Clearing the Heir, Part 3

(In which the author seeks to answer the question: how did Bilbo come to adopt an heir?) 

This story continues the story presented in Chapters 1 to 4 of Clearing the Heir and Chapters 5 to 8 of Clearing the Heir, Part 2.

Brief synopsis of Part 1:

Just before Yule, Otho, Lotho and Lobelia Sackville-Baggins pay a call to Bag End, armed with papers for Bilbo to sign to officially declare Otho his heir. Lobelia’s intention to stop over at Bag End and take inventory of the smial’s contents over Yuletide is interrupted by the arrival of an urgent message: Paladin Took, travelling through Bywater on his way with his family to Brandy Hall for Yule, has collapsed with a high fever. Would Bilbo, as a bachelor with no young children or other family who’d be put in danger, be willing to offer Paladin and his little family shelter until the good farmer might be well enough to travel? (Assuming he did not die of the fever, that is.) 

Of course Bilbo generously opens his home to his Tookish cousin’s family and finds himself minding three young lasses whilst Eglantine nurses her husband in Bilbo’s best guest room. 

Best of all, Lobelia changes her mind about spending Yule at Bag End in the presence of a potentially deadly fever. She departs, taking Otho and Lotho with her but promising to return soon. 

With Eglantine’s diligent care, the local healer’s efforts and Bilbo’s help, Paladin manages to fight off the fever. His recovery is both good and bad news, for Bilbo is quite sure that Lobelia will doubtless descend once again upon Bag End when the Tooks depart, whether they return to Whitwell or go on to Brandy Hall which was their intended destination before the fever struck. 

Brief synopsis of Part 2:

Bilbo carries out his plan to drive Paladin Took’s family to Buckland for Yule. Along the way, he enjoys young Pimpernel’s company and ponders the benefits of taking in a young hobbit. As he reaches Bucklebury on his way to Brandy Hall, he drives into the middle of a snowball fight between teens and tweens of Hall and town, including Frodo. As Frodo is about to throw a very large missile, he is jostled by another tween, spoiling his aim, and instead of flying over the waggon, the snowball smacks into Bilbo’s face. After Bilbo wipes the snow out of his eyes and calms the jittery ponies, all the combatants have fled. Welcome to Buckland and Glad Yule!

*** 

Chapter the Ninth. In which Bilbo comes Out of the Cold to find a Warm Welcome at Brandy Hall

'Whoa there! Easy now! Whoa!' 

It was with a distinct sense of accomplishment that Bilbo eased Paladin's ponies to a stop in the well-swept courtyard before Brandy Hall. Though snow covered the outbuildings and the Hall proper, the stones underfoot were clear of ice and snow, promising cold but firm footing for the short walk to the Hall's entrance. He had deliberately steered the waggon as close as he dared to the entryway to make the walk as short as possible for those riding behind him in the waggon bed.

'To take a chill at this late date would not be good for any of them, I warrant,' Bilbo said to himself, even as he shifted the reins to one hand and raised the other hand to wave at the stable hobbits jogging towards him. 'Sorry!' he called, apologising for stopping at such a distance from the stables on the far side of the courtyard, and received a cheery answering wave from the stable worker who led the rest of the welcoming committee who were coming to take charge of the ponies and waggon. Admittedly, the Hall servants would benefit from not having to carry the baggage as far as might have been had Bilbo stopped closer to the stables...

He turned to speak to Paladin and the good farmer's family who were sheltering under cover in the bed of the waggon behind the driver's seat. 'Stay in the warm, if you please, until I've got things sorted...' Before setting out from Bag End, Bilbo had fashioned a pavilion-on-wheels of sorts that used the waggon bed as a platform, blankets propped up by stools from the Green Dragon in Bywater for walls and ceiling, and a covering of canvas over all to keep out any wind or rain or snow or falling ice. Under each of the propping stools was a lantern, and together, the lanterns had kept the improvised shelter warm and comfortable.

Continuing to secure the reins in one hand, he pulled out a pocket handkerchief with the other and mopped his surprisingly sweaty brow. Well, perhaps not so much of a surprise, considering how close Paladin's ponies had come to running away with the waggon when Bilbo had driven around the last curve coming into Bucklebury and blundered into the middle of a snowball-battle!

As he tucked his handkerchief away again, he looked up to see a servant emerging from the Hall and put on a bright grin. 'Hulloo!' he called heartily. 'Glad Yule to you! I come bringing with me the brother of your Young Mistress, along with his family...'

The servant waved acknowledgement, then turned and shouted to someone still inside the Hall. Turning back to the waggon, he waved again and called a greeting. 'Mr. Baggins! Well come! And you bring Mr. Paladin and his family, did you say? We'd given up hope of them coming... the Master sent a Quick-Post rider to Whittacres to see what might be amiss, but no answer had come back as of yet...' 

The first-arriving stable hobbit took hold of the traces and waved to Bilbo. 'All clear!' he called, cheeks red from cold and exertion, eyes bright with Yuletide cheer and a wide smile on his face. According to the gossip he'd heard at breakfast, Young Mistress Esmeralda had worried herself into a state, she had, over her brother's failure to appear or even to send a message to explain his absence. Small consolation though such might have been, at least it would have been something.

Bilbo jumped down from the driver's seat, to find himself needing the steadying hand of the servant who'd come out to meet the waggon and identify the arriving visitors. 'Steady sir. I've got you.'

'My thanks,' Bilbo told him, regaining his balance. 'I'm afraid we had to drive straight through from Hobbiton in order to arrive before the lighting of the Yule log.' He dropped his voice. 'Farmer Paladin is unwell – only very recently recovered from a fever, I meant to say. To my mind, he ought to be well-wrapped-up and carried into the Hall...'

'Yessir!' came the prompt reply. The servant turned and gestured again to an unseen watcher just inside the entrance to the Hall, nodded as if he'd received some confirmation – though Bilbo had seen nothing of the sort – and then addressed Bilbo once more. 'Well come, as I said, Mr. Baggins... I'm sorry to say we were not expecting you... but we'll soon have everything sorted if you'd like to go directly to the great hall where they're gathering even now for the lighting of the Log...'

'And you'll carry Paladin to the great hall, I trust, and tuck him up in a comfortable chair where his wife and sister may dote upon him to their hearts' content?' Bilbo said with a wink.

'It would be my pleasure, Mr. Bilbo!' the servant said stoutly.

'Thank you, er...' Bilbo said.

'Bumble, sir,' the servant answered with a quick bow. 'At your service, and your family's into the bargain!'

'I've no doubt on that matter,' Bilbo said. He took a coin from his waistcoat pocket, but Bumble waved it away.

'None o' that needed, sir! All in the day's work, it is. As well as being my pleasure to render satisfactory service to you!'

'More than satisfactory! I – I do hope your Master pays you well for your dedication to your duties,' Bilbo said without thinking, then grimaced.

With a wide grin, Bumble bobbed another brief bow. 'I've no complaints!' he said. 'None at all!' And then he lowered his voice and spoke the next words behind his hand. 'The Brandybucks are generous to a fault... why, young Mr. Saradoc has already won the appellation "Scattergold" – for his liberality, mind you, and not because the Young Master is a wastrel!'

More hobbits had emerged from the Hall by this time, some bearing blankets. Bilbo thanked Bumble as they moved to the back of the waggon, then called to the occupants, 'Are you well bundled up? The wind is cold, and there's nearly as much snow here as there was in Hobbiton!'

Eglantine's voice issued from under the blankets. 'We are!'

'Good,' Bilbo responded. 'The stable hobbits have taken the ponies in hand and will see that they're well-cared-for and rewarded for their gallant efforts, and servants of the Hall are here to escort the lot of us to the grand Last-Day Feast! And Dinny...'

'Aye!' came Paladin's voice, sounding well and strong. Perhaps he'd slept for most of the journey and would soon be himself again. Bilbo could only hope so. From what he'd seen, the bout of fever afflicting the farmer when the Tooks had arrived at Bag End had been a serious one.

Nevertheless... 'I've arranged for you to be carried to the celebration,' Bilbo informed the good farmer.

'Carried!' came the answer, laced through with about as much consternation as he might have expected to hear.

'Carried!' he repeated in his firmest tones. 'And if you're good, you may be able to convince your dear sister to allow you to walk back to your rooms after the celebratory grand tea. I cannot guarantee it, of course!' Bilbo allowed himself a chuckle. 'The Young Mistress of Brandy Hall is a force to be reckoned with, or so I've heard over the past few years...'

Truly, Esmeralda's strong will and determined spirit more than made up for her body's lack of strength, just as Bilbo had heard and, on the many occasions when he'd visited Brandy Hall, witnessed.

Paladin grumbled – but Bilbo's invoking of the good farmer's sister was enough to win his acquiescence, though he insisted on being carried sitting up rather than lying down, "lest Ally think I'm dying or some such".

The Master of the Hall himself, old Rorimac, met them halfway between the courtyard and the banquet hall. 'Bilbo!' he cried, stopping the visitor in his tracks even as he greeted the arriving Tooks warmly, expressed concern and received reassurance, and then waved Paladin's bearers to continue on to their destination, along with Eglantine and the children. 'This is an unexpected pleasure!'

'Beg pardon for not sending word ahead of my intention to visit,' Bilbo said a little uncomfortably. He knew all too well what Miss Dora Baggins would have said about his lack of courtesy.

'Anytime! Anytime!' Rorimac reassured him. 'As I told you the last time you were here, and the time before that, the door's always open!'

Bilbo thanked him much for that, then added, 'But aren't you supposed to be lighting the Yule Log about this time?'

Rorimac puffed himself up. 'And what about it?' But the Master of Brandy Hall could not maintain his stern expression and almost immediately laughed heartily instead.

'Well it won't light itself, I should think,' Bilbo said with an answering grin.

Old Rory raised his hand to shield his lips as if telling a great secret. 'Perhaps we ought to wait and see what happens,' he said in a conspiratorial tone. Then he dropped his hand and stood straighter. 'On the other hand,' he said a bit louder, 'the tea will only stay piping hot in the pots for so long, even cosied as they are, and so I think a change in plan is in order.'

'Indeed,' Bilbo agreed jovially.

Rorimac draped a companionable arm over Bilbo's shoulders and turned towards the banquet hall again, and the two cousins strolled together to the celebration in an appropriately festive mood.

***