Disclaimer: The characters and settings contained in this story are the creation of J.R.R. Tolkien and are the property of the Tolkien Estate. They are used as the basis for a work of fan fiction, from which no profit is made.

Missing

Prologue

“Pippin?”

“Peregrin? Peregrin!”

The cries echoed through the evening as dozens of hobbits searched the grounds around the Great Smials.

Paladin and Eglantine came, at last, face to face with each other before the Great Door. They stood staring a moment, each noting the other’s arms were empty, before Eg finally reached her hands out to Pad.

“There – there was nothing in the creek,” he informed her as he held her close, her curls tucked under his chin. “And nae among the cattle, or the ponies either,” he said hoarsely.

Eg looked up with tears running down her face and said plaintively, “But, then, where is he, Pad?”

“I dinna know,” the young hobbit’s father answered and squeezed her close as he looked the dusk-filled horizon above her head. “But he’s got to be found.”