Title:             Down the Well

Author:          Melilot Hill

Beta:             Gayalondiel

Summary:       Pippin and Vinca find out that not all stories told by Bilbo are true

Disclaimer:     the characters and settings belong to J.R.R. Tolkien

I want to thank Gayalondiel for helping me with this ficlet. Her help made it so much better

Down the Well

Paladin Took and his family were visiting Bilbo and Frodo Baggins for a few days. His daughters always loved those visits, but not nearly as much as his son Pippin did. The lad had been planning what sort of great adventures he could have with Frodo since he found out that they would be going. He also was looking towards hearing some of Bilbo’s many fabulous tales.

During the journey over Vinca and Pippin continually bickered about which tale they wanted to hear from their Uncle Bilbo on the first night, much to the annoyance of their parents and older sisters. They were so excited, Paladin couldn’t get them to be quiet. Of course they never came to an agreement.

But the first evening didn’t go the way Vinca and Pippin had planned it. Eglantine was trying to get them to bed immediately after supper, since their trip had been long and tiring. After a lot of combined pleading, however, Paladin gave in.

“One tale won’t do any harm,” he said. “But only one, mind you.”

When everybody was sitting in the parlour gathered round a nice cosy fire, with drinks and food to fill up the corners, Bilbo settled into his favourite chair.

“Which tale would you like to hear?” he asked, looking at the young hobbits sitting in front of him.

“I want to hear about Smaug!” Pippin yelled.

“Tell us about Elves!” Vinca cried at the same time. Of course, this sparked up the argument between the two all over again.

Pearl decided to put an end to their squabble. She stood up out of her comfy chair and went over to Bilbo.

“Uncle,” she said, “you had better tell us a totally new tale, otherwise we’ll have to listen to Pippin and Vinca’s bickering all evening”. Paladin smiled, thinking that his eldest daughter probably wanted to hear a new tale herself, since she had heard most of Bilbo’s tales many times.

Pippin crawled into Frodo’s lap.

Frodo smiled at him. “Do you think this tale will be a bit scary, Pip?” he asked.

“No Frodo,” Pippin said, “but tales are always best if you listen to them snuggled up in someone’s lap.”

“A long time ago,” said Bilbo, “one hundred years before our Pippin was born, my father Bungo was excavating Bag End as a present for my mother Belladonna.

“One day, my father came across a small, pale creature. Being a Baggins, of course, he wasn’t at all afraid and he went over to the creature to find out what it was and what it wanted.

“The creature answered that my father was in no position to ask questions, but would answer one of them anyway. It told him that he had destroyed the place were it lived by digging in the hill and that it would like to see a solution. The creature then gave my father two choices.

“The first choice was to let the creature live in that “nice dark and moist place over there”, meaning the well. As a reward for my father’s “kindness” it would make sure that all of my father’s children born in Bag End would live a long and prosperous life.

“The second choice was to send it away. But if my father did that, there would never be any children living in Bag End.

“My mother was with child at the time and my father didn’t dare take the chance of losing the baby. So he gave the creature permission to live in the well. And that is why I am already one hundred and five years old and still very hale and not to mention rich.”

Paladin frowned as Bilbo concluded.

“Bilbo, don’t put such nonsense into their heads.” 

“Oh Paladin,” Bilbo replied, “it was just a bit of fun. It won’t do any harm.”

“I hope you’re right,” Paladin muttered.

Next morning, after first breakfast, Pimmie, Vinca and Pippin went outside to play in the garden, where they soon started talking about Bilbo’s tale. Pippin and Vinca believed every word of it, but Pimmie said:

 “That was the stupidest thing I ever heard, except maybe the tale about trolls turning to stone.”

“Bilbo’s tales are always true,” Vinca argued. Pimmie shrugged and went inside again, in search of Pearl for a more mature conversation.

When Paladin came outside a little while later to call his children in for second breakfast, he was greeted by a most disturbing sight. His youngest daughter was standing on tiptoe on a garden bench next to the well, leaning over the edge and holding his son by the ankles down the well.

Paladin ran over and grabbed Pippin from Vinca’s hands. He was greeted by indignant complaints that they hadn’t met the well-creature yet.

“Bilbo!” Paladin yelled at the top of his voice as he marched up to the smial, holding his son under the arm and his daughter by the ear.

The end