Chapter 4. A Social Call

Ferdi continued to work with the stallion early each morning, and then again in the dark of the night, when the stars shone steady above. He spent much time just sitting nearby, when not running messages or escorting the Thain somewhere, and every free moment found him just outside the ring working at his fletching, or inside it, working at gaining the stallion’s trust. The beast was responding nicely, and Old Tom could now stand at the fence and converse while Ferdi worked with the pony.

 ‘When are ye going to ride him?’ Tom asked.

 ‘Dunno yet,’ Ferdi said. ‘We’ll take things slow and easy.’ He was working a brush all over the stallion, even the ticklish places, without a sign of bad temper on the pony’s part. When finished, he tossed the brush in the bucket and rubbed the shining coat with a soft cloth. ‘Don’t you look fine,’ he crooned. ‘Fit for a king, you are, or perhaps the son of a king.’ One of those Men of Rohan could hardly ride the beast without looking ridiculous, but a youth, now, would have fit him nicely... and if the pony had been as well-trained as Ferdi suspected, before those blasted merchants had got hold of him... Well, he might have come from the son of the King of Rohan, at that.

 ‘D’you think the Thain’d let you race him?’ Tom said, a glint in his eye.

 ‘He might,’ Ferdi said. ‘But then, he might not.’ Never could tell what that cousin of mine was going to do next, he thought to himself, but of course it wouldn’t be meet to say as much. ‘I wouldn’t want to push him. The Pony Races are only three weeks off, now.’

 ‘I’d’ve said you couldn’t be brushing him and picking up his feet in a matter of days,’ Old Tom said. ‘He looks right fine, he does.’ He cocked an eye at the looming clouds. ‘But it looks to be wasted, unless... are you going to be putting him in a stall?’

Ferdi shook his head. ‘Too much like the box waggon the merchants put him in,’ he said. ‘There’s time for that yet. This is all just schooling for the lad, and more to be had on the morrow.’ The stallion put his head down for scratching and Ferdi obliged, following with a treat from his shirt pocket. ‘Here you are, young fellow. It looks to me as if we’ll be working in the rain this evening, but that’s all to the good.’

 ‘Everything’s all to the good with you, Ferdi,’ Tom observed, pushing himself back from the fence. ‘So I needn’t bid you good day, but I will anyhow.’

 ‘Good day, Tom,’ Ferdi said in reply. With a last caress he picked up the bucket of grooming supplies and slipped through the fence. He deposited the bucket inside the stables, emerging to find the first raindrops falling. He pulled his cloak more tightly about his neck and hurried across the yard. He just might catch the last of early breakfast if he tried.

The new stallion wasn’t the only one to get wet that day. The Thain sent Ferdi out with a message for his oldest sister Pearl, whose husband oversaw the hobbits farming his family’s land near Whitwell. Ferdi and Dapple were thoroughly soaked by the time they returned to the Great Smials. He rubbed her down well and made sure her stall was bedded deep, patted Penny’s inquisitive nose, thrust out of the stall next door, and shared a carrot with Pippin’s pony, Socks, for it paid to be on that beast’s good side. On the way from stables to Smials he checked on the stallion, finding him dozing in the rain with one foot cocked. ‘Not afraid of a little rain, I see,’ he said. The ears sleepily swivelled to catch his voice and he chuckled. No need for him to stand in the rain. He’d better take shelter before he deserved the epithet “Fool of a Took”.

Although as head of escort he could claim a suite of rooms, he hadn’t pursued the matter. What need had he of more than a sleeping room, after all? In his little room, he hung his dripping cloak and clothing on a peg, shoving a basin underneath to catch the drips. He applied a rough towel to himself, rubbing until the glow chased the lingering chill. He’d just finished dressing when there came a tap at the door. He sighed. Undoubtedly the Thain had another message to send, now that Ferdi was conveniently dry and warm.

Opening the door, he was surprised to find Rose Gamgee, young Elanor by her mother’s side bearing a covered basket. ‘Mrs. Gamgee,’ he stammered. ‘Miss Elanor,’ he said formally to the teen.

 ‘I thought I told you not to call me “Miss”,’ Ellie said with a frown.

Ferdi shot a worried glance at her mother, who was looking grim. ‘I’m sorry, missus,’ he said hastily, ‘for taking liberties I oughtn’t have... Miss Elanor and I got to talking, the first time the Mayor brought her to the Great Smials, and...’

 ‘And you told me I had a smile like a Nell you’d once known, and I told you to call me “Nell”, then, and no nonsense about “Miss Elanor”,’ Ellie scolded.

 ‘Miss El...’ he began again, but Mistress Gamgee broke in.

 ‘It seems to me you ought to take direction better than that, Ferdi,’ she said. ‘ “Nell”, here, has given you a direct order.’

 ‘I...’ Ferdi said, at a loss, but the Mayor’s wife smiled.

 ‘Ellie is always proper,’ she said, ‘and not one for putting on airs. I’m just a farmer’s daughter, and she’s a gardener’s daughter. No need to stand on ceremony with us.’

 ‘But...’ Ferdi said. What if Pip heard that his head of escort was not extending the courtesy due the family of the Mayor? Old Thain Paladin had been a stickler for propriety.

Elanor distracted him by thrusting the basket at him. ‘Here,’ she said. ‘Ginger biscuits. I baked them.’

Ferdi took the basket automatically, holding it stupidly.

 ‘When we told the steward we were looking for you, he said you’d be in the second parlour or in here,’ Elanor said. ‘He said you spend the sunny days outside, but it was pouring down rain when we arrived.’

 ‘Must have been a wet journey over the fields,’ Ferdi said, avoiding the treacherous “Miss” and the too-familiar “Nell” by neglecting to use a name at all.

 ‘It was,’ Mistress Rose said briskly. ‘We popped the little ones into a hot bath, soon after arriving, and now they’re all asleep.’ She pushed past Ferdi, into the little room, taking the basket from him as she passed. Her eyes took in every detail of the sparsely furnished room as she set the basket on the little table, removed the covering cloth, and carefully lifted out a bowl piled high with ginger biscuits. Setting the bowl in the centre of the table, she turned back to Ferdibrand. ‘Now don’t you let those go stale,’ she said. ‘Ellie made them herself, and it was worth her life to get a bowlful out of the smial past her brother Frodo!’ Looking to her daughter, she said, ‘Come now, Ellie, the Thain will be expecting us for tea, and it wouldn’t do to come late.’

 ‘Yes, mum,’ Elanor said, and made a bob to Ferdi. He answered with a bow of his own, stumbling over his thanks under Mistress Rose’s eye. He was relieved to see them go.

Ferdi set a few biscuits aside for his father and the old auntie who watched with him and took the bowl to the second parlour. The Mayor’s wife had told him they’d be staying over at the Great Smials for a few days, and there was no hurry in returning the bowl. Still, it seemed best to empty it soon as possible and get it back to the Gamgees. The other members of the escort, lounging in the parlour, welcomed the treat.

 ‘Some nice young lass setting her cap for you, Ferdi?’ Tolibold said, diving for a handful.

 ‘Too young for that,’ he said hastily. ‘Just a bit of kindness, that’s all.’

 ‘Robbing the cradle, are you?’ Hildibold chuckled.

Ferdi was glad when the others stuffed their mouths full of melting spiciness and there was no further conversation for a time.

***

Rose’s temper was simmering as she stalked to the Thain’s private quarters, Elanor hurrying by her side. Her daughter’s voice finally broke into her thoughts.

 ‘I’m sorry, mama.’

Rose stopped. ‘What’re you sorry about?’ she asked in astonishment.

 ‘We just got to talking, is all, and he was so kind, just like Uncle Jolly or Uncle Nibs, and I...’ her voice trailed off in confusion. ‘I didn’t mean to be improper, or reflect badly on you and Dad.’

 ‘Elanor,’ Rose said softly, putting a hand under her daughter’s chin to tilt her face upwards, ‘he wouldn’t have been given the duty to escort you about the Smials if he weren’t trustworthy. Your Dad asked a few questions about him, when Pippin suggested it,’ – after seven years as Mayor’s wife, she no longer stumbled over “Merry” and “Pippin” without an added “Mister” – ‘and the head of the Thain’s escort is as honourable as the day is long in the summertime. He was just worried that I’d be put out, and rightly so. The Tooks who live here in the Smials are sticklers for protocol, and he and his father lived on the Thain’s charity for years, before he was old enough to make himself useful and pay their way. It’s made him very cautious.’ Listening to herself, she gave a snort. She didn’t know why, but just setting foot inside the Great Smials made her as prone to gossip as any Took.

Releasing Elanor’s chin, Rose gave her daughter a pat on the shoulder. ‘Your Dad and I have raised you to know what’s proper,’ she said, ‘and I know you wouldn’t do anything to shame us. Now come along, or we really shall come late to tea!’

They had a pleasant tea with Pippin and Diamond. Elanor and Frodo-lad were on their best behaviour, taking appropriate portions of the fancies they had here at the Smials for teatime: little sandwiches cut into shapes with a variety of fillings and the crusts taken off, four kinds of biscuits and three kinds of teacake, and hothouse vegetables cut into finger-sized bites. With a twinkle in his eye, the Thain urged seconds, thirds and fourths upon them, while he sipped at his own strong, black tea and nibbled at the contents of his own plate. Finally the serving platters were denuded and the Mayor and his wife were declaring that they could not manage another bite.

 ‘You may clear away, Sandy,’ Diamond said.

 ‘Would you like to walk the children back to our quarters?’ Rose asked. Young Faramir had fallen asleep in his plate some time earlier and been borne away to his bed. Ellie and Frodo-lad were covering their yawns. This “tea” had come at the Gamgee’s usual supper hour, and they were used to eating, washing up, and seeking their pillows. The younger Gamgees had been bathed and fed upon their arrival and slumbered already under the watchful eye of a servant.

 ‘I could get used to this,’ Rose confided as she and Diamond walked slowly back to the Thain’s sitting room after depositing Elanor and Frodo-lad. ‘It seems so strange and free, not to worry about one of the children calling out, though I ought to go back soon.’

 ‘The minder won’t mind, it’s her duty,’ Diamond said. ‘She supports her widowed mother with her wages.’

 ‘Ah,’ Rose said. ‘I’d heard that Pippin was finding ways to provide for widows and gaffers...’ she hesitated.

 ‘What’s on your mind, Rose?’ Diamond said. She had come to know the Mayor’s wife on the Gamgees’ regular visits to Brandy Hall, when Pippin worked for the Master of Buckland before returning to the Great Smials to follow his father as Thain.

 ‘I’ve always been one to speak my mind,’ Rose said ruefully, but thinking of her earlier anger, she straightened with a firm nod. ‘Let us get out of the public corridors,’ she said. ‘What I’ve got to say is not fit for gossip.’

Diamond waited, wondering, until they were settled in the sitting room again. Sam and Pippin had removed to the Thain’s study to discuss business. Diamond took up her stitchery and dismissed a hovering servant. ‘That will be all, Camellia,’ she said. ‘I’ll ring if we need aught.’

 ‘Very good, Mistress,’ Camellia said obediently, and with a bob to Mistress and Mayor’s wife she took herself off.

Rose waited until the door closed, then lowered her voice. ‘It’s a disgrace,’ she said.

 ‘What’s a disgrace, Rose?’ Diamond said softly.

 ‘The Thain’s head of escort lives more plainly than the humblest hobbit who works on my father’s farm,’ Rose said, getting huffy all over again. ‘Does he not earn any wages?’

 ‘He is paid well,’ Diamond protested, then stopped. ‘At least, I think he is... Reginard is steward, and he oversees such details. I’ve been managing the household staff.’

 ‘And how did you find their wages?’ Rose said. She’d heard a rumour...

Diamond frowned. Old Paladin had been tight-fisted and had run the Smials with an iron grip, exacting the most work for the least pay. Having kept Tookland free of ruffians, he had the respect of the Tooks and Tooklanders. They were willing to live under his sway, with the protection it promised. Diamond had gone over the budget with Eglantine, increasing wages in many cases and cutting expenses in other areas. People came before property, in Pippin’s and Diamond’s opinion.

 ‘It’s none of my business, but I’m going to stick my nose in anyhow,’ Rose said recklessly. ‘You’ve done well by the household staff, but I think you ought to pay some heed to the outside staff as well: the escort, the stable workers, the farmhands, the dairymaids...’

 ‘I take your point,’ Diamond said. She put down her stitchery and gave Rose a firm nod. ‘I’ll be looking into it.’

 ‘I’m glad to hear it,’ Rose said. ‘Now then,’ she added, changing the subject, for she had every confidence in Diamond, ‘what was this about little Farry learning to shoot? You actually put a bow into his hands...?’