A/N: Pippin is 6, Pervinca is 11, Merry is 14. Written for Marigold’s Challenge 28. Thank you to Marigold for the excellent beta!

Pippin sighed heavily. "I wish it would snow," he said.

Pervinca rolled her eyes but Merry laughed. It was a hot day, the hottest of the summer so far, with a cloudless sky brimming with sunshine and no breeze to offer relief. Only Pippin would think of snow on such a day.

"But I do wish it would snow," Pippin said, gazing from his sister to his cousin in puzzlement. "Don't you wish it would?"

"And what good will wishing do?" Pervinca said in exasperation as she mopped her sweaty forehead with her handkerchief and flipped her long braid over her shoulder. Warm weather always made her irritable. "It'll still be the summer for another two months, and then autumn after that. And it isn't like we have snow every year, you know."

"I know," Pippin said. "But it snowed last year, and the year before, and – and it always snows in Buckland at Yule, doesn't it, Merry?"

"Of course it does," Merry replied, yawning. He and his cousins were sprawled in the shade of a tall, leafy tree and feeling rather listless from the heat. Merry tugged at the front of his shirt, the movement of the fabric feeling cool against his sweaty skin. Even in a shirt and breeches made of the thinnest linen, and without a waistcoat, Merry still felt very warm. And very, very bored. “Let’s do something,” he said.

"Like what?" Pervinca replied. "It's too hot to play tig, or run races, or do much of anything." She sighed.

"We could play hide and seek," Pippin said hopefully.

Merry and Pervinca shared a glance and nodded. At least they would be able to hide in the shade. Assuming he would be the first one to seek, Merry turned and faced the tree, ready to count.

"Can I go first, Merry?" Pippin asked timidly. Merry could be very bossy and almost always took charge in games, so Pippin was hesitant to ask.

But today Merry agreed easily. "Of course," he said, ruffling Pippin's curls. "Anyway, I've already thought of the perfect place to hide."

Pervinca stood, brushing blades of grass from her skirt. "So have I," she said with a grin. They waited for Pippin to start counting before they darted off in opposite directions.

Pippin lost count somewhere between sixty-two and seventy-five but finally he reached one hundred. When he opened his eyes the bright sunlight dazzled him momentarily, but then he grinned. "Ready or not, here I come!"

The air was still and quiet, heavy with warmth and sunshine. A bird chirped once and insects buzzed through the leaves. Pippin found himself tiptoeing in the grass and he nearly laughed at himself before he covered his mouth with both hands. He wanted to sneak up on Merry and Pervinca and surprise them.

Pippin went first to the hedgerow that ran along the path between the smial and the road. He poked between the leaves and branches, and swept his hands through the tall wildflowers that grew alongside, but did not discover anyone. When he reached the end of the path he straightened up, shaded his eyes and glanced around.

His eyes lit upon the small shed used to store gardening tools, and he ran there next. Pippin was out of breath and sweating, with a stitch in his side by the time he pulled open the door and blinked into the dark shed. All he saw were hoes and spades and bags of seeds, and no sign of Merry and Pervinca.

Shutting the door, Pippin walked slowly around the shed. He was starting to feel very warm and uncomfortable; the collar of his shirt stuck to his neck and sweaty curls kept falling in his eyes. Pippin brushed them aside and turned to the smial, peeking behind every barrel and beneath every shrub nearby. There was no sign of his sister or cousin anywhere.

Frowning, Pippin glanced around and wiped his forehead on his sleeve. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of something blue in the tree he and the others had been sitting beneath before. In an instant it was gone, and Pippin was left wondering if he had imagined it. Still, it would not hurt to have a closer look, especially when he recalled that Merry had been wearing a blue shirt.

Pippin ran back to the tree. With the sun beating down on him and his body feeling so warm it felt like he had run a very long distance by the time he reached the tree, exhausted and sweaty. He peered up in the branches and frowned at how this little movement made his head suddenly pound so mercilessly, and his stomach flop in nausea. Dizziness blurred his vision, but there was Merry, grinning down at him from his perch high in the tree.

"I didn't think you'd ever look here," Merry called down. "Well done, Pip."

Smiling, Pippin leaned against the tree for a moment, breathing uneasily before everything abruptly went dark and he toppled over onto the grass.

"Pippin!" Merry cried. He quickly climbed down the tree, jumping from the last branch, and ran over to his cousin. Now that he was close he could see that Pippin's face and neck were terribly pale and clammy, and his clothes were soaked with perspiration.

"Pippin, wake up." Merry gently patted his cousin’s face. "Pippin."

Pippin stirred and opened his eyes briefly. "Mrr?" he said before his eyes slipped shut again.

Standing, Merry scooped Pippin up and took off in a run for the smial. As he ran up the path Pervinca caught sight of them and emerged from her hiding place.

"What happened?" she exclaimed.

"He fainted," Merry said. Pervinca ran ahead and flung open the door, allowing Merry to hurry inside. He stopped in the hall, wondering what to do as Pervinca anxiously called for her mother. Eglantine bustled out of the kitchen and paled at the sight of Pippin, limp and unconscious in Merry's arms.

"I don’t know what's wrong with him, Aunt Eg," Merry said, frightened. "He was fine, playing and running, and then all of a sudden he fell over."

"He probably had too much sun," Eglantine murmured, her brow creased with worry as she felt Pippin's forehead and listened for his breathing. "Merry, take Pippin into the bathing room and get him undressed. I'll be along in a moment.”

Merry brought Pippin straight to the bathing room without staying for the rest of the instructions, though he vaguely registered that Pearl and Pervinca were to fill a tub with cold water and Pimpernel was to go to the stable and tell Paladin what had happened.

In the bathing room Merry placed Pippin gently on a bench and set to work. Quickly he peeled off Pippin’s shirt and breeches, casting the sweaty garments aside as Pearl and Pervinca carried in pails of water. Eglantine appeared with a mug of water and a basin of cool, wet cloths that she and Merry laid on Pippin's head, neck and chest. This seemed to revive Pippin, who stirred and opened his eyes.

"Mama?" he said groggily. "Merry?"

"Everything is all right," Eglantine said, smoothing back Pippin's damp hair. "You're just a little too warm right now. Merry and I are going to help you to feel better." She held the mug to Pippin's lips and helped him sip a little water.

Pippin seemed very disoriented and a little frightened. Merry smiled and took his hand. "You’re going to have a bath," he said, knowing just what would put his cousin at ease.

"A bath?" Pippin smiled weakly. "I like baths."

Eglantine smiled and glanced over at Pearl and Pervinca, who had just finished filling the tub. They left the room to wait for Paladin and Pimpernel, who had gone to fetch the healer.

Carefully Merry lowered Pippin into the water. Pippin whimpered as the cold touched his legs and back, but at least he seemed more alert than before.

"I'm sorry, I know it's cold," Eglantine said soothingly. She turned to her nephew and directed him to fill a pail with cool water. "Close your eyes, Pippin."

Pippin shuddered and sputtered as Merry poured the water over his head. At Eglantine's direction Merry doused Pippin with another pail-full. After, Eglantine and Merry soaked the cloths in the cool water once again and laid them on Pippin's forehead and neck. Soon Pippin was shivering from the cold but he seemed more like himself.

"Y-you were hiding in a t-tree, M-merry," he said, grinning with chattering teeth. "And I s-s-still found you!"

Merry and Eglantine glanced at each other and laughed, too happy and grateful to see Pippin smiling again to do anything else. In the hall there were voices, and a moment later Paladin appeared at the door, accompanied by a red-cheeked hobbit with a wild tuft of greying curls. It was the healer, Tiberic Tunnelly, who lived just down the road. He and his wife Opal, a midwife, both served the lands around Whitwell.

"Someone is feeling better, is he?" Paladin said, smiling in relief. "I hope I haven't bothered Mr. Tunnelly for nothing!"

Tib stepped inside and smiled down at the young hobbit in the bath. "You've had a bit too much sun today, have you, dear lad?" He checked the temperature of the water and Pippin's skin, and studied the young hobbit's eyes, nodding to himself. "I think you can come out of your bath now. Is that Merry Brandybuck? Why, you've grown at least five inches since I last saw you! Will you help your cousin out – that's a good lad. Here, let's wrap him in a towel."

Soon Pippin was wrapped snugly and sat on the bench, still shivering a little. Tib opened his satchel and retrieved a cone carved of thin wood. He pressed the bell-shaped end to Pippin's chest and held the narrower piece against his ear, listening. After a few moments he nodded and set the cone aside. "Heartbeat's sound," he muttered to himself. He examined the color of Pippin's skin and peered into his eyes again. Then he filled a mug with water and emptied into it a small packet that he retrieved from his satchel. He held the mug out to Pippin, who accepted it warily.

"It's just a bit of salt water," Tib assured him as Pippin slowly drank it down. "Your sister told me you were sweaty when Merry brought you inside, and a few drinks of this will help you replace your fluids and keep you from dehydrating. You were very lucky today, Pippin. If you were out there any longer, running around in that weather you would have come down with sunstroke."

"What does Pippin have?" Merry asked hesitantly.

"Heat exhaustion," Tib replied. "Milder than sunstroke, but dangerous enough. I want you to keep drinking water, stay out of the sun, and get plenty of rest. Cool compresses will help, too." He smiled down at Pippin and patted his shoulder, as much to reassure the child as his parents and cousin. "You'll be all right."

Pippin grinned brightly as his father carried him off to his room and helped him into a nightshirt. Merry filled a pitcher with water and Eglantine made certain that a basin of cool, wet cloths was nearby if they needed them. With his parents perched on either side of the bed, and his sisters and Merry gathered around, Tib checked Pippin one last time before he bid the Tooks good day.

"No thank you," he said to Paladin's offer of seeing him home. "I'll walk slowly. I've no need to hurry; Opal is in Tuckborough delivering the newest Bracegirdle."

Tib saw himself out. From where they sat at the foot of Pippin's bed Merry and Pervinca shared a glance. It was Merry who spoke first.

"We're sorry," he said, glancing from his uncle to his aunt. "Pervinca and I should have kept a closer watch on Pippin today."

"We didn't think playing hide and seek would be so dangerous," Pervinca said.

"I'm sorry too," Pippin added, stifling a yawn. "It was my idea to play hide and seek."

"Playing that game wasn't the problem. Running around in this heat was," Eglantine said gently.

Paladin nodded. "It's just too hot for that kind of activity. Even a pony shouldn't be running in this weather, and especially not a child. Everyone is all right now, and that's what matters. But all three of you might have fallen ill today. Next time I want everyone to be more careful."

The children nodded vigorously. Pippin’s eyes were drooping and he yawned enormously, burrowing deeply in his pillows. His father tucked a light sheet over him but Pippin hardly noticed, murmuring sleepily as he dozed off a few moments later.

Eglantine would not be parted from her son, so Paladin and his daughters crept out of the room to prepare supper. Merry went to follow, but his aunt called him back.

“I want to thank you Merry, for helping me with Pippin today. It is thanks to your help and quick thinking that Pippin is safe now,” she said with a smile.

“I promise to look after him better, Aunt Eg,” Merry said, casting a determined glance at his cousin. “I’ll never let anything bad happen to Pippin ever again.”

Eglantine hugged Merry close and kissed his forehead. “No one can promise that, Merry,” she said quietly. “But I know you will do your best, and I will always trust you with my Pippin.”