Chapter 5. Guilty

The night before the annual Tookland Pony Races, there was always a large bonfire not far from the racetrack, with singing and roasting of various foodstuffs and general jollity. Ferdi took himself off after the feast, as the bonfire was about to be lighted, and walked in the comforting darkness beneath the stars and waxing moon.

He heard a burst of laughter from the firepit behind him, but had no desire to join the party. He could enjoy the singing as well from here, where he did not have to see and hear the flames.

He found himself wandering around the edge of the track, and was nearly to the far side when his attention was caught by movement he saw from the corner of his eye. Stopping, he looked intently into the darkness, to see a crouching figure in the soft dirt of the track.

Moving as softly as only a hobbit can, he crept nearer, slipping through the rails, coming up behind the figure which he could see now was a hobbit, crouching on the track's surface, busy at... something. As he came up behind the hobbit, he could see a gleam in the moonlight... and then he stepped in a hole, and stumbled. The other was up instantly, flinging something that struck Ferdi sharply in the forehead, then turning  to flee, only to stumble in another hole, and this stopped him just long enough for Ferdi to catch him.

'Guards!' he shouted. 'Guards!' The other struggled in his grasp, then, as if realising he was well and truly caught, stood still. Ferdi saw something gleaming on the ground at their feet, and without loosing his hold of the other, stooped to pick it up. It was a trowel. Ferdi could hear answering shouts, and pounding feet approaching, and he saw hobbits with torches rapidly coming closer. Just as they reached the fence rail, the other hobbit twisted in his grasp as a wrestler will, not trying to get away, which Ferdi was ready for, but instead taking Ferdi in a firm headlock and throwing him to the ground.

'I've got him!' the other shouted. 'I've got him! Help me!' Ferdi was too stunned at this turn of events to speak, until suddenly he felt hands jerk his arms behind his back, a rope firmly binding him, and he was hauled to his feet. 'Look!' the other said excitedly. 'He dropped that trowel, there, at his feet! Careful, the track is riddled with holes; he must have been busy digging since the bonfire started.'

'No!' Ferdi protested. 'No, that's not true! He's telling lies!' He looked into the grim faces around them. 'No!' he shouted desperately.

'Shut his mouth for him,' the Thain said wearily, and one of the guards shoved a cloth into his mouth and bound it behind his head. He tried to protest through the gag, but only a whisper of sound resulted.

Rough hands grasped him from both sides, and Hilly's voice hissed in his ear, 'So you're the mole! I always knew it!'

'You'll have your say after we hear from the witnesses,' the Thain said. 'Hold your peace.'

Ferdi forced himself to relax in the restraining hands, though he was breathing hard. His thoughts were racing. Would they believe him?

'Take him to the great room,' the Thain said. 'We'll sort all this out there.' Ferdi was hauled along roughly between Hilly and Tolly, other hobbits joining the procession, chattering excitedly.

In the great room, all the lamps were lighted and the room was quickly set up for the judging. The Thain and Regi sat soberly behind the head table, Ferdi held between his guards before them, a crowd of hobbits looking on, whispering. Ferdi looked to Regi, surely he did not believe that Ferdi would do this terrible thing... and Regi's face registered his shock and disbelief. At least one person there might hear him.

The Thain rose to address him. 'Ferdibrand Took, you stand accused of mischief with malice to cause bodily harm.' Ferdi could only shake his head, and Paladin looked back at him grimly before turning to the crowd. 'I call for witnesses. Who would bring this charge against him?'

Nibs Clayburrow, the middle son of Old Tom, the head hobbit of the Thain's stables, stepped forward. 'I do!' he said. It was the voice of the hobbit Ferdi had surprised at the track. Ferdi squirmed in his bonds only to be jerked roughly to order by his guards.

Thain Paladin nodded. 'Go on,' he said heavily.

Excitedly, Nibs gave his testimony. 'I was out walking, checking the track, you know... with the races tomorrow, I wanted to make sure all was ready.'

Old Tom nodded, his eyes shining, proud of his younger son's initiative. He would have expected such from his eldest, but that lad had been singing at the bonfire.

'I suddenly saw him,' he pointed to Ferdi, 'crouched over, like, with something in his hand that shone in the moonlight. Just then I stumbled, and I knew-- I knew he was digging holes in the track, on the far side where they wouldn't be seen, and the riders going too fast to notice anything amiss...'

There was a growl from the crowd, and Ferdi shook his head again, desperately.

'I jumped him! ...and yelled for the guard, and, well, that's all,' he said.

'Is there a second witness?' Paladin said. A hobbit could not be convicted of a crime on the testimony of a single witness, after all. Ferdi held his breath. There could not be a second witness, for the incident had not happened as Nibs had described. Soon they would remove the gag and he could defend himself. It would be Nibs' word against his, and surely the Thain was wise enough to judge between the two of them.

Hilly spoke up from beside him. 'I saw the trowel in his hand,' he said.

Ferdi's eyes widened, and again he shook his head. He saw the disbelief on Regi's face fading to sorrow, and anger. 'No,' he whispered, but no sound came through the gag.

The crowd murmured angrily, and Ferdi heard snatches. '...caught with the trowel in his hand.'

'What kind of hobbit would...?'

'That's not mischief! Someone could have been killed!'

'My lad was to ride in the first race...'

The Thain raised a quelling hand, and the crowd quieted again.

'Ferdibrand Took, we have heard two witnesses testify against you, and hard evidence found in your own hand that shows you to be guilty as charged.' Ferdi stood very still, scarcely breathing.

'We ought to bind, blind and cast him out,' Nibs said, and there was a mutter of agreement from the crowd. 'Anyone who'd set out a-purpose to lame good ponies, risking hobbits' necks...'

Hilly hissed in Ferdi's ear, 'Well, cousin, you've managed to avoid getting burned for some years now, but you won't escape the brand on the morrow, now, will you?' Ferdi stared desperately into Regi's eyes, but the other looked away. They were not going to believe him, he realised. They had the word of two witnesses, and the trowel in his hand. They would believe nothing he said in his own defence.

Nibs went on eagerly, 'Why, I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one done it before! He's the mole that dug the holes on the bridle path between the cherry trees, nearly killed the Thain!' There was another angry murmur from the crowd.

The Thain, however, stood very still, his head tilted slightly as if listening to a distant horn call. 'What did you say?' he asked quietly.

'I said, he's the mole!' Nibs said stoutly.

Thain Paladin's eyes swept the crowd, coming at last to rest on Ferdibrand. He said slowly, as if it hardly mattered, 'How did you know where the holes were dug on the path?'

'O, I don't know,' Nibs said carelessly. 'I heard it somewheres, I guess.'

The Thain's eyes moved from Ferdi to his accuser. 'Only a handful of hobbits knew where I took my fall,' he said. 'And I know they would have held their tongues.'

Nibs was uncertain now, but gamely said, 'It must have been my Da, aye, that must have been where I heard it.'

Paladin looked to Old Tom, who was shaking his head. Sadly, he said to his son, 'I never knew, lad. They did not tell me, and they filled in the holes before they left the path so that no one would suffer a similar mishap.'

The Thain looked to Regi. 'Did you tell?' he asked. Regi shook his head. Paladin's eyes moved to Tolly and Hilly, flanking Ferdi. 'And you?' he asked quietly. They both shook their heads, and Hilly dropped Ferdi's arm as if it had burned him.

Thain Paladin looked then to Healer Woodruff, a middle-aged hobbit matron with apple cheeks and brown curls. 'Did you say anything to anyone?' he asked quietly. She slowly shook her head, her eyes snapping.

The Thain then said to Tolly, 'Remove the gag.' The guard fumbled at the knot, and Ferdi spat out the cloth as soon as he felt it loosen. The Thain met his eyes squarely. 'Did you tell anyone where the mishap occurred?'

'No, Sir,' Ferdi said.

The Thain nodded. 'Right, then,' he said. 'Let me hear your tale.'

Quietly and without drama, Ferdi told how he had been walking, had seen the figure, confronted Nibs, how the other had thrown the trowel at him and tried to run. The Thain nodded, seeing the mark on Ferdi's face where the trowel had struck him, a bruise and trickle of blood. 'Go on,' he said. Ferdi described how he'd shouted for the guards, how the other had thrown him down and claimed to have seen Ferdi digging the holes.

'And that is all,' he said. 'You know the rest.'

'It's a lie!' Nibs shouted.

The Thain turned cold eyes on him. 'Do we need to gag you?' he said.

'No,' Nibs subsided.

The Thain stared at him for a few breaths, then said, 'Take him.' Two burly Tooks stepped up to take hold of Ferdi's accuser. Paladin turned his head to Tolly and Hilly, still flanking Ferdi. 'You know what to do,' he said. Tolly nodded, began to fumble with Ferdi's bindings, then took out his knife and cut Ferdi free. Ferdi brought his hands before him, rubbing his wrists.

Thain Paladin took a deep breath, swept the crowd with his gaze, then fronted the trembling Nibs. 'You stand convicted by your own words,' he said quietly. 'You could not have known where the holes were dug on the path, unless you had dug them yourself. Ferdibrand has the mark of the trowel on his forehead, which can only have happened if his story is the true one.'

Ferdi took a deep, shuddering breath. The Thain was about to pronounce judgment, a judgment he had only narrowly escaped.

'You stand convicted of mischief with malicious intent to harm,' Paladin continued, 'and you have compounded your crime by bearing false witness.' Nibs' eyes were wide. 'You know the penalty for this...' Nibs shook his head, mouth open, breathing shallowly.

'You spoke your own sentence,' the Thain continued implacably. 'On the morrow, with the rising of the Sun, we are to bind, blind, and cast you out of the Shire. Should you ever seek to return, every hand will be against you. None may offer you food, or shelter, or comfort of any sort. Your name will be stricken from the Book, and will never be spoken within the Bounds of the Shire again.'

Nibs twisted in the grip of the restraining hands, turning desperately to his parents. 'Da!' he said pleadingly.

Old Tom looked at his son, face bleak. He shook his head. 'I have one son less this day,' he said sadly. Beside him, his wife collapsed, sobbing, and he helped her from the room, the crowd parting silently to let them pass.

***

The next morning at dawn, a small crowd of hobbits gathered in the courtyard to watch the sentence carried out. A brazier had been lit earlier, and the coals were now very hot, heating an iron. Guards dragged the prisoner forward and forced him down. The Thain took the iron from the coals, and held it out to Ferdi.

'It is your right,' he said. 'He accused you falsely. He would have seen this done to you.'

Ferdi shook his head. Let the Tooks continue to think him a coward, he could not do this thing. The Thain nodded. 'Very well,' he said. 'Hold him.' Reluctantly, Ferdi joined the guards who were holding Nibs still. The brand was to mark his cheek, to identify him forever as outcast from the Shire, but the guards held him so that he might not move at the wrong moment and be accidentally blinded, a small mercy.

Old Tom stepped forward. 'I'll do it,' he said quietly. He took the iron, looking down at his son a last time. Ferdi looked away, but could not escape the awful sound, and the smell, that smell that took him back in memory and nightmare. His hands tightened on the other until the deed was done.

The Thain tied the bag around the prisoner's head, the traditional blindfold, and they lifted him onto a pony, then the escort mounted as well. Regi had protested strongly, urging the Thain to stay safely in Tuckborough and not ride out of Tookland, but Paladin had reminded him of his duty.

'I pronounced judgment, I must carry out the sentence,' Paladin said. 'I will ride with him to the Border and see him cast out. It is his right, and my duty. A few ruffians will not make me hide from it.'

They rode through the day and into the night. Whenever they stopped to take food or water, one of the guards would feed Nibs, or lift a bottle to his mouth. No one spoke to him, of course, and conversation amongst the escort was scanty as well. Grimly they continued the journey, stopping in the middle night for a rest, rising again at dawn.

Because the Ruffians watched the roads, they travelled across field and farmland until they reached the border of the Shire. Dismounting, the Thain said, 'Finish it.'

The guards lifted Nibs down from his pony, carrying him over the border and casting him down. One guard threw down a bag filled with food, another placed a water bottle beside him. The Thain gave the order to mount up, and dropped three silver pennies into the dust between Nibs' feet, then placed a knife in his hands, that he might cut his own bonds as they rode away.

'I declare you outcast,' he said quietly. 'We have left you with food, water, coin, and freedom. Go and make yourself a new life, and may you choose more wisely in the future.' He turned to his pony, mounted, and rode away with the escort, leaving only the rising dust behind to mark their going.