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All That Glisters  by Lindelea

Chapter 9. Resting Places

Diamond became aware that someone was cradling her, holding a cup to her lips, urging her to drink. She opened her mouth and a very little amount of warm liquid entered, some sort of broth, salty and sustaining. She swallowed and the warmth moved comfortingly down into her frozen middle. Frozen? How had she come to be in this state?

 ‘Pippin?’ she murmured.

 ‘Steady now,’ a voice said. It was a young voice, one she might have heard before, but not all that familiar. She opened her eyes to meet Will’s concerned gaze, and she remembered where she was. She sat abruptly upright, spilling some of the contents of the cup over herself, eliciting profuse apologies from the youth.

 ‘No matter,’ she said automatically, adding at once, ‘Farry? Farry?’

 ‘Shhh, now,’ Will soothed. ‘He’s asleep, poor little tyke. Had a busy day, from the sound of it. Riding all day long, only to blunder into a bog.’

 ‘He was never in the bog,’ Diamond protested, though worry stirred within her. Had Farry been in the bog? Her breath came short as memory of the ordeal returned--seeing Hilly on the fast-sinking pony, Farry in his arms. Hilly had been taught how to save himself in a bog: cast yourself down flat and “swim” out. Tooks as a rule don’t swim, but Pippin had insisted that all of the hobbits of the Thain’s escort learn the skill, and practice it on a regular basis, regardless of their distaste for the exercise. As mentioned, he’d also taught them, among other unTookish things, about bogs: there were enough of these in the Shire, after all, and if a hobbit were caught unawares and no one with a rope was at hand, it was a sure death.

But Hilly did not swim out of the bog, though he’d had few seconds to position himself, to launch himself flat out from the pony’s back, to float on the surface of the water and stroke his way to safety without becoming mired and pulled down. Instead he’d elected to push himself upright in order to throw young Faramir to safety. In doing so, he’d signed his own death warrant. Diamond, from journeying to the South with Pippin, knew what a death warrant was.

 ‘Hilly,’ she whispered, and tears flooded her eyes.

 ‘Is that your husband?’ the youth said, lifting the cup to her mouth for another sip. ‘Come now, drink up while it’s warm.’

 ‘He’s not her husband,’ the man said nearby, and Diamond turned her head with difficulty to look at him. Really, she was nearly too comfortable to move, and feeling much warmer, what with the steaming drink and the fire and the cloaks wrapped around her, her own and another so much bigger that it went round and round her, cocooning her in woollen warmth. There were spots of heat tucked in here and there: Farry’s rocks, of course, warmed by the fire and bringing her back from the chill of watching Hilly drown.

But Hilly was there, cradled in the man’s lap, wrapped in an overlarge blanket. Though his eyes were closed, he sipped from the steaming cup held to his lips, and murmured thanks.

 ‘Not her husband?’ the youth said. ‘Who is he, then?’

 ‘My cousin,’ Diamond said. Her thinking was growing clearer, and caution returned. These were Men, unknown to her, but by their very presence in the Shire they posed a danger and a threat. They had already broken the King’s edict, showing their disdain for order and law. What else might they be capable of? ‘We were riding together. My husband had matters of business,’ she added, ‘and so he... he asked my cousin to accompany me.’

 ‘I can imagine he did,’ Jack said dryly, and at Diamond’s inquiring look, added, ‘have matters of business, that is.’ He tilted the cup for Hilly to finish and laid it aside, using a cloth to wipe the escort’s face with surprising gentleness. ‘There now,’ he said, laying the hobbit carefully down upon a bed of fern fronds. ‘Sleep. All is well.’

 ‘I told you all would be well,’ Hilly muttered, not opening his eyes, and a moment later he was snoring.

Will urged Diamond to finish her own warm drink before it went cold, and she did, though her eyelids were closing before she reached the dregs. She did not even feel herself laid down upon her own soft bed.

Jack took care to lift little Farry and lay him down beside Diamond. Only then did he see the hobbit mother relax completely, as her arms fumbled free of the large cloak and pulled her little son close. He re-wrapped the garment about them both, pulled his coat more snugly about himself, and settled down by the fire, to watch and to think as night shrouded the forest in thickening wisps of mist.

***

 ‘Likely they stopped over at the Cockerel,’ Reginard said.

 ‘Of course,’ Ferdi agreed. ‘That’s the most likely explanation. Little Farry was wearied by the ride, or sneezed or somewhat, and Diamond decided to stay on. After all, it’s a full day’s travel from Smials to Cockerel... Very common for folk to arrive in time for tea and spend the afternoon resting, gathering their strength for the next day’s journey.’

 ‘But it’s only two or three hours from the Cockerel to Pincup,’ Pippin argued. ‘She wanted to be here in good time for the breakfast, and to her mind, that meant arriving before eventides.’

 ‘You sent Merry after them, after all,’ Regi continued. ‘You know how persuasive he can be, stubborn Brandybuck that he is.’

Pippin smiled slightly. A Took calling a Brandybuck stubborn was rather like the pot calling the kettle black. But then, Merry was half Took, and he could be wondrously recalcitrant when he wished. He might well have argued Diamond into stopping over, especially if Farry had sneezed, or fallen asleep over his tea, or something of the sort. ‘I half expected to find Merry here in Pincup, having insisted upon accompanying Diamond all the way here before going on to Buckland,’ he admitted.

 ‘There you are!’ Regi said. ‘I imagine they’ll all arrive on the morrow, rested and fresh after a night’s rest and short journey!’

 ‘Still,’ Pippin said. ‘I’d just like to be sure, you know. I don’t like coming here and finding no Diamond, no Farry, no Hilly...’ he looked at each of the hobbits around him in turn to emphasize his unease, ‘...and no word from them. We were to meet here, in Pincup, after all.’

 ‘Diamond might have thought you meant to stop over at the Cockerel,’ Regi said, ‘especially if you got a late start, as was almost inevitable, considering the Bracegirdles. Likely she thought to meet you there, and left word for you with the innkeeper when she retired for the evening.’

 ‘Likely,’ Pippin said reluctantly, but he slapped the palm of his hand with his gloves.

Ferdi, seeing this ominous sign, spoke up again. ‘I’ll go, cousin, and not you,’ he said.

Pippin looked to him with eyebrows raised. ‘You’ll go?’ he asked mildly.

Ferdi sighed, thinking of fire and supper, bath and bed. It was more than halfway to dawning already, and he’d likely arrive just in time to turn around and head back to Pincup with Diamond. The drugged sleep under the draught had been his last, and the sleeplessness since was beginning to tell on him. ‘I’ll go,’ he said, fighting to keep a note of irritation out of his voice. ‘You won’t rest until you know Diamond’s safe and sound...’

 ‘And Farry,’ Tolly put in.

Ferdi shot him a sardonic glance. You’re no help at all. We’re trying to calm the hobbit enough to take his rest, have you forgotten that?

Regi jumped upon the idea. ‘An excellent notion!’ he said. He put an arm about Pippin’s shoulders. ‘Now, Pippin,’ he added, ‘the innkeeper wakened his staff upon our arrival and they’ve been bustling about ever since, cooking and heating water and preparing a bath... I imagine all is nearly ready, and you don’t want to put them to all this trouble for naught, do you, cousin?’

 ‘Starfire’s the fastest pony in the Shire,’ Ferdi said, pulling his own gloves back onto his hands. ‘Why, I might well meet myself coming, should he take it into his head to soar on the wind. We’ll fly to the Cockerel and back, bringing you word of your wife, if not Diamond herself!’

 ‘If not...’ Pippin said, uneasy again.

Ferdi steadied his temper. ‘Of course not!’ he snapped. ‘I’m not about to rouse her from her bed, after all, before her time! I’ll go to the Cockerel, leave her the message that you’re awaiting her here, and ride back again... unless you want me to wait there for her to set out.’

 ‘You might as well,’ Pippin said. ‘Have breakfast, or something, before riding back again. At the very least Starfire should have a bite and a rest.’

 ‘At the very least,’ Ferdi said dryly. ‘Well then,’ he added abruptly, before Pippin could change his mind and decide to ride out into the gathering damp himself, decidedly an ill-advised notion with his damaged lungs, ‘I’m off.’ He whirled about and stalked off to the stables.

His astonished pony turned from the feedbox to greet him and nuzzle at his fingers. ‘Good thing one of us got his supper,’ he muttered, and fetched saddle pad and saddle from their resting places.





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