"Well, I’m glad the Ring is safe now and will be out of Frodo’s hands soon, the poor old thing. I don’t suppose he’ll be going on any more adventures after this one, will he? I don’t think I shall either. I think Bilbo quite misled us all those years, you know, Merry, with all his talk of adventures being fun and exciting."

Merry did not get the chance to reply, because Gandalf suddenly appeared at the window behind Pippin, and he looked stern. Pippin stiffened as he saw Merry’s eyes widen in surprise and he looked at Merry for a clue as to what was the matter.

"Fun, Master Took?" Gandalf rumbled, as Pippin squeaked in alarm, turning around to face the wizard.

Gandalf fixed him with a severe gaze and said, "I never gave Frodo any reason to believe that his journey would be fun and I do not suppose for one moment that he gave you any reason to think so either. If Bilbo’s stories gave you the foolish idea that adventures are fun, I suggest you go and talk to him and listen more carefully, for he is a much wiser hobbit than you are. The reason he lives to tell the tale is not because the danger was not real but because he had the courage and wits to find a way out of it."

Gandalf’s tone would have sent an orc running in the opposite direction but Pippin, Merry observed with some trepidation, had the nerve to look indignant.

"Gandalf, I do think that’s a little unfair," he protested. "I was only a very young lad when Bilbo was still around, and he never told us how frightened he was or how much he wanted to go home. Of course I grew up believing that adventures were a great lark. What is a lad who has only ever seen the four Farthings supposed to think? After all, it’s quite plain to all of us now that we are here, that adventures are not nearly so grand as they seemed around the hearth in Bag End."

"Peregrin Took..." Gandalf shook his head with not a little amusement, Merry was relieved to see, although the wizard hid it well. This wasn’t the first time that Gandalf had unexpectedly appeared at windows and out of the shadows since they arrived two days ago, always when Pippin was in the middle of saying something indiscreet or downright ridiculous. And the exchange had so far taken place along similar lines. Gandalf would be stern and Pippin would give him some cheek, but only just beneath the surface, thank the stars, ran a deep current of sincere affection that allowed Pippin to say things that no other mortal being would dare. Their relationship had always been like this, he reflected, ever since Pippin had overcome his awe of the wizard and had got used to his infrequent visits to the Shire.

Although, there was something a little different this time. Merry wondered why Gandalf was so preoccupied with what Pippin was always prattling on about. Was he being cautious about who might overhear, even in this safe haven, or did he know something that was yet to be revealed? For some reason it made Merry feel quite uneasy.

"Meriadoc," Gandalf addressed him now, making him jump. "Please keep an eye on your cousin and try to make sure that he watches what he says. The Ring is not safe, and the shadow’s reach is growing long. You will not be staying here forever."

"Yes, Gandalf," Merry said meekly, shooting a wrathful glance at Pippin, who seemed to feel he had bested the wizard, and gave Merry a look of wide-eyed innocence.

Gandalf had disappeared again but Merry could not help but glance at the window from time to time, wondering if the wizard was lurking there and listening. Surely Gandalf had much more important things to do than eavesdrop on silly hobbit talk?

"I wish you would take Gandalf a bit more seriously," Merry hissed. "I think you’re lucky he hasn’t turned you into something unnatural by now. If you just kept your mouth shut he wouldn’t have any reason to catch you out."

"Sorry Merry. I’ll try. I keep forgetting that the whole Ring business isn’t over yet, I am so happy to be here. Why is he always so concerned about what I say though? And what does that have to do with staying here?"

"I suppose he meant that we will have to leave sooner or later and go home. Or go on ... though that’s a matter for the Council to decide."

"Go on?" Pippin exclaimed, looking at Merry, wide eyes now full of dismay. "Might we really have to?"

"I don’t suppose they will even let us, Pippin. I don’t know anything. Like I said, that’s a matter for the Council."

Pippin sat back in his chair with a defeated expression on his face. "No wonder Gandalf thinks I’m a fool, talking as though it’s all over."

"It might be all over for us - we just have to wait and see." Merry sat down next to his cousin and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "We don’t have a say in any of the important matters. And it’s not all over where the Ring is concerned. I daresay it hasn’t even begun. I suppose Gandalf is worried, Pip, and that’s why he’s keeping an eye on you. This place feels like home, but it’s not, and we will have to leave here if we are going home - and that way is still dangerous, in case you’d already forgotten."

Pippin shuddered, "I certainly have not."

"So – Sauron’s spies are everywhere, and we don’t want to give anything away."

Pippin nodded and squeezed Merry’s hand, looking him in the eye earnestly. "I’m sorry. I don’t want you to have anything else to worry about. You do love to worry so, and Frodo is enough for the both of us, without me getting in trouble as well." He paused. "He will be all right, won’t he?"

"Of course he will. Elrond himself is taking care of him. Can you imagine what Bilbo would do to him if anything happened to Frodo?"

Pippin laughed. "But I do feel awful that he hasn’t seen what it is like here yet. He’s always loved Elves so much. He doesn’t even know that Bilbo is here either. As soon as he recovers I hope we’ll see him locked away in the library, poring over some boring old books with Bilbo and Glorfindel, and talking in Elvish. Then I would know he was all right."

"Yes," Merry sighed, smiling fondly at his cousin. "That would be nice to see."

"And we will go on, won’t we, if Frodo has to?"

"Of course we will."