Chapter 6. In the Grip of Misfortune

They had not been far out of Tuckborough when Hilly heard the sound of a galloping pony rapidly approaching from behind them. He swung his pony at once to meet the rider, shouting a cheerful greeting upon recognising the Master of Buckland.

Diamond reined in and waited for Merry to catch them. ‘Merry!’ she cried. ‘Is aught amiss?’

 ‘Not at all,’ Merry said, pulling up his prancing pony. ‘I was going to stay over until the morrow, but there’s not much point, with Pippin immersed in business and then departing directly after. I thought I’d offer my company to the Cockerel, and tea when we get there.’

 ‘And then ride on through the night to Buckland?’ Diamond said, shaking a stern finger at him.

 ‘Nay!’ Merry laughed. ‘For if I arrive too soon at Brandy Hall, Estella shall accuse me of losing sleep, and pop me directly into bed!’ He soothed his jigging mount’s neck and added, ‘I’ll stop over at the Cockerel; will you sup with me?’

Diamond smiled regretfully and shook her head. ‘We mean to make good time to the Cockerel,’ she said, ‘have a quick bite for tea, and on to Pincup. I don’t want to ride that wooded track in the dark!’

 ‘Why not stop over? Ride down in the morning? If you were to leave immediately after early breakfast, you ought to arrive in good time for second breakfast,’ Merry argued.

 ‘And if we leave directly after tea, we’ll arrive well before eventides,’ Diamond returned. ‘I can tuck up Farry, doze a bit myself whilst waiting for Pippin, and be fresh as a daisy to open the festive breakfast. ‘Twould be most inconvenient for the hobbits of Pincup to have to postpone their celebration because the guest of honour came belated!’

 ‘I see,’ Merry said solemnly, though there was a twinkle in his eye. ‘I shall have to settle for your delightful company at tea table only, and reconcile myself to a solitary supper.’

 ‘Surrounded by admiring hobbits who hang on your every word,’ Diamond said. ‘My poor cousin, it is almost enough to make me take pity on you, but for the fact that mine husband would be most disturbed to reach Pincup and find me not yet arrived.’

 ‘You could reassure him when he stops at the Cockerel,’ Merry suggested, but Diamond shook her head.

 ‘He won’t stop,’ she said decidedly. ‘He’ll ride straight through, knowing him, eating cold food packed in his saddlebags and forcing any unfortunate hobbits with him to do the same.’

 ‘Your husband is such a harsh taskmaster,’ Merry said, hiding a smile.

 ‘He’s not!’ Farrry protested. His mother patted his shoulder.

 ‘Of course not, lovie,’ she soothed. ‘Cousin Merry and I are only playing, you know.’

Farry subsided and listened to the talk the rest of the way to the inn, occasionally laughing at a witticism or chirping a comment of his own.

Diamond made a quick tea indeed, rising from table a scant half-hour after their arrival at the Cockerel.

 ‘I’m sorry, Merry, but we really must go,’ she said. ‘I do want to arrive well before the Sun seeks her bed.’ The innkeeper had warned that the heavy rains of the previous week had left the trail rather difficult in places. It would be best to ride by light of sun rather than torch or lantern.

 ‘I’ll ride part way with you,’ Merry offered, but Diamond demurred.

 ‘You have a long journey on the morrow,’ she said. ‘Give your Jewel of a pony a good rest this night.’

At last he desisted, but he did walk out to the yard to see them off, and watched them out of sight before turning into the inn.

***

The streams they forded were running rather swift and high, but they made the crossings safely. More troublesome were the boggy stretches where they had to turn aside from the track to find firmer ground.

As they were crossing one nameless stream, rushing through the woods in a hurry to reach the larger river near Pincup, Diamond’s gelding balked in the middle of the ford, up to his hocks in swift water. To no avail did she urge him forward.

At last Hilly persuaded her to hand Farry over to him; he’d carry the lad to the safety of the bank and return for Diamond. Hilly and Farry were nearly to the bank when a leafy branch, carried on the current, was driven against Diamond’s gelding, causing the beast to leap and shy, nearly upsetting himself and his rider in the stream. The gelding regained his footing, however, and Diamond somehow retained her seat. The good part was that, having moved his feet to escape the fearsome branch, the gelding consented to keep moving unto the other side of the stream.

The bank was steep and muddy, the footing treacherous, and Hilly elected to ride downstream a way in search of better footing. At last they came to a spot where the stream had overflowed the bank, spreading over the low ground. The ground was shallowly submerged but fairly even, and Hilly turned his pony out of the stream, Diamond riding alongside.

They were nearly out of the flooded region when disaster struck.

The ponies had been uneasy, understandable in that terrain. They were used to fording muddy or sandy or rocky streambeds; it was quite another thing to be pacing through watery forest, through a patch of leafless trees that did not seem to know Spring had arrived. Hilly soothed his pony’s neck and urged him towards the higher ground, just ahead now.

Suddenly his pony half-reared and plunged to the left, while Diamond's pony snorted and shied violently in the opposite direction. Diamond screamed as her pony’s hindquarters sank into muddy ooze.

 ‘It’s a bog!’ Hilly shouted. His own pony lost its footing and wallowed, frantically seeking purchase.

Diamond’s gelding found solid footing under his front feet and fought his way free, standing trembling as she slid from his back.

 ‘Farry!’ she shrieked. ‘Hilly!’

The struggles of Hilly’s pony had submerged it to the neck; it whistled its terror as its struggles caused it, and its hapless riders, to settle ever more deeply.

 ‘Diamond!’ Hilly shouted, lifting Farry before him. He had pulled his feet free of the stirrups and managed to kneel upon the submerged saddle, though the roiled waters were closing about his waist. With a mighty thrust and heave that sent him deeper, he threw Farry towards the panic-stricken mother.

Diamond caught Farry’s arm and pulled him to safety. The mired pony’s whistles stopped abruptly and she looked up from her son, to see a fast-sinking Hilly casting desperately with his bow at an overhanging branch out of his hands’ reach, somehow snagging the weapon on a thumblike protrusion. His pony was gone as if it had never been.

 ‘Hilly!’ she cried, starting forward instinctively.

 ‘Stay!’ he gasped.

 ‘I’ll ride for help!’ Diamond shouted, but her frantic resolve died as she turned to her gelding, obviously badly lamed in his fight to win free.

 ‘Rope!’ Hilly called, his knuckles white on the bow that kept the sucking mire from pulling him under.

Diamond scrabbled in her saddlebags, futile as it was. She knew the contents already: a change of clothing for herself in one side, a change of clothing for Farry in the other, two bags of gold, one in each pocket, for the hobbits of Pincup, to pay for firewood and food for old gaffers, widows, and orphans in the coming year. Useless gold, of no help at all to a drowning hobbit.

 ‘No rope,’ she called back, ‘but keep hold, Hilly!’ She babbled on as she infused her tone with as much encouragement as she could manage. ‘My husband will be coming soon behind us, just as quickly as his business is finished. He always carries rope with him. He says it’s a thing he learned from Mayor Sam.’ 

 ‘I only hope he talks fast then,’ Hilly said, gripping harder the saviour bow. ‘Or perhaps uses some of that rope to tie up a bargain with the Bracegirdles, quickly.’

 ‘Hold tight,’ Diamond repeated. Farry snuggled deeper in his mother’s arms and stared, wide-eyed, afraid to ask where Hilly’s pony had got to.

 ‘Tight as my own true love’s hand on our wedding day,’ Hilly agreed. So long as he kept absolutely still, the pull of the mire was not overwhelming. The water overlying the bog, however, was icy cold, and he wondered how long he’d manage to keep his hold. He had already begun to shiver. He tried to smile for the little lad’s sake. ‘It seems we’ll be here awhile, Master Farry, so why don’t you teach me that new song you told me about?’