[Mithadan]

Chapter III

A SUMMONS FROM THE THAIN

The next morning, Elediriel awoke to the bright sunshine streaming in her deep-set bedroom window. There were only a few rooms in the little hole, but it had been built with care and was still snug and dry. Her bed was comfortable and she just lay there awhile, listening to the singing of the robin just outside and the sound of her old mother, humming and singing to herself over the stove. Bacon was sizzling and Ellie could smell it along with her mother's mushrooms stuffed with sweet herb butter. Fresh bread was in the oven and coffee was in the kettle. She threw off her covers and hurried to wash up so that she would be ready for breakfast while it was still fresh and hot!

The dear old girl always cooked too much, trying to feed up her pale, thin daughter. Ellie would sometimes forget all about food, if she had a new book she had borrowed, or one she had borrowed again after a long while. Still, this particular morning, it was a good thing that Mrs. Cotton had cooked so much because just as they had poured the coffee, and before they sat down to eat, there came a sharp knocking on the door. It was an Official Four Knocks such as the Sheriffs might use!

Sure enough, it was a Sheriff, Caractacus Boffin, or Cracky as everyone called him. He was a decent old fellow from the Southfarthing and was always as helpful as could be and his word was trustworthy. In fact, if word of some happening was said to have come "by Cracky," it was accepted as a fact. Now, here he was himself, rapping Officially on their door at Breakfast Time!

Mrs. Cotton opened the little round door and there the old sheriff stood, looking a little uncertain. He asked to come in and have a word, especially with Miss Elediriel. The mother hobbit kindly invited Cracky to have some breakfast with them and he lost his uncertainty and sat to the delicious meal heartily.

"Mrs. Cotton, I won't deny I'm a hungry hobbit!" he said between big mouthfuls of bacon and mushroom. "Do you know that I was rousted out of bed in the wee hours of the morning by the Thain himself! I've walked a long way on a slack stomach and this is sure a blessing!"

"The Thain!" mother and daughter exclaimed together. "What does he want with me?" Ellie squeaked.

"Let him be, child," Mrs. Cotton said. "We can finish breakfast first!"

"That's all right Mrs. Cotton," said the Sheriff, putting down his fork. "I shouldn't have sat down without getting to it right away, but your cooking smelled so good and I was so hungry! Anyway, I was sent all the way here by Thain Peregrin to bring Miss Elediriel back to the Great Smials with me."

"Goodness gracious!" cried Mrs. Cotton. "Whatever for?"

"Don't take on so!" said old Cracky. "I'm sure it's nothing too serious. He said it had to do with the incident last night in the Green Dragon. He said she was to come with me first thing and I've only just got here. I don't know any more than that, but he didn't seem angry or out of sorts. Rather like it was some game. Now, that ain't official, but I shouldn't worry. He seemed right pleased he did." The grey-headed sheriff took another bite and said, "but you didn't hear that from me! These are mighty good, Mrs. Cotton!"

They finished breakfast pleasantly and Mrs. Cotton insisted on doing the washing up and shooed the old sheriff and her daughter out of the hole and down the road. Elediriel carried her manuscripts, for she thought in the back of her mind, or she hoped, that this would have something to do with her poem! Her last memory of her father was of him reading poems to her when she was just a tiny wee lassie on his knee. She always wanted her poems to be special to someone. But she was a sensible hobbit girl and told herself that it probably had nothing really to do with her except as a witness to a fight. She sighed as they tramped along the beaten path into the rolling hills and pleasant lands of the Tooks.

They finally walked over the last hill and saw it, the Great Smials. What met their view was a long broad hill, massive, though not very tall, its surface regularly marked with round openings for windows and doors, its rounded top covered with pleasant gardens and lanes of trees.

Centuries ago, nearly the entire hill had been excavated and refilled to cover the series of connecting tunnels, rooms, and halls that had housed the great families of the Took clans, particularly the central Took family itself. It had served them as a stronghold in the War and was the heart of freedom in the Shire. The Thain always held a position of respect, and now that the King had returned, was reinvested with authority and responsibility for maintaining the peace and the roads and the liberty of the Shire.

Thain Peregrin was a personal friend of Good King Strider and one of the three living heroes of the Shire, leading the Tooks into battle to free the Shire back in 1419. He was old and venerable now, but still tall and strong with the same irrepressible nature tempered with the wisdom of many years. Ellie said goodbye to old Cracky at the great front door and went inside. She was expected. A middle-aged hobbit lady looked down her nose at the lass and asked her name. Upon hearing it, she only said, "Follow me" with a disapproving tone and led her down a long high tunnel to the very end on the other side of the hill. Behind a great round door was the Hall of the Tooks.

Seated on a chair behind a desk, with a rather large open window behind him, was Peregrin Took, Right Thain of the Shire, bending low over the desk, arm wrestling both of his grandsons, Turry and Furry, at the same time, one on each hand. Madrigal caught Ellie's eye and they smiled the smile that girls will smile when boys are being boys. The hobbit matron who led Ellie to the chamber officiously cleared her throat and announced, "Miss Elediriel Cotton is here." Having done this, she turned on her stout heel and stumped back down the hall.

"Miss Cotton! I'll... be... just a moment," said the old Thain, straining with great exertion. The two boys were more than he had bargained for. The old hobbit had clenched his eyes shut with the strain and was turning a bright red. The twins looked at one another and reached a silent agreement. All at once, the Thain began to overcome them and then with all his might, drove their arms to the desk. "Ha HA!" cried old Pippin in triumph.

He was puffing and blowing and mopping his face. The boys just grinned and praised the old fellow for his amazing strength. Maddie rolled her eyes and Ellie smiled despite herself. When he had settled down and had a glass of water, the old grandfather put aside merriment and as if pulling on a jacket, changed his demeanour, and was suddenly the Thain of the Shire.

"Now!" he said. The tweens grew serious as he looked hard at them. "I want an explanation for what happened last night." Many long silent moments passed. "Turgon," he said, "you are, I believe, the eldest in this room, save myself. Speak up!"

"Are you asking about The Green Dragon?" Turry asked in response.

"Didn't Faramir teach you not to answer the questions of your elders with questions? Of course I'm talking about The Green Dragon! Everyone is talking about The Green Dragon! I've already heard from Mayor Sandyman down in Hobbiton. He says the four of you attacked young Ned and battered him senseless! What have you got to say for yourselves?"

"He was senseless before he ever walked in!" cried Furry. The Thain stifled a smile and sternly continued.

"I'll have none of your sauce young hobbit! Since the two of you are unresponsive, I'll deal with you later. Miss Brandybuck! What part did you play in all of this?"

The pretty hobbit lass turned a pretty pink, but looked the Thain in the eye and said, "I gave Ned Sandyman what he was asking for, that's all."

The Thain scowled at her and turned his glare upon Ellie, who shrank before him. "And you, Miss Cotton! I hear this is all your fault! Perhaps you would care to explain yourself?"

Ellie felt as if everything was caving in. But she saw her friends sneaking smiles and winks at her, and she was reminded that the Thain was certainly a Good Person if ever there was one, or nothing else she had learned was true. She set aside her doubts and fears and found courage somewhere deep within. The shy girl said to him then, "I wrote a poem for Master Samwise. Mr. Sandyman didn't like it. Turgon and Fingon told him to take his words back. Then..." Ellie noticed the boys looking a little anxious. She didn't want to embarrass them by telling how they had fallen all over themselves!

"Then," she continued, "he turned around and Madrigal let him have it!"

"Let him have what?" the Thain asked impatiently.

"What he was asking for!" she answered impertinently, perhaps for the first time in her life! All the tweens began laughing but stopped short when Peregrin slammed his big gnarly fist down on the desk, making them all jump.

"QUIET! I see no other choice! I find that you are all guilty of disturbing the peace and of assaulting a merchant in a public gathering. It is my solemn duty now as Thain of the Shire to pronounce sentence."

The twins began to protest. They had done nothing wrong! Maddie chimed in that Sandyman had it coming, everyone saw it, and Ellie even piped up that Ned had no right saying the things he had said and that...

"QUIET! QUIET!" roared the Thain fiercely, smashing the desk twice with his big right hand, making all the knickknacks, brickabrack, and dust catchers jump and rattle. Had the old hobbit lost his senses? Would he throw them in the old Lockholes, reserved only for the most incorrigible? He continued now in an official tone as a judge condemns the most heinously guilty criminal.

"Your sentence, Elediriel Cotton, as instigator of the incident at the Green Dragon Inn, in Bywater, the evening of September 22nd, 1483, is exile for an indefinite term from the Shire until the payment of your debt to society be deemed by me to be paid in full.

"Your sentences, Turgon and Fingon Took, as aiders and abettors of general mayhem, disrupters of the peace, and destroyers of private property, is to accompany Elediriel Cotton in exile until her sentence is served.

"Your sentence, Madrigal Brandybuck, as perpetrator of the act of assault, shall likewise be exile with Elediriel Cotton for as long as I shall deem."

The young hobbits for once sat utterly stunned and for the first time actually believed that the addled old hobbit was serious and that a severe and unjust punishment had been decreed. From behind them came the sound of hearty laughter. There stood another tall old hobbit, as tall as the Thain himself, if not taller. His big hands gripped his broad (and rather extensive) belt as he stood there in his amusement.

"Grandfather!" cried Maddie, with great surprise and relief, and ran and threw her arms around old Meriadoc Brandybuck, Master of Buckland and friend of the Thain.

"You're late, Merry! Sleeping in?" asked old Pippin.

"And what if I was?" old Merry retorted. "It was a late night. It's still early in the day for terrorizing young tweens, isn't it, Pippin?"

"Duty calls. But, now it's the call of second breakfast I hear! Let's go down to the dining hall and see what we can find!" Merry and Pippin started off and each of the four young hobbits cried out with some variation on the question, "what about us?"

"What about you?" asked old Pippin. "You're exiles now! I expect you will want to go to Rivendell."

"Rivendell!" cried Turry and Furry at once.

"Should we really let them go by themselves?" asked Merry.

"You're right. They would be sure to cause all kinds of havoc and the King would hold us responsible," Pippin agreed.

"Well, if we're responsible, we'd best go with them," Merry observed.

"Yes, I guess you're right again, Merry. Old responsible hobbits do not shirk their duty," Pippin pronounced solemnly as the two old war-horses walked out the door. "The four of you had best come along so we can discuss what to do with you," he called back, offhandedly. They rushed as one through the broad door and followed the old hobbits, pelting them with questions, until the aging gallants had to laugh and decided not to drag it out any longer.

They found coffee and apple juice and hot honey cakes and tubs of butter and bottles with different fruit syrups set out for them and so they all sat around the table, digging in. Still, even the fine products of the little bakery in the Great Smials did not keep the tweens' mouths so occupied that they could not continue their questioning.

"Now you've had your fun, Grandfather," said Madrigal, starting to get a little cross. "What's going on? Are we really going to Rivendell? Why?"

"Yes, you ARE going to Rivendell," Merry answered, around a buttered bite of honey cake dripping with blueberry syrup. "And to many other places besides, I expect."

"But why?" cried Turry and Furry together.

"Because the King has sent word asking that a Delegation of Hobbits be chosen to serve as Emissaries to deliver an Important Message to the Master of the Beornings, to King Bain, to King Thorin, and to King Thranduil. He shall tell us all 'Why' when we reach Rivendell!" said Pippin. "And that's really all we know." And as if he were merely discussing a new secret fishing hole in the Northfarthing, he popped another bite of honey cake in his mouth and reached for his coffee.

"But why me?" asked Ellie. She could understand Turgon and Fingon being chosen, for they were the old Took's grandsons, and Sam's too, and Madrigal was a granddaughter of Meriadoc. Ellie was only one of many great-grandnieces of the famous families and considered herself the least among them.

Pippin put down his fork and looked kindly at her. "Master Samwise thought very highly of you. A year and a day ago he told me, 'Look after young Miss Elediriel when I'm gone. Someone needs to take care of the old stories and tales and make sure they're remembered.' That's what he said, and after I heard that poem of yours last night, I was sure old Sam had it right. And perhaps you'll take even better care of them if you get to meet some of the great folk Mistress Elanor has put you to work writing about. And don't worry about your mother, Mrs. Cotton. I've already made certain she'll lack for nothing, while you're gone. Now let me finish eating," the old fellow said, and gave his plate serious attention before he teared up in front of the tweens. Pippin really was a very sentimental hobbit.

"How did you hear that poem? We didn't see you there," cried Turry.

"But we saw you!" said Merry. "And a word of advice to the two of you," he said to the boys, "mind you don't let Maddie do ALL your fighting for you! But you might let Ellie do your rhyming!"

They all laughed at this, but Ellie started thinking. "It was the elven cloaks of Lothlorien! You were the grey shadows I thought I saw!"

"We leave Brandy Hall in three days," said Merry, ignoring the girl's speculation.

"I expect you'll want to pack and let your folks see you off!" said Pippin.

The young hobbits started excitedly talking to one another, planning what they would take and what they would need, and occasionally even asking the old campaigners for their advice. Soon enough, their second breakfast was done and the elder hobbits bid the tweens farewell until they met at Brandy Hall. The girls said goodbye to the twins and left for Ellie's hole. Maddie had her own little yellow pony; a small mare named Cider. In fact, Maddie was the only girl in the Shire who rode a pony and she did much else besides that other hobbit lasses, as a rule, did not. She could shoot a bow and use a sling as well as any hobbit lad, though she had never killed anything with it. Maddie was a proficient rider on her spirited little pony, but this was first time in her life that Ellie was going to ride on the back of one of the beasts!

Maddie laughed, and told her she would have to get used to that, if they were going all the way to the Lonely Mountain and back! Cider was a sweet-tempered pony, gorgeous with her dark mane and spotless shining yellow coat: sturdy and strong and spirited she was! She made no fuss at all about carrying the two young hobbit lasses on her broad little back, for Maddie often rode with a friend this way. Cider proudly wore a fine wool blanket and a polished, brown leather saddle and reins that jingled with several tiny silver bells, a gift from the Master of Buckland, himself! She was the best little pony in all the hobbit lands, and well she knew it! (Why, Maddie told her so everyday!) Ellie sighed and thought of how magnificent life must be as a Brandybuck.

Then away they went! How the wind blew past! Ellie tightly clutched Maddie to keep from falling off and she just laughed and urged Cider to greater speed. She neighed proudly and showed Ellie what she could do! They tore off down the lane as if late for supper! The wind of their passing mingled Elediriel's fine blonde hair in a stream with Madrigal's long brown curls. The long walk to the Great Smials that morning, became a ride that was over too soon for Ellie, when they stopped in a cloud of dust before the humble hole she called home.

The girls alit from the pony's back and stroked her and petted her and told her what a fine pony she was. They took off her saddle and reins, got her some water (not too much, too quickly!) and let her graze in the lush grass near Ellie's hole. They went in and found Mrs. Cotton starting to fix lunch and Ellie introduced her mother to her new friend. Mrs. Cotton continued cutting vegetables and listened as Ellie and Maddie excitedly told the old widow the happy news.

But Mrs. Cotton started weeping. Just then, Ellie really realized that going also meant leaving! She burst into tears herself at the thought of leaving her old mother all alone and she started to promise her that she didn't have to go anywhere and would never leave her. But before Ellie could say more, the old widow put down her knife and vegetables and hugged her daughter close. Madrigal had to turn and wipe a tear away herself.

Mrs. Cotton told the weeping girl to dry her tears and told her that this was the happiest day of her life and told her that she always knew Elediriel was meant for more a poor little hole in the Shire. She stroked her daughter's straight blonde hair and told her that she loved her and that she had plenty to do to keep her days busy and that she would just wait for Ellie to return. Maybe with a husband!

The three hobbit women, young and old together, all laughed at this and their tears were the dew of happiness.




Chapter IV

WHERE MANY PATHS AND ERRANDS MEET

Maddie stayed with Ellie and Mrs. Cotton for a night and a day and with the next dawn the two girls set out together on Cider for Maddie's home in Buckland. They laughed and talked merrily as the yellow pony trotted east. Ellie's mother stood there long, watching them until they were out of sight. Then the old widow broke down and wept again as she had not since Odo had died, though she did not weep with bitterness. The dear old thing would miss her daughter terribly, but in her unselfish way, was also happy to see her ride off into the sunrise of a better life than she had known. Finally, she smiled, sighed sadly and went back to the routines of her gardening, and her sewing, and the many little things she did for the neighbouring hobbits that made them love her so.

It was a lovely autumn day among those happiest of days in the memory in the Shire. The girls rode past the cultivated fields, the hedge-lined roads, the flower gardens, the fruited orchards, the teeming fishponds, the rich pastures, and of course, the merry people of the land themselves. Since the days of their grandfolks, the little crossings had become villages through the years, and what were villages became towns, but still the burgeoning population of hobbitry had carefully planned and consulted with one another as their numbers grew. No hasty ugly structures had been permitted. The little cottage industries of the hobbit families were run with care, so that there was little waste, and uses were found for everything. The hobbits lived in a remarkable harmony with the land of the Shire.

After the Battle of 1419, the folk of the Shire were determined not to let their little country ever become what Sharkey and his Men had tried to make it. Only recently had some folk like Ned Sandyman started talking of expanded trade with the Big People out there. Most folk appreciated a wee bit of this, but were determined that they would not be ruled by it nor have their Shire changed because of it.

In the days when their grandparents were young, there had been something of a revival of hole building in the Shire. Some said it was due to disgust with the buildings Sharkey had built, but for whatever the reason, holes were in and houses were out, especially as a populous new generation of hobbits came of age and discovered the efficiency of the old ways. Even if there weren't a hillside, they would dig down just a little ways into a field and then use the excavated soil to raise small mounds of grass-covered earth over a snug little single family hole. These green mounds were planted with little gardens of flowers and herbs and shrubs. The holes had become numerous, in fact, few new ones were allowed to be dug, and folks were encouraged to go west to the new lands King Elessar had granted from the west of the Shire all the way to the Tower Hills (one of the reasons he was called "Good King Strider" by much of the hobbitry). Still, it was very pleasant to look upon the cultivations and habitations of the Shire as Cider trotted easily by.

Though Maddie and Ellie started early, they arrived late at the bridge over the Brandywine River. Turry and Furry were already there waiting for them. On their backs were the slender bows of the Tooks, fashioned it was said, like the great bows of the elves. Ellie thought they looked fine and handsome on two black ponies that looked as much alike as the Twins! No one but the Twins remembered what they had originally named their little steeds, for soon enough they were called Lightning and Thunder respectively, if only for the speed and the sound of their hoofs as they galloped together through the countryside. They were the fastest and grandest ponies in the Shire and well they knew it! (Why, Turry and Furry told them so everyday! But Cider was not impressed. Thunder and Lightning might be fast, but she had just run all day carrying TWO of her friends and she wasn't tired a bit. She nickered proudly to let them know just that.) Soon they were all off at a merry trot for Brandy Hall, ancestral home of the Brandybuck clan.

The tweens made sure that the ponies were well stabled and watered and fed for the night and then went off themselves to find hot baths and hot suppers. And they didn't care which they got first! Madrigal's mother made sure it was the baths.

Brandy Hall was a very large collection of tunnels and passages, older even than the Great Smials of the Tooks. Hot water was ready and baths were had by all in various places. There were rooms for baths, and rooms for kitchens, and rooms for dining, and rooms for sleeping, and rooms for teaching, and rooms for washing, and rooms for storage, and rooms for work and play of all sorts. It had been enlarged and improved through the years, and was almost like a small village by itself.

Here, the Master of Buckland lived, Meriadoc the Magnificent. He was the head of the clan and he looked it! When he had a mind to, he could do prodigious deeds with plate and cup, and none had ever out-drank him. He had a loud and hearty laugh that could set folks around him laughing almost in spite of themselves. The old fellow was taller (and broader) and stronger than every other hobbit in the Hall, but for all his size and girth, was still nimble and light on his feet and loved wrestling and martial sports of all kinds, as long as they were strenuous and challenging. This would be amazing enough in itself, but the fellow was a century old if he was a day and did not look over seventy! For all that, he had a keen mind and was one of the best masters Brandy Hall had had since it's first excavation long, long ago.

He was in the great hall of Brandy Hall, at his table, smoking a pipe and pouring himself another large cup from a great flagon of wine, and he was watching for them. He called from across the room for them to join him. The room was large for a hobbit hole, but trunks of trees rose from the floor and their branches met and were joined in arches to support the timbers that held the heavy roof of soil and sod high overhead. It was now common for orchards of shaped timbers to be grown for support structures in smaller holes. But these massive old trees were actually found by the original builders of Brandy Hall, and brought from diverse places in the Old Forest, chosen for their size and for the shape and placement of their limbs, not for convenience in harvesting and transporting. The bark had been removed and the great trunks and limbs were carved with wooden leaves and flowers and they were richly coloured with long age. It was magnificent! Ellie had never seen anything like it, though she had heard others tell of it.

Thain Peregrin, Old Pippin, was already there; indeed, he had arrived the day before, setting out the day before that and spending the previous night at the Golden Perch.

The tweenagers hurried over to the head-table where Master Meriadoc held forth. Old Merry was living up to his nickname that night and all were merry with him. Ellie caught herself nodding off and looked up sheepishly to see if anyone had noticed. Maddie had, and with a reassuring smile and wink for her shy new friend, all was well with the world.

Maddie's mother finally insisted they all be off to their beds since the day would start early, and some hobbits had already had more cheer than was good for them. She was looking sternly at Turry and Furry when she said this. Thain Peregrin had already bid them all a good night.

"Not at all!" cried old Merry. "Why, strapping young hobbits like this turning in early? It's the shank of the evening!"

"It's after midnight," said Mrs. Brandybuck, his daughter-in-law. "And if I may say so, you've had as much as is good for a hobbit your age as well!"

"Then as much more will be all the better!" he roared, laughing. "What d'you say, boys?"

The twins, of course, could hardly refuse to stay up at least a little later, but Maddie knew better than to thwart her mother's good advice. She and Ellie bid the twins and old Master Merry a good night and were asleep almost before their heads hit their respective pillows.

Madrigal's mother was a wise hobbit and certainly knew what she was talking about. The next morning, the Sun seemed to have raced with extra speed through the Night. She took a special delight in beaming her rays down hard and bright as she rose steadily in her course across the sky. The birds in the trees and bushes must have also found this irritating, since they chattered and cried with especially loud chirps.

At least, that is how it seemed to Turry and Furry, stumbling in the morning light just after dawn. Merry had left them identically sleeping in their own drool at the table, and awakened them none too gently with his hearty laughter the next morning.

The servants of Brandybuck Hall had their horses and provisions ready and the party was waiting for the twins. Ellie and Maddie were already seated on Cider. Thunder and Lightning champed impatiently, waiting to get underway. Thain Peregrin was seated on his fine pony and Master Meriadoc was laughing loudly at the boys, as they clumsily took saddle.

"Why doesn't he feel like this?" asked Furry, miserably.

"My head, my head," was the only answer that Turry could give.

Madrigal whispered to Ellie, "This is going to be a fun ride!"

Ellie giggled.

And with that they were off. Merry and Pippin took the lead, followed by Maddie and Ellie riding Cider. They had the leads of the packhorse tied to their saddle and all their baggages were placed upon it. Turry and Furry rode Lightning and Thunder, and they felt like it with each step of their hooves on the hard-packed road.

Old Pippin at least seemed sleepy, but roused as they made their way up the road, passing the orderly homes and shops that clustered along the Brandywine in the Buckland. It was still early, and few folks were out, but those who were never failed to call out a cheerful, "Good Morning, Master Merry!" Peregrin and Meriadoc had often been seen riding together through the long years, and none seemed to have forgotten that day long ago when they rode together (with some other hobbits) to the rescue of the Shire long ago.

At last they reached the bounds of Buckland and the gate that was maintained across the road to Bree. They were greeted by the gatekeepers, two hobbits, one young and one old, whose jobs it was to maintain what passed for a guard into hobbit lands.

"Master Merry! Thain Pippin!" said old Tubby Burrows, with a high cracking voice. "What brings you out this morning?"

"We're off to Bree, and then to Rivendell, and then who knows!" cried Merry. "Keep the gate well until we return, my good hobbits!"

"That we will!" said young Digger Hardbottle, who took his work seriously. "Come back safe now!"

"One last thing!" said Pippin. "Mark well these young rascals, for we are conducting them into exile and they may not return until I have deemed that they are worthy to return!" This earned the old Thain a strange look from the tweens, but he enjoyed his little jest all the same.

And so the young hobbits passed with their elders out into the great lands that lay beyond the Shire, were there were few hobbits other than in Bree. Ellie suddenly felt butterflies in her stomach, both hoping and fearing that something adventurous might happen.

They stopped soon after leaving the inhabited lands, which were much more extensive than in the days of their youth, Merry and Pippin agreed. But there was still plenty of wilderness before they would reach Bree. The twins were glad of the stop, and sucked greedily at the water skins.

"If you'll wait a bit, we can start a fire and I'll make you some tea or coffee," Ellie volunteered helpfully.

"Ugh," said Turry.

"Ulp," said Furry. They both looked a little ill at the thought.

"No time for that!" cried Pippin. "Just time enough for a quick second breakfast and then off again!"

"Second breakfast!" moaned Turry and Furry together.

"We didn't get the first one!" added Furry.

"I'm not sure I want the second one," observed Turry.

"Well, you'd better eat something," said Maddie. "If you'd come to bed at a reasonable hour, and weren't trying to out-drink Grandfather, you could have been better rested and better fed."

"You sound like your mother," grumbled Furry.

"And what's wrong with that?" said Maddie, menacingly.

"Uh... Nothing," said Furry. "Nothing at all. You're right, of course, but you don't have to rub it in just now."

"Well, I guess you feel bad enough," Maddie relented. "Are you sure you won't have some salt-cured bacon and some nice eggs? I can cook 'em anyway you like 'em! Scrambled, once-over-lightly, sunny side up..."

Furry's mind turned on thoughts of fried eggs swimming in bacon grease, mumbled something and fled for the shrubbery. Turry was fast behind him. Maddie grinned wickedly. Merry and Pippin laughed as they had been laughing at the twins all morning. Ellie felt bad for the boys despite the humour the others found in their distress.

Even so, they felt somewhat better when they returned and had another pull at the water skins. They even felt good enough to nibble some biscuits as Ellie and Maddie cleaned up.

Soon they were all on their way again. By lunchtime, the boys were more themselves and though they did not offer to help the girls with the cleanup, they did dig into the cold chicken, cheese, and bread Maddie's mother had packed.

The morning had been bright and beautiful, and the afternoon was just as fine. A decent lunch, and more long draughts of water, had the boys feeling well enough to enjoy the travel songs the girls and the old hobbits sang, though they did not feel quite good enough to join in. Their eyes were drawn to the dark place on the land, where the sun seemed to withhold her rays. The Old Forest. Merry and Pippin were just telling the girls of jolly old Tom Bombadil and their rescue at his hands from Old Man Willow.

It seemed a fine story, and not at all frightening in the afternoon sun. As the day drew on, they saw on their right, in the distance, dim green hills beyond a darker green line.

"Are those the Barrow-Downs?" Elediriel asked, pointing at the hills.

Merry's face grew grim and he did not answer.

Pippin also seemed to lose his normal cheer, but he said, "They are. That is where is buried the valiant people who lived here an age ago. Afterwards, evil spirits in thrall to Darkness came and occupied the mounds of the dead." He shuddered despite the warmth of the day.

"What happened there?" asked Maddie, who knew somewhat of the story, but had never heard it told in whole. But the old gallants who rode ahead made no answer.

"I know what happened," said Ellie. "They were caught by the Barrow-Wights!"

"How?" demanded the twins together.

"Well..." Merry started.

"...let Ellie tell it," Pippin urged.

So she did. And she made a good story of it as their ponies walked along. Less and less willingly, the eyes of all the party were drawn south to the source of their unease. She told of how old Bombadil had sent them on their way with words of warning, and of how the sunshine and a fine picnic, and perhaps the evil spells of the wights, had put the hobbits to sleep. They slept until the sun went down, the fog rolled in, and confusion was upon them. They lost one another and one by one were taken alive into the burial mound of an evil wight, who sought perhaps to sacrifice them to the great malicious spirit of the dark void, where all evil things were consigned until the End. If it had not been for Frodo, summoning his courage and calling on Bombadil, the Ring and all else would have been lost, and they would have only been the first hobbits to lose their lives to a rising and invincible Darkness.

"Yes. It was Frodo who saved us," said Merry sadly.

"And old Bombadil," added Pippin.

"Yes. Good old jolly Tom!" Merry said more brightly. "I wonder how he and Goldberry are getting on? I haven't seen them since those days!"

"Do you suppose they are still there, Grandfather?" asked Maddie.

"I'm sure they are," Merry answered.

"We ought to go see!" exclaimed Furry. It was the most lively he had been all day.

"No thank you!" said Ellie. "Not if we have to go through the Old Forest or the Barrow-Downs to get there!"

"I'm not afraid," said Turry.

"You should be," said Pippin.