1. A Glimmer of Hope

“Merry,” he hissed, poking me again.

I wanted to answer, I really did. “I saw him too, Pip,” I wanted to say, or maybe, “Isn’t this wonderful?” But as I was in somewhat of a trance, I couldn’t get the words out.

Finally I regained use of my body and turned my head towards him, at least. I beheld a glowing, joyous, awe-struck face mere inches from mine.

“Gandalf!” he crowed, grabbing me and whooping in my ear, “Gandalf, Merry!”

Something shook me loose, then, and I grabbed him back and started laughing. Surely this awful place had never heard such sounds as we were making.

“Did you see what he was wearing?” Pippin was still awe-struck. “Where do you suppose he got it?”

“I don’t know, Pip --- wherever he got the old robe, I guess,” I said. Pippin was thinking of clothes at a time like this? “No hat now,” I said, musing. “Nicer staff, too.”

Pippin turned to me with a grin. “I guess that Balrog is flapping around down in the dark wearing the hat, don’t you think?”

I started laughing so hard I thought I would hyperventilate. “Oh Pip,” I gasped, “Stop, please!”

After awhile we calmed down. The stones were uncomfortable and cold, and it was rather dark, but neither of us wanted to leave the gate just yet. Who else might come riding down the road? If Gandalf was back, what wasn’t possible?

“He said he had ten thousand Orcs to manage,” said Pippin thoughtfully. “Ten thousand; I can’t imagine anything so awful.”

“I know. And Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli are right in the middle of things, it seems.” I took his hand. “The Orcs don’t know what they’re up against, do they?”

Even in the dark I knew Pippin was smiling. He was smiling again at last, at long last. Oh thank you, Gandalf, I thought. Thank you for this.

“Come on, Pip, Treebeard said not to linger near the gate. We have to find a place to hole up in.” We heard thunder, and saw lightning on the far-off hills. War, I thought with a sudden pang of fear. War. But I was distracted for the moment by Pippin’s hand squeezing mine. A whisper so quiet I had to strain to hear it.

“He’s alive, Mer.”

** TBC **

2. A Glimpse of Home

“We seem to spend all our time high off the ground these days, you know. Being hauled about by Orcs and carried by Ents and up in wizard fortresses... we’ll probably end up at that white tower Boromir used to talk about.” Pippin sighed, thinking about poor Boromir.

I nodded. We lay on our backs, peering up at the sky from the top of the ruined arch. “Maybe we will.” I was silent for a bit, thinking about the treeless, flooded, desolate ruin below us that was now Isengard. “I wonder what this place used to look like?”

“Sam said that Gandalf talked about it at the Council,” Pippin said. “That it once was ‘green and fair’. Hard to imagine now, though. Maybe Sam should do a little gardening and re-planting here when it’s all over, if it’s okay with the Ents, that is.”

“Pip,” I said quietly, “If Sam ever sees this place it’ll mean that he and Frodo made it to that mountain, destroyed the Ring, and somehow got back in one piece.” I sighed and shook my head. “After all that, if the Ents don’t let Sam do just about anything he wants to here, they’ll have to answer to me.”

“I haven’t been thinking much about Sam and Frodo,” said Pippin. “Gandalf hardly said a word about them except that they got across the River all right. I can’t even imagine what they’re going through right now.” He shivered in the cold air and pulled his cloak tighter about him. “We’ve been pretty lucky, Mer, all things considered.”

“I know.” I thought for a while. “You know, getting the Ents to come here may be the only thing we get to do that’s useful. You and I might spend the rest of the war wandering around Isengard, keeping from being stepped on or drowned or bored to death.”

Pippin frowned at the thought. “Maybe we can do some exploring, though.”

“Pip,” I laughed, “we’ve seen everything there is to see east of here by being dragged through it. North is more mountains, south is the war, and west is... hmmm. West is Dunland, where Legolas said those black crows came from. Kind of empty over there. Maybe we’re safest right where we are; at least Gandalf knows where to find us here.”

“I suppose so.” Pippin sounded so downhearted that my heart ached. Suddenly I sat up, pulling Pippin up with me. I wrapped my left arm around him, and took my cousin’s right hand in mine. I pointed Pippin’s hand northwest. “There’s the Shire,” I said quietly. “It’s a long way, Pip, but that’s where it is.” Pippin sighed and leaned back against my chest. “We can explore there, all we want, when we get back. Don’t you think?”

“Yes,” Pippin whispered. He brightened, never one to be downhearted for long. “When we get back. After all the welcome-home feasting and parties and parades and such.”

I grinned. “Especially the feasting, you greedy hobbit.”

“We’ll be taller than anybody, you know.” Pippin found this notion delightful. “I guess we’ll always be high off the ground, now.”

“And we’ll remember back to this night,” I said softly. “Right in the middle of the third straight day of feasting, we’ll look at each other and smile, and know that we’re both thinking about this moment.”

“I like that.”

We sat, each with our own thoughts. I looked around. “The sun’s coming up. Maybe we can get some sleep later when we know what’s going on today.”

“Oh, I forgot about that,” Pippin yawned. “Feasting and parties and parades and sleeping.”

“You won’t be famous for anything you did in the war, Peregrin Took. You’ll be famous for being the tallest, fattest, most well-rested Thain in history!”

The hobbits both laughed delightedly as they descended the stairs, and the Ents Treebeard had posted close to the gate wondered at the sound. It was unfamiliar to them, but still, it was a good little sound --- of that they were certain.

** END **