”

Now that Degger had their audience he found that his tongue clung to the roof of his mouth out of nervousness. Not many people asked what was on his mind, and due to his shyness, he seldom offered it. But...either he speak right now or forever regret it. It sure sounded as if his future whereabouts were being considered with or without his assent. Then again...Degger knew he was still very much a juvenile. Here goes...

“I...I was thinkin’, M-Mr. Paladin,” he stammered, and then he swallowed the bundle of nerves in his throat. Degger stood up straight; his eyes met Paladin’s--the familiar green eyes that took him in some years before when he had no where else to go, when the only shelter he had was underneath an old crate he and his brother once shared in a dark, rat-infested alley. Degger was barely thirteen years old then. Now he stood before that same benefactor on the verge of his twentieth birthday, embarking on young adulthood.

In the last seven years, Mr. Paladin did not rear a mealy-mouthed lad afraid of his own shadow. No, in fact, in the past year, Degger felt many things in his life had come together and began to blossom--things that were good. Degger suddenly stood tall, smoothed out the wrinkles in his waistcoat, then took a deep breath.

“Mr. Paladin, not--” Degger started again, then took his pocket watch out of his waistcoat pocket (more for procrastination). “Not ten minutes ago Mr. Pippin and I saw Miss This--I mean, Cousin Thistle an’ her sisters who told us that Mis--Aunt Layla was seekin’ t’ keep me here at Ivy Bellflower. I wanted t’ say that...that...” Degger felt his new-found confidence flagging, yet instantly he felt Pippin’s hand on his arm, which gave him the courage to go on. But his eyes filled with tears, his thoughts a swirl of emotions. The speech Degger had rehearsed in his head in the last few seconds had failed him. Even as he stood rooted where he was with Pippin beside him, Degger observed, in a rather disconnected manner, Mr. Paladin rise from his chair and walk toward him, arms outstretched.

“I don’t want t’ stay here--I want t’ stay with ye,” Degger sniffed as Paladin threw his arms round him and Pippin. Degger could feel Pippin giving him and affectionate hug as well.

“I want you to stay with us, too,” Pippin whispered.

“As do I!” Paladin said, then kissed each curly head in front of him. “I thought for certain you were going to choose Ivy Bellflower, Degger. I would have been heartbroken if you had.”

“Really?” Degger asked. “I was feart that ye were agreein’ with Aunt Layla.”

“I would not make that sort of decision for you and without your say-so. Standing up here had to have taken a lot of courage, Degger. I’m proud of you--I’m proud of you both. Now you and Pippin come over here and sit down.”

Layla gaped at her nephew in astonishment. “You would choose a distant cousin over an aunt and first cousins?” She looked toward Paladin, “He’s little more than a child--you would allow him to make such a decision?”

“Layla,” Rick stopped her ranting with a cold glare. “These distant cousins have been his family for the last seven years an’ now ye want t’ tear the lad away from all he’s known? If ye love Degger as much as ye say ye do, let him go. Ye can love him just as much while he grows up at Great Smials.”

Layla gave a defeated sigh. ““Very well. My daughters and I will be leaving tomorrow morning after second breakfast. Please be sure our carriage and driver are waiting.” With that said, Layla rose from her chair and left the room.

Rick watched his cousin depart and then in response to Paladin’s stunned expression, he said in a sarcastic voice, “Good riddance! I don’t mind’em visitin’--it gets the young lasses away from that toss-pot father o’ theirs, livin’ on the fat o’ his family’s purse. Layla does get on my nerves once in a while, though. She married a Hornblower for his money and has been ruin’ it ever since. I’m glad o’ yer choice, Degger--if ye had gone with her, they’d never let ye forget yer not a Hornblower.”

“I’m glad of his choice, too!” Pippin piped in. “I’m never going to let him forget he’s a Took!”

“Greenhill,” Degger kindly reminded his new-found cousin.

“Took.”

“Greenhill.”

“Took!”

Paladin grinned, “With that growing obstinate nature of yours, Degger, I believe I have to side with Pippin.”

Rick laughed along with the others, then asked, “Degger, may I have a look at yer pocket watch?”

Degger regarded Rick with a guarded eye. Degger had always been a bit protective of his precious keepsake. “Why?”

“Because without a doubt, that exceedingly valuable heirloom will be the final word that ye are indeed a Took.”

Paladin was taken aback. Everything that had transpired with Degger’s pocket watch last winter had been all but forgotten. “I would sooner like to know how you know it’s exceedingly valuable.”

Rick replied simply, “Because I happen t’ know it’s made of mithril.”

Degger nearly dropped the recently refurbished article as he handed it over to Rick. “Made o’ what?!”

Rick laughed again, then gave the watch a second look. “It’s made from mithril,” he repeated. “I haven’t seen this in ages,” he said wistfully. “But, no, this isn’t the proper lid--what happened t’ it?”

“I don’t know,” Degger answered, and now a bit shaken to know he’d been carrying around something so notoriously priceless. “I’d never seen it with a lid b’fore. I broke the watch last Foreyule, but Mr. Paladin got it fixed for me, an’ got a new lid for it, too.”

“I‘m sorry, Degger,” said Paladin, “I had meant to tell you at some point when I first discovered the truth about your watch, but that was right before Ferumbras became bedridden. And then with the whole deal of being Acting Took and Thain tossed in my lap, some things were simply driven out of my head.

“Gerontius, the Old Took, gave all of his sons a pocket watch and his daughters a diamond pendant upon coming-of-age. Each watch was unique with a particular object painted on the face and the same thing etched upon the lid. I inherited a watch just like yours from my father and grandfather that has a soaring eagle on the lid. Cousin Adelard, who inherited his watch the same way, has an oak tree on his. I have yet to see Cousin Ferumbras’, but I’ve heard his watch has the face of the moon etched on the lid.”

Paladin chuckled, “Now all of it makes sense! Your watch had to have belonged to Isembold, which he then passed down to his surviving son, Diggory. I suppose it stands to reason that Diggory, knowing its value, would give it to his eldest child regardless of gender. It’s nice to know that the watch ended up in the proper hands.”

“Uncle Digg gave it to Gayla when Taddie was born t’ be passed down t’ him when the time came. I reckon Wilby kept it for him after Gayla passed.”

“After our dad died, the watch did end up with Taddie,” Degger put in, taking up the trail of the pocket watch. “Then...well,” his eyes grew sad, “then the watch ended up with me.”

“That’s not such a bad thing, Degger,” said Pippin.

“Degger,” said Rick, opening up one particular volume of the book of Trees, “I’ll bet ye didn’t know yer real name isn’t Degger.” He waited for all of the gasps to settle down before continuing.

“Ye know, at this point, I’d believe anythin’,” said Degger. However, he still shook his head in disbelief.

Rick went on, “Only a few o’ us know about it, an’ most have gone t’ their grave with this secret, but actually, Degger, yer real name is Diggory--just like yer grandfather’s. Yer mum’s script was shoddy, at best. What we thought was an E on the birth certificate, was truly an I we later learnt. When yer mum heard we were all callin’ ye Degger , it caught her fancy, and so it stuck. But if ye look closely, ye’ll see a loopy E with a stray bit o’ ink over the top.”

All three took turns in looking at the erroneous certificate. Degger suddenly slapped a hand to his forehead and exclaimed, “Oy! There’s been so much change in my life on this trip that Mistress Tina won’t recognise me when we get home! I don’t recognise me! She might not set a plate for me at supper.”

That set the other three hobbits to smiling. Pippin slipped a sympathetic arm round his friend’s shoulder and winked, “Not to worry, Diggory--I’ll see that your food won’t go to waste!”

TBC

Not much more to go...