Chapter 47. From Bad to Worse

Pippin and Diamond entered the graciously appointed sitting room assigned the Thain and his party; he fell into one of the chairs surrounding the little table and fumbled for the decanter. ‘A sip of Buckland’s finest, my dear?’ he said to Diamond. ‘You look as if you could use it.’

 ‘Thank you,’ Diamond said, sinking down beside him. She stopped herself from asking if he was all right.

There was a commotion at the door to the suite; Ferdi had moved to Pippin’s side as the Thain stalked down the corridor and when they reached the Thain’s rooms he’d turned and planted himself before the door, pulling it shut as soon as Pippin and Diamond were through. ‘No entry,’ he said firmly, right into the Masters’ and Mayor’s astonished faces.

 ‘But...’ Samwise said, as the Master of the Races spluttered behind him.

 ‘Ferdi,’ Merry protested.

Ferdi was unmoved. Turning to Hilly, he said, ‘See to it!’ Receiving Hilly’s nod, he turned the knob, slipped into the room, and shut the door decisively behind him, cutting off the babble of protest that arose.

Pippin poured another brandy and extended it to Ferdi, who took up the glass but did not sip.

Ferdi looked from Pippin to Diamond and back again. ‘What are we going to do?’ he said.

 ‘We’ll give back the third-place purse, of course,’ Pippin replied, and sipped at his own brandy. ‘You’re free, of course, Ferdi. You fulfilled all the conditions set upon you. You rode, and you finished even better than the fourth place I’d hoped for.’

 ‘He won!’ Diamond said sharply.

 ‘Of course he did, my love,’ Pippin said in a soothing tone. ‘Pity we didn’t know about the rules, but then I’d imagine no one’s had the imagination to try to run an outsider since the time of Bandobras. Hobbits are rather a dull lot.’

 ‘None of your nonsense, now,’ Ferdi said. ‘What are we going to do? The first-place purse isn’t enough to save that farm for the Took-Grubbs family.’

 ‘The only way to do it is to sell something to raise the rest of the needed gold,’ Pippin said. ‘But what do I own that’s valuable enough? I cannot strip the farm; that’s Pearl’s livelihood!’

 ‘There’s the Rohan,’ Ferdi said, feeling his heart drop to his toes even as he spoke.

Pippin shook his head stubbornly. ‘No,’ he said. He had seen the bond that had grown between the head of escort and the stallion, and he’d not take anything else from Ferdi than he’d already taken, if he could help it. Truth be told, he’d intended to give the stallion to the head of escort, retaining only the breeding rights. The stud fees could go into the coffers of the Thain for the good of Tookland, but Ferdi could keep the pony. The two had saved each others’ lives; they belonged together.

 ‘Socks is still a valuable pony, though he’s growing older,’ Pippin went on slowly. ‘He’s the third-fastest in the Shire, if you reckon on the results of the All-Shire Race.’

 ‘You cannot be thinking of selling Socks!’ Diamond gasped.

Pippin looked to her. ‘He is the most valuable thing I own outright,’ he said quietly. ‘I can sell him without causing harm or inconvenience to anyone else, and with the first-place purse it’ll be enough to keep the Took-Grubbs family on their land.’ He took a good-sized gulp of brandy. ‘If it is in my power, I must not quail. How could I ever look the old fellow in the eye again, how could I climb onto his back, knowing that my selfish pleasure had cost a family the only home they’d ever known?’

Ferdi stood stunned, brandy glass forgotten in his hand. The Thain would sell his favourite?

He swung around as the door to the suite opened, reprimand for Hilly ready on his lips, but the door closed again after admitting only Reginard, Pippin’s steward.

 ‘I’m sorry, Sir,’ Regi said formally, no cousin, or familiar Pip. ‘It seems there is a matter of business yet to discuss.’

 ‘They’re still out there?’ Pippin said, and Regi nodded. Pippin sighed. ‘Very well,’ he said. ‘Let them enter.’

A silent group of hobbits filed in: Master and Mistress of Buckland, Mayor and Master of the Races, Merry’s riders, and Hilly, who closed the door behind himself and stood against it as if to deny entry to anyone else. Ferdi gave him a sharp look, but Hilly avoided his gaze. His face was white and bleak with the knowledge he held.

 ‘Well,’ Merry said awkwardly as he settled into the chair Pippin indicated. ‘It seems there’s good news and bad news.’

 ‘Ah,’ Pippin said unhelpfully, and waited.

 ‘The good news is, you get to keep your wager,’ Merry forged on determinedly. ‘It seems a Tookish pony did win the race after all.’

 ‘I was aware of that,’ Pippin said stiffly. He saw Merry swallow hard.

 ‘Not quite what we thought, cousin,’ Merry said. ‘You see, Socks would be considered a pony of Buckland, coming as he did with you from Buckland in the Spring... Had he worn the colours of Buckland in the race his first-place finish would be allowed to stand.’

 ‘The black from the South Farthing,’ Pippin said faintly. ‘The one the Bracegirdles bought in Tookland, what was it...?’

 ‘Two years ago,’ Reginard said. ‘Yes, though he finished fourth, with all three ponies before him disqualified, he’s the official winner.’

Pippin straightened in his chair, though he was breathing shallowly and with some effort. ‘Very well, Regi,’ he said evenly. ‘We must give back not only the third-place purse but the winner’s purse as well. See to it, will you?’

 ‘Yes, Sir,’ Regi said quietly, and turned to the others. ‘Was there any other business?’ he barked.

There were shakings of heads and murmured repetition of No on the part of the rest of the hobbits. Merry waved his riders from the room, the Master of the Races bowed and departed, and Sam stood hesitating.

 ‘Samwise, will you join us in a brandy?’ Diamond said, rising.

 ‘No, thank you, ma’am,’ the Mayor said hastily. ‘I left Rose wondering, and...’ He stumbled over the words, for there didn’t seem to be any good words to be found. He nodded to Merry, to Pippin, gave an awkward bow, and took his leave.

Merry and Estella finished their brandy and rose, for it would soon be time for the fireworks, and the Master of Buckland must be by the Mayor’s side to receive the cheers of the crowd, since he’d provided the entertainment. Never mind that it was the last thing he wanted at the moment.

Merry hesitated. ‘Pippin?’ he said. ‘Is there anything...?’ He wasn’t quite sure what to ask. Pippin did not look as well as he had when he’d left Buckland to take up the reins of Tookland and the Shire. He was thinner, Merry thought, and had less colour and life, less energy, less...

 ‘Nothing!’ Pippin said firmly, rising to take his arm. As he escorted Merry to the door, he said heartily, ‘All is well! I suppose they’ll be talking about this race for years to come! Think of the entertainment we’ve furnished the hobbits of the Shire!’

There was no use asking Merry’s help in the current crisis; if word got out that Brandybuck gold had paid for a Tookish lease there’d be a scandal of monumental proportions. Pippin’s fitness to be Thain would be questioned (as if it weren’t already), and Tookland might be cast into even more turmoil than that from which Pippin was trying to rescue his homeland in the first place.

 ‘I’ve got a cloud-cake in the oven,’ he said obliquely, ‘and if you open the door to check it’ll fall flat and come to nothing, you know.’

Merry nodded unhappily. His younger cousin was on his own, thrown into the River to sink or swim, to use an old Buckland proverb. If Merry rescued him from whatever trouble he was in now, Pippin might never be accepted as Thain in his own right. He’d always be looked upon as the younger cousin needing rescuing by an older and wiser head. ‘Let me know how it comes out,’ he said.

 ‘I’m sure everybody will know, sooner or later,’ Pippin said, and Merry looked at him sharply. He knew that tone. Pippin had thought of some scheme, some plan, some ill-advised plot...

 ‘You’re not going to get yourself in trouble?’ he hissed.

Pippin surprised him by laughing and slapping his back. ‘I’m already in a world of trouble, Merry!’ he said. ‘What’s a little more trouble, I ask you?’

 ‘Pippin?’ Merry said, stopping at the door and refusing to go through.

 ‘The Tooks agreed to the succession and I became Thain,’ Pippin said, pushing his cousin gently out the door, kissing Estella on the cheek and nodding at her to follow her husband. ‘What more trouble could anyone think of?’