[Encaitare]

Reggie didn't know why Rory was being so distrustful. He knew that there were people in the world who were more subtle than the Big Folk they had encountered, people who would get you to trust them before tricking you. The worst experience he'd had with this, though, was just when some of his cousins, very mischievous people, had told him that the strangest fish they'd ever seen was swimming lazily in the Brandywine, and if he leaned over the water just a little further then he'd be able to see it. Of course, they'd pushed him in, and though it was all in good fun he'd learned to be a little more wary. Yet there was a benevolent look in Gandalf's eyes which made Reggie trust him immediately, almost as if it seemed to him that the old man was incapable of actually telling a lie.

"Of course he's who he says he is!" Reggie insisted, eagerly climbing down into the ravine. "Who else would be able to blow smoke rings like that? And who else would leave medicine for Bingo?"

"He's no ruffian, that's for sure," said Marroc.

"Indeed I am not!" said Gandalf. "Now, young Master Brandybuck--" here, all the hobbits (except Sassy) wondered if he was addressing them until he continued, "--let's have a look at your side."

Bingo obligingly lifted up the side of his shirt. A mottled bruise marked the flesh over his ribs, but when Gandalf kneeled and gently prodded the area Bingo did not wince. "It is, as I thought, broken," Gandalf announced, rising. "You seem to be mending nicely, though. There is certainly no need to lie down and die!" At this he chuckled, making Reggie feel lighter at heart.

"Thank you for helping us, sir," he said earnestly. His brother was going to be alright, and they were all going to get out of this awful forest in one piece -- hopefully rib included.