Chapter 26. To Squelch a Rumour

Ferdi had gone off in a rush at dawn, kissing her even as he threw the cloak around his shoulders and settled his quiver on his back. She was used to it - an errand for the Thain, of course, and Pippin brooked no delay in carrying out his orders. Only later she had thought it odd, for Pippin had left the previous morning for Buckland, so what orders could he have left that had waited for a day and yet had called for this speedy departure at first light?

Something the escort had forgotten, she decided, and Regi must have discovered it only at day's end and sent Ferdi haring after them to bring it. But if she had seen Ferdi leaving Tuckborough on foot instead of ponyback, she would have been puzzled indeed, for certainly he would never catch up with Pippin that way.

Nell gave it little thought; she was busy enough with her household, and the day passed quietly. Truthfully, she gave less thought to Ferdi's errand than she did to her nagging anxiety over Diamond's pregnancy. Her own soon-to-be-born babe didn't worry her overmuch; her other confinements had been normal enough, thank heaven, even if Pali had been a bit late in his arrival.

And he'd been late for everything since, she thought in fond exasperation. Late in waking from his nap, at the moment, and if he slept much longer, she'd never get him to sleep tonight. She gave the soup in the little kettle over the fire a final stir and went to rouse him.

She was changing his wet pants and stripping the sheet from his mattress - the over-long nap had led to predictable, if regrettable, results - when the outer door banged open.

‘Mum? Where are you?’ Fredevar barrelled into the bedroom. ‘Mum, can I eat in the great room for eventide? Please? Gorbi's going to, and then we're going to play hide'n'seek 'til bedtime!'

Nell sighed. It was part of her struggle to have a real family life, here in the Smials - the younger children took the evening meal here in their own quarters, away from the crowd and the formal manners of the main dining hall. Without Ferdi, of course - the Thain's escort ate together at one table by inviolable custom, and it was all the more reason for these quiet early suppers en famille. After the little ones were abed, she'd join Ferdi for late supper in the great room, oftener than not.

‘Why is Gorbi eating in the great room?’ She was playing for time, but she really wanted to know. It was Gorbi's mother, her friend Meadowsweet, who had started the custom of family eventides; Meadowsweet had grown up in a small cot on the outskirts of Tuckborough, and she had adapted only partially, and on her own terms, to the formal atmosphere of the Great Smials.

‘I dunno - they're all eating in the great room, and Flambold has to take care of the little ones because Meadowsweet isn't going with them.’

‘What? That doesn't sound right. Is she ill?’ But Freddie didn't know the answer to that, and he was dancing in place, eager to be off to the great room, to join his friends.

‘Go by their quarters first and see if Meadowsweet needs anything - first, mind you! before you go to the great room! Find out if she's all right and come back and let me know; then you can eat in the great room tonight.’

But when he returned ten minutes later, it was with the amazing information that Tolly, too, was having the evening meal in his own quarters. Husband and wife would be dining together, and alone, in defiance of any Tookish protocol whatsoever. Meadowsweet, it would seem, had pulled rank on the head of escort.

Nell gathered her brood around the table and ladled out the soup, torn between admiration of Sweetie's nerve and disquiet at what it might portend. The soup was thick with chunks of meat and garden vegetables, in a richly-flavoured broth, and there was a loaf of herb-laced bread, as well, for dipping in the broth. The cooks had outdone themselves; Nell couldn't have done better had she made the soup herself. Many times she went down to the kitchens to do her own cooking, but not so often lately. It was a relief to have someone else doing the cooking these days, when her own burden was so heavy. Each afternoon a servant would bring a kettle of dinner fixings ready to go over the fire, filling the suite with savoury smells.

After dinner they stacked the dishes in the kettle – no scraps were left over, to scrape into the waste bucket for the pigs. Nell went to set the kettle outside their door, where a servant would come by later to carry it away, but, ‘No you don't!' Mignonette told her. ‘You let Rudi put it out when he gets home.’ She escorted her mother to the sofa and brought a hassock for her feet.

‘Now I'll make you a nice pot of tea, Mum, while you rest.’ She put the little teakettle on the fire and turned to scrub down the table. When she finished, Cori laid the cloth and little Perry solemnly placed the mug of dried flowers just so in the centre of the table. Nell smiled and sipped her tea, her heart warmed by the gentle attentions of her children.

"All right, gather round,’ she told them. ‘I'm thinking of something blue and green, hates to be seen. What is it?’

They crowded around her, eager to play the guessing game, and it kept them amused till bedtime.

She went to late supper in the great room with Mignonette – another servant came to sit in the family quarters so the sleeping little ones would not be left alone – and she saw her older boys there, eating with their age-mates. When she got back she sat down in the parlour and put her feet up, not yet sleepy enough to seek her pillow, though the babe weighed heavily upon her. She was still sitting there, mending Freddie's britches and wondering how he managed to tear out the knees so often, when the owner of the britches returned. His news this time was beyond amazing.

‘Mum! Faramir's run off, and Da's gone looking for him!' He stood in the doorway, wide-eyed and breathless, and for a moment she couldn't take it in.

‘Shut the door,’ she said at last. ‘Don't shout it in the corridors, Freddie, all the more so if it's true! Where did you hear that?’

‘It's true, Mum! Meadowsweet told me herself when I left off Gorbi at his door - she said to tell you, but nobody else, and I didn't!'

‘What else?’ she asked, putting down her mending. ‘Do they know where he was going?’ And why, she thought, but that wasn't such a difficult question. In mischief again, she'd wager, or playing for attention from older, wilder cousins. It wasn't the first time, and she wondered in sorrow if Farry had any idea what these shenanigans of his cost his father. Pippin was pushing himself to the edge as it was, carrying the welfare of all Tookland on his back as he did. Farry's scrapes only added to a burden that was already far too heavy.

She pulled herself back with an effort. ‘I'm sorry, Freddie, what did you say?’

‘Meadowsweet said she'll stop by once the little ones are asleep, so don't go to bed yet, Mum.’

‘All right. Off to bed with you then, and you too, Mignonette. You're sure you didn't tell anyone else, Freddie?’

‘Mum! I said I didn't!'

She smiled and pulled him into a hug, reached out her other arm for Mignonette. ‘I know you did. It's that important, though - make sure you keep the secret, both of you! Talk has long legs - especially in Great Smials. Let Da bring him back safe, and the Thain can deal with him when he returns.’

She kissed them and sent them off, and when Rudi and Odo came in a while later she asked casually if there was any news. ‘They're talking about new diggings over near Pincup in the spring. Flambold is keen to go, but Tolly won't let him,’ Odo said.

‘I suppose not,’ his mother said absently. ‘Flam hasn't got his full growth yet; they wouldn't let him dig.’ But she was glad they had no news to report of Faramir's absence; the gossip hadn't caught up with that yet, apparently.

It was late when Meadowsweet finally tapped on the door; Nell had nearly fallen asleep in her rocking chair, and the fire had burnt down to coals. Sweetie slipped in as if she feared to be seen, her rusty black shawl drawn over her head.

‘Freddie told you? Of course he did; don't mind me, I'm that flummoxed I'm not thinking straight at all. I wanted to get Tolly alone to talk about this debt business; his wretched wagering last summer, and now he's worrying himself thin over it, and it's got to stop or he'll make himself sick! I thought we could hash it out over a good meal, so I sent the childer off to the great room, and doesn't he go and drop this rock down the well, and all the frogs go a-jump! I guess it'll stop him brooding over our debts for the nonce, but it won't do much for his peace of mind!'

‘Come sit down, Sweetie, and I'll make a fresh pot of tea. Does Diamond know?’

‘Not yet, and with luck she'll never need to. Tolly told her the Thain'd changed his mind and taken Faramir along after all.’

Nell stopped scooping tea leaves into the warmed pot. ‘Sweetie! She'll find out that isn't true, with the first letter from Brandy Hall!'

‘Aye, true enough, and so I told Tolly. But they'd worked that out already, the pair of them: Ferdi will take the lad to Buckland and make it true, and until Tolly hears from him that it's done, there won't be any letters coming from Brandy Hall.’

‘There won't be - good heavens, Sweetie, Tolly's not planning to stop my brother's letters!' Nell got an odd breathless feeling at the thought. If Tolly were caught tampering with the Thain's post, and if he'd done it on Ferdi's orders...

Meadowsweet sprang up from her chair and paced distractedly around the room. ‘If Diamond finds out Farry's missing, what then? Would it bring on her pains, d'you think? The babe's hardly settled in yet, it's that early - a shock now could bring it all to nothing.’

Pimpernel was silent; it was only too true. She busied herself lifting the teakettle from the fire and pouring the boiling water upon the leaves, but the breathless feeling persisted. She concentrated on taking deep, regular breaths and felt the reassuring movement of the babe within.

‘She was a farmer's daughter, wasn't she, before they wed?’ Meadowsweet mused. ‘You'd think she'd carry her babes easy, but she didn't, not the last one, anyhow. The talk's starting already, Nell; two or three of the mothers asked me today, where Farry was keeping himself. You and me, we'll have to keep Diamond from hearing it, ‘til your Ferdi gets the lad safe to Buckland.’

Pimpernel set cream and sugar on the table and poured out the tea. ‘Diamond's been staying pretty much in her own rooms the last few weeks; ill as she's been.’

‘That's a good sign,’ Meadowsweet said. ‘I'd worry more were she not sick!'

‘It'll make it easier to keep the news from her,’ Pimpernel said, thinking further. ‘If she stays quiet, keeps her feet up... we can bring Woodruff in on the secret, and she'll help us...’

‘D'you think that's wise, Nell?’ Meadowsweet said dubiously. ‘When does a secret stop being a secret?’

‘When more'n one person knows it,’ Pimpernel said, ‘yes, I know that old saw. Well, two know it, you and I, four if you count Ferdi and Tolly, five if you count Farry...’

‘Let us hope it goes no farther,’ Meadowsweet whispered. She put a hand to her heart. ‘The children know,’ she said slowly.

‘Can't you trust them?’ Pimpernel said. She took a slow, careful breath as a cramp seized her belly. ‘Mine know as well, but they're Tooks - they wouldn't tell their own mother the time of day if they didn't think I needed to know!'

Meadowsweet had seen the look of concentration on Pimpernel's face; taking her friend's arm, she steered her to a chair. ‘Sit down,’ she said firmly. ‘It's too early for your babe.’

‘I know,’ Pimpernel said. She tried to breathe evenly as another cramp seized her. ‘Go get Woodruff, will you, Sweetie?’

Meadowsweet pulled a stool up and propped Pimpernel's feet upon it, then with a quick pat to the shoulder she was gone. Pimpernel put both hands on her abdomen and continued her measured breaths. ‘Ferdi,’ she whispered, a tear spilling down her cheek. ‘Ferdi, why are you out chasing a wayward lad, when I need you here?’ She wasn't being fair, she knew, but Ferdi had been off chasing Farry on another occasion when she'd needed him, and he'd missed the birth of their first son together. As a matter of fact, she'd nearly lost Ferdi that day; he'd all but drowned saving Farry and a cousin when their mischief got them into trouble that was literally over their heads.

Healer Woodruff was there in a few moments. The escort's families were quartered close around the Thain's own apartment, to be on hand at a moment's notice, and Sweetie hadn't far to go to find her.

‘What's all this?’ the healer said briskly. ‘Got yourself all stirred up about something, and woke the babe, I hear?’

‘It's too early,’ Pimpernel said, trying to push down her fear. She had yet to lose a babe, and had counted herself lucky until now.

‘Just a bit too early,’ Woodruff said. She helped Pimpernel to bed and conducted a rapid examination. Her smile was more genuine when she finished. ‘Just false pains, I think, but I want you to drink a potion to be safe.’ Pulling a corked bottle from her sack, she poured out into the mug that Meadowsweet handed her.

Pimpernel lifted it to her lips, but put it down again at the first taste. ‘It must be nearly all brandy!' she protested.

‘Nearly half,’ Woodruff said unruffled. ‘Drink it down now, there's a good girl.’

‘You told me yourself not to drink spirits!'

‘There's a time for everything,’ Woodruff replied. ‘Drink it down.’ Pimpernel complied, and Woodruff sat down on the bed and took her hand. ‘There,’ she said. ‘Nice and cosy. Whyn't you close your eyes and rest now?’ Her voice was soothing, and truth be told, Pimpernel was starting to feel drowsy; that potion carried quite a kick. Before long, her eyelids drooped and her breathing became regular without any concentration on her part.

‘Can you stay with her?’ Woodruff whispered, rising from the bed.

‘My eldest knows I'm here,’ Meadowsweet replied. ‘I can stay the night if need be.’

‘That might be a good idea,’ Woodruff said. ‘I'll be with Diamond if you need me.’

***

The next day as Pimpernel made her appearance in the Thain's quarters, Woodruff ushered her to the next-most-comfortable chair and placed a stool for her feet.

‘Don't we make a pair!' Diamond laughed.

‘Yes,’ Pimpernel said dryly. ‘All we need to do is start knitting booties and we'll be a perfect picture.’

‘I've never knitted booties in my life and I'm not about to start now!' Diamond was pale with her own discomfort, but determinedly cheerful. Nell had suffered a shock, unexpected cramping, Woodruff had told her, and needed cosseting. Diamond kept to happy topics, such as Yuletide preparations, though by mutual consent they kept food out of the conversation.

Meadowsweet came and went on errands. Diamond was in charge of the smooth running of the Great Smials and keenly aware of her responsibilities, even if she couldn't bear walking through the corridors, where the smell of food was invariably in the air. Sweetie kept her occupied with myriad details, bringing questions and fetching back written instructions and orders. It was not until evening that the first sign of trouble appeared.

‘Is the post not yet come?’ Diamond said.

‘Post?’ Meadowsweet asked innocently. She had looked in to see if the Mistress needed anything before she retired.

‘Yes, the pony post,’ Diamond said. ‘The Thain ought to have gotten to Brandy Hall last evening, and he always sends a message to tell of his safe arrival.’

‘Ah, the post!' Meadowsweet said with sudden comprehension. ‘I've been that busy, Mistress, I hadn't thought to see, and Tolly's been out all the day or he'd've brought it to you the minute it arrived... perhaps the Thain stayed over at the Crowing Cockerel an extra day.’

‘Ferdi did say something to that effect,’ Pimpernel temporised. ‘He wanted to speak to the innkeeper about the thinning of the woods about the inn...’

‘Cutting a firebreak, wasn't it?’ Meadowsweet said helpfully.

‘Ah yes,’ Diamond said slowly. ‘Well that must account for it. I doubt he'd've sent a message to say he was staying over at the Cockerel. Such a hardship, having to linger where they serve the best beer on the road to Stock.’

Difficulty averted, for the time being. Pimpernel hoped Ferdi had found Farry and was nearly to Buckland by now. There'd be trouble, and soon, if he weren't.

***

‘So Ferdi took young Faramir on to Buckland,’ Healer Mardibold said. It was his turn to dance attendance upon Diamond (and herself as well, Nell suspected, though he had not appeared to pay much attention to her).

‘Yes,’ Diamond said. ‘I suppose Pip thought he'd been punished enough for the latest mischief. The lad had been looking forward to the trip; he was terribly disappointed to be left behind.’

The lad could stand a bit more disappointment, to my way of thinking, Mardibold's raised eyebrow said.

Diamond read the look and laughed. ‘O I know, we spoil him shamelessly. But tell me... how do you avoid spoiling the son of the Thain?’

Mardi grunted. He was old enough to remember Thain Ferumbras; worse than useless he'd been. A mercy that he'd never married and fathered a son. Thain Paladin had brought fresh blood, fresh energy, fresh ideas to the Thainship, and his son, not raised in the Great Smials, had followed in his father's footsteps. Tookland was prospering, and the rest of the Shire was recovering from the ruffians, under the watchful stewardship of Thain Peregrin, Mayor Samwise, and the young Master of Buckland.

The Thain's son, however, was not prospering. Great Smials was a difficult place to raise any child, to say nothing of the pampered only son of the highest-ranking hobbit in the Shire. The lad was hedged about by protocol and etiquette, and surrounded by equally pampered cousins with too much time on their hands. None of them did a lick of honest work, of course; it wasn't appropriate to their social standing.

Small wonder they found mischief to fill the idle hours.

Pondering the sorry state of the Thain's son brought Mardi's mind back to his own quandary. He'd been invited to take up residence in the Smials, permanent assistant to Healer Woodruff. It was a grand opportunity, for he'd be head healer when she retired, but he hated to do it.

He himself might have been a candidate for the Thainship, but his grandfather had removed his branch of the family from the succession years before. Isembold had moved his household from the Great Smials entirely, buying a house in Tuckborough and taking up healing as his profession. Come to that, Thain Peregrin's great grandfather had done the same; Hildigrim had returned to the family farm, turning out a lackadaisical tenant and bringing prosperity out of the mismanaged fields. But Pippin's father Paladin had been called to the Thainship, returning to the Smials and bringing his family with him.

Great Smials was a hard place to escape. Mardi's younger brothers Tolly and Hilly had left their father's house to become members of the Thain's escort, but Mardi was reluctant to follow their example. He didn't want his youngest son running with the company he'd find in the Smials. The Thain's son had seemed a likely enough youngster when the family first came back from Buckland, but life in the Smials was in a fair way to ruin him.

It might be a mercy that Faramir seemed unlikely to follow Pippin as Thain, Mardi reflected, and then was pierced by grief at the thought. Pippin was the finest Thain the Tooks had produced in a century; more than that, Mardi was genuinely fond of him. But for all his wisdom in managing the Tookland, Pippin apparently had none when it came to managing his son, and no more did Diamond. And who would dare to remonstrate with them on how they raised Faramir?

He looked up to find Diamond watching him, and realized he hadn't answered her last question. ‘I wouldn't know, Mistress,’ he said. ‘I'm lucky enough not to be Thain, and what's more, I never will be.’

‘Lucky indeed!' Diamond said fervently. She wished sometimes that they'd remained at Brandy Hall, or at Long Cleeve. Anywhere but Tookland, in fact. Pippin poured so much of himself into his work that there was little left for wife or son. And yet she would not want him to do less than his best. She honoured and respected her Thain, but in her heart she missed her husband. Her beloved.

Mardi walked Pimpernel to her quarters in time for early supper. She found a servant already there, serving out helpings of chicken pie, rich and meaty in a velvety gravy, the crust a marvel of golden flakiness. ‘What?’ she said in surprise...

‘You've been overdoing,’ Mardi said. ‘Sit yourself down on the sofa, put up your feet, and let your daughters serve you. You lads will take care of the dishes, won't you?’

‘Of course,’ Rudi said, exchanging glances with his brothers. They'd be staying close to home the next few days, lightening their mother's load as much as they could, especially with Da gone after Faramir. Again.

Nell dismissed the servant once the little ones were abed. ‘We won't be needing you this evening, Rusty' she said. ‘I won't be going to late supper.’

‘D'you want me to bring you a tray, ma'am?’

‘No,’ Nell said. ‘Eventides were so lovely and filling, I don't think I'll need another bite until breakfast. Go ahead and take the rest of the evening off, and thank you.’

‘Thank you, ma'am,’ Rusty said with a dignified bow, and exited their quarters. Rudi shut the door firmly behind him and came to stand by the sofa.

‘What news?’ Nell said, keeping her voice low.

‘None, yet,’ Rudi replied. He had taken a message from his mother to Meadowsweet, to tell her Nell would miss late supper this evening, and had returned just as Rusty was leaving.

‘What?’ Nell said, startled. ‘Your father ought to have found Farry by now! He's sent no word at all?’

‘No,’ Rudi said, troubled. It was not like his step-father to be so secretive. Farry must have made mischief indeed

‘Did Meadowsweet say aught about Diamond? Surely she's wondering at the lack of post this evening?’

‘She said Tolly came in while she was with Diamond, said there’d been no word and he expected they’d stayed over one more day at the Cockerel before going on to Buckland,’ Rudi said. ‘There was some question as to where the firebreak would be placed, and how many trees must be cut, and who would pay for the cutting of it — the Thain, or the innkeeper, it being across the road as well as the innkeeper’s land.’

‘One could spin out such a discussion for days, or at least as long as the supply of beer held out,’ Pimpernel said dryly. Rudi grimaced and his mother reached out to take his hand. ‘Ferdi knows what he's about,’ she said. ‘He's protecting the reputation of the Thain. If he hasn't sent a message yet to Tolly, he has a good reason.’

‘It's a good thing Reginard is in Tookbank,’ Rudi said seriously. ‘Tolly's running the Smials at the moment and has a free hand, but when Regi returns-'

‘Thankfully he's not due back for a week,’ Pimpernel said. She would have been less sanguine had she known that the Steward would conclude his business early, arriving back at the Smials before teatime the very next day.