Shire Reckoning 1397 – Tuckborough

"Go on cry baby!" Thump! Pippin's head spun and he saw beautiful green stars set in a velvet blackness as the fist connected with his jaw. He hit the ground and scrabbled around trying to pick up his precious slate and pencil. Eventually his vision cleared again and he looked up at his tormentor and bit his lip hard. He knew the one thing not to do was cry.

"I'm not crying, just leave me alone." Pippin struggled up to his feet again, but by now there was a small circle of lads around him, all bigger than he. "I didn't do anything to you!"

"Oh Mr high and mighty Thain Peregrin Took!" Although Jerborius Tuppdown, or Jeb for short, was not quite 3 foot tall, for a hobbit lad he was big, and to little Pippin he seemed a giant. "Think you're so grand, but nobody likes you!" With his last statement Jeb delivered a vicious kick to Pippin's ribs as if to prove his words.

Jeb Tuppdown had been in the Tuckborough school longer than any of the other lads and would have left by now if he had paid more attention to his lessons and less to being the torment of the younger pupils. But he was not the brightest of hobbits and also, unfortunately, was the product of a gossiping mother who knew some kind of scandal, real or imagined, for almost every hobbit family in the Shire. Mistress Tuppdown was not a vindictive hobbit, but rather silly and thoughtless about the effect her tittle-tattling had on others.

The circle of lads jeered and laughed and each time Pippin tried to get up and escape, another would push him down with a punch or kick, one even cruelly stamped on Pippin's foot. "Thinks he's so posh just 'cause his Pa is the Thain!"

"Doh I don't!" Pippin exclaimed, trying to talk through his hand that was clutched to his nose to stop the bleeding. "I nedder said dat!"

"Your parents didn't even want you – nobody wants you!"

"You're not even theirs. They bought you off a wanton lass that had you the wrong side of the blanket – my Ma told me!"

"Only reason your Pa had you – was just so as he could be Thain!"

"Dat's not true!" Pippin was crying now in spite of his resolve. He sat in the dirt with large tears running down his face, mixing with the blood from his nose. "My Papa was always de T'ain!"

"Not true! Not true! Liar! Liar!"

"Pippin Took is a Liar
stick his feet in the fire!
Are they done? Whadda ya think?
Take them out and see if they stink!"

Jeb leaned down now and caught hold of Pippin by his hair, pulling his head back and pushing his face close to the terrified youngster. "Your Ma and Pa didn't want you. They only got you because your barmy old cousin couldn't woo a lass and hasn't got children."

"What's dat to do with me?" Pippin answered back. He saw that things could not get much worse, no matter what he said.

Jeb thrust Pippin down on the ground and rubbed his nose in the dirt. "Because your barmy old cousin promised your Pa he could be Thain if he got a lad! Ha! And you were it! So they didn't want you. They went out and bought you off a gypsy for thirteen pennies and told stupid ol' Ferumbras you were theirs. I don't 'spect they even like you."

"'S not true." Pippin was sobbing now. He found the taunts hurt even worse than the blows. Why did all these big lads hate him? He had not given them any reason. He was always polite. In fact he was always scared of them, that's why he was polite. But it did no good. He hated school and wished he could stay at home with his sisters and cousins.

But once Pippin had turned seven his father had decreed he should attend school in Tuckborough, rather than be tutored at home with his sisters and the other family children. The Thain had decided it would be an excellent experience for his son to mix with people outside the Took clan and the school had a good mixture of merchants', wealthy farmers' and other well-to-do hobbits' sons. In addition the current schoolmaster, Mr Penawl, was very highly thought of, with excellent qualifications, he had even studied with elves and spoke an Elvish language.

But ever since Pippin had started at the school in Tuckborough, his classmates had tormented and chased him and, when they could catch him, beaten him without mercy.

To begin with, Pippin's biggest problem had been the schoolmaster himself, who had ridiculed the youngster's poor handwriting and caned him in front of the whole school. That had set the scene for the bullying, but then the canings had suddenly stopped. Merry had forged some homework for him and after that Mr Penawl hadn't seemed to mind his scruffy work. Pippin had no idea why, but was grateful for the respite.*

Nevertheless, in spite of the schoolmaster's apparent change of heart, the lads still saw him as someone to bully. He was small and had important parents and probably wouldn't tell on them. Added to which, there was this strange tale of why he was born. That his parents had made a bargain with the peculiar old Thain, that if they could produce a son and heir the title would pass to their family. Eglantine Took already had three daughters and the eldest was fourteen, nobody thought she would have more children. So when Peregrin, a lad, arrived and Ferumbras III abdicated the title of Thain in favour of Paladin Took, there was some speculation of wizard's magic at work or, worse still, the rumour that the new heir was the misbegotten son of a harlot that his parents had bought.

The boys now started up another taunting rhyme, one that Pippin had never heard before, although it was not the first time it had been spoken:

"His father went an' bought him
So's he could be the chief
But his mother was a gypsy
And his sire was a thief!"

"Dat's a wick'd, wick'd lie!" Pippin mumbled, his hands still clutching at his bleeding nose.

"'Tis as true as the blood on the nose on your face!" Jeb laughed. All the others laughed too and Pippin was kicked once more.

Suddenly there was a shout from outside the circle. "Hoi! Danno's got a pig's bladder, come and have a game!" The circle dispersed as the lads found something more interesting to kick and raced off after the inflated bladder, dribbling it to and fro between them.

Pippin lay still for a while longer, afraid to move. Then he slowly pulled himself up and realised that all the lads had gone. His vision was sorely limited as he found one eye was almost completely closed and he could not open it. He hurt all over and his nose wouldn't stop bleeding. He crawled over to the fence and caught hold of the post to pull himself up. Once on his feet, Pippin made it back to pick up his poor slate and pencil, which thankfully, although scratched, were still in one piece. Then he limped over to the animal trough in the middle of the street and, laying his slate down, fished out his handkerchief, wetted it and dabbed at his swollen face. He was grateful there was no one else around to witness his disgrace.

His clothes were torn and dirty and his hands scraped and his knees grazed. But that was nothing to what he guessed his face looked like. Pippin peered tentatively into the trough to see his reflection. The sun was bright and his watery face squinted back at him through one eye. There was blood all over his face and down the front of his shirt and his nose was beginning to swell up to match his closed eye. Whatever would his parents say?

****

TBC

* See Recaptured Continued - Chapter 12/104 In Dreams

"Pippin! Oh my child, what have you been doing?" Pearl gasped in horror as Pippin climbed up into the pony trap in which she drove each day to Tuckborough to fetch her young brother. At twenty-two years old, Pearl acted more like a second mother to her baby brother and had always been very protective of him.

The little hobbit had tried very hard to disguise the damage done by his classmates, but it is extremely difficult to conceal a swollen nose when it is right in the middle of your face and his bruised, closed eye was still obvious, even underneath his brown curls, pulled down to try and hide the evidence.

"Pippin! Have you been fighting?" Pearl pushed back the curls from his face and looked at his eye in horror.

"No Pearl – really not." Pippin was completely confident that this was not a lie – after all he hadn't done any fighting. They did all the fighting; he just got hit a lot.

"Then how did this happen?" Pearl took hold of the scraped hands and turned them over and then inspected the grazed knees, taking in at the same time the large swelling on the small hobbit's foot – possibly a broken bone she thought. "Who did this to you? I shall go and bang their heads together at once."

"No Pearl – please, please. They'll laugh at me and call me a baby if you do anything. They'll say I get my big sister to fight my battles." A note of panic was in Pippin's voice. "Please, please, I beg you, please don't!"

"I'm not having you beaten about like a rat in a barn!" Pearl had taken her scarf and dampened it with water from a bottle in the trap, then folded it and placed it over Pippin's still bleeding nose. "I'm seeing father as soon as we get home and telling him that school is a torment and a punishment for you."

"No! Please Pearl – you mustn't tell Papa! I can't bear it." Pippin began to well up with tears again. "Don't tell him – I so want him to be proud of me – please say you won't. Please, please."

Pearl knew that she could not let this rest, but for the moment the most important thing was Pippin. "Come here my little love." Pearl put her arms around him and cuddled him close, "First we have to see to those bruises. Then we'll see what's to be done. Can't have my little brother coming home in this state."

****

Pearl could not carry out her threat to tell the Thain as soon as they got home, since Paladin had gone riding down to the bottom farm to see if the crop was ready to harvest. Eglantine was closeted in her chamber, suffering from a bad headache and Pearl decided not to burden her mother for the moment, it would only upset her if she thought Pippin had been fighting.

Her first task was to draw Pippin a warm bath and infuse some good herbs in warm water to ease his hurts. His clothes were carefully laid to one side, not for the laundry, she would wash and mend these herself. She did not want the servants gossiping about Pippin getting into trouble at school.

First she soaked him and soaped him clean in the warm bath, then wrapped him in a warm soft towel and gently treated the damaged child's injuries. She used elderflower and witch hazel for the bruising and lavender and rosemary to inhale for his hurt, bleeding nose.

That done, she put her little brother to bed. "Now you stay there and I'll bring a tray tonight for both your tea and supper." Pearl sat on the bed for a moment and looked critically at the bruised and closed eye again. "I still think you need a healer for that eye."

"But if you call the healer, Mamma will know and she'll tell Papa," Pippin was frantic that his parents should not find out about the beating. "Please can we just wait until morning? I promise it will be better. It hardly hurts at all. Please Pearl, please!"

"Well, we'll see." Pearl soothed Pippin's hair back from his face. "I can tell Mamma that you fell, we don't have to talk about any fighting."

"Yes, Pearl," Pippin jumped at the idea. "That would be all right. You're so clever."

"But tell me little one." Pearl was not going to let this pass, no matter what Pippin thought right now. "What were you fighting about?"

"I didn't," Pippin sniffed and pulled his arms around his trembling body as if trying to shield himself from the memory of the hurt. "The big lads were saying horrid things about me. About how Mamma and Papa didn't really want me and that Papa only got me because he wanted to be Thain. And that… that…" Pippin could not bring himself to tell Pearl the rest of the taunt. That they had said he was not their child and that they had bought him.

"There, there," Pearl drew him in now as the tears started again. She too had heard the rumours. Gossip, nothing but gossip she knew how folk liked to talk. And even if there were a grain of truth, Pearl was sure it was not quite as black as some would paint it. "Don’t you fret about that nonsense, of course Mamma and Papa wanted you."

"But why would they say that if it's not true?" Pippin sobbed in Pearl's kind embrace. He really did not understand why anyone would lie just to hurt. "Why didn't Mamma and Papa want me?"

Pippin's desperation cut into Pearl's heart and made her throat close up with anger and sorrow. Sorrow, as she realised that this time she could not intercede on her dear little brother's behalf, it could only make things worse. But that would not be the end of it – there would be something she could do. She would find evidence for the truth about Pippin's origins and make sure that his fears were laid to rest. First however, there were the bullies to deal with.

This was not the first time Pippin had been troubled by his new school. Pearl had heard him crying in his room and knew he was agonising over his letters. She had tried to help before, but Pippin lacked penmanship and in spite of all her attempts to teach him, he still made blots and muddled his letters.

His parents expected him to do well. She knew how much Pippin feared they would find out that he might fall short of their expectations and, although they would not have scolded him, little Pippin lived to please them.

Pearl also knew that he would have been embarrassed if she had offered to actually do his homework for him. That would have been cheating and, besides having his big sister do his writing out for him, would not boost Pippin's confidence.

But there was someone else that she had been able to guide in the right direction. It was no accident that young Meriadoc had gone to Pippin's room that night and forged his homework. Later when she had quizzed Merry about his final solution she was satisfied to discover how he had resolved the problem. Perhaps Merry could be the solution again.

*See Recaptured Continued Chapter 12/104 – In Dreams

****

TBC

Pearl explained to their parents about Pippin's black eye and swollen nose. She breathed a silent sigh of relief when they agreed it was just a bad accident that he had taken a tumble from the pony trap and that he wasn't to blame for fooling around. They sent for the healer, just in case. The healer decreed that he be excused school for a week at least, certainly until the swelling had gone down and his eye opened up again.

"He's going to get very fretful all alone and missing school and his new playmates," Pearl told her mother, "It's a pity there's no one that could come and keep him company, someone that would cheer him up."

"Pearl, if you want me to ask Meriadoc over to keep Pippin company," Eglantine smiled, "just say so. "

"Well it will keep him out of other mischief," Pearl pointed out, "You know how Pippin gets when he's bored."

"Oh and you think that would be improved by having Meriadoc around!" Eglantine exclaimed. "Together they're more trouble than pack of winter wolves."

"Or a pair of cave trolls." Pearl added.

"Or a brace of fire dragons." Eglantine agreed, laughing. "I believe he is actually staying in Hobbiton at the moment, with Bilbo. I suppose we could send Rube over with a letter today. It's early enough, he can probably ride back with him tomorrow, if he's not busy." Eglantine looked back down at the letter she was writing. "Why don't you go and tell him."

"Yes Mamma," Pearl agreed, but she did not move. "Mamma," she began, not too sure how to broach the subject. "You know those stories about Papa and how he inherited the title of Thain?"

"Which stories are these exactly?" Eglantine put the pen back down and looked up again. "The rubbish about us only having Pippin so Papa could be Thain?"

"Well yes… and…" Pearl was embarrassed at having mentioned it.

"And that nonsense about us buying Pippin from a poor hobbit lass in the Far Downs?" Eglantine sighed deeply. "Pearl you know that what they say in the ale houses and in the markets is just spurious gossip."

"I thought so Mamma," Pearl wondered if she should push any further. "But why do people talk like that?"

"I know we've never discussed it in the family, but… well…" Eglantine laid down her pen and sighed, searching for the right words, "… there is a grain of truth in the rumours."

~~~~

Shire Reckoning 1389

"Come in Paladin, I'm glad you could come, I need to talk to you about something." Ferumbras III was always a good host and kept a wonderful table. Paladin Took also enjoyed, for a short while anyway, the rather strange phenomenon of a household with no females.

"It's a pleasure cousin, always an honour to be entertained by The Thain." Paladin knew that Ferumbras found the title more of an intrusion into his life than something to be proud of, but manners dictate his status be acknowledged.

Although Ferumbras had said it was on an important matter that Paladin had been summoned, dinner was taken with no mention of the business. For that Paladin imagined it was, some venture or trade to do with his farm. Maybe a suggestion that he try to grow pipeweed again.

There were ten people at the evening meal, all male, they were various business associates and friends of the Thain and the company was witty and lively. Ferumbras kept an excellent table and enjoyed the bachelor life.

In spite of hobbit clans' propensity to live in close proximity, when his father, Fortinbras II, had passed on and his widow, Ferumbras's mother, Laila Clayhanger inherited the title of The Took, Ferumbras had moved into his own Smial. He had found his position as the new Thain of the Shire at odds with his mother's place at the head of the Took clan.

But that was not all, Ferumbras had no time for females. He never sought their company and, at best, tolerated the society of his aunts and own mother. Parties and functions were a nightmare for him. As Thain, he was pursued relentlessly by eligible lasses from every part of the Shire and, whilst manners decreed he could not be openly impolite, he found the conversation laboured and their company less than satisfactory.

Once the port was passed to the left and moved clockwise round the table, stopping once more in front of Ferumbras, the host poured Paladin another large glass and saluted his health.

"Now to business," Ferumbras stood from the table, excused himself temporarily from his other guests and bade the servants take good care of them. Then he beckoned Paladin to follow him. They sat in the study and lit their pipes and smoked for a while in silence.

"It is a delicate matter," Ferumbras began at length. "But I wish to beg a boon of you and your wife Paladin. It is a thing I do not ask lightly and I understand if you refuse."

"Well you can do no harm in the asking, Thain." Paladin blew a smoke ring to the ceiling. "How can I be of service?"

"Ah yes, 'Thain'," Ferumbras swigged a mouthful of Port, "That is my problem." He paused to see if Paladin would try to guess his problem, but when he did not, continued. "You know me, Paladin, I'm not one for lasses. Although the female side of the family are not sympathetic to my feelings in that respect, they think I should marry."

"Well you should." Paladin agreed with the females on this occasion, "You need an heir. Who will be Thain after you? Have you decided?" In Shire tradition, if there was no direct heir, the incumbent Thain had a certain amount of discretion in planning the dynasty.

"As a matter of fact I have." Ferumbras drew a paper from his waistcoat pocket. "Here it's all set out. In the first instance, of course, Paladin it's you."

"Yes but there's no good in that." Paladin protested, "I have no sons, nor am likely to have now. You should find yourself a healthy young lass, one that'll make you some bairns and not complain about whatever else you get up to."

"I thought at one time I could do that," Ferumbras agreed, "but not any more. You see I enjoy my life the way it is. I do not wish to take a wife now, I'm sure of that. I would make her miserable and she in her turn would do the same to me. Oh they say at first they wouldn't mind, but they are all the same. She'll want more and more and there'll be fights and malcontent. I don't want such aggravation in my life."

"Well why worry?" Paladin asked. "Just be the Thain until the end of your days and then let fate take it where it will."

"Ah, but that's no good for me and no good for the Shire." Ferumbras pointed out. "I have no peace now that I'm Thain. Female relatives are constantly nagging at me to take a wife. 'I have to think of the good of the Shire' is all I hear and I do. But I tell you Paladin, it's an encumbrance I could well do without."

"Well what else can you do?" Paladin smiled at the thought of busybody female relatives hanging on the Thain's doorbell, presenting their own daughters at every available opportunity, inviting the poor misogynist to every ball and party in the hope of marrying their offspring to the Thain of The Shire.

"I can abdicate," he snorted, "Pass the title on."

"What to me?" Paladin said in surprise, "as I said before, I'm not likely to have any sons now, although I suppose Pearl could become the first female Thain."

"No, no!" Ferumbras said at once, "that won't do at all. That's the favour I wanted to ask you. You and Eglantine have one more try. You make a lad with all the parts in the right place and the title is yours"

"Well, you're right, it is a lot to ask." Paladin was more than a little taken aback. "It's a lot to ask Eglantine. The healers told her after Pervinca she should not have any more. She does not birth easily and the bairns are always very small and sickly."

"But you could ask her," Ferumbras persisted. "It would be a perfect solution, for me and for the Shire. You would make a much better Thain than I, Paladin, and so would your heir. And if you and Eglantine could produce a son, it would be a good reason, in the eyes of the Shirefolk, for me to hand the title on."

~~~~

Shire Reckoning 1397 – Bag End, Hobbiton

"So what's the news from Pearl?" Frodo enquired as Merry lay on his back in the grass holding the letter up to read with two hands. A little way away Frodo could see the Gaffer clipping the hedge while his youngest son, Samwise collected up the clippings as they fell and tidied them into a barrow.

"Let's see, Pervinca is learning to ride a pony," Merry looked at Frodo with a grin,  "she always was a daring lass, that one. Pimpernel is in trouble with Aunt Tinnie for climbing trees in her best gown and ripping it, just when the Bolgers arrived for afternoon tea." Merry chuckled a little. "She came into the parlour with half her petticoats showing and Freddie wolf whistled and Estella shrieked and Aunt Rosa pretended to faint and Pearl says Pervinca had to do mending for a whole week as punishment for being so indiscrete."

"Poor Pervinca!" Frodo sympathised with his cousin, "She hates mending almost as much as she hates having to sit round in polite company drinking tea."

"Apparently Pippin's not enjoying his new school over much." Merry's face lost its grin as he read on. "Oh my! He came home today with a black eye and a bloody nose."

"Who did it?" Frodo too lost his humour and felt the ire rise inside at the thought of dear little Pippin being hurt. "What did Paladin do?"

"Well Pearl says Pippin pleaded with her not to tell and so she said he had fallen out of the pony-trap." Merry sat up now and read quickly down the letter. "But some of the bigger lads are bullying him, calling him names and hitting him."

"I don't see why Pearl would lie." Frodo frowned. "Surely he'll just keep getting hurt, Paladin will have to intervene."

"Pippin is desperate not to let him know." Merry read on, "Seems he feels that his father will be disappointed in him if he can't cope with school on his own." Merry looked up from the letter. "You know how that Took determination can be."

"Hmm, yes." Frodo agreed. Both he and Merry had enough Took blood in them to appreciate their little cousin's tenacity. "But sometimes it needs a little help."

"I think that's why Pearl's writing." Merry smiled now. "Rube is staying at The Ivy Bush tonight and she suggests here I might like to go back to the Smials with him tomorrow for a visit."

"What do you plan to do?" Frodo wondered. "Teach him to fight?"

"Or how not to," Merry suggested. "Like you taught me."

"Sounds as if it's a bit late for that." Frodo took Pearl's letter that Merry was handing him and scanned through it himself. "Maybe we need a quick refresher from the expert. Let's see if he's busy."

Frodo and Merry both stood up and wandered over to where Sam was still helping his father with the hedge trimming. "Excuse me Gaffer," Frodo asked politely, "Could you spare your Sam for a bit?"

Sam grinned at Frodo, he was used to requests of this kind. He and Frodo were good friends but his father tended to keep him busy, meaning that Frodo often had to plead Sam's liberty so that he could enjoy his company. "If that's all right with you Sam." Frodo added quickly.

"Yes Master Frodo, I can manage here well enough, I dare say." Gaffer seldom refused Frodo's requests. The young hobbit was always so polite and proper.

Merry and Frodo slotted an arm companionably through each of Sam's and made their way back to their spot beneath the trees. Sam was a bit surprised at this treatment but decided it had to be something important.

"Now Sam, remember when you taught me to fight?" Merry stood in the time-honoured stance with his feet apart and his fists raised.

"Well I rightly do Mr Merry, but I hope you don't want to practice on me." Sam looked rather worried. Fighting with other lads in the village was one thing, but Merry was a gentlehobbit and Sam did not feel it was his place to brawl with Mr Frodo's friends.

"No, I need to teach young Pippin some attack and defence, something a smaller hobbit could use against someone bigger." Merry explained. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"Is he being bullied?" Sam asked solemnly. The youngster took a dim view of this kind of behaviour, especially against one so small as young Mr Peregrin. Merry and Frodo nodded in unison. "I think I can suggest a few moves." Sam agreed grimly.

****

TBC

Shire Reckoning 1397 – Great Smials

"Pip? What have you been up to?" Merry poked his head around the door, "Falling off the pony trap, at your age."

"Merry!" Pippin had not been told that Merry might be coming, as Pearl did not want him getting over excited and then disappointed if his cousin was unable to visit.

"Oh Pip!" Merry had not expected such bad bruising. Pippin's nose had swollen up even more overnight and his eye, still closed, had now changed colour to a glorious purple and yellow. "How did you do all that just falling down? I've seen you tumble before, you usually bounce."

"Didn't Pearl tell you? Or have you only seen Mamma?" Pippin looked down with an embarrassed expression at his scraped hands. "Pearl told a fib for me Merry, but don't tell on her will you?"

"Of course I wouldn't." Merry sat down on the bed and took Pippin's hands in his own and looked at the grazing with a knowing nod. "You've been fighting, haven't you?"

"I didn't fight Merry," Pippin rested his head forward on the welcome shoulder, "that's the trouble. I'm smaller than everyone else and I just get hurted."

"Well did you try to fight back?" Merry stroked the brown curls with a touch as gentle as his tone. "Or didn't you get a chance?"

"I'm not sure." Pippin sighed. "They were so big and I don't really know how to fight."

"You fight with me." Merry lifted Pippin's head up a little so he could look at him properly. "You whack me good, sometimes."

"Oh Merry," Pippin gave him a little push now, "that's only playing and you know it."

"And these lads really meant business, didn't they?" Merry did not really need an answer, he could already see.

"Yes, and they said lots of dreadful things too, Merry," Pippin felt his throat fill up with the mere thought of the taunts and drew a deep breath to stop the tears falling again. "About my Mamma and Papa not really wanting me and saying that they bought me off a gypsy."

"I could see to them for you Pip." Merry offered, "Some of the other lads and me. You tell me their names and I'll go and get them."

"Oh yes, you mean like a big brother." Pippin lightened up considerably at the thought of his big, brave cousin giving the bullies a good beating. "After you did that writing for me, Mr Penawl has stopped punishing me. He even helps me now, so you made that better Merry! I'm sure the rough lads would take notice of you."

"Hmm! I'm not so sure that would be the best idea though." Merry suddenly realised he had never explained to Pippin that he had put the schoolmaster in his place by telling Gandalf about the problem.* He had obviously then had some sort of conversation with Mr Penawl, exactly what transpired Merry didn't know, but he could not ask the wizard to intervene in this problem. Perhaps him fighting Pip's battles was not the answer in this case. "Is there one in particular, you know, that seems to start it – egg the others on?"

"Yes, his name is Jeb," Pippin flinched a little at the mere thought of the big lad, "But he's awfully big Merry, I don't know if even you could fight him."

"Of course I could Pip," Merry laughed at the thought of a school lad getting the better of him. "But I might get accused of bullying then Pip and that wouldn't be good – for either of us."

"So what can I do Merry?" Pippin touched his hand up to his painfully bruised eye. "I'll have to ask Papa not to send me there any more, but I know he'll be disappointed with me."

"Well I could teach you how to fight." Merry suggested, looking at Pippin critically with his head on one side.

"I can't fight," Pippin sighed, "I'm too small."

"No you're not. A lot of it is brag and knowing a few good tricks." Merry laughed. "That's how I managed when I was little."

"Did you?" Pippin's eyes opened wide at the thought of Merry ever being little. "Who taught you?"

"Well, I know it seems odd now, but Cousin Frodo taught me quite a few tricks." Merry smiled at the thought. "Although mostly he taught me how to talk my way out of trouble, but I think you need a bit more than that. Perhaps some of the things Bilbo's gardener's lad, Sam taught me. Shall we start after tea?"

"Oh yes Merry," Pippin clapped his grazed hands together in excitement. "Could we?"

****

"Now then Pip," Merry eyed Pippin critically. "Show me how you make a fist." Merry had barricaded the door by pulling the chest of drawers in front of it. He was almost certain that no one in the Great Smials would approve of him teaching Pippin to fight.

"Like this!" Pippin clenched his little hands over and held them out towards his cousin.

"No… do it as if you mean to hit someone." Merry ordered. Pippin tried again, bringing his right fist up behind his head and dropping the left to about waist height.

"Hmm…" Merry scratched his head; this was going to be harder than he thought. "That won't do."

"I'm not very good – am I?" Pippin said rather dejectedly. He would have looked rather comical, had it not been for the swollen nose and the bruised eye. As it was, he looked rather sad and small.

"Come on!" Merry cheered him along, "you'll learn. Now put this fist here," he moved the left paw to just in front of the swollen nose, "That way you can stop punches hitting you. And put this one," Merry moved the right hand forwards until it was level with his eye and then moved the elbow down. "Like that."

"Like this?" Pippin held the stance Merry had put him in.

"Yes." Merry caught hold of both the little hands and pulled them back down. "But first you need to make a fist properly." He unfolded Pippin's hands and curled them back up with the thumbs outside the fingers. "Never keep your thumbs inside your hand. You hit someone really hard and you could break your thumb."

"I don't think I could ever hit anyone that hard." Pippin clenched and unclenched his fists experimentally a few times, putting the thumbs in the right place.

"All right, but now what?" Pippin asked. "What do I hit?"

"This." Merry held a pillow from the bed against his side. "Punch it just as hard as you can."

Pippin shut his eyes and swung at the unsuspecting pillow with all his strength, but Merry on the other side barely felt it. "How was that?" he asked hopefully.

"Not too good, Pip." Merry confessed. "First of all, what were you aiming at?"

"The pillow of course."

"With your eyes closed?"

"Oh, that's wrong I suppose."

"Yes," Merry agreed, "I know that eye is swollen but don't close them both, look at what you're aiming for. Try again."

Pippin adopted his stance, folded his hand correctly and took another swing. This time Merry did feel the blow, but it was not much better.

"So what were you aiming for that time?" Merry asked again.

"The pillow. I didn't close my eyes and I did hit it." Pippin protested.

"All right, but you shouldn't aim for the pillow…" Merry began.

"But you said I should, Merry. How can I hit it if I don't aim for it." Pippin wailed.

"I want you to aim six inches behind the pillow." Merry said with a smile.

"How can I do that?" Pippin shook his head, baffled. "I can't reach round it, not the way you're holding it."

"I don't want you to reach round it," Merry explained. "I want you to punch through it. Straight through the middle of it."

"I'll never do that, Merry." Pippin sighed, his cousin seemed to want the impossible.

"I know. But that's where I want you to aim." Merry said. "Just try it."

Pippin bit his lower lip and drew back his fist and fixed his mind on where Merry had told him to punch. This time the force actually knocked Merry a few paces backwards.

"There! I felt it, Pip!" Merry shouted triumphantly. "You made a real punch!"

"I did?" Pippin looked at his fist as if he had never seen it before. "Oh Merry!"

"Now hit me." Merry dropped the pillow and held his chin out towards Pippin's fist.

"No, I don't want to hit you Merry!"

"It's all right," Merry smiled, "I don't think you'll hurt me – yet."

Pippin swung his fist at Merry, missed completely as his cousin moved backwards and ended up on the floor.

"Merry! You moved." Pippin complained. "That's not fair."

"Yes it is," Merry laughed as he picked Pippin up off the floor. "Nobody is going to stand still like a pillow while you hit them. You've got to learn to punch fast as well as hard."

"This is harder than writing, Merry." Pippin sat on the bed a little dejected at his lack of instant success.

"I know. But it takes a little time and effort Pip." Merry flopped down beside him. "And you don't want to spend the rest of your days getting black eyes."

"No." Pippin agreed. "But do you really think I can learn?"

"Oh yes." Merry hugged him a little. "All you have to do is to forget everything I'm telling you."

"That makes no sense Merry. Why?" Pippin had never known his cousin to be so contradictory.

"Because once you've got it in your head you shouldn't have to remember it," Merry said, "you just do it automatically without thinking."

"I don't understand." Pippin was still baffled.

"Look at it this way. Do you think all the time about how to walk?"

"No, of course not, I know how to walk." Pippin giggled.

"Exactly. The same applies to this." Merry explained. "Once you've learnt how to fight you shouldn't have to think about how to do it. Just forget it and let your fists do the remembering."

"Oh Merry, fists don't remember things."

"Of course they do. Yours remember how to put food in your mouth, don't they?" Merry knew this was certainly true. "You don't have to keep telling them what to do."

"But that's different." Pippin sighed.

"No it's not. You just didn't need to fight before, but now you do." Merry gave his cousin a small squeeze, "and once you learn, you'll not forget it ever again."

"Now I think you need some theory and then we'll do some proper punches," Merry continued. "Remember, try only to fight one lad at a time. The others will usually fall back if you single out the leader. Also, there are lots of other ways to fight, besides using your fists – as long as no one can see what you're doing too clearly."

The lesson carried on throughout the afternoon. Merry taught Pippin how to use his elbow to deliver a blow; how to smack his head into an aggressor's nose; how to use his feet to best advantage; how to avoid getting hit and, most importantly, how to win.

For several days Merry stayed by his cousin's side and they practised every move, every blow, every dodge and every trick. By the end of the week, Pippin had floored Merry twice and punched a hole right through the feather pillow, making a terrible mess. The strangest part of the accident though, was that Pearl had cleared up the scattered feathery down and never said a word about it – to either of them, but she had given Merry a strange, knowing little smile.

****

TBC

*See Recaptured – In Dreams Chapter 104/12

It was almost time for Pippin to go back to school, his eye was better and the swelling on his nose was completely gone. But it was a very different hobbit that would be going to his lessons now. There was one thing left for Merry to teach.

"Now that you can defend yourself, you have to learn the philosophy of fighting Pip." Merry told him, as they sat in the stables, having been chased out of the Smial by Eglantine for making too much noise and mess.

"I don't want to learn any fill-soppy" Pippin pouted a little, "I only needed to learn to fight."

"No Pip," Merry said sternly, "There are rules you have to know too. They are very important and you have to stick to them."

"All right," Pippin pulled the straw out of his hair. "Tell me and then can we have another practice fight?"

"If you remember the rules." Merry agreed. "The first and most important rule is; you must never hit a lass."

"Never?"

"No." Merry shook his head sternly. "There is never a good reason to hit a lass, no matter how much she might tease or aggravate you or even if she hits you first."

"What if she hits me and it really hurts?" Pippin asked.

"It won't, not now you're a big lad that can fight. You just walk away."

"What if she follows me and keeps hitting me?" Pippin found this first rule a little strange.

"Umm, if she really won't stop," Merry gave him a funny little sideways look. "Kiss her."

"What!"

"If she hits you again after that – I promise you it won't hurt – in fact you might quite like it."

"Oh Merry," Pippin gave his big cousin a little punch in the arm. "Did you do that?"

"Yes."

"Who did you kiss?" Pippin wanted to know.

"Can't tell, it's not manners." Merry hastily concluded that part of the discussion. "The next rule is…"

"Wait," Pippin interrupted, "I've got another question. What if cook hits me? Or Pearl or Mamma?"

"Well you probably deserve that," Merry decided. "Although you could try the big eyes and hurt expression." He knew that Pippin was already well versed in these techniques. "Next rule; try never to start a fight."

"Never?"

"Not if you can help it." Merry confirmed. "And always talk your way out of it if you can."

"So I should never hit first?" Pippin asked.

"Oh yes!" Merry added quickly. "Don't wait to get hit. Just don't look for a fight – but once you know it is inevitable give it all you've got and always, always hit first."

****

Pearl Took stood in the centre of the big dusty old library at Great Smials. She had finally managed to corner her parents in one room and in private, although it had taken her all morning.

Pearl had been more than a little surprised to learn that cousin Ferumbras had in fact asked her parents to try for a son, so that he could pass the title of Thain on to her father. She knew that he had abdicated with some relief as soon as Pippin was born, and that her parents were pleased with the situation, but she had always assumed that Pippin had just happened in the normal course of events.

And where had these tales that Pippin was bought off a gypsy come from? She was worried that the tormenting would continue to be aimed at her little brother. Pearl knew for certain it was not true – she had been there in the Great Smials the day Pippin was born, had heard his first cry outside her mother's room and been the second person allowed in, after her father.

Pearl remembered holding her tiny brother for the first time and how surprised she was that he was even smaller than Pimpernel or Pervinca had been, or was it just that she was bigger by then? But that aside, Pearl knew a newborn baby when she saw one and Pippin was most certainly her natural born brother.

"Papa you can't send him back to that dreadful school." Pearl could feel her temper rising and clenched her teeth and unclenched her fists to calm herself. "Please Papa, those bullies are tormenting the life out of him."

"Pearl, I know it seems hard, but it really is for the best." Paladin looked nervously over at his wife, worried that she might agree with their eldest daughter. "You agree with me dear, don't you?"

"To be honest, Paladin," Eglantine had kept silent so far, but now she was being asked directly. "My every instinct is to let him be taught at home. It does seem overly harsh, if we know he's getting bullied. Besides it seems to be adding fuel to those silly stories and that's bad for all of us."

"That's exactly the kind of thing I want him to face up to." Paladin insisted.

"But he's so little, dear." Eglantine knew she could be overprotective at times, but she could not stand the thought of her baby being ill-treated. "And Pearl says now that he didn't get those bruises falling out of the pony trap – Paladin, those big lads chased him and beat him!"

"I know," Paladin admitted. "I suspected at the time. But you underestimate him." He looked at his daughter with a knowing glance. "And I think Pearl has done something about that."

"Me?" Pearl exclaimed, "I did nothing."

"You made sure Merry was invited over." Paladin smiled. "I think Pip will do better next time – don't you?"

"So you're not going to stop him going back to school?" Pearl asked defiantly. "You're just going to let him be teased and abused?"

"Pearl if he leaves now, they will have won," her father explained gently. "He has to go back."

"They've already won." Pearl retorted. "I suppose you won't be happy until they've killed him."

"Pearl, that's enough!" her mother chimed in. "Your father has the last word on this and if he says Pippin must go to school, then he must."

"Well I'll not fetch him!" She turned on her heel to leave the room, calling back over her shoulder. "You go and get him Father, and see what kind of state he comes back in."

****

TBC

Most children love the sound of the dismissal at school. As Mr Penawl gave the hobbit lads leave to go there was a rapid clattering of desktops and his request for someone to clean the chalk from the board was almost missed. Except one little hobbit lad put his hand up and willingly rushed forward to collect the duster.

"Peregrin Took, I wish you would put as much enthusiasm into making letters as you do to cleaning them off." There was an edge of sarcasm to Mr Penawl's voice, but a grim smile played about his lips, so Pippin did not take it too seriously but set about the task with vigour.

The other lads gradually filed out of the schoolroom and soon only Pippin and the master were left. "Peregrin, you have cleaned every inch of that board, if you scrub much more you'll rub the board away." Mr Penawl had finished collecting his papers and was ready to leave himself. "Now go home."

Reluctantly Pippin put the duster back in its proper place, patting it into position and adjusting it again several times. Then he collected his slate and pencil and stowed them in the little bag Pearl had made for him and slung it over his shoulder and walked slowly out into the school playground.

As he walked along the lane, towards where the pony trap would be waiting, he realised that the Jeb and the other lads were falling in behind him. Pippin started to walk faster and then to run.

"Go on run scared baby!" Jeb taunted him. "We'll catch you in a second and then you'll be sorry."

Pippin was nearly at the end of the lane and could see the main street ahead. Usually if he could make it that far, the beating wasn't as bad as adult hobbits might see and think it more than just roughhousing. But the littlest Took suddenly recalled something his big cousin had said to him. 'If you keep running Pippin, you'll never be able to stop and if you keep being frightened, you'll always be frightened.'

"Right!" Pippin muttered under his breath. He spun round to face his tormentors, "Come and catch me then! You don't scare me!" He lied. As they caught up Pippin dropped his little bag and stood firmly, fists raised just as Merry had taught him, the stance now becoming natural and automatic.

"Come on Jeb!" Pippin remembered Merry told him to single out the leader. "You want to fight me?"

Jeb stopped in his tracks for a second, a look of surprise on his face. Then he laughed and came on, his fists also raised. As he sized up to the smaller lad his companions stood back a little. Suddenly it did not seem quite right once they saw the proportions of the two, Jeb was more than a head higher than Pippin as well as six years older.

Jeb came towards Pippin and jabbed at him with his fist, although, for the first time ever, he missed. Pippin moved backwards out of range of the blow and darted back in quickly with one of his own. He caught the bigger lad in the midriff, eliciting a puff and an involuntary groan. Pippin's heart was pounding and the adrenaline pumped in his ears, but the fight was only just beginning.

"Right!" Jeb snorted, angry now at having missed and been hit himself. He reached out and grabbed Pippin's hair and pulled him towards his fist. Pippin let himself be pulled, in fact he moved even faster and slammed his whole body into Jeb, knocking him backwards. Jeb hung onto the handful of hair determinedly and still connected his fist with Pippin's mouth on the way down to the ground, knocking out a last baby tooth.

Both the lads were struggling on the ground now and Pippin, still unable to get the grip off his hair, pushed his face into Jeb's arm and bit as hard as he could. The lad yelled and let go, but he threw his arms around Pippin, wrestling him and stopping him from using his fists to hit.

Pippin remembered Merry's instructions, 'think about which bit of you is free and use it.' They were now face to face and Pippin was on top with his arms pinned to his side. He pulled his head back and smashed his forehead down onto Jeb's nose as hard as he could.

The lad let out a fearful yell to his friends, "Gedd him! Gedd the lit-le bastard. He's broke by dose!"

As the other lads moved forward to pull Pippin off Jeb, two other, older hobbit lads stepped in between them and the scuffling pair on the ground. "I think they're about evenly matched, don't you?" Merry did not raise his fists, but the threat was there.

"My gaffer alus says it's a fair 'nuff fight if the little-un's winning." Samwise Gamgee had come along at Frodo's suggestion when Merry had told him the problem. It was a little far for Sam to travel, but Frodo himself was far too grown up to get involved, so he had contrived with Bilbo to send young Sam on an errand to Tuckborough overnight. Although Sam was a peace loving and gentle hobbit, his physique was daunting to the young hobbit lads.

Jeb in the meantime had released Pippin's arms to clutch at his bleeding nose and Pippin had made the best of his advantage by pummelling several fierce punches into Jeb's shoulder and chest. Now he realised that he was in charge and that Jeb had run out of fight. Time to win, he decided.

"Who's my father!" he yelled at Jeb, "Go on say it – who's my father?"

"Paladin Took," Jeb admitted. "The Thain."

"And who's my mother?" Pippin raised his fist again. "A gypsy?"

"No – no, Eglantine Banks – Took – I mean Mistress Took."

"And what's my name?" Pippin persisted. "Go on say it. Cry baby? Gypsy's son? I dare you!"

"Peregrin Took." Jeb mumbled. "Now let me up." Jeb's pride was now taking as big a battering as his nose.

"Don't you ever – ever say bad things about me or my family again or I'll beat you black and blue." Pippin threatened. He then remembered Merry's last piece of fight philosophy, 'when you've won – stop.' Pippin climbed up off Jeb's prone figure, dusting his hands together, "and don't you ever forget it!"

Now, to Pippin's amazement, the other lads came forward and started to pat him on the back as if he were some kind of hero.

"Good fight Pip."

"You showed him."

"Where did you learn to fight like that, Pip? That was truly superb."

"Some Thain you'll make! Well done, little Pip."

Merry and Sam said nothing but their faces were beaming with pride. They glanced at one another and nodded. They knew what had to happen next. Together they walked over to Jeb and offered him a hand each to pull him up off the ground. The hobbit lad stared at the hands and then up at the two older lads and eventually took the proffered help.

"Now why don't you two just shake hands and call it even." Merry suggested. Pippin held out his hand at once, another lesson in fight philosophy.

Jeb looked at Pippin's hand with some disdain but then looked around at the faces of his peers. They were not laughing or jeering, they obviously were on the side of his previous victim now. If he was going to stay in the gang, he had to do this – and do it with good grace. "All right, even?" He took Pippin's hand, keeping his other firmly over his bleeding nose.

"Even," Pippin agreed, although he knew it had always been uneven, but he could let that go. He pulled out his pocket-handkerchief and offered it to the lad. "Friends now?"

"Friends," the lad agreed, taking the handkerchief and holding it to his nose.

The other lads all cheered and then laughed and the tension was gone. Danno produced the inflated pig's bladder, or perhaps a new one, and bounced it on the ground. "Who's for kick-a-ball? You wanna play Pip?"

"I have to go." Pippin said, knowing that the pony trap would be waiting for him and he was feeling a little light-headed in any case. "I'll play tomorrow."

"Tomorrow then." Danno and the others raced off and Jeb limped after them.

Pippin walked with Sam and Merry towards where the pony and trap would be waiting. "Thank you for coming Merry and you Sam, I don't think I could have won if you hadn't been there."

"Oh I think you nailed him Master Pippin." Sam laughed, "especially with that head butt. That will go down in Shire history."

"Well Pip, that was actually a Sam special." Merry confessed. "He taught me how to do that."

"Did you Sam." Pippin's eyes widened. Bilbo's gardener's son had talents he had not seen before. "It certainly surprised Jeb – and me."

"Well that's the idea." Sam ruffled Pippin's hair good-naturedly. "I'd best be on my way now, I'm staying at the Missus Bustlethwaite's house tonight and I wouldn't want to miss tea."

"No Sam," Pippin implored. "Come to tea with us, you can stay at the Smials tonight, Mrs B won't mind, and then Papa will send you home tomorrow in the pony trap. You can't walk all that way on your own."

"Are you sure that's all right?" Sam was not used to mixing in grand circles like the Thain's. "Only I'm not proper dressed or nothing."

"Course you are, Sam." Merry laughed. "Anyway, you deserve a good tea after teaching me to fight, so that I could teach Pippin."

****

TBC

The Thain himself had come to fetch Pippin and the fight was not mentioned during the journey back to the Great Smials. Although Paladin could not have missed Pippin's dishevelled appearance, he made no comment and merely asked him what he had learnt today.

Pippin gave his father a funny half smile and, with his head on one side said, "I learned about who I am."

"Well done!" Paladin said equally mysteriously and ruffled his son's curls.

Pippin had snuggled up to his big sister as soon as they arrived home and shown her, with some pride this time, the gap in his teeth where Jeb had knocked his last milk tooth out. "But I won Pearl. I beat him! Can you just think? And… and… it was all Merry really, him and Sam. Merry taught me to fight and Sam had taught him and… and they made sure it was a fair fight and everything."

"That's wonderful my darling." Pearl lifted up Pippin's hands and kissed his bruised knuckles. "Better to have the bruises there than on your face. But weren't you terribly afraid?"

"No, Pearl," Pippin shook his head emphatically, "not even a little bit, and I never will be again – not now I can fight."

The tea was, much to Sam's relief, provided in the kitchen for the younger hobbits at that time of day. Grown-ups took theirs in the library or the parlour and liked a little peace and quiet. There was quite a rumpus and Pearl, being between age groups, presided over the children's tea with resigned patience.

"Children quiet!" Pearl demanded once they were all seated around the long scrubbed kitchen table. "Today, in honour of our special guests…" she stood and curtsied to Sam and Merry. A grinning Merry and a red-faced Sam stood and bowed in return. "…we have a special tea." All the hobbit children applauded. "There will be hot buttered crumpets; bread and butter with honey or gooseberry jam; grown up cup-of-tea for anyone over seven; jelly with peaches in; scones with cream and strawberry preserve and two kinds of cake."

There was much cheering as this splendid repast was laid out on the table, followed by comparative silence as the young hobbits set to. No one needed to mention "the fight" as it was becoming known – news spreads fast in a hobbit hole, even one as grand and rambling as Great Smials – and everyone soon understood the significance of the day for Pippin.

"So Pip, how do you feel now you've won a fight?" Merry poked him in the side when he did not get an immediate response, Pippin's mouth being full of cake. "I don't think they'll pick on you again."

"It feels good, Merry," Pippin swallowed his cake and dabbed his mouth daintily with a napkin, he might be a tough fighter now, but he still knew his manners. "But especially that you made him make friends with me. That was the best."

"Of course," Merry said, "You have to do that; you can't keep on fighting all the time."

"But Merry," Pippin paused before putting more cake in his mouth. "What about those things they said, you know the horrid lies they made about me – I know I made him say it wasn't true – but what if it is?"

"Pippin!" Merry was shocked that he should think such a thing. "Of course it isn't true. Your Mamma and Papa love you very much."

"But there is some sense in what they said," Pippin put the cake down on his plate, suddenly it tasted like old pipeweed. "What if they did just buy me so as Papa could be Thain?"

"Why don't you just ask him Master Pip?" Sam sitting the other side of Pippin had been listening carefully to the young one's dilemma. He had heard the rumours too and knew how upset Pip must be. "My gaffer always says there's nothing like asking questions for getting the truth."

"Do you know Sam," Merry smiled at him over Pippin's head. "Your gaffer is a very wise hobbit. That's exactly the thing to do Pip. I'm sure there's no reason to doubt who you are, but it can't hurt to ask the truth of it, to put your mind at ease."

****

"Papa?" Pippin knew to knock on the door of his father's study before entering. "It's me."

"Yes Pippin, what is it." Paladin put down his quill and looked up sternly. "Have you been up to something and sent to confess?"

"No Papa." Pippin knew that was why he usually had to knock on his father's study. "I just wanted to ask you something."

Rube had driven Sam home in the pony and trap that morning, happily carrying a jar of strawberry preserve and a large walnut and cherry cake wrapped in a napkin for his gaffer. Merry had gone along to resume his visit with Bilbo and Frodo and Pippin had finally summoned up the courage to talk to his father about the things the lads at school had said.

"Well come in and sit on the Wizard's Chair then." Paladin very occasionally had visits from the wizard Gandalf, he seemed to like to potter about the Shire and keep an eye on things, and Paladin, being full of courtesy and the Thain, had had a special 'big person' chair brought all the way from Bree for him to sit in. It was a very great honour for a hobbit child to be allowed to sit in the Wizard's Chair. "What did you want to ask?"

Pippin hoisted himself up into the chair and sat with his feet dangling. "It's about how you got me Papa?"

"You mean where baby hobbits come from?" Paladin blenched a little, he hadn't really wanted to have this conversation yet with his son.

"No," Pippin giggled. "I know that, it's from their Mammas' tummies."

"Yes," Paladin breathed a sigh of relief, "that's right."

"No, Papa," Pippin's face turned sad again as he thought about what the lads had said, he looked down at his hands in his lap. "Did I come from Mamma's tummy or did you buy me?"

"Pippin!" Paladin left his desk and came and lifted Pippin's chin up and took his son's hands in his. "You know very well that we didn't buy you. You are our own child. But even if we had – which we didn't – we would still love you."

"I believe you Papa." Pippin looked down at his bruised hands again. "But how can I make the lads at school and other people believe it. They even made a bad rhyme about it."

"Pippin I think you proved beyond all shadow of doubt that you are the son of the Thain." Paladin smiled knowingly and lifted up the bruised knuckles and kissed them lightly. "I saw it you know."

"What!" Pippin's eyes opened wide. "Me fighting?"

"Yes," Paladin smoothed Pippin's curls off his face. "You acquitted yourself so well, I was very, very proud of you. Not just for winning, but for knowing when to stop and how to shake hands and make all the others accept you."

"Merry taught me that." Pippin said proudly. "…and Frodo and Sam taught him."

"Well it was a good lesson." Paladin reached in his pocket and drew out a large silver penny. "This is for you, Pippin. You've learnt well at school. Those lads, and the rest of the Shire when they hear about it, will know that you are deserving of being the Thain one day. It's not necessarily who your parents are – it's whether you are worthy of the title and yesterday my lad you proved that you are more than worthy."

"Really Papa?" Pippin took the silver penny with delight. "But there's something else the lads said… they said you and Mamma only had me so as you could be Thain. Is that true?"

"Pippin that would have been a frivolous and irresponsible thing to do." Paladin walked over to the fireplace and found his pipe. "We would not have tried to have another child just for that reason, especially as the healers said your Mamma probably shouldn't have any more babies."

"So you didn't want to have me?" Pippin found this all very confusing.

"Of course we wanted you Pippin we always wanted you." Paladin filled his pipe with weed.

"But if Cousin Ferumbras hadn't said you could be Thain you wouldn't have had any more children." Pippin persisted.

"Why would you think that?" Paladin lit the pipe and puffed a cloud of blue smoke.

"Well you already had three children and the healers said Mamma could be ill if she had any more," Pippin could not see any way round this. "So it must have been because you wanted to be Thain."

"It wasn't that simple son." Paladin put the pipe down after a couple of puffs and walked back over to take Pippin's hands again. "I would never have tried having another baby if your Mamma hadn't wanted to. Ferumbras made the suggestion and I told your Mamma what he had said. I thought it was a bad idea, but she insisted."

But what about what the healers said?" Pippin asked in awe "Wasn't she frightened?

"No dear," Pippin's mother had been listening quietly, standing behind Pippin just inside the door. "I wasn't frightened. I knew you were waiting for me."

"How did you know that?" Pippin spun round to see his mother come into the room. "Could you see me? Where was I?"

"In my mind I could see you." Eglantine said, "and I knew you were mine and that I had to have you for my own. So when your father told me what Ferumbras had said, I told him you were waiting and then your Papa knew too."

"What did you say?" The youngster asked, his eyes wide, "Did you tell him Pippin's waiting for us?"

"No," Eglantine laughed. "We didn’t know your name then, I just knew that the sweetest, handsomest, cleverest, bravest most adorable little hobbit lad in the whole world was waiting to be my son – and you were – weren't you my darling!"

The End