Chapter 7. First Day on the Job

Pippin paused in the doorway to the Thain's study. 'This has got to go,' he said.

'What, exactly?' Regi asked from behind him.

Pippin turned. 'Use your own discretion,' he said. 'Just remember that I dislike dust and clutter.'

'Ah,' Regi answered. 'So good of you to give clear direction.' He eyed his cousin. 'What were your plans for this day?'

Pippin stretched. 'I thought I would ride about, take a look, see what's changed.'

'Nothing's changed, you ought to know that,' Regi said. 'Thain Paladin hated change.'

'Well, then, I think I'll ride about, take a look, see what's unchanged.'

The steward nodded. 'Give me a few moments to put together an escort for you.'

Pippin raised his eyebrow. 'Escort?'

Reginard smiled grimly. 'You're "Thain" now, remember? You cannot go off alone any longer, you are a prisoner of your position.'

'Is it too late to reconsider?' Pippin said.

'I think so,' Regi answered. 'I'll be right back. Just make yourself at home; this will be your study now.' He turned and left.

Pippin moved into the study. 'I can hardly imagine...' he said to himself. His father's pipe still rested in its accustomed place on the desk, as if the old Thain had put it down for a moment whilst attending to other business. When Pippin breathed deeply, he fancied he could smell a ghost of the richly scented smoke, mingled with the odours of dust, leather, and ink.

'Well, Father,' he said softly. 'Neither of us thought this day would ever come.' He moved around the ornately carved desk to the great chair and stroked his hand along its back. 'I may not do things the way you did,' he said, 'as a matter of fact, you know that I will not; we've had enough discussions on the matter.' He eased himself into the chair and put his hands flat on the desk. '...but I hope the results will be satisfactory, for all that,' he added. Putting his elbows on the desk, he rested his head in his hands for a moment, deep in thought. Then he straightened with a sigh. 'No use trying to relive the past,' he said softly. 'We must needs ride that pony for'ards, after all.' He rose from the desk as a tap came on the study door. 'Come!' he called.

Reginard entered. 'Your escort awaits you in the yard, Sir,' he said. 'I will carry on here.'

'You do that,' Pippin said. 'Carry a lot of things out, as well, while you are at it.' He walked out of the study, leaving Reginard to his task.

He should not have been surprised to see Ferdibrand waiting with a few other Tooks and ponies. Trust Reginard to see to that detail. Everard was probably out in the fields; as Pippin recalled, he was in charge of the Thain's farmland.

The new Thain greeted his escort with a nod and mounted Socks.

'Where are we going, Sir?' Ferdibrand said stiffly.

'Out and about,' Pippin answered. 'Socks here wants a bit of exercise, else he'll get restless and kick out his stall, and we cannot have that.'

'No indeed,' Ferdi answered ironically. They moved out of the yard. It was a bright spring day, still quite chilly, and smoke rose from many of the chimneys in sight, adding a pleasant tang to the air.

They rode without evident aim, along the main street of Tuckborough. Most of the hobbits who were out and about paid them little heed; the succession of the Thainship had only happened an hour earlier and the news had not yet spread.

Pippin pulled his pony to a stop before a shabby dwelling down a short side lane. No smoke came from the chimney. Surprised, Ferdi waved the rest of the escort to a halt. 'We have business here?' he asked.

'We might,' Pippin said noncommittally, sliding down from his pony to knock at the door. At a faint reply within, he entered, leaving Ferdi and the rest of the escort at a loss.

Ferdi eased the door open, to see the Thain seating himself by the cold hearth, across from an elderly hobbit who was smoking a pipe.

'A bit chilly this morning,' Pippin said casually.

'O aye,' the hobbit nodded. 'Just a bit. My neighbour will be bringing some wood later on, with my elevenses. That'll bring some cheer.'

Pippin pulled a pipe from a pouch that hung about his neck. 'Have you got any pipe-weed to spare?' he said. The old hobbit nodded, holding out a slim pouch. Pippin filled his pipe, lighted it, and smoked companionably. 'Your neighbour brings wood?'

'Aye,' the old hobbit said. 'Every day, she does. She's as good as a daughter to me. 'Twill be enough to last through the day, until I seek my bed. Her lad chops it up for me, builds the fire; all that I need do is throw another stick on the fire oncet in a while.'

'Kind of her to share her wood with you, at the prices they're charging for wood these days,' Pippin said.

'I used to chop my own wood, lad,' the old hobbit said. 'Many's the time I brought a wagonload to the neighbour's house, when Toby was laid up with his back. We worked on the roads together, and he lifted one load too many.'

'How many days did you put in?' Pippin asked with interest.

'I put in the full ten days every year,' the old hobbit said, 'and then I put in a few of Toby's days for him, as well.'

'How much did it pay?'

The other snorted. 'Pay? Thain Paladin expected everyone to pull his share.'

'I thought road work was to pay a silver penny a day,' Pippin said.

'Well, under the old Thain, perhaps, but Thain Paladin had other ideas,' the old hobbit said.

Pippin glanced up at Ferdibrand in the doorway. 'Excuse me a moment,' he said to the gaffer. He got up, went to the door, said quietly, 'Cousin, I want you to go out and buy a cord of firewood, have it stacked under the eaves. The gaffer need not shiver through the mornings, waiting on his neighbour's kindness.'

'But...' Ferdi said.

Pippin grinned. 'The Thain's paying,' he said. 'He ought to have enough coin saved; seems he's not been paying for road work all these years.'

'Yes, Sir,' Ferdibrand said without expression. When he returned from his errand, he knocked and heard laughter within before the cracked voice of the old hobbit bid him enter.

Pippin met his gaze, and Ferdi jerked his chin. Satisfied, the Thain nodded and turned back to his storytelling.

'Anyhow, this hobbit was supposed to be doing road work, but he'd made a little too merry at his daughter's wedding the day before, and he was a miserable sight to be seen. He had to keep working as hard as he could, for fear the Thain's inspector would find him slacking on the job and fine him or assign him extra days' work on the road.'*

'I can imagine,' the gaffer said. 'I stayed abed for two days after my own daughter married.'

Pippin chuckled. 'Well, this young gentlehobbit came walking by and stopped to ask for a drink. Seeing the other's red eyes, he asked what was the trouble, and heard the whole story. Can you imagine...?'

'What?' the gaffer said, leaning forward.

'He laid his own cloak down behind a log, changed shirts with the hobbit, had the poor fellow lie down on the cloak, out of sight, and took up his shovel and wheelbarrow to carry the rocks from the pile and spread them upon the road.'

'I cannot imagine,' the old hobbit said.

'No, wait, the story gets better!' Pippin chuckled. Ferdi found himself interested in spite of himself.

'The Thain's inspector came by and approved the young gentlehobbit's work, saying, "You keep this up; I wish all the hobbits of Tookland would work so well, the road would not need so much repair so often," and he gave the lad a nip from his own flask. The gentlehobbit thanked him for that, as you can imagine.'

'I can hardly imagine,' the gaffer said. 'A gentlehobbit dirtying his hands that way? And doing a good job of it?'

'O folk can surprise you,' Pippin said. 'As a matter of fact, a party of his cousins came by a bit later, and never took a second look at him.' He laughed heartily in remembrance. 'They were searching for him, you know, and there he was before their eyes but they never looked to see!'

The old gaffer joined in the laughter. Just then the door opened and the old gaffer's neighbour entered timidly, basket on her arm, joined by her son who carried an armload of wood.

She bobbed nervously to Ferdi, and bowed to Pippin, who rose courteously. 'Pardon me,' he said, 'I was just sharing a pipe with Mr Mugwort, here.' He turned to the gaffer with a bow and thanks for the pipeful.

' 'Twas my pleasure, lad, and thankee for the story as well,' the old hobbit said. 'Welcome back anytime.'

'I will keep that in mind whenever I run short of pipe-weed,' Pippin said.

As he was leaving, he heard the neighbour say, 'There's a cartload of firewood being stacked outside your door, Will, how did it come about?'

Pippin turned to say, 'O, that's a back payment from the Thain, for all the work he's put in on the roads over the years.' He waved a hand in farewell, and she gasped to see the seal of the Thain on his finger. 'Come along, Ferdi, there's work to be done,' he said, and closed the door behind him.

***

*Author's note: Have you read John Buchan's "Thirty-nine Steps"? You're in for a treat, if you haven't yet.