At teatime a knock came at the door. Hilly rose to answer, opening to a pair of tweens with trays. 'Tea,' one said with a nervous bob and look to the bed, while the other stifled an anxious giggle.

Pimpernel looked up from where she sat, holding Ferdi's hand. 'Shhh,' she said softly. 'He's sleeping.' She nodded at the lasses. 'Just put everything down over there and we'll see to the rest.'

'Yes'm,' one of the tweens said, bobbing again, spilling a small amount of tea from the pot on her tray, but then she steadied herself and quickly divested her tray of pot, mugs, plates and spoons, whereupon the other lass dealt out the platters of food.

'Begging your pardon, but... how is he?' the first tween asked shyly.

'He's breathing easier already,' Hilly answered. 'Might even be fighting us to get up by late supper.' The second tween covered her mouth with her hands to stifle another giggle, and with a pair of matched courtesies the tweens took their trays and fled.

Ferdi opened his eyes and made a querying noise. 'Some of your followers,' Hilly said.

'What was that?' Pimpernel asked, not taking his meaning.

'O you know, the lasses, they follow him from target to target at the tournament and nearly swoon with every shot. Head of the Thain's escort, cuts a dashing figure...'

'And not too hard on the eyes,' Pimpernel smiled, stroking an errant strand of hair back from the forehead. 'Would you like some tea, cousin?'

Ferdi shook his head and closed his eyes, but Pimpernel wasn't one to take no for an answer. 'Well, you're going to take some, whether you want it or not,' she said cheerily.

'Pippin?' Ferdi whispered, opening his eyes again. It was hard to force the word out against the swelling in his throat and breathing passages.

'Haven't heard a word,' Pimpernel said, 'and I'd be one of the first to be told, you know, being his favourite sister and all.'

'I thought Pearl was his favourite sister,' Hilly said.

'Not on your life,' Pimpernel retorted, holding the mug to Ferdi's mouth, tilting it to encourage him to sip. 'That's just what she tells everyone, but it is not true at all.' Their continued banter distracted Ferdi enough that he kept drinking. Halfway through the mug, his hand rose to take hold, and she let him decide how much to tilt, how much to swallow at one go.

'Done,' he said at the end, letting his hand drop. 'Want to get up.'

'No you don't,' Pimpernel said. 'Not until the healer says you may.'

Ferdi made a face. 'Overbearing,' he said.

'That I am, always have been,' she replied with a laugh. 'Even Pip will tell you so.'

A spasm of pain crossed Ferdi's face, and he turned his face away, whispering, 'Pip.'

'Now, Ferdi, while there's breath, there's life,' Pimpernel began, but he shook his head.

'My fault,' he said.

Pimpernel looked to Hilly, at a loss, but he looked as disturbed and puzzled as she felt. 'You didn't set the fire,' she said, but he closed his eyes and would not hear her.

'Hilly?' she asked.

'He is responsible for Pip's safety, you know,' Hilly said slowly. 'Tolly was Pip's escort out to the woods. Pip ordered me to stay here, plenty needed doing, but... Ferdi must have been there, he's the head of the escort, he's the one brought Pip in from the fire... maybe he means it's his fault for being caught out, not bringing the Thain in sooner.'

'Ferdi,' Pimpernel said, leaning forward, 'the smoke rolled all the way to the Smials. It would have caught you here just as well.' Ferdi did not answer, and soon his breathing evened out again into sleep.

'He cannot blame himself,' Pimpernel said stubbornly.

'He does,' Hilly said, 'and he'll have plenty of others for company, should your brother die.'

'But it's not fair,' Pimpernel protested.

'Whoever said life was fair?' Hilly said. 'Was it fair of you to start that rumour that he couldn't be trusted with children?' 

Pimpernel flushed and dropped her eyes. 

'Well, was it?' he demanded. 'We all made allowances for you, your condition and all, but you nearly ruined him, you know.' When Pimpernel looked up again, opening her mouth to answer, she saw his eyes had darkened with sudden strong emotion, and she swallowed hard and waited to hear what else he had to say.

When he spoke again, his voice, usually well-controlled in his focus on conveying the exact shade of meaning he intended at any particular moment, betrayed his deep perturbation. 'That's a banishing offence, you know!' All banishing offences were underpinned by proven intent to do harm to another, yet a sentence of banishment remained rare in the Shire, in part because most hobbits do not have it in them to deliberately hurt others, and partly because of the harshness of the penalty.

'I know,' she said softly. 'To even imagine such a thing... of such a hobbit, and someone I've known from his earliest days.' She wiped at her eyes, tears reflecting more of anger at herself than sorrow. 'You should have heard my brother go on... I've never been so ashamed in all my life.' She renewed her grip on Ferdi's hand. 'And Ferdi was so... gracious,' she went on. 'I'd have felt better if he'd kicked me, or something.'

Hilly shook his head. 'I'd have taken you over my knee, lass,' he said, 'but I suppose your little brother couldn't quite do that,' and despite the seriousness of the conversation, Pimpernel couldn't help a small, ironic smile at this sentiment from a hobbit who'd been born in the same year as her brother, almost missing his next words, that struck her like a blow, 'and Ferdi would never lift a finger against a lass, no matter how she'd wronged him.'

'No, he wouldn't,' Pimpernel said in a low voice, and looking at her face, Hilly let her be.

A soft knock at the door, and another tween looked in. 'He's hungry,' she said softly, dancing from one foot to the other to soothe the tiny babe she cradled against one shoulder. Pimpernel held out her arms.

Hilly hastily rose, saying, 'I'll be back soon,' and the others nodded, absorbed in the wee mite. Soon the room was filled with the homey sound of a nursing infant.

'How is he?' the tween whispered, nodding at the sleeping figure upon the bed.

'Getting better,' Pimpernel answered in a low voice. The other nodded, and silence reigned again, until the babe finished, was satisfactorily delivered of a burp, and cuddled for a few moments. His mother looked down on him with wondering eyes. 'His fingers are so tiny,' she marveled. 'And those wee eyelashes...' The tween bent over the babe as well as the two admired the little Bolger.

A knock came at the door, and Hilly entered. 'All taken care of?' he asked briskly.

Pimpernel smiled. When he had little ones of his own, he would not be so shy about such matters... 'Finished,' she answered. To the tween, she said, 'All right, Lily, you may lay him down. Another watcher should be taking my place before the babe wakens again.'

'Yes'm,' the tween said with a bob, then carefully took the sleeping babe and left the room.

Somewhat later, Reginard popped his head in at the door. 'How is he?' he asked.

'He's breathing easier,' Pimpernel said. 'The herbs are helping...'

'Not to mention all the water she's forced down him,' Hilly said. 'I'm surprised he hasn't floated away.'

Ferdi's eyes opened and, seeing Reginard, he said, 'How's Pip?'

'Holding his own,' Reginard answered. 'Woodruff's with him now, and she's forgotten more about healing and herbs than most hobbits will ever learn in a lifetime.'

Ferdi started to sit up, to swing his legs over the side of the bed, only to be stopped by Hilly. 'You're not getting up until the healer says so,' he said.

'I'm fine,' Ferdi rasped. He cleared his throat and tried again. 'There's naught so much wrong with me that you must dance attendance on me in my bed.'

Reginard answered, 'Glad to hear it. I'll send a healer to you soon, to make sure you're ready to get up.'

'I don't need a healer to tell me that,' Ferdi retorted, but a coughing fit seized him, allowing Hilly to push him down on the bed again.

'We'll just wait for the healer's opinion,' Hilly informed him, looking down from where he stood over the bed. 'Now are you going to stay there, or do I have to sit on you?'

Ferdi looked to the steward. 'Regi...' he said.

Reginard had no mercy. 'Sit on him, Hilly, if he tries to get out of that bed again before the healer comes.' Meeting Ferdi's gaze, he added, 'I'll send Mardi or someone along as soon as I can. Now you rest.'

'Seems I've no choice in the matter,' Ferdi said huskily.

'That's right. You've none,' Regi said pleasantly, and nodding to Pimpernel, he closed the door.

Reginard encountered Mardibold in one of the corridors, making his rounds of hobbits who'd been burned or had inhaled smoke.

'Ferdi's already pressing to get up,' he said. 'I've got Hilly sitting on him now.'

Mardibold shook his head. 'I don't like it,' he said. 'Not if we're talking about the same Ferdi who brought in the Thain.'

'Well you go talk to him then; p'rhaps he'll listen better to you than he does to me,' Regi said.

'Not likely,' Mardi answered, 'but I'll look in. I'd planned to check on Ev'ard next.'

'Give him my regards,' Reginard said, then walked on, his mind already turning back to the myriad details of dealing with the fire's aftermath.

Mardi found Everard also pressing to get up; his watchers greeted the healer with relief. He was quick and efficient in his examination, and when he stepped back, Everard cleared his throat and said, 'Well?'

'Nothing wrong with you that a week in bed wouldn't cure,' Mardi said cheerily.

'You jest,' Everard said flatly. 'I've been drinking your herbs, disgusting as they are, I've been choking down water until I think I'm about to drown, I've rested half the afternoon, and you expect me to stay in the bed?' He turned his face away to cough, then turned back. 'I'm fine,' he added. 'You go worry about someone who needs your services, like the Thain.'

'He's being cared for,' Mardi said quietly, and Everard relaxed, hearing in the healer's reply that Thain Peregrin still lived.

'I could use your help, if you really do want to get up,' the healer continued.

'What's that?' Everard said.

'Ferdi's pressing to get up as well, I hear. Hilly's been watching him all the afternoon and into the evening; I want you to spell him. Take Ferdi to late supper and then see he gets back to bed.'

'I heard he took more smoke than I did,' Everard said. 'We threw ourselves down when the smoke rolled over us, found a little bit of air to breathe near the ground. On ponyback...'

'They nearly outran the smoke as it was,' Mardi said. 'That Penny must be the fastest pony in Tookland.'

'Not fast enough, I'm afraid,' Everard said grimly. 'But Pippin was in trouble even before Ferdi threw him a-ponyback and galloped off. Had they stayed, seeking the clearer air close to the ground, I think the Thain would have died. Ferdi did the best thing he could have done, riding for the Smials and healer help.'

'You be sure to tell Ferdi that,' Mardibold said quietly.

'He won't believe me,' Everard answered soberly.

'Then keep telling him,' Mardi said.