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Trust a Brandybuck and a Took!  by Grey Wonderer

Jingle Bells

Merry tried hard not to snicker as he slipped over to the sofa next to his sleeping cousin. Pippin was stretched out on his stomach with one foot hanging over the edge of the sofa. As Merry drew near, Pippin twitched a bit and yawned. Merry remained perfectly still and waited to be sure that Pippin had not awakened. Behind the sofa, Frodo stood trying hard not to giggle. It was an effort, but so far he was managing. He watched Merry move slowly forward. In Merry’s hand, was a small string of tiny sleigh bells wrapped in one of Frodo’s clean handkerchiefs to muffle their gentle ringing. The two lads couldn’t risk waking Pippin now. It would spoil everything.

Merry carefully leaned forward and unwrapped the bells. Being quick, but quiet, he laced one end of the leather chord through the hole in the waist band of Pippin’s trousers where his braces usually were fastened and secured it with a knot, he then lay the bells across the middle of Pippin’s trousers and secured the other end into the other hole and made another knot. He backed up slowly and surveyed his work.

The tiny bells were each barely the size of a shire penny and all were hooked to the leather chord. The chord itself was no more than three inches or so long and would be hard to untie without removing the trousers. Merry looked over at Frodo and the two of them grinned broadly. Now all they had to do was wait.

The two older cousins left the parlor and went into the kitchen to get something to eat, congratulating each other as they went.

Some time later, Pippin stretched and sat up on the sofa. He hadn’t remembered falling asleep, but he guessed that he had been tired after sitting up most of the night with Merry and Frodo. The three of them had laughed and talked until very nearly morning. So, when his aunt had called them all to breakfast, Pippin had still been tired. Sometimes a nice, long nap was just what was needed. He squinted at the clock on the mantle amid all of the laurels that decorated it for the Yule season, and noticed that it was nearly time for tea.

He supposed that his stomach had awakened him as usual. He hardly needed a clock because he was always awake for meals. He wondered where Frodo and Merry were. He stood and took several steps in the direction of the parlor and then stopped. He thought that he heard something. He waited a moment to see if the noise would come again but it didn’t. He shrugged and continued out of the parlor forgetting the noise and concentrating on tea.

“Here he comes,” Merry hissed to Frodo and the two of them snickered.

“Don’t laugh, you’ll give it away,” Frodo warned, softly.

“I won’t if you don’t,” Merry whispered, and bit his lip hard to avoid laughing as the sound of the bells increased.

Esmeralda Brandybuck was just placing the cups on the table when Pippin came into the kitchen looking confused and very rumbled. She sighed. “Where are your braces?”

Pippin stopped in the doorway and shrugged. “I took them off after lunch and I ‘m not sure where I put them,” Pippin admitted. “I’ll find them after tea, Aunt Esme.”

“You are very lucky that I am not sending you back to dress properly before I let you eat, Peregrin Took,” she said, pinching his cheek and grinning at him. “You look like an unmade bed.” She sighed at his wrinkled trousers and his shirt, which was hanging out over his trousers.

He smiled at her and walked into the kitchen. “I took a wee nap,” he said.

She frowned. For the life of her she would have sworn that she was hearing sleigh bells. She put a finger in her ear and wiggled it. No, the noise had stopped now. She wondered if she might be getting an ear infection. None of the lads had seemed to hear it. No matter, it was gone now.

“Where have you two been?” Pippin asked, addressing Merry and Frodo.

“Nosey little Took,” Merry said. “None of your business.”

“You were asleep,” Frodo said, smiling too widely.

“You’re both up to something,” Pippin said, leaning his head to one side and studying them. Both of his older cousins just had that look about them. They were definitely up to no good. “What have you done?” he whispered leaning forward so that his aunt wouldn’t hear.

“Who us?’ Merry asked, trying to look innocent.

Frodo only smiled.

The two of them could be exasperating at times. He knew they’d done something, but finding out what might prove difficult.

“Merry, have you seen your father? This tea is ready and I would like to serve while it’s still hot,” Esmeralda said.

“No, haven’t seen him all afternoon, mum,” Merry said.

“Well, if he isn’t here soon then we will simply start without him,” she said and she heard the jingling noise again for some reason. It reminded her of something but she wasn’t sure what. She was very sure that she should know and yet it wasn’t coming to her. Well, it had stopped again.

“Did you hear something?” Pippin asked Merry in a low voice.

“When?” Merry asked, looking up to avoid meeting Pippin’s eyes.

“Just a minute ago, I thought I-“

“I suppose that all of you are waiting on me, aren’t you?” Saradoc said, coming into the kitchen and saving Merry who had been about to laugh.

“Yes, we are,” Esmeralda said. She hurried over and sat a plate of cheese and bread on the table next to the biscuits and the scones. “But we wouldn’t have waited much longer.”

“That is what I figured,” Saradoc said, pulling out his chair and taking a seat. As he did so, Pippin sat down across from him and for some reason Saradoc heard bells. He frowned and shook his head. When he listened again, the sound was gone or lost among the chatter of the three lads now seated at the table.

From time to time all during tea Pippin thought that he could hear tiny bells ringing. He would sit very still to listen for them and then they would just stop. It was strange because Merry and Frodo didn’t seem to hear anything. Once or twice his aunt had appeared to be listening for something, but that might have been his imagination. He wondered what it was.

They all ate and talked of tomorrow’s Yule party. Guests would be filling the Hall this year like they always did. Frodo had come early so that he could visit with Merry and Pippin before the crowds arrived. Frodo had never been fond of crowds. He preferred quiet visits with his cousins. A little mischief was all right though, he grinned, thinking of the bells. Pippin had been here at the Hall for about a month now and was staying through Yule.

“Are there any more biscuits?” Pippin asked, looking mournfully at the empty platter. The seventeen-year-old was practically bottomless. The lad was always hungry.

“Over on the counter, Pippin,” Esmeralda said, “But don’t get too many. I don’t want you making yourself sick for Yule.”

“I won’t,” Pippin said, grinning. He got up from his chair and hurried over to get more of the delicious biscuits. As he did so, both Saradoc and Esmeralda heard the sound of the tiny bells again. Pippin must have heard it also because when he got to the counter he appeared to be listening for something. Merry and Frodo were both very interested in their plates suddenly. They were both looking down and Saradoc noticed that Merry’s shoulders were shaking.

“Does anyone else hear little bells?” Pippin asked, turning. “There it is again!” He frowned. “It’s gone now.”

Helpless to keep himself from doing so, Merry burst into a fit of giggles and Frodo soon joined him. Pippin frowned at them. “Well, I do hear something. It comes and goes, but I do hear it.” He took a step forward with the tray in his hands and then stopped. “There!” he said. “Did you hear that?”

Merry laughed and shook his head back and forth and Frodo buried his face in his hands.

Esmeralda suddenly smiled. She remembered where she had heard those little bells before. “Meriadoc, what have you done?” she asked, looking over at her son and arching an eyebrow.

“Yes, Merry, what have you done?” Pippin asked, walking over to the table and setting the biscuit tray down. He frowned. “I heard it again!” He stood there looking perplexed. “What is so funny?”

“You are, you silly goose,” Frodo laughed.

“Uncle Doc didn’t you hear any wee bells?” Pippin asked turning to look at Merry’s father. “There! I heard it again!”

Merry fell out of his chair and Frodo groaned. “Get up, Merry,” Frodo snickered. From the floor Merry giggled madly, but made no effort to get up.

“I do too hear something,” Pippin said, taking a step toward Merry and stopping again.

Saradoc sighed, “Pippin, come here please.”

Pippin looked at his cousins and then at his uncle. “You heard it didn’t you?”

“Yes, I certainly did,” Saradoc said. “Now, you might want to pay attention as to exactly when you hear it and when you don’t. That might help to clear things up.”

Pippin frowned. “I don’t hear it now.”

Esmeralda smiled. “Meriadoc, what have you done?”

“Yes, Merry, what have you done?” Frodo asked, looking serious and controlling his laughter for the moment, which made Merry laugh all the more.

“Well he’s done something,” Pippin said, starting over toward his older cousins and then stopping. His eyes widened. “They only ring when, when I move!” He glared at Merry who was trying to get off of the floor now amid giggles.

“Really?” Merry snorted, kneeling beside of the table and laughing.

Pippin looked down at the front of his clothing and put his hands in his trouser pockets and turned them inside out. No bells. He looked at his shirt and then down at his feet. In a panic, he ran his hands through his hair thinking that Merry might have tied little bells to his curls but he couldn’t feel anything but hair. “What did you do?” he asked, becoming annoyed.

Merry pulled himself to his feet and smiled. “Guess.”

Pippin took a step in Merry’s direction and then stopped. He reached behind him and felt the string of small bells hanging on his waistband behind him. He reached his hands beneath his shirt and tugged at the bells, which tinkled in response to this action and sent Merry and Frodo into fits of laughter again.

Pippin tried to figure out how they were attached, feeling the chord with his hands and trying to untie it, but he was unable to remove it. “Get these off of me!” he demanded, glaring at Merry and then at Frodo. “Well?”

“What’s the matter, Pip?” Merry smirked. “Don’t you like the way that I’ve decorated you for Yule? You’re like a tiny Tookish sleigh. Very festive.”

Pippin stomped over to Merry and glared up at him. “You take these off now!”

“Easy, Pippin,” Frodo said. “All you have to do is slip your trousers off and you can untie them yourself.”

“I’ll not take my trousers off in the kitchen!” Pippin objected. “Get these off of me!”

“All right now all three of you just settle down,” Saradoc said, chuckling.

Pippin looked at him. “It isn’t funny!” Suddenly he felt his aunt’s arms around him and he looked over at her. She was smiling. “You think it’s funny too, don’t you?” He sighed and folded his arms over his chest.

“From the moment you came into the kitchen and I started hearing those wee bells, I kept thinking that the sound reminded me of something and now I remember what,” she said.

Frodo grinned. “I remember this.”

“I don’t suppose that I will,” Pippin said, sulkily. “I never remember anything because all of the stories that you all tell happened before I was born.”

“This one happened after you were born and you just might remember part of it,” Esmeralda smiled, pulling the little string of bells as she spoke.

Pippin winced and his older cousins laughed again. “All right, then what is the story?” he asked, resigned. They were all intent on remembering something and he would get no help or sympathy until they finished with it.

She gave him a hug and sat down at the table. “Well, sit down, and I’ll tell it,” Esmeralda said.

Frodo slid into Pippin’s chair so that his younger cousin could sit next to their aunt and Pippin sat in Frodo’s chair amid a tinkling of bells. He blushed and took a biscuit to avoid looking at the others who were all enjoying this way too much.

“When you first started coming here to stay with us, you were a tiny babe and very easy to keep up with,” Esmeralda said. “You didn’t walk and you stayed were I put you unless another family member came along and got you and carried you off. Merry was at that age were he was always running and always into something.”

“He’s still like that,” Frodo said, patting Merry on the shoulder.

“Funny, Frodo,” Merry said, and looked at his mother. “I thought this was a story about Pippin, not an embarrassing ‘little Merry’ story.”

“You are in the story, because you are part of the reason that I did what I did,” Esmeralda said.

“What did you do?” Pippin asked. “And why was it Merry’s fault?”

“Well, after a time, you began to crawl and soon after you were running through the smial after the older lads,” Esmeralda said. “You never walked. You were always running. You were quick and very hard to keep track of because you simply took off without any warning.” She smiled and then looked over at Merry. “Merry was trying to be the big lad at this point and he was all of about eleven or so. I had to keep both eyes on each of you and because I only have two eyes, I needed some help.” She smiled at Saradoc. “You, were out working all of the time and I was trying to mind a wee one and a eleven-year-old and so I got a bit creative.”

“I thought it was brilliant,” Frodo said, smiling at her.

“Thank you,” she said.

“What did you do?” Pippin asked, shifting in spite of his efforts to keep still and making the bells ring.

She smiled at him. “I took some of those tiny, wee, bells that you are wearing now and sewed them to the bottom of your trousers. That way when you got the urge to run off, I would hear you even if I didn’t see you at first. Also, you were easier to find if you happened to crawl under the table or behind the sofa while you were playing. I would just listen for a minute and I’d hear you jingling and then I’d follow the noise and collect you.”

Merry and Frodo laughed and Pippin turned red to the tips of his ears. “You belled me like a cow?”

“I did,” she said. “It made it easier to keep up with you while watching Merry.”

“Why didn’t you put bells on Merry?” Pippin frowned.

“Because it doesn’t work for very long,” she smiled. “When you were tiny, you didn’t even notice the bells. Then when you were about two and a half, you found them and would crawl about giggling and laughing at the noise that you were making. You liked them."

Pippin groaned. “I don’t now.”

“Exactly my point,” Esmeralda said. “You see, when you got to be about three, I had to sew them to the back of your pants just about where the ones that your wearing now are to keep you from pulling them off and eating them.”

Pippin buried his face in his hands.  Merry and Frodo laughed hysterically.

“Well, three-year-old hobbits will eat anything that they can put in their mouths,” Esmeralda said. “I remember Frodo once swallowed two Shire pennies.”

Pippin looked up and grinned at Frodo. “That sounds like a good story.”

“I like the one about the jingle bells better,” Frodo said quickly. “I remember it well.  I used to call you that and you would run over and let me pick you up.”

Pippin glared at him. “You didn’t!”

“I did too,” Frodo smiled. “I'd look over at you and I’d say, come here little jingle bells and you’d laugh and run over and climb into my lap.”

“I used to pick you up and shake you when no one was looking,” Merry said, grinning. “You made a very nice sound.”

“That, I believe,” Pippin growled.

Esmeralda cleared her throat and said, “Anyway, I moved the bells to the back of your little trousers so you wouldn’t eat them and that worked out just fine until you were about four and a half.” She smiled. “I had you in the kitchen playing with you blocks in the floor while I did some baking. I was having a very busy morning. Merry was in bed with a cold and I was running back and forth between his room and the kitchen. I would go to check on him and then come back in here with you. At first, I was taking you with me, but on about the tenth trip, I had my hands full with a lunch tray and you were playing so well that I risked leaving you alone for long enough to take the tray to Merry. I don’t know where my mind was.”

“What happened?” Merry asked. “What did our little jingle bells get into?”

Pippin glared at Merry and then over at Frodo. “Thank you so much for telling that part of it all, Frodo.”

“You are most welcome,” Frodo said, smiling.

Pippin shifted to return his gaze to his aunt and the bells tinkled again. Merry snorted and Pippin moaned, “I hate you, Merry."

“I know, and I don't care,” Merry grinned, though he knew that nothing was further from the truth.

“Well, I returned to the kitchen to find that you were gone. Your blocks were all over the floor but you were nowhere to be seen. I didn’t panic at first because I was counting on the little bells,” Esmeralda said. “I stood and listened, but I didn’t hear anything and so I called out to you but you didn’t answer. I checked the back door first. I didn’t think you were tall enough to have let yourself out, but it was one of my worst fears. It was still locked and so I tried going out of the kitchen and toward the parlour,” she smiled. “You liked to go into the parlour and knock over your uncle’s chess set and play with the pieces.”

“You were such a little brat,” Merry smirked.

“I was not,” Pippin objected.

“You were at times but it was our fault for spoiling you the way we did,” Esmeralda said.

“The way we still do,” Merry smiled.

Pippin groaned. “Yes, that’s why you’ve put bells on me and embarrassed the life out of me, to spoil me further.”

“No, I did that because Frodo and I thought it would be funny and you were asleep and we were bored,” Merry said. “I had no idea there was a story.”

“Which you lot keep interrupting,” Saradoc said.

Esmeralda cleared her throat and pretended to be irritated though she was used to this sort of thing. “As I got close to the parlour, I found your trousers.”

Merry and Frodo were laughing again.  Pippin was blushing.

“You’d figured out that I couldn’t hear you jingling if you didn’t have them on. You couldn’t get the bells off by yourself and so you had to take your trousers off.”

“Much like now,” Merry said, snorting.

“Where did you find him?” Frodo asked.

“I didn’t find him for nearly an hour,” Esmeralda said. "Because he had gotten too clever for me and I was doing something that alerted him to my presence."

“What was that?” Merry asked.

“I was carrying around a tiny pair of trousers with bells on them,” Esmeralda said. “I never thought about Pippin hearing the sound and keeping ahead of me.”

Now, everyone was laughing. “I finally realized my mistake and put the trousers down on a chair. The moment I did that and it was quiet for a minute, here came Pippin running over to me and looking up at me. He grinned, standing there in his small clothes and his shirt and he said, ‘Don’t you wanna play  any more?’” She laughed. “I picked him up and I asked him what we were playing. And he said, we were playing, 'find Pippin' and that it worked better without the bells.” She leaned over and kissed her nephew and said, “that is why you can only put jingle bells on very little children.”

“I don’t know, mum,” Merry grinned. “Frodo and I managed to put them on a much older child.”

“I am not a child,” Pippin said. “And I am going to go and take these trousers off now.” He stood, jingling. “Oh, and don’t think that I won’t be getting even with both of you, because I will.” He turned to go and left his older cousins laughing as he jingled his way out of the room.

The End





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