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A Small and Passing Thing  by Lindelea

 Very rough draft--my editor has not yet seen this. Therefore, this is subject to change. Comments welcome.

***

Chapter 70. Pause, and Full Stop

There was a general sigh as Sam fell silent. The fire popped and the log on the hearth split, sending up a shower of sparks.

’And that’s the end?’ Elanor said softly. ‘They lived happily for ever after?’

’O Ellie!’ Rose said. ‘It’s not as if it were a fairy tale; why, there were no dragons slain!’

’There were knights in shining armour,’ Fastred said, tapping out his pipe.

Sam stretched. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘it’s late, and I expect Leot and Rose will be herding their lambs back to Greenholm on the morrow.’

’Quite a little flock,’ Leot said, and hesitated. At Rose’s nod, he added, ‘and another due in the new year.’

’When?’ Sam said after the first shower of congratulations had fallen.

’Mid-summer, perhaps,’ Rose said with a pretty blush. ‘Or a little earlier, but wouldn’t it be grand to be born on Mid-year’s day and think all the celebrations were for you ever afterwards?’

’I think you ought to hold the babe to it,’ Fastred drawled. ‘It’s for his own good, after all.’

’Or hers,’ Rose said with a smile. ‘But I think we’ll let the little one decide when’s the best time to come, seeing as how it’s probably our last.’

’Do you have a name picked out?’ Sam asked. It bothered him to know he’d have a grandchild and not know its name. Of course, there would be more born, to Farry and Goldi, to the others, to Tolman and his new bride...

’Sam-Dad!’ Rose laughed. ‘However could we choose a name so far ahead of time, before we even meet the little mite and find out what sort of hobbit we have?’

Fastred looked grave, but smiled when he caught Ellie’s eye upon him. ‘Well,’ he said. ‘Better get these little ‘uns to bed now. Kiss your gran-dad, and give him your best hugs! He’s read his heart out to you, these past days, and you ought to pay him well for all his effort.’

Sam was caught in a flood of hugs and a veritable deluge of kisses, and he closed his eyes, the better to pleasurably drown in the feeling while it lasted. When he opened his eyes again, his wrinkled cheeks were wet with tears. ‘I love all of you more than I love my own life,’ he said quietly. ‘You are my treasure, you know. Don’t ever forget that.’

’O gran-dad!’ Elfstan laughed. ‘As if we won’t see you at Yule in Bag End!’

’Stan,’ Fastred reproved. Life is uncertain, his look said. Your Grand-ma Rose is gone, after all, and we’ll never see her at another Yule. Elfstan ducked his head, but raised his face resolutely to apologise.

’No harm done,’ Sam said, with another hug for his eldest grandchild. ‘My you’re growing tall!’ he added. ‘You’ll be married, with your own brood, before we know it.’

’If you had just one piece of advice to offer them, what would it be?’ Leot asked suddenly, his arm tightening about Rose. Fastred met his gaze, and he nodded slightly.

Sam’s face crinkled in a smile. ‘Make the most of all the days that are given you, and always count your blessings,’ he said. ‘Easy enough to say.’

’But wait!’ young Tolman said. ‘You haven’t told us who finished the writing yet!’

’Haven’t you guessed?’ Sam said.

’You said it wasn’t Mr Merry,’ Lily said slowly. ‘And you said you only did a little.’

’It was Mr Freddy,’ Sam said after a pause with no more guesses, and there was a chorus of disbelief.

’How could it be, with him being gone more than ten years!’ Frodo-lad said.

’You did say that Ruby found these pages “the other day”,’ Elanor reminded Sam.

Sam laughed. ‘Ah, Ellie!’ he said. ‘I’m that sorry to have misled you. It seems like just the other day, for the years go by as fast as days when you’re as old as I am... it must have been more like fifteen or twenty years ago, before Mr Freddy left for Gondor with all his family and Budgie’s besides.’

’Sailed away on a ship, never to be seen again,’ Lily sighed romantically.

’Well, not quite that way, lass,’ Sam said. ‘He didn’t sail over the Sea, but down the Brandywine in one of the King’s ships, more like.’

’Probably alive and well in the White City,’ Fastred said.

’No doubt,’ Sam answered. ‘We’ve heard naught to the contrary, any road.’ He opened the cover of the Red Book, riffling through the pages once more, stopping occasionally to look at a picture or phrase, then closed the book firmly and placed it on the shelf. ‘There,’ he said. ‘There’s even a place for it, just as if you’d been waiting for it.’

’We were hoping for a copy someday,’ Elanor said. ‘Tolman promised to write one out for us. He’s a fine hand at draughting, and I was astounded at the fine copies he was making of the illustrations.’

’As it is, he’s written out a copy for Bag End,’ Sam said, ‘and is starting to make a copy for Greenholm...’

’That’s good news,’ Leot said, and Rose added her agreement.

’But...’ Sam said, and stopped.

’What is it, Sam-dad?’ Elanor said.

’Let us wait until the children are abed,’ Sam answered, and would say no more. He went about the smial, tucking each of the grandchildren into their beds, taking the time to kiss each cheek and to lay a blessing upon each forehead.

When he returned to the parlour, the fire had been mended and Elanor had poured out brandy for all the adults save Rose, who sipped cider instead. ‘The Hall’s finest!’ she announced. ‘Care of the Master of Buckland.’

’To Meriadoc the Magnificent!’ Sam said, raising his glass. The others cried, ‘Hear! Hear!’ and joined him in the toast.

’To Peregrin the Bold!’ Fastred contributed.

’To Samwise the Brave!’ Leot said with a smile, remembering a conversation in the Red Book.

When these two toasts had been drunk, Sam raised his glass once more. ‘To Frodo,’ he said simply, and all drank after a thoughtful pause.

’What was it you wanted to talk to us about, Dad?’ Elanor said as they put their glasses down.

Sam started. ‘What, eh? Ellie?’ he said. ‘I’m sorry, I got lost in a thought.’ He looked puzzled a moment, then his face cleared and he said, ‘O yes, I remember.’

’What was it, Dad?’ Rose said.

’That lost part is so dark,’ Sam said at last. ‘So very dark. I’m not sure Mr Merry would approve of the descriptions of hanging and torture. There was a lot he left out of his account, he and Mr Pippin...’

’And a lot you left out, and Mr Frodo as well,’ Ellie said softly.

’Yes, Ellie,’ Sam said. ‘I kept these pages out, kept them hidden away for years after Mr Freddy sent them back to me, finished. I’d found them, you know, and read them over, and thought he’d like to see them. I never thought he’d finish the story and send it back to me, but he did!’

’He must have thought them important,’ Fastred said.

’Well, they do tell much more of Mr Freddy’s story than ended up in the Red Book,’ Sam responded. ‘After all, Mr Frodo was ill when he wrote the last part, and it must have disheartened him to have written it out once already and lost it. He wrote as much as he was able, though it wasn’t much, compared to what was lost.’

’You kept them out...’ Elanor prompted.

’Yes, that’s right, Ellie, I kept them out. They’re not in the copy at Bag End, and so they won’t be in any copies made from that book. Tolman hasn’t even seen them; I pasted them into the Red Book after he’d finished making his copy.’ He took a deep breath and added, ‘And I’m tempted to cut them out again, and throw them on the fire, but for all the work Mr Frodo and Mr Freddy put into them.’

’O no, Dad, don’t!’ Rose cried instinctively, and Elanor nodded with a sober face.

’No,’ Fastred said firmly. ‘Let us not throw away our history. We know from our own experience that Men’s hearts tend towards evil,’ he added. ‘But let us not throw out the record for fear of the tainting of hobbit hearts.’ He looked intently at Sam. ‘D’you think we’ve been spoiled by the hearing?’

’You’re much too sensible for that, I hope,’ Sam said.

Fastred nodded. ‘You’re right,’ he said stoutly. ‘We’ll keep it from the younger children, of course, until they’re of an age to understand and reject the wrong.’

’Good,’ Sam said. ‘I leave it in your hands. I’m too old and tired to make such a decision, anyhow.’

’Then why not seek your bed, Dad,’ Elanor said softly. ‘I tucked a few hot bricks in whilst you were saying good-bye to the children... I mean, “good night”,’ she corrected herself in a rush, with a blush for her blunder.

’I’ll do that,’ Sam said. He hugged each of his beloved children in turn, Rose, her sturdy Leotred; Fastred, capable Warden of Westmarch, and finally, his Ellie.

’Greet Mr Frodo for me,’ she whispered in his ear. He put her away, looked long into her face, smiled, and nodded.

In the morning when the Fairbairns arose, he was already gone.

***

The excitement of the arrival was behind them, the bustle of unloading the ship left to ageless elves. The elderly hobbits had wandered hand-in-hand from the quay and now sat beneath the shade of a golden-leafed tree, sipping a refreshing drink, catching up on news—o so much news to tell! Years, it would take, to tell it all...

’He named his firstborn “Frodovar”? Frodo laughed in astonishment.

‘You should have heard the Bolgers!’ Sam chuckled. ‘But then, of course, it smoothed the way for “Merivar” and “Perevar” to follow.’

’Did it?’ Frodo said. ‘I wonder!’

’Mr Freddy could not quite convince Mistress Mellie to name Perevar “Pippivar”, try as he might,’ Sam added, and Frodo laughed again, loud and long.

’A fine sound,’ a voice said above them, and they looked up to see the Lady Galadriel smiling upon them. ‘The welcoming feast is laid,’ she added, ‘and lacks only one thing.’

’And what is that, my Lady,’ Frodo said politely, as he and Sam rose and bowed. She held out a hand to each, smiling from one face to another.

’Can you not guess?’ she laughed. ‘The guest of honour, of course!’

’Then we must supply one, indeed!’ Frodo said cheerily. ‘Are you with me, Sam?’

Sam took Galadriel’s other hand. ’Coming, Mr Frodo,’ he said.





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