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Runaway  by Lindelea

Chapter 11. Fat’s in the Fire

‘You called for escort?’ Tolly said as he entered the Thain’s study.

‘Sit down, Tolly,’ Reginard said, indicating the chair by his desk. Tolly shot a puzzled glance at Everard, who kept his face blank. No need to send rumour running rife just yet. ‘Shut the door, Haldegrim, and make sure we are not disturbed by routine matters.’

‘Yes, sir.’

Tolly sat, though it felt unnatural to him. Usually when summoned to the Thain’s study, he stood at attention, received his orders, and turned on his heel to carry them out as quickly and efficiently as possible.

‘Tell me again what Ferdi said before he left,’ Reginard said. Tolly felt a clenching fist in his guts; he’d had no word from Ferdibrand since the other had set out after Faramir.

‘He was taking Faramir on to Buckland, to his father,’ he said cautiously.

‘Did you see them depart?’ Regi asked.

At Tolly’s hesitation, the steward’s expression grew hard. ‘Where is Ferdi now?’ he rapped out.

‘At Brandy Hall,’ Tolly said. ‘At least, I haven’t heard anything to the contrary.’

‘Ferdibrand and Faramir never reached Brandy Hall,’ Reginard said grimly. ‘The Thain has just written to have his son sent to join him. Obviously, Farry is not with his father.’

‘Never reached—‘ Tolly gasped, his head reeling. He was glad to be sitting down.

‘Now,’ Regi said, glowering. ‘Did you see them depart?’

‘I... I saw Ferdi depart,’ Tolly said faintly. The fat was truly in the fire.

‘Was Farry with him?’ Regi asked. Tolly was pale and sweating, he noted, not his usual calm, imperturbable self. ‘Was he?’ he demanded, when the head of escort did not answer.

‘We were trying to prevent a scandal,’ Tolly said slowly. ‘Farry had run away, not just slipped his escort to make mischief, but gone, and not returned when darkness fell, the day the Thain left for Buckland. Ferdi went after him. If I didn’t hear anything, I was to assume he found the lad and went on to Buckland.’

‘It sounds plausible enough,’ Everard said. The implications of the son of the Thain running away were serious; how could the Thain watch over Tookland if he could not watch over his own family? Pippin’s own waywardness as a youth had caused Thain Paladin no end of trouble in that respect.

‘So where is he now?’ Reginard asked.

Tolly could only shake his head and shrug helplessly.

‘Which way did he go?’ Reginard pressed.

‘The trail started off to the West,’ Tolly said. ‘Perhaps the lad was running off to the Sea, but Ferdi thought he might be clever enough to lay a false trail and then double back.’

‘We’ll start searching in that direction, anyhow,’ Regi said heavily. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, though why anyone would drop a good needle into a pile of hay was beyond him. The trail would be five days old by now, could they even find it again. The twain might be anywhere. ‘Were they on ponyback?’ he asked.

‘On foot,’ Tolly said. ‘Farry left on foot, the better to sneak off, I gather, and Ferdi thought ‘twould be easier to track him that way.’

On foot... that narrowed the possibilities to anywhere within the Bounds of the Shire, and some distance beyond.

‘Write a note to the Thain, informing him of the situation,’ Reginard told his brother. ‘We’ll send it out by pony post as soon as it’s sealed.’ Everard nodded and picked up the quill.

The note had been sent off and Reginard was going over the map of the Shire with Tolly and Everard when a tap came at the door.

‘Enter,’ Regi barked, not taking his eyes from the map. Even if he called on every single Took in Tookland to join the search, it seemed a hopeless endeavor.

‘Message, sir,’ Haldegrim said, then swung the door wider to admit a quick post rider.

‘Yes?’ Regi said.

‘I have a message here for Tolibold Took,’ the messenger said, walking into the room, pulling a folded note from his pouch. ‘But there was a bit of confusion; the hobbit who gave me the note said it was for the Thain.’

‘Give me that,’ Regi snapped, moving to intercept the note before Tolly could take it. Looking to the quick post rider, he said, ‘Wait outside; I’ll let you know if there’s a reply.’

‘Yes, sir,’ the messenger said, and exited the study.

Regi broke the seal and began to read. Looking up, he said sharply to Tolly, ‘What do you know about this?’

‘Not much, I’m afraid,’ the head of escort answered. ‘I don’t even know who sent that note, or whence it came.’

‘Woody End,’ Regi said shortly, and Tolly furrowed his brow.

‘Woody End?’ he echoed. ‘Ferdi?’

‘A nice guess,’ Regi said, and Tolly stiffened at his tone.

‘What do you mean by that?’ he asked.

Regi read from the note. ‘ “Keep the secret as long as you can,” he says. Just what secret does he mean? Where is he keeping the son of the Thain without the Thain’s knowledge?’

‘Woody End, evidently,’ Tolly said dryly.

‘No nonsense, now, Tolibold, this is deadly serious,’ Regi said through his teeth. ‘It appears that you and Ferdibrand are conspiring against the Thain. What do you have to say about that?’

‘We are conspiring, true,’ Tolly said. Before he could explain, he was interrupted.

‘Out of his own mouth you have it,’ Everard growled. To Haldegrim, standing aghast in the doorway, he rapped out, ‘Bind him.’

‘It is not what you think!’ Tolly shouted. ‘That is not what I meant at all!’

‘Tell it to the Thain,’ Reginard said, and at the ritual words Tolly fell silent. He knew that if he spoke again, Haldegrim would be ordered to gag him, and he didn’t care for that discomfort in the midst of this shambles. He’d have to wait for the Thain to release him to give his testimony. The traditional silence on the part of the accused had always seemed sensible to him, making for an orderly hearing without undue interruption, but now, for the first time, he found himself questioning tradition.

‘Farry was injured by a fox, Ferdi says,’ Regi said, looking again at the letter. ‘He’s waiting at Woody End until the leg heals, then will continue as planned. What plan does he mean?’

Tolly gave him an ironic look. You’ve gagged me, remember? he seemed to be saying. By custom, he was not supposed to speak until the Thain questioned him.

Regi looked at him narrowly. ‘Hilly told me that you wagered heavily on the pony races this year, and lost, and you couldn’t make up the debt in wagering on the tournament since you cannot place a wager for or against yourself, competing as you were. Are you deeply in debt?’

Tolly nodded slowly. He was paying off the debt a bit at a time, but it would be a burden for some time yet. He’d learned his lesson, and a bitter one at that, when the pony he’d backed as a “sure thing” had pulled up lame after leading for much of the final race, crossing the finish line dead last.

‘Those ruffians you escorted out of the Shire last month,’ Everard said, with the air of putting together pieces of a puzzle. ‘Did they offer you gold, to help them?’

‘I should have shot them instead,’ Tolly muttered, forgetting he was supposed to stand mute, then his eyes widened as he caught the implication. ‘Help them?’ he gasped. ‘Help them steal the Thain’s son? For gold? Kidnap him?’ The escort were all too familiar with the word, for the Thain had told them of his fear and solemnly charged them with the safety of his family.

‘They would have promised you that no harm would come to the lad, of course,’ Reginard said in Tolly’s defence. ‘It would give you a chance to clear all your debts, and no harm done. The Thain has plenty of gold, after all, and to spare, and what good does it do sitting in a hole in the ground?’

‘No,’ Tolly whispered.

‘Do I have to gag you, sir?’ Haldegrim said quietly. He had tied Tolly’s hands with loose knots, though it galled him to bind the head of escort this way. Tolly shook his head and subsided.

‘What I don’t understand is Ferdi’s role in this,’ Reginard mused. ‘He has always been as honourable as the day is long.’

‘I would never think to question his loyalty to Pippin,’ Everard said stoutly. ‘But what else can this note mean?’ Reginard had passed the letter to him, and he read it over again, frowning. Keep the secret as long as you can... continue as planned... The words could be taken either way. Either Tolly and Ferdi were conspiring to protect the Thain by covering up his son’s foolishness, or their actions were more sinister in nature. He said as much.

‘I’d agree with you, but for the fact that Ferdi did not inform Pippin immediately once he had Faramir safely in hand,’ Regi said slowly. ‘I do not know what Ferdi is about, but that fact alone makes me suspect his motives in this.’ He shook his head. ‘I simply cannot believe this of him.’ He looked to Tolly. ‘Or you, for that matter.’

Tolly nodded ironic thanks.

‘It doesn’t matter what I believe, however,’ Regi said. ‘We must act as if we believe your guilt, until you can prove your innocence, or Ferdi can. At the moment, the evidence is against you.’

Tolly raised an eyebrow. Doesn’t matter what you believe? he was thinking.

Reginard read his expression. ‘No, it doesn’t matter what I believe,’ he reiterated. ‘What matters is what the Thain believes, if he chooses to believe the evidence, or if he chooses to put more weight on his past dealings with the two of you.’

Tolly nodded. Evidence was against him, true, but Pippin ought to believe their testimony as to their intentions. They had served him loyally for six years, now. Surely that outweighed Ferdi’s note, and his failure to notify Pippin of his son’s whereabouts. Surely...

Everard’s muttered oath interrupted Tolly’s musings.

‘What is it?’ Regi snapped.

‘The pony post!’ his brother said. ‘We’ve got to stop that message...’

‘Too late,’ Regi said. ‘He’s gone by now. We’ve got to send a rider after him, catch him up, or at the very least bring the news on his heels that Ferdi’s been heard from and Faramir is thought to be in the home of Hally the Woodcarver in Woody End.’

‘I’ll go,’ Everard said. ‘I know what’s what, as well as anyone, and ‘twould take precious time to draft the message.’

‘Go!’ Reginard answered. ‘Tell Pippin we’ll meet him there.’ His brother nodded and left the study at a run.





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