Chapter 28. Bound and Determined 

The days dragged on. One day Meliloc Brandybuck brought Gorbibold back home, one eye blackened, a handkerchief held firmly to his bleeding nose. ‘I believe this is one of yours,’ he said to Meadowsweet.

‘What happened?’ she asked in shock. She didn’t know Meliloc well, though she’d never heard any ill of him. He was married to Pippin’s sister Pervinca, and his steady, quiet nature stood him in good stead with his mercurial wife. He was well-thought-of in the Great Smials, for a Brandybuck. Practically a Took himself, people said sometimes.

Meliloc pushed Gorbi inside and closed the door. ‘I do believe he had a matter of honour to settle,’ he said.

‘Gorbi!’ Meadowsweet said. ‘You’ve been fighting!’

‘They called Da a blaggard,’ the young hobbit said defiantly. ‘He’s not!’

‘No of course he’s not a blackguard,’ Meliloc said smoothly, ‘nor a scoundrel, for that matter. But fighting won’t prove the point.’ He looked to Meadowsweet. ‘Would you like me to fetch a bit of beefsteak for that eye?’

‘I’ll put a cold cloth on it,’ she replied. ‘Thank you for your kindness.’

With a distinct look of sympathy, he bowed and took his leave.

‘Gorbi, how could you?’ Meadowsweet said. ‘You’ll only make things worse.’

‘I’m sorry, Mum,’ Gorbibold said low. ‘I don’t want to make things worse. I just wish we knew...’

Impulsively, Meadowsweet pulled her eldest to her for a long hug. ‘I know,’ she whispered into his shoulder. ‘I know.’

Though Nell and Sweetie attended Diamond, the Thain’s suite felt like the calm before the breaking of a storm. Nell’s disquiet grew apace with the first message from the Thain. Diamond opened the paper to see the familiar scrawl and placed a hand over her heart as she sighed with relief.

‘I didn’t know how worried I was,’ she said, ‘until I saw his handwriting again! I don’t care how difficult to decipher it is, nor how much trouble to read...’ Nell and Sweetie exchanged half-ashamed glances as she bent eagerly to the missive.

‘What is the news?’ Nell said at last.

‘He and Farry are at Woody End,’ Diamond said. ‘They are well and safe, but anticipate staying there a few days before returning to the Smials...’ She looked up with a puzzled expression. ‘I don’t understand; I thought Pippin was going to Buckland.’

‘Is there any word of Ferdi?’ Pimpernel said.

Diamond looked back down at the letter. ‘No mention of him,’ she said at last. ‘Perhaps he’s sending his own note.’

‘Undoubtedly,’ Meadowsweet said with a reassuring pat on Nell’s arm. She certainly didn’t want Nell to upset herself again.

‘And Sweetie, I’m sorry, he’s said nothing of Tolly. Perhaps there was a miscommunication and Regi took your husband to Buckland. I’m sure Pippin will straighten everything out when he returns.’

Miscommunication, Meadowsweet thought. There had been a lot of communication before Tolly was taken away, according to the talk. A pony post rider had arrived from Brandy Hall, then a quick post rider shortly after, then the pony post rider had been sent out in haste – and then, to the wonder of the Tooks, adding dry fuel to the firestorm of gossip, Everard had gone haring after that rider. Not long after, Regi had dragged off the head of escort, who knew where? No further word of Tolly’s whereabouts had come since.

No note came from Ferdi. Nell and Sweetie kept their children at home. The two families spent time together, but no one went to the great room for meals, and the children did not go out to play in the milder temperatures that followed the great storm. Though the gale had blown itself out, Nell and Sweetie had the definite feeling that another was about to overtake them, a storm of disaster and disgrace. The simple plan to save the Thain from scandal had blown up in their husbands’ faces, and instead the stain of scandal would paint their families for ever more.

Twice more during those days of waiting, the cramps came to Nell, and Mardi or Woodruff attended her. The second time, after she’d awakened from the potion, Woodruff was still sitting by her side. ‘What about Diamond?’ she asked.

‘Mardibold is with her at the moment,’ Woodruff said. ‘You are worrying yourself sick, Pimpernel, and it won’t do at all.’

‘It’s not like Ferdi not to write,’ Nell answered fretfully. ‘He’s been gone for days...’ She had an inkling of how Diamond had felt, when Tolly was withholding her husband’s letters.

‘Surely if something had happened, the Thain would have written to that effect, to speed you to your husband’s side,’ Woodruff soothed.

‘Surely,’ Nell echoed. She started to get up, but Woodruff stayed her.

‘I think we shall keep you on bed rest today,’ the healer said firmly. ‘Each day we can win for this babe ties the knot more firmly.’

‘It’s too early,’ Nell said.

Woodruff smiled. ‘We’re past the danger point, I hope. If you were to have the babe this day, I think all would be well, but let’s not plan to have the babe this day, shall we?’

Towards the end of the day, Pimpernel became aware that they were keeping the children from her. When Woodruff left to take eventides with her husband and Mardibold slipped in to take her place, Nell started up.

 ‘And just where do you think you’re going?’ Mardi asked, helping her sit up, placing pillows appropriately, but not letting her do any more than sit up.

‘The children! I’ve missed the nooning and teatime and now it’s eventides already...’ Pimpernel said. She felt foggy from the draught Woodruff had given her earlier.

‘The children are fine,’ Mardi assured. ‘They’ve taken their meals with Meadowsweet’s family and will probably stay the night as well, to give you some quiet.’

Though sometimes Pimpernel longed for peace and quiet, perversely she wanted her children about her at this moment, the noisier the better. ‘I don’t want quiet,’ she protested.

‘Well you’re going to get it for the next day or three,’ Mardi said sternly. As she became resigned to cosseting, early supper arrived on trays: lovely pigeon pie, swimming with tender vegetables in savoury gravy. Mardi spoke of inconsequentialities as they ate, and Nell answered politely. Mardi did not speak of the talk that had begun to run round the Great Smials. Somehow it had got out that the quick post rider had come from Woody End on the day Tolly was arrested; the arrest had followed immediately upon his arrival, as a matter of fact.

Folk were quick to put two and two together. Ferdibrand Took’s sister lived in the Woody End; Ferdi and Tolly worked closely together. Ferdi had been gone from the Smials since the day after the Thain had left for Buckland and had sent no word back to his wife; no one could imagine anything keeping him from his Nell once she was ordered to bed by the healers. The healers were preventing Nell from seeing anyone in the bargain. On previous “commissions for the Thain”, letters from Ferdi to Pimpernel had arrived daily, sometimes twice daily. There must be some sinister reason if he were not staying in close contact with his beloved wife. Now Tolly had been arrested and taken away and the Thain was staying in Woody End for a few days. None of this boded well for Ferdi. Had he merely been a witness against Tolly, he’d’ve been in contact with his wife...

‘Banishment for certain,’ some of the older, wiser heads were saying, though none had yet worked out the “why” of it. A private trial, to spare the families, was traditional in such cases, unless there were mitigating circumstances. If it were a shunning case, the Thain would have pronounced the Ban right there at the Smials, where the accused lived.

Woodruff feared, and rightly so, the effect of these rumours on Pimpernel should she hear them. She’d probably up and leave the Smials, determined to go to Woody End, and end up having the babe on the road somewhere along the way. The head healer arranged that the only hobbits to see Nell were herself and Mardi. Hard as the healers had tried to shield the children, they’d heard the talk. Woodruff did not want one of the little ones to let things slip by accident. Meadowsweet and Diamond watched over Nell’s children between them, with the added benefit that Diamond’s mind was taken off her own discomfort.

***

They were coming into the outskirts of Tuckborough. Pippin nodded to his steward. ‘Time to make the arrangements,’ he said. Reginard squeezed his legs against his pony, riding ahead of the group.

‘ “Bound was I carried off, bound and determined to return”,’ Tolly quoted softly to Ferdi, riding beside him.

‘Yes, but let’s hope this comes out better than that old story did,’ Ferdi returned. He winced and half lifted his bound hands as if to ease a pain.

 ‘Head again?’ Tolly murmured, but the Thain had seen the gesture as well and reined his pony in closer.

 ‘Ferdi? Is it your head?’ he asked.

 ‘I am well,’ Ferdi said, forcing his hands down. He looked to the Thain. ‘Pip, what’s this going to do to my Nell?’

 ‘Regi’s gone ahead to reassure Nell and Sweetie,’ Pippin said. ‘They’ll know what is to happen ahead of time.’

Ferdi nodded and winced again. Pippin noticed he was breathing rapid, shallow breaths and realised that Ferdi was fighting the nausea that accompanied his head pain when it was growing worse. He pulled his pony to a stop and the entire group halted.

 ‘Ferdi, perhaps we ought to get a litter and carry you in,’ he said seriously.

 ‘You jest!’ Ferdi said, sitting straighter in the saddle though the others could see the effort it cost him. ‘Bound, and carried in on a litter; why don’t you throw a shroud over me for the greatest effect!’

 ‘Ferdi,’ Pippin remonstrated.

 ‘No,’ Ferdi gritted. ‘We’re this close. Let’s just get it over with.’

 ‘Very well,’ Pippin said, seeing that this would be the fastest course towards getting his special assistant settled into a bed where he belonged. He loosened his reins and Socks moved out ahead of the group, increasing to a trot at the pull of stables and home.

Seeing two familiar Tooks riding bound and under escort back to the Smials was enough to stun the good hobbits of Tuckborough to silence. Before long, however, folk were pounding on doors, calling out to one another on the street, spreading the news as quickly as puffpenny seeds on a windy day. An ever-swelling crowd thronged the street, heading to the Smials to see what it all portended.

***

Nell was in a light sleep when she wakened to hushed voices at the door; Mardi was arguing with someone in a whisper. She turned over with difficulty, feeling a twinge in her belly, and somehow managed to gain a sitting position. ‘Regi?’ she said, rising unsteadily from the bed.

Mardi turned from the door in consternation. ‘Stay abed!’ he said.

Reginard slipped past him into the room. ‘Nell,’ he said, taking her hand. ‘Sit down a minute.’

‘What’s happened to Ferdi?’ she asked anxiously.

‘All is well,’ Regi said firmly. ‘Ferdi’s on his way home with the Thain, at this very moment.’

She sank back down on the bed with a sigh of relief. ‘It’s been so long since he sent word...’ she murmured.

’Nell,’ Regi said, ‘there’s something you have to know.’ He squeezed her hand reassuringly. ‘There was a bad misunderstanding, earlier, and Ferdi and Tolly were falsely accused.’

’Falsely...’ Nell said, suddenly wide-awake and completely alert. ‘Accused of what?’ she demanded.

’Accused of keeping the Thain’s son from him,’ Regi said soberly. ‘Actually, that part of it was true, but they were accused of intending harm to Farry.’

’They kept Farry from his father?’ Nell said, stunned. ‘My Ferdi?’ She was sick as she thought of the implications for herself and Sweetie. They had conspired to keep Diamond in ignorance, trying to help Ferdi and Tolly prevent a scandal.

’For the best of purposes,’ Regi said hastily. ‘Farry was determined to run away, and Ferdi was trying to get him to see reason.’

’You don’t reason with a ten-year-old,’ Nell said in exasperation. ‘Not when he’s being totally unreasonable.’

’That’s a part of the problem,’ Regi said. ‘No one’s taken the time to give Farry what he’s needed.’

’Ferdi’s given him a great deal of time!’ Nell snapped.

’Yes, and that’s all that saved us from disaster in this situation,’ Regi said. ‘That and the bite of a fox on Farry’s leg. It slowed him down long enough to listen to Ferdi, though stubborn as the lad is, I’m not sure it would’ve been enough. He might’ve insisted on running off anyhow... who knows what might’ve happened had the Thain not got word that his son was in the Woody End?’ He hesitated, but she’d hear the truth soon enough. ‘Seeing Ferdi and Tolly nearly banished brought the lad to his senses.’

Nell was not as shocked as he’d feared she’d be. She’d known the penalty the moment the steward had said the words “intending harm.” ‘I should hope it would,’ she said fervently. ‘And now they’re being returned, bound, I take it?’

Regi nodded. ‘You must stand witness to Ferdi’s release,’ he said. ‘Woodruff says you’re well enough.’

She sat up straight. ‘Of course I’m well enough,’ she said stoutly. Meadowsweet crossed from the doorway, where Mardi had kept her while he and Regi argued. ‘If you gentlehobbits will excuse me, I need to dress.’

 ‘I’ll help you, Nell,’ Meadowsweet said as Regi rose from the bed, bowed, and exited with the healer.

 Meadowsweet worked swiftly and, not usual for her, without speaking. ‘Sweetie? Your hands are trembling,’ Pimpernel said.

 ‘I am well,’ Meadowsweet said, finishing the last of the fastenings. ‘There,’ she added. ‘You’re dressed. A cloak, I think, and not just a shawl. I understand we’re to meet our husbands in the courtyard and it’s growing colder again.’

 ‘Another weather change,’ Pimpernel said. ‘Ferdi will not be at his best.’

 ‘Winter’s a difficult time for Tolly as well,’ Meadowsweet said absently. ‘Perhaps they ought to have gone on to Gondor anyhow – taking us with them, of course! I understand the climate there is mild.’

Pimpernel reached up to stay Meadowsweet’s hands on the clasp of her cloak. ‘Gondor?’ she said. ‘What do you mean?’ Rapidly Sweetie filled her in, telling her everything Regi had said. He’d arrived at the Great Smials, gone straight to the private quarters of the escort’s families, found Meadowsweet and given her a brief sketch of happenings, then gone to fetch Pimpernel.

 ‘So this is the release?’ Nell said. ‘You’re certain, Sweetie?’

 ‘Of course!’ Meadowsweet said. ‘Why else would the Thain bring them back here bound? If they’d been banished, they’d be in Bree by now, on the other side of the Bounds, waiting for us.’

 ‘You’re right, Sweetie, of course you are,’ Nell said.

 ‘The way the Talk is flying about the Smials, this is the only way for the Thain to make matters right,’ Meadowsweet continued.

Nell gave her a look of surprise, and then nodded. Of course, they’d been keeping the talk from her. She squared her shoulders. ‘Come, then,’ she said. ‘Let us go to greet our husbands.’