Chapter Fifteen

It was a crisp winter afternoon, the sort of day where one can hardly tell where the ground ends and the sky begins for the cold whiteness of the ground and the pale gray of the overcast sky. Frodo was walking in the now near colorless woods, where he had heard Linwe singing a little over a month before. As he walked he remembered the apprehension he had felt towards her, before that afternoon by the creek. Frodo smiled to himself as he remembered the sound of her sweet voice, so pure and gentle. Frodo was grateful now for that afternoon. I seemed as though relatively little had been said compared to what they had shared that day. Frodo still had the lingering sense that he knew Linwe, somehow, possibly from as far back as their childhood. Frodo and Linwe had spent a lot of time talking in the last several weeks and the one thing that had become clear was that they had never been in the same place at the same time. Frodo had given up trying to figure out why he felt what he did, he only wanted to enjoy Linwe’s company and friendship.

Since that November afternoon, which became more and more lovely every time Frodo thought of it, he and Linwe had got into the habit of taking walks together. Not everyday, there were days when Frodo wanted Sam’s company. Then there were days when painful memories were to near the surface and he felt the need to walk alone. Still the walks with Linwe were very dear to him. Sometimes they would talk at other times they found peace and contentment in silence. Unlike so many in the Shire, Linwe never urged him to tell what had happened on his journeys, she seemed to understood that it was all to painful for him to talk about, at least for now. Instead they talked of other things, books they had read, stories of the their childhood, mostly Frodo liked hearing all about Linwe.

Frodo was so lost in thought and was taken completely by surprise by a snowball that slammed into the left side of his head. He heard the sound of laughter coming from the same direction as the snowball. He turned in time to catch a glimpse of Linwe’s crimson cloak and long loose hair, flying out behind her as she ducked behind a tree. Frodo crept toward the tree, without making a sound and as he went he bent down and gathered snow shaping it into a ball. When he was about five feet from the tree, Linwe happened to peek around from behind the tree, she spotted Frodo, squealed and took off running. Frodo paused for only a moment, captivated by the image in front of him, Linwe running, her cheeks a rosy pink he had come to love, her hair that she refused to bind into braids or buns, streaming out behind her, in dark waves, lit up by touches of gold. The sound of her laughter brought him back into the present moment and he started to chase after her.

~~~~~

Sam had just finished cleaning out the stalls in the barn and was walking across the yard on the way to the house, when he heard the sound of hooves on the road, and stopped to see who was coming. Two riders turned into the Cotton farm. Sam smiled went forward to greet them. "Merry! Pippin! What are you doing here? I thought you would be with your families for Yule!"

"We’re on our way" said Pippin as the pair dismounted "but we wanted to stop and see how everything was coming along here and maybe share a bit of the season with you."

"That and I promised mother that I would stop by and see if Linwe wanted to come back to Brandy Hall for the holiday." Added Merry.

"Well let me help you get your ponies settled in the barn, then we can go into the house for a late afternoon tea. Rosie has been baking fruit cakes. I am sure for you two she will slice one of them early.

Sam lead Merry and Pippin to the barn and the three made quick work of settling the ponies and were soon headed back towards the house. "So tell us Sam, how is our cousin Linwe doing?" asked Merry

Sam smiled a gleam of pride for the cousin he shared with Frodo, "She’s just fine, as you would know if you had stopped in at all during the last month."

"Now Sam, we have been busy running the last of the ruffians out of the Shire." Merry said in defense of his and Pippin’s absence.

"More like you have been riding all over the Shire, in all of your finery, showing off for the lasses!" retorted Sam.

"Do you blame us?" said Pippin "Hasn’t your own Rosie admired you in your finery?"

"Well…" said Sam turning scarlet "that isn’t the point. You should stop in and visit with your own kin more, especially when you were given the responsibility to seeing after her comfort and well being."

Merry chuckled, "All right, Sam, let’s get in the house so that Pippin and I can live up to our responsibilities."

"I am afraid you will have to wait, because Linwe is not here at the moment."

"Well then where is she?" asked Merry

"She set out on a walk a little while ago, she most likely went after Mr. Frodo."

Merry and Pippin stopped and exchanged knowing looks. "Did she now?" asked Merry, "Tell us Sam, have Linwe and Frodo been spending a lot of time together?"

Before Sam could answer the conversation was interrupted by the sound of shrieks coming from the near by trees. The three of them turned just in time to see Linwe come running out of the trees, her hair and cloak flying out behind her.

"Sam! Sam! He’s after me!" Linwe called out as she ran towards the trio.

"Who’s after you?" called Sam just as Frodo came running out of the trees and paused to throw a snowball at Linwe. The missile grazed her shoulder causing her to squeal again. When she was within three feet of Merry another snowball came flying towards her, missed and hit Merry in the face.

"That tears it!" cried Merry as he grabbed up some snow and formed a ball of his own, then took off running after Frodo.

Linwe ran around to hide behind Sam and Pippin just as Frodo lobbed another snowball in her direction, this one hitting Pippin. "You will pay for that Frodo Baggins!" Yelled Pippin as he dove gleefully into the fight.

Linwe started throwing snowballs from behind Sam. Sam turned on Linwe, "You will not be dragging me into this, Linwe Taralom Gamwhiche!" Just then a well-aimed snowball shattered on Sam’s back, followed by the sound of laughter that Sam knew well. "Rosie Cotton!" sputtered Sam in surprise, just as Rosie let loose with another snowball, this one hitting Sam in the chest. Sam took off after Rosie.

The six-way snow battle went on for about half an hour then Merry called out "All right Frodo, who started this?"

"Linwe did. I was just walking along, minding my own business, when she attacked me!" gasped Frodo, who was finding laughing and running to be a chore.

" ‘Tis not true! He is lying!" protested Linwe through her own laughter.

"There seems to be just one way to handle this. Pippin, you get Linwe, and I will get Frodo!" Frodo and Linwe tried to run from Merry and Pippin, but they were already near spent from running through the woods, then the snow ball fight its self. Merry and Pippin also had the added advantage of longer legs so it was not long before Linwe and Frodo were over taken and tackled to the ground where they had judicious amounts of snow rubbed into their face and hair.

"Stop! Oh please stop!" cried Linwe

"We surrender!" gasped Frodo

"All right! That’s enough." Said Sam coming and dragging Merry and Pippin away.

Sam helped Frodo to his feet and Rosie assisted Linwe. "Let’s all get inside before we all catch our death." Said Rosie leading Linwe towards the house, both of them still giggling.

When they all trooped into the house, Mrs. Cotton took one look at the bedraggled bunch and could only shake her head as she went about starting to prepare hot tea for them all. The lads quickly changed into warm dry clothes, and returned to sit by the hearth in the common room where the Cotton family gathered for meals and to relax in the evening. In Rosie and Linwe’s room, Rosie got her cloak off then helped Linwe with her own, when Linwe found her hands too cold to be able to undo the toggles. When the cloak was finally off, Rosie saw that Linwe’s dress was mostly wet as well, and that Linwe was starting to shiver hard. "Oh Linwe! You are in a sorry state!" exclaimed Rosie "I don’t think just getting you into dry clothes will be enough, you need a bath to warm you."

"Don’t worry about me Rosie. I will be warm enough in al few minutes and your mother will need us to help her get dinner ready."

"Mother will agree with me. Now can you manage getting the lacing on your dress undone?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Well then hurry out of those wet clothes and get into this flannel dressing gown. I will go draw you a bath."

Fifteen minutes later Linwe was up to her neck in chamomile and lavender scented water. Rosie was sitting next to the tub on a cushioned stool. "Now be honest, Miss Linwe Taralom. Did you or did you not start that snowball fight?" Demanded Rosie.

Linwe giggled. "I can not lie, at least not to you, Rosie. I started the fight. I honestly do not know what came over me. I went out with the intention of meeting Frodo on his way back here, and walking the rest of the way with him. I saw him coming through the trees and he was so lost in thought that he did not see me. The next thing I knew I was hiding behind a tree waiting for him."

Rosie smiled and chuckled. "Oh Linwe! There are moments that I have a hard time remembering you are a grown lass, let alone that you are older than me." Rosie paused and smiling tenderly she said "You’re in love with him, aren’t you?"

"In love with who?" Said Linwe, trying her best to look puzzled.

"You know perfectly well of whom I speak of, Frodo Baggins!"

Becoming quite serious, Linwe said quietly. "Yes, I suppose I am."

"I think he is in love with you as well, you know." Rosie said gently.

"Maybe he is, Rosie, but he isn’t ready to be, or he isn’t ready to allow himself to be. He hurts too much. He has not talked to me of what happened on his journeys, but he was badly hurt. I’ve notice that Merry, Pippin, and Sam don’t say much either."

"I know." Sighed Rosie "Sam has told me a little more than what he has told everyone else, but I think it will be a while before I have heard all of it, that is if he chooses to tell me all of it."

"Have you noticed, that all four of them will have this haunted look come over them from time to time?" Linwe asked quietly.

Rosie sighed, "I have. I have known all four of them for most of my life it seems. I can see that they are not the same Hobbits that they were before they left. Frodo is quieter and more reserved. Sam is more out spoken but always worries for Frodo. Merry was never what I would call selfish, but he is far more thoughtful of the needs of those around him but there is a certain grimness that lies under that concern. In many ways it is Pippin who makes me the saddest, he was so young and innocent before they left, some would even say foolish, in a way the innocence is still there but it is tempered by wisdom far beyond his years and I hate to think how he might have gained such wisdom."

"The sadness never seems to leave Frodo’s eyes." Linwe said sadly. "Not entirely and never for long. And I think Frodo bears the weight of the other’s suffering as well as his own. They all voluntarily went with him, but he feels responsible."

"You are worried for him, aren’t you?"

"I am. Maybe it is my imagination, but I just have this feeling that Frodo was hurt far more than any of them let on. Like something deep within him was broken. I am not even all that sure that even Sam knows how deeply Frodo hurts." Linwe sighed, "But then I can’t be sure that I know all that much myself. I am only going by intuition and some possibly imagined pain in his eyes. I don’t really know him that well."

"I wouldn’t be so sure of that." Replied Rosie, "Dearest, you have this remarkable ability to understand people."

"I doubt that." Protested Linwe, feeling embarrassed by the way the conversation had turned.

"You just don’t see it, but it is true all the same. I have talked to many of the patients you looked after for Healer Burrows, and to Healer Burrows himself. One thing I heard from pretty much everyone was that you always seemed to know just how a person was feeling, and then how to bring relief to those that were hurting. Healer Burrows said that Milo Stillwater for all of his complaints of having considerable of pain, was never hurt all that badly. Healer Burrows was baffled as to what could be causing Milo such pain. You talked to Milo for a few minutes and figured out that Milo was deeply troubled by actually having killed one of those men. Milo is as gentle and kindly Hobbit who hates to see any living creature suffer and die. You saw what his problem was and you knew just the right thing to say and do to help him feel better. Giving him that orphaned lamb of ours to care for helped him get passed the killing he had been forced to do in his own defense. Linwe dear," Rosie said gently, "if there is anyone that can see the truth of Frodo’s heart I think it is you."