Title: The Trip
Author: Melilot Hill
Beta: Llinos
Summary: Eleven year old Pippin walks to Bag End alone, but his trip doesn’t go exactly as planned.
Rating: G
Disclaimer: The characters and settings belong to J.R.R. Tolkien
Note: Written for Marigold’s challenge #8.
Plot bunny 12: Write about the first journey a hobbit takes on his or her own.

I want to thank Llinos for beta’ing this story and also for (her great help with) the last paragraph.

The Trip

Chapter 1, Field and Meadow

“Mum?” Pippin asked.

“Yes dear,” Eglantine answered.

“Don’t you think that Frodo must be very sad? He’s all alone since Bilbo left.”

“I’m sure he will really miss Bilbo, son.”

“Can I go to Frodo for a visit?” Pippin asked. “So I can cheer him up?”

“Yes dear,” his mother answered.

“Mum?”

“Hmm?”

“Can I go there very soon?”

“Yes dear, I expect so,” Eglantine answered absent-mindedly. “Can you go and find something to do now, Peregrin? Mother is busy. Besides, it is time for you to go to bed.”

Pippin skipped from the parlour to his bedroom. In his young mind 'very soon' equalled tomorrow and he was very excited about his visit.

Once in his bedroom Pippin pulled his bag from under his bed and started to pack immediately. He stuffed a nightshirt in his pack and took some clean clothes from his wardrobe. He decided one change of clothing would be enough. Frodo was a lad too, after all, and would probably not be as firm on being clean as his mother was.

The last item to disappear into his pack was Tom, the wooden horse. Tom was Pippin’s favourite toy, because it had a ‘real’ woollen mane and tail. Satisfied with his preparations he crawled into bed.

A little later his door opened and his mother came in.

“Did you wash yourself?” she asked when she saw her son already buried deep beneath the blankets.

“Yes, I did,” Pippin lied.

“Let me see those hands, then,” his mother requested.

Pippin took his hands from underneath the blankets and held them up for inspection.

“I don’t think those grubby paws of yours saw any water recently,” Eglantine scolded lightly. “Come on, out of bed and have a proper wash.”

Pippin climbed out of bed and walked over to the washstand to have a real wash this time.

“Don’t forget to scrub behind your ears!” Eglantine ordered her son.

Pippin made a face behind her back, but complied without complaining.

“What’s your pack doing there?” Eglantine suddenly asked her son.

“That’s for when I visit Frodo,” was the answer.

“You weren’t thinking about leaving tonight, were you?” his mother asked.

“Of course not!” Pippin giggled. “That would be very silly.”

“Listen, Peregrin,” Eglantine said while tucking in her son. “Pearl and I will go for a visit tomorrow morning and we will leave early. So you probably won’t see us at breakfast. Will you behave when I’m gone?”

“Yes, mother,” Pippin answered. “I always behave.”

“Yes,” his mother laughed, playfully swatting her son’s leg. “but I’m not talking about behaving badly.”

Eglantine gave her son a goodnight kiss and left his bedroom.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Next morning after his breakfast Pippin went looking for his father, to ask if he could take him to Bag End. However, he couldn’t find his father anywhere. Pippin went back to his room and sat down sulkily next to his pack. His mother must’ve forgotten to ask his father to take him to Frodo. Maybe I am supposed to go alone, Pippin mused. Father is obviously busy. Yes, that was probably it. He was a big lad. He was eleven going on twelve, after all.

Pippin put on his coat and eyed his cloak. He didn’t really like to wear his cloak, it was bothersome and he didn’t like its colour at all. But it was almost November and it could be quite cold outside. And what if it rained? He decided to put his cloak in his bag, so he could use it if he wanted to. Pippin shouldered his pack and went outside.

He remembered Frodo telling him that the journey was so much shorter if you walked across the fields, so that was exactly what Pippin was going to do. He didn’t remember if Frodo ever told him how long the journey would take, but surely it wouldn’t be more than a few hours? He climbed the fence into the cow pasture and started on his way.

“Good morning cows,” he said cheerfully.

One of the cows mooed and Pippin made a mooing sound back and laughed. This was going to be a great day! Pippin skipped, walked and ran through the fields and meadows, stopping occasionally to watch some interesting animal or plant. After a while, however, he grew tired and hungry and he sat down and opened his pack and rummaged through it.

“Oh no, Tom!” Pippin said in dismay to his wooden horse. “I forgot to pack some food. What should we do now? All the berries and apples and such are long gone. Maybe we can find some nuts?”

But Pippin wasn’t in the vicinity of any trees at the moment, so there was nothing else to do but to shoulder his pack and set off again. After trudging along for a while he came across a road. Since the fields in this part were only passable with difficulty, he decided to follow the road for a while.

“I don’t like this journey anymore,” Pippin told his horse, which he still clutched in his hand. “I wish I had waited for father to come home.”

Suddenly he heard a cart approach from behind him. Pippin stepped off the road and waited for the cart to pass.

“Hoy there,” the driver said. “What's a small lad like you doing out here on the road alone?”

“I am going to visit my cousin Frodo,” Pippin stated proudly. “All by myself.”

“And where does this cousin of yours live, if I might ask?

“In Hobbiton,” answered Pippin.

“I’m going in that direction for a few miles,” the driver said. “I can give you a ride if you’d like. My name is Tom, by the way.”

You have the same name as my horse,” Pippin giggled, holding up said horse. “And yes, please, I would like a ride.”

Tom helped Pippin up on the cart and they went on their way. “What’s your name, lad?”

*~*~*~*~*~*

When Eglantine came home around lunchtime, she could find neither her husband nor her son. She soon found out that her husband went away for some business and she thought he’d taken Pippin with him. The lad had been pestering his father about that sort of thing before. But when Paladin came home without their son, some time later, she knew she had assumed wrongly.

“I feel so foolish, just assuming Pippin was with you,” she said to her husband. “Do you have any idea where he could be?”

“No,” answered Paladin,” I haven’t seen the lad at all this day. Eg? What’s the matter? You’re looking terribly pale all of a sudden.”

“Oh Pad, I think I know where Pippin is,” she answered. “Yesterday he asked me if he could go to Frodo for a visit and I told him he could go soon. When I came to tuck him in, he had already packed his bag. Pad, he’s on his way to Bag End on his own!”

“First let us see if his pack is really gone, before we worry too much,” Paladin told his wife as they walked to Pippin’s bedroom.

Eglantine sat down heavily upon her son’s bed. His pack, coat and cloak were gone. A sure sign Pippin had left for Bag End on his own. She put her head in her hands.

“I am to blame. I saw his pack yesterday and didn’t question him about it,” she muttered. “All I asked was if he was planning to go last night and he answered me that that was a silly thought. I should’ve paid more attention.”

“Nonsense,” Paladin said, sitting down on the bed next to his wife and putting an arm around her, pulling her close. “How could you have known he would leave on his own? He should know he is much too young to do that. Please don’t blame yourself, dear.”

After comforting his wife, Paladin stood up. “I’m going to sent a rider to Bag End, to inform Frodo. Peregrin could already be there, since we don’t know at what time he left. If not, Frodo can be on the look out for him and notify us at once if Pippin arrives. I’m going to look for Pippin with a few others.”

Paladin embraced his wife and kissed her. “We’ll find him, dear, don’t worry.”

“Of course I worry,” Eglantine mumbled. “My son is out there all alone and it will be getting dark soon.”

“Mother, is something the matter?” Pearl asked.

Eglantine turned and saw her three daughters in the doorway, worried looks upon their faces.

“Pippin left for Bag End on his own,” she answered. “Pimmie, Vinca, have either of you seen Pippin this morning? We don’t know at what time he left, so we have no idea how far along he is.”

Both Pimpernel and Pervinca shook their heads. It seemed that nobody saw Pippin leave. The four of them walked to the parlour, to wait for news about the youngest family member.

t.b.c.

Title: The Trip
Author: Melilot Hill
Beta: Llinos
Summary: Eleven year old Pippin walks to Bag End alone, but his trip doesn’t go exactly as planned.
Rating: G
Disclaimer: The characters and settings belong to J.R.R. Tolkien
Note: Written for Marigold’s challenge #8.
Plot bunny 12: Write about the first journey a hobbit takes on his or her own.

I want to thank Llinos for beta’ing this story and also for (her great help with) the last paragraph.

The Trip

Chapter 2, Rain and Mud

Pippin was in a much better mood after his ride. He was rested and Tom had shared his lunch with the lad. He was singing one of the walking songs Bilbo had made up and taught him.

But after just a little while his high spirits started to vanish into thin air when a cold wind began to blow and the already overcast sky turned a lot darker. Pippin stopped to get his cloak from his pack and wrapped it around himself. He was really happy he had brought it along. Not much later fat raindrops began to fall from the sky, soaking everything.

Pippin plodded along, head bent, through the heavy rainfall. His good mood from earlier that afternoon was completely gone. He was cold, wet and hungry again. He angrily kicked his foot in a puddle, but the only thing he achieved was to get his breeches even wetter.

“Am I lost?” the lad wondered out loud. “I thought it would only be a few hours to Frodo’s.”

When he came across a tree that was perfect for climbing, Pippin decided to climb all the way to the top to see if he could spot Hobbiton, or even Bag End from up there. He was beginning to worry if he was still going in the right direction, and he could probably see for himself from the top of the tree if he was still on track.

Pippin took off his pack and undid his cloak, placing both on a relatively dry spot under the tree.

“Sorry, Tom, you can’t go up with me, you might fall and break one of your legs.” Pippin said as he carefully put his horse back into his bag.

He started to climb the tree. It proved to be a lot harder than he expected. The tree was slippery due to the rain and Pippin had problems finding his footing. He did, however, make progress even though it was very slow.

When he was up the tree far enough, Pippin peered through the branches. A lot of the leaves had already fallen, so it wasn’t too hard to look around. Pippin felt a tight ball settle in his stomach. All he could see in three directions were fields. But his vision was largely blocked by a heavy curtain of rain. In the fourth direction he saw a wood.

Pippin felt tears begin to burn behind his eyes. Hobbiton was nowhere in sight. Maybe he had to go through that wood to reach Frodo’s smial. But it was already beginning to get dark and Pippin was quite afraid to go through the wood alone in the dark. The wood, in fact, was just a strip of trees, but Pippin couldn’t see that from his viewpoint.

He gingerly began to descend from the tree, feeling very lonely and scared. When he was nearly down again, Pippin slipped and fell the last few feet, landing painfully on his back on the hard, wet ground. He began to cry in earnest now, heaving great big sobs. He took his wooden horse from his pack again and clutched it against his chest.

“I’m not a big lad at all, am I, Tom?” he sobbed.

*~*~*~*~*

Paladin had saddled his pony and rode out together with a few others. It was agreed that some Hobbits would search on foot in the vicinity of Great Smials and others would search the fields and roads nearer to Hobbiton. Paladin was sure his lad would be close to Hobbiton by now, if he hadn’t lost his way, and thus chose to set off with the riders.

Now he was riding through the pouring rain, urging his pony on. It would be dark early today, because of the downpour, and he needed to hurry in order to have some daylight left to be able to search for his son properly.

*~*~*~*

Pippin scrubbed his face with his sleeve. Sitting under this tree and crying wouldn’t do at all. He had to work out what he should do now. He couldn’t turn back. He was much too far from home to make it back before it became dark. On the other hand, he didn’t know if he was close to Bag End or not. He thought he was still going in the right direction, but he couldn’t remember that wood. Pippin decided to just follow the road again, certain that he would come across a farmhouse. He really hoped he would, his back was hurting pretty badly, because of his fall.

He sighed and stood up. There was nothing else for it. Pippin was afraid of the dark, but at home, with a candle next to his bed, the dark wasn’t too scary. But he would probably be very scared here in-between the fields, so sitting underneath the tree the whole night wasn’t an option.

*~*~*~*~*

Paladin was still hurrying along the road to Hobbiton as dusk began to set. Luckily the rain was only a light drizzle now. Still inconvenient, but at least it was easier to see. He began to feel quite worried. He came closer and closer to Hobbiton and still he hadn’t spotted Pippin. Surely the lad couldn’t have walked such a distance in one day? He just hoped Pippin hadn’t lost his way and wandered in a completely different direction, where they weren’t looking. But no, he must not think that. Pippin had made the trip to Bag End plenty of times before and should know the way. He could have chosen to walk across the fields, but riders were searching there as well. I should remain positive, Paladin told himself, but a feeling of dread began to spread through his body.

*~*~*~*~*

Pippin’s head perked up. He heard somebody approach him from behind. Pippin turned his head and saw an old Hobbit, leading a goat, walking towards him.

“Hullo there, lad” the Hobbit said.

“’Lo,” Pippin sniffed, sounding miserable.

“Is there something the matter?” the Hobbit asked. “Are you lost?”

“Yes sir,” Pippin answered. “I was on my way to Hobbiton, to see my cousin.”

“Oh, but then you aren’t lost at all.” was the answer. “You’re on the right road. Only, I’m not sure if you will make it there before dark. Why don’t you come home with me. I live not far from here. We will see about reaching your Cousin after we get you dry again.”

“Could I, sir?” Pippin asked relieved. “That would be splendid.”

“Yes, you can,” was the answer. “And don’t call me sir, my name is Robin.”

Robin gave Pippin a hand and together they walked to Robin’s farm.

*~*~*~*

The rain was thickening again and the light was fading fast. Paladin would reach Bag End soon and he still hadn’t found Pippin. He hoped with all his heart the lad had reached Frodo’s by now, but he started to feel really apprehensive.

Suddenly Paladin sat up straighter in his saddle. He saw somebody walking on the roadside. He urged his horse forwards again, hoping against hope that it was Pippin he saw. When he came closer, however, he saw it was just the trunk of a tree. The heavy rain and gathering dark and maybe also his mind, had tricked him into thinking he saw a hobbit along the road.

Paladin slumped back into the saddle, his hope of finding Pippin greatly subdued.

*~*~*~*~*

Frodo sat at his kitchen table, staring into a cup of tea. He’d been very worried about Pippin ever since he got the news from Great Smials. He had been alternating between staring out of the window, hoping to see Pippin approach and sitting at the kitchen table, hoping to hear a knock on the door.

When that knock finally came, Frodo almost fell from his chair. It had come unexpectedly after all. He ran to the door and opened it.

“Pippin! I’m so glad...,” Frodo began.

“So Pippin is not here then, I gather?” Paladin asked dismayed, standing in Bag End’s hallway, dripping wet. He had already more or less expected that, but he hadn’t given up hope completely.

“I’m afraid not,” Frodo answered. “Oh Pad, what should we do now? It’s almost dark outside and the rain makes it virtually impossible to use any daylight that still remains.”

“I know, Frodo,” Paladin answered, sitting down heavily on the bench in the hallway. “I know.”

t.b.c.

Title: The Trip
Author: Melilot Hill
Beta: Llinos
Summary: Eleven year old Pippin walks to Bag End alone, but his trip doesn’t go exactly as planned.
Rating: G
Disclaimer: The characters and settings belong to J.R.R. Tolkien
Note: Written for Marigold’s challenge #8.
Plot bunny 12: Write about the first journey a hobbit takes on his or her own.

I want to thank Llinos for beta’ing this story and also for (her great help with) the last paragraph.

The Trip

Chapter 3, Fire and Food

Pippin was completely exhausted from his long walk and his body was really hurting due to his fall from the tree, so it was hard for him to keep up with Robin.

When Robin noticed that the lad started to stumble quite a bit, he slowed down his pace. “I’m sorry, Pippin,” he said. “You must be really tired after such a long walk. But don’t worry, we’re nearly at my home.”

Robin stopped walking altogether and bent over, so he was on eye level with the lad. “Do you see that light over there?’ he asked Pippin, pointing through some trees. “That’s Thimo’s smial. Mine is just a few feet further away. You can’t see it now, as there’s nobody home to light the fire since my Phlox passed away.

Robin put his goat into the stable and took Pippin into his home. After rebuilding the fire he ordered Pippin to get out of his wet clothes and into some dry ones. He gave him a towel and opened Pippin’s bag to retrieve some dry garments.

“The clothes you brought with you are all wet too,” he commented. “How long have you been walking in that rain? I hope you haven’t caught a cold.” With that he left the room and soon came back with a nightshirt. He wanted to hand it over to Pippin when his eye suddenly caught Pippin’s back.

“Will you come over here, please? Robin asked. “I want to have a look at your back. It looks bruised.”

“I fell from a tree today,” Pippin explained. “And it’s really hurting me.”

“You poor thing,” answered Robin. “Wait, I have some ointment for troublesome muscles. It will also help on your back I guess. I will fetch it.”

Robin rubbed the ointment on Pippin’s back, helped him into on of his own nightshirts, which was, of course, ridiculously large for Pippin, wrapped him up in a blanket and gave him some tea to drink.

“I will go over to Thimo’s, to ask if one of his lads will tell your Cousin Frodo that you are with me. I think it’s better that you don’t ride a pony with that back of yours and I don’t think you should go out in the cold anymore until you’re warmed up and dry again!”

Pippin began to feel the warmth of the fire and the tea do its work.  He sighed and tried to curl up in his chair, but that made his back hurt even more. He wished his Mum was here now to hold him. Tears started to trickle down his cheeks.

*~*~*~*~*

“Thimo has sent his oldest lad to Bag End to tell your Cousin your whereabouts,” Robin said while walking back inside, “and…Pippin, are you crying?”

Pippin wiped his eyes with his sleeve, but to no avail, the tears kept falling.

“Is your back hurting really badly?” Robin asked, ruffling Pippin’s curls.

“No. Well, yes, but not really, really bad,” was the answer.

“Then what’s the matter?” asked Robin while putting an arm around Pippin’s shoulder.

“I think I have been very bad today,” Pippin sobbed. “This morning I thought it was all right if I went to Frodo all by myself, but now I think that Father and Mother will be very worried right now and cross with me. I probably wasn’t supposed to go on my own at all. I don’t think they ever said I could.”

Robin held the lad till the sobs finally subdued. He then prepared some dinner for both of them.

Even though it had been hours since he last ate, Pippin hardly touched his food. After moving his food about on his plate, he fell asleep right there at the dinner table. Robin picked him up and carried him off to bed.

*~*~*~*~*

Both Paladin and Frodo’s heads perked up when they heard somebody knocking at the door. They looked at each other. Could that be…?

“Good evening,” Frodo said to the lad outside. “How can I help you? And please come in, it’s such a dreadful weather today.”

“Good evening, sirs,” the lad replied, toying with the hem of his cloak. He never had been in such a fancy smial before and he was a little overwhelmed by it all. “I’m Gido. Robin Smallbody sent me. He asked me to tell you he found your cousin, Pippin, and he took him home with him.”

“Thank goodness!” Paladin said, feeling relief flow through his body. “I’m so glad to hear Pippin’s safe and doesn’t have to spent the night outside, alone, cold and afraid!”

“No, sir,” Gido answered. “Robin will take good care of him. He did ask me to tell you something else. Pippin hurt his back when he fell from a tree and he has a slight cold, so he thought it better if he spent the night with him.”

”Thank you for this very good news!” Frodo said. Why don’t you come into the kitchen and have a cup of tea. You must be cold.”

Paladin didn’t follow the two into the kitchen. He was thinking about what to do next. He wanted to go over to Pippin right away, but on the other hand he couldn’t leave Eg and the lasses in doubt about Pippin the whole night. The lad was probably very tired now, so he couldn’t pick him up first and then leave for home. Besides, if Pippin already had a cold beginning and a hurt back, he shouldn’t take him out again today anyway.

“Aren’t you coming, Paladin?” Frodo asked from the kitchen. “I made you a cup of tea as well.”

“Yes, I will be right there,” Paladin answered, exchanging the relatively cold hallway for the warm, cosy kitchen. “I will ride back to Great Smials in a moment, Frodo. I will go to Robin Smallbody in the morning.”

“But Paladin,” Frodo objected. “It’s already dark outside and since you can’t go by field now, you have quite a distance to make.”

“Yes, I know,” Paladin sighed, but I can’t keep my family in doubt about Pippin the whole night. And I will be all right, I know the road very well. They only thing that still concerns me is that I can’t also go to Pippin this night.”

“I will collect Pippin in the morning,” Frodo offered. “That saves you a trip and Pippin will see a familiar face a lot sooner. Gido, would you please tell Robin that I will be arriving fairly early tomorrow morning. I hope that won’t be too inconvenient?”

“No, Sir, I don’t think it will be,” Answered Gido. “Robin’s always up at the crack of dawn, and I think he’ll like your cousin’s company.”

“Well then, Paladin, if you insist on riding back to Great Smials tonight, I guess you’d better leave soon,” said Frodo. “And don’t worry about Pippin, I’ll bring him home safe and sound.”

*~*~*~*~*

Pippin woke up when a beam of sunlight shone in his face, which was very strange, because the sun never shone on his bed. Suddenly he remembered everything that happened the day before. He stood up and wanted to get dressed, but he couldn’t find his clothes anywhere in the room. Pippin gingerly walked to the door, opened it just a little and shyly looked through the crack.

“Ah, you’re finally up!” Robin said. “Why don’t you come over here for some breakfast. You must be very hungry after missing all those meals.”

Pippin opened the door a little more and walked to the table, careful not to trip over the very large nightshirt he was wearing. He sat down, which wasn’t that easy because of his still hurting back and hungrily dug in.

“Do you know when my parents are going to come for me?” Pippin asked after a few bites. “Although, they don’t even know where I am right now, do they?”

“As a matter of fact they do. When Gido, Thimo’s lad came to your cousin Frodo’s smial, your father was there as well, and he went straight home after he heard the news to tell your mother. So don’t you worry about that,” Robin said, patting Pippin’s hand. “Your cousin will collect you this morning.”

Robin had hardly finished his sentence when somebody was knocking at the door. “Ah, I think he’s here already,” Robin smiled and went to open the door.

“Hello Pip,” Frodo greeted when he came in. “You gave us all quite a scare, going off on your own like that!”

“I did, didn’t I?” Pippin responded, staring at his plate.

“Yes,” answered Frodo, kissing Pippin on the top of his head. “Now why don’t you get dressed? Your parents are eagerly awaiting you.”

After they had thoroughly thanked Robin for his kindness and hospitality, Frodo and Pippin went on their way. The cart ride was very uncomfortable for Pippin, but riding a pony or going by foot was probably worse, he thought.

*~*~*~*~*

“Pippin!” Eglantine called crossly, when they finally arrived at Great Smials. “We were so worried about you. Why ever did you leave on your own like that?”

Pippin climbed slowly down from the cart, favouring his hurt back, then gave a gargantuan sneeze. "Sorry, Mum, I…Ah… Ahhhtishoo!"

"Oh Pippin!" Eglantine's crossness turned to anxious concern, "My poor baby, and you've hurt yourself too."

She pulled Pippin close, mindful of his hurting back and hugged and kissed him for a very long time. After his mother let go of him, he was passed to his father and sisters for similar treatment.

“And now you’re going to bed,” Eglantine told Pippin resolutely. “You have a cold and a bruised back that needs to be taken care of.”

Pippin sighed, lying in bed while his mother fussed over him was the worst punishment he could possibly get.

"I'll never go off alone again," Pippin vowed to his mother as she took his temperature for the tenth time that day.

"There's my good lad," Eglantine smiled as she held her hand to his brow.

"No," Pippin declared, "next time I'll take Merry!

And of course – he did!

The End