A/N: Several original characters are featured in this story: (1) Milo, Andalgrim, Hildibold and Ferdinand Bunce are mine. (2) Ben, Orchid, Tolby, Jed and Aster Tunnelly belong to Danachan (Jed first appeared in Dana's story "One More Path to Tread"). (3) Tiberic Tunnelly, however, is mine and he first appeared in one of my past Marigold's Challenge stories "A Stroke of Love." Dana and I are part of the Original Character Exchange Program, you see *grin*. (4) The Tunnellys live near the Tooks at Whitwell and in this story, Pippin is 13 and Jed is 10. (5) Thank you to SurgicalSteel for patiently answering my questions. (5) Thank you to Dana for the poking and suggesting the title. (6) Thank you to Marigold for the beta. This story was written for her 34th Challenge.

Milo Bunce glanced around. The weather was fine and with the help of his sons the ploughing was coming along just fine, too. But something was strange, something was amiss, though Milo could not put his finger on it.

Andalgrim sighed. His father had been preoccupied all morning, constantly watching the sky and peering at the tall grass bordering their land as if he expected to find something unusual there. Milo was no longer young, and Andalgrim worried that perhaps the ploughing and planting was becoming too much for his father.

The ponies plodded along. They were making excellent progress in the ploughing, as were Hildibold and Ferdinand who were working further down the field, when Milo quite suddenly halted the ponies.

"What's wrong?" Andalgrim asked in confusion. "Da?"

Milo hushed him, and it was then that Andalgrim heard a high-pitched noise coming from the grass. He moved closer to investigate but his father held him firmly by the elbow.

"Steady, Andy," Milo said. His face was hard and grim as he listened again.

The noise grew louder and louder, and the grass rustled. Down the field Hildibold and Ferdinand noticed that they had stopped ploughing, and one of them called out in concern. It was then that the grass parted and out darted more than a dozen rats, the likes of which Milo and Andalgrim had never seen. They were enormous – the largest one reached the hobbits' knees – and they snarled, revealing sharp, vicious-looking teeth.

Startled, the ponies took off down the field, dragging the plough behind them. Milo and Andalgrim ran in the opposite direction, dashing away as the rats followed. They ran to the very edge of their property, where a pond lay, the water deep and dark and cool. It had been a favorite place for the family to swim in the summer, but now Milo and Andalgrim were trapped between it and the rats closing in around them.

Just then Hildibold and Ferdinand appeared, each bearing a scythe. They lunged at the rats, slicing those nearest to them, lopping off heads and tails. Blood stained the mud surrounding the pond as the wounded rats hissed in agony. When Hildibold and Ferdinand swung the scythes again those rats that were able escaped to the pond.

Not wanting to linger by the pond the hobbits ran in the direction of their smial. Andalgrim looked back once and the sight of the rats struggling to cross the pond, some successful while others sputtered and sank to the dark depths, was one that remained with him for the rest of his days...

"They say that for years Old Bunce and his sons could still hear the rats squeaking," concluded Pippin. "Squeaking in the fields…in the trees…and even in the smial at night...as if they had come back."

Jedric Tunnelly shivered. The story of Old Farmer Bunce's Rats was one that he had heard numerous times, but nobody told a story quite like Peregrin Took. Of course it seemed that Pippin was entirely unaffected by the tale as he leaned casually against the trunk of tree, swinging his legs blithely. Jed, meanwhile, was trying his best not to show how the story had unsettled him.

"They couldn't have come back," he scoffed. "Most of the rats must have drowned. My brother Tolby said so, and Tolby’s always right."

Pippin shrugged. "Some might have escaped. They may even be living in the area, and are just afraid to come out in the open after what happened. There must have been some reason why the Bunces moved to Michel Delving. Imagine having to listen to those rats squeaking!"

By the expression on his face, it seemed that Jed did not want to imagine it at all. Pippin hid a smile. He could see that his friend was frightened and decided that it was time to change the subject. "Oh, bother those silly rats. Why don't you tell a story, Jed?"

Jed nodded, eager to think and talk about something else. He had learned all kinds of tales from his brother, from rollicking adventures in far-off places to ones creepy enough even to frighten Pippin. But try as he might Jed could not remember a single story. All he could think about were the rats, tormenting the Bunces with their squeaking…

"Did you hear that?" he hissed. There were goose pimples covering his arms and it felt as if the hair on his head and on his toes was standing on end. "Pippin?"

"Hear what?" Pippin glanced around, finding nothing amiss other than his friend's frightened face. "Jed?"

"I don't know," Jed managed, biting his lip. "I don't-" He paused when he heard it again, a noise that sounded distinctly like squeaking.

This time Pippin heard it too. "What is that?" he wondered aloud, peering at the branches above and leaning to the side to study the ground far below. Jed wanted to warn him against leaning so far out, but somehow his voice did not work.

"I don't see anything," Pippin said, straightening up. "But I think we ought to climb down now, Jed. You look terrible."

His face pale, Jed clutched the branch he was sitting on and shook his head, hazel eyes wild and wide. Though his father managed a whole orchard, Jed did not usually climb beyond the lowest branches of any tree without the help of a ladder, and he certainly never climbed as Pippin did, scrambling up the trunk and perching high in the branches like some kind of woolly-footed bird. Right now his legs felt like jelly and his heart was hammering in his chest and Jed did not think he could stand the long climb down. And what if they should find the rats waiting for them at the bottom?

"Jed," Pippin persisted, his voice quiet and encouraging. But Jed did not, could not hear him, when the leaves nearby rustled and beside his ear was a shrill squeak.

Jed whipped his head around just in time to see a flash of grey through the leaves. Startled, Jed scrambled away, backing up along the branch, and overbalanced. He wobbled precariously for a moment, and Pippin reached out to steady him but before he could Jed was falling, dropping down through the branches until he hit the ground with a thump, and Pippin's panicked yell faded into nothingness.

When Jed woke again his head throbbed and his shoulder ached. Whimpering he tried to roll over, only to be stopped by Pippin, who was crouched beside him and watching him closely.

"You're awake!" Pippin cried with obvious relief. His face was pale and tense. "Are you all right, Jed? Where are you hurt?"

Jed stretched carefully, testing his limbs. “My head hurts and I can’t move my shoulder,” he said at last.

“Can you get up?” Pippin asked. He took one of Jed’s hands, placed his other hand on his friend’s back. “I’ll help you.”

Jed tried to sit up but fell back, dizzy from the pain, and shook his head.

"We have to get you to the healer," Pippin said, looking distressed. “But I don't think I can carry you, Jed." The healer was Jed's uncle Tiberic Tunnelly, and he did not live far but for all that Pippin was older, he was small and slight, and Jed was nearly as tall as he was.

“But what about the rats?” Jed cried. “I saw one in the tree. Don’t leave me here alone with it, Pippin.”

At that Pippin smiled kindly. "That wasn't a rat at all, Jed, it was just a squirrel. I think you frightened him away. I haven’t seen him since you fell.”

Jed felt his face turn red, feeling wretchedly foolish to have made such a mistake.

"Here," Pippin said, shrugging off his jacket and draping it over his friend. "I really am sorry to leave you, but I'll come back as quickly as I can, and with help. Don't try and get up, all right Jed? Just rest."

Nodding, Jed watched as Pippin disappeared behind the trees. The pain was getting worse, and Jed felt his mind drift, returning to full awareness only when he felt himself being lifted. When his shoulder was jostled, sharpening the pain, Jed could not hold back a cry.

"Steady, steady," came a familiar voice, and Jed felt himself being cradled carefully against his father's chest. "All right there, son?"

Jed murmured a response that seemed to satisfy his father. He felt a light touch on his arm and opened his eyes to find Pippin standing beside them.

"You'll be all right, Jed," he said, trying to sound cheerful and not at all as if his friend had frightened him more than any story would have. "Tolby's gone to fetch your uncle Tib. You'll be all right," he repeated, as if to reassure himself.

Jed smiled briefly, or at least tried to. And then they were moving, Ben carrying his son and Pippin following alongside them. Soon they reached the smial, where Orchid had already turned down the blankets on her son's bed and stood ready to help. Aster was there as well, and helped wash her brother’s face and place cool wet cloths on his forehead. Not long after they settled Jed in bed, Tolby arrived with Tiberic, who dropped his satchel on the bedside table and peered closely at his nephew.

"Fell out of a tree, did you, dear lad?" he said with a gentle smile. He lit a candle and held it close to Jed's face, studying his eyes. After a few moments Tib set the candle aside and examined Jed's head, finding a large bump and no blood. “There is no serious head injury," he said, much to everyone's relief. "The swelling should go down in a couple of days. Now for that shoulder of yours…"

Carefully Tib rolled Jed onto his side and then onto his stomach, feeling the bones in his shoulder, arm, neck and back, frowning all the while. "The shoulder has popped out of its joint," he said at last. "I'll have to set it."

While Orchid went to the kitchen to boil water for Tib, Ben removed Jed's shirt and Tolby and Pippin spoke lightly with Jed, doing their best to keep his spirits up. Tib looked up from sorting through his pack to grin at Pippin.

"Good gracious, is that Pippin Took? I didn't recognize you, lad!"

"That's because you always see me when I'm sick," Pippin replied with a grin.

Orchid returned with a mug of hot water, to which Tib added a dose of poppy. He helped his nephew sit up and drink. As they waited for the poppy to take effect Tib spoke quietly with Tolby, who took off running. In a few minutes he returned, carrying a box of small weights in various sizes that they used to weigh the crops.

Tib looked them over, and selected one, feeling its weight in his palm. "Thank you, Tolby. This is just what I had in mind," he said, setting it aside.

"What is that for?" Pippin asked, eyeing the weight curiously.

"Holding the weight will relax Jed's muscles so that I can move the shoulder back into place," Tib replied. By now Jed was drowsing slightly, and Tib gently rolled him onto his stomach and arranged him so that his affected arm was close to the edge of the bed. Then he took the weight and placed it in Jed's hand, letting it hang off the bed.

Jed fought to keep his eyes open. The poppy had eased the pain in his head and shoulder, but it was also causing him to drop off quite suddenly to sleep. The weight in his hand was heavy but Jed did not question it as his eyes slipped shut for several long moments. He returned to consciousness when his uncle placed his hands on his shoulder, and he felt the bone sliding back into place. It hurt, but the pain was nothing like it had been before, and as the weight was removed from his hand Jed fell into a peaceful doze at last.

Jed slept through the night, and when he woke in the morning he felt a good deal better, though his mother still fussed over him. Later Pippin came around for a visit and was relieved to find his friend awake and in good spirits, and joined Tolby and Aster in keeping Jed company.

“I feel so foolish for thinking that squirrel was a rat,” Jed said, glancing between his siblings and Pippin. “Thank you for helping me. I’m sorry I caused so much trouble today.”

“It’s my own fault for telling that awful story,” Pippin said. “I’m sorry too.”

"You must have told the most terrifying version of Old Farmer Bunce’s tale," Tolby said, directing a teasing grin at his brother, "to make Jed fall from the tree."

Jed laughed good-naturedly. The fear he had experienced not only from the story but from his accident was already becoming a distant memory. “Pippin does know the best stories. I’d like to hear another one now…as long as there aren’t any rats in it,” he added quickly.

"One about an adventure?" Aster asked hopefully, from where she sat cross-legged at the foot of Jed's bed. They all looked to Pippin. As the guest, it seemed that it was his place to supply the tale.

"I know a good one," Pippin said with a grin. "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit…"*

*Quoted from The Hobbit.