Chapter 11. Dawning Realisations

Ferdi might have been riding the fastest pony in the Shire, but he could have ridden an old plough pony and gone just as quickly. The track was wet, muddy, and treacherous in places, the streams they forded were running swift and high, and a mist enclosed the land, making the lantern Ferdi held all but useless. He might as well have left Starfire snug in the stall, for he spent much of the journey afoot, leading the pony, holding the lantern up to survey the track ahead of him. He was glad of the pony, however, fording the streams. A hobbit on foot would have been hard put to it to stay on his feet in the angry waters.

It was nearly dawn when the lights of the Crowing Cockerel came into view: watchlamps in the windows to beckon a weary traveller to comfort and rest. Ferdi, dishevelled and muddy, slid from the saddle and led the grey stallion to the stables, to be met by a sleepy stable lad. ‘Rub him down well and give him breakfast,’ Ferdi said. ‘He’s had a wearying night.’

He might say the same for himself. His eyes felt as if they were filled with sand, every muscle ached, and a flat taste was in his mouth. He’d rather sleep than eat at this point, but he resigned himself to sharing breakfast with Diamond and Farry, and then riding out again. At least he could rest once they reached Pincup. He doubted that even the memory of the doomed boy could keep him awake much longer.

Merry Brandybuck looked up from his breakfast as Ferdi entered the common room. ‘Ferdi!’ he cried. ‘What’re you doing here? Did Pippin send you back with a message?’

Ferdi wondered why Diamond and Farry were not breakfasting with Merry. Perhaps they’d taken breakfast in their room. But where was Hilly? ‘He sent me back for Diamond,’ he answered.

 ‘You bring a message from Diamond?’ Merry said. ‘Don’t tell me she has found the Jonquil Celebration so delightful that she wishes me to return to Brandy Hall by way of Pincup!’

 ‘You’re not making sense,’ Ferdi said irritably. He nodded thanks as the server set a cup before him and poured out the steaming tea. Feeling drained, he added twice his usual amount of sugar to the cup, and gulped the sweet, milky beverage greedily.

 ‘You look a sight,’ Merry said. ‘Are you sure you don’t want a bath before breakfast?’

 ‘After all the effort I’ve gone through to gather this much mud?’ Ferdi said. ‘I’ll only be off again after breakfast, anyhow, so there’s not much use in it.’

 ‘Well the sight of you quite puts me off,’ Merry said, buttering his bread with remarkable skill for a hobbit with only one good hand, and adding a generous dollop of jam.

 ‘Close your eyes to eat, then,’ Ferdi growled, and Merry laughed.

 ‘Daft as ever, Ferdi,’ he said. ‘Some things never change, and it’s evident you haven’t! Those are the same clothes I saw you wearing yesterday, and much the worse for wear.’

 ‘I left my spare clothing at Pincup,’ Ferdi said. ‘No use muddying those.’ It would be good to bathe and change—and sleep! He was wondering just how upset the innkeeper would be if he slept first, and then bathed...

The server set a laden plate before Ferdi, eggs, bacon, potatoes, bread, and he dove in. Though he was more tired than hungry, the hot food was reviving, and a far cry from the meals taken in the saddle on the way to Pincup. He gratefully accepted a second cup of tea; he was shivering cold, more from weariness than the damp chill he’d ridden through.

 ‘So what does Diamond have to say?’ Merry asked after a few bites of his own breakfast.

 ‘I don’t know,’ Ferdi answered through a mouthful of eggs. ‘I haven’t seen her yet.’

 ‘Ah,’ Merry said, concentrating on cutting precise pieces of bacon with the edge of his fork. Thoughtless of Pippin, to push his special assistant so hard. They’d evidently arrived in Pincup after Diamond had fallen asleep, and then Pippin had decided to send Ferdi back to the Smials for something the Mistress had forgotten.

Ferdi kept expecting Hilly to walk into the common room and hail him. He gulped his food, ignoring Merry’s chiding, and rose from the table. ‘Well, I must be off,’ he said.

 ‘I’ll see you at the Bridge,’ Merry said cheerily. ‘You’ve not seen the Brandywine before, have you?’

 ‘Never been farther than Bridgefields, happily,’ Ferdi replied. ‘I hope it’s a good sturdy Bridge.’

 ‘I do believe it will stand even the weight of a King,’ Merry said, hiding a smile. Ferdi nodded and turned away.

Merry watched him walk over to the innkeeper by the doorway. He could not hear the words they exchanged, but Ferdi went white, and the innkeeper caught him by the arm as he swayed. Merry jumped up from his chair, leaving his breakfast half eaten, and rushed to Ferdi’s side.

 ‘Ferdi? Are you taken ill?’ he said.

 ‘Steady, now,’ the innkeeper was saying.

Ferdi straightened and shook off his arm. ‘They’re not here?’ he demanded.

 ‘Left yesterday, while most folk were still at tea,’ the innkeeper said.

 ‘What is going on here?’ Merry said. ‘Ferdi, what’s this all about?’

Ferdibrand turned to him, grasping at Merry's good arm with a painful grip. ‘Diamond and Farry,’ he said. ‘They didn’t stay the night?’

 ‘Of course not,’ Merry began, ‘they...’ He stopped short as the implication hit him. ‘They’re not in Pincup?’ he said. ‘They ought to have arrived there by eventides at the latest!’

***

 ‘I cannot drop you in the bog,’ Jack said quietly. The light was growing slowly, but he and Diamond were the only wakeful ones at the moment.

 ‘Well I’m glad you’ve been able to work that out,’ Diamond said.

 ‘I cannot let you go, to raise the alarm,’ Jack said, ‘and I cannot leave you here, bound and helpless, for you could freeze before you were found, or fall prey to wild beasts.’ 

 ‘We seem to be in a quandary,’ Diamond said.

 ‘And if I take you with us, you’ll be missed eventually, and the Tooks will descend upon us with all the wrath of the Thain behind them.’

 ‘Undoubtedly.’

 ‘So what am I to do with you?’ Jack said.

 ‘Take us with you as far as the Bounds and let us go as we pass the last farm,’ Diamond said. ‘By the time we raise a hue and cry you’ll be gone.’

 ‘The Rangers will track us,’ Jack said, his gaze going to Will. ‘I must have been mad to consider such a course. If only we could slip into the Shire, and out again unseen... but the curse has brought us to ruin, before we even reached the gold.’ He took a shuddering breath. ‘Thain’s gold, taken by stealth...’

 ‘Perhaps not,’ Diamond said softly. ‘Perhaps you have been blessed instead, in turning aside before carrying out your intent. That store-hole that you remember...’

 ‘Yes?’ Jack said after the pause lengthened to silence.

 ‘The gold is no longer there,’ Diamond said at last. ‘The treasure-hoard of the Thain was moved some years ago. A terrible death awaits any Man who enters in search, bearing a torch.’

 ‘Death?’ Jack gasped. He reached to grasp Diamond’s shoulder, and when she stiffened snatched his hand away once more. ‘Beg pardon, my lady,’ he said automatically, and then in wonder he repeated, 'Death?'

 ‘Death,’ Diamond said firmly. The store-hole was filled these days with treasure of a different sort: black powder, gift of the King, for the hobbits to use in their excavations, and so that fireworks might not be lost from Middle-earth though Gandalf had departed over the Sea.

Jack closed his eyes and scrubbed his face with his hands. ‘I’ve brought ruin on my lads,’ he moaned. ‘Save us!’

Diamond placed a gentle hand on his arm. Though the plea was not directed at her, she was moved nearly to tears by the Man’s anguish. He was truly not a ruffian; a fool, perhaps, or a man tempted beyond his bearing by a foolish idea.

To distract him, she said, ‘How did you know it was us?’

 ‘Eh? What’s that?’ he said, lowering his hands to blink at her.

 ‘How did you know who I was?’ Diamond said.

Jack smiled bleakly. ‘It wasn’t hard,’ he said. ‘You called out for “Pippin” in your sleep, and your son is named Farry. How many hobbit lads are named after the Prince of Ithilien, I ask you?’

 ‘My husband is the Thain,’ Diamond said. ‘What if I asked him to intercede for you?’

Jack shook his head. ‘He’s a King’s Man,’ he said, and at Diamond’s raised eyebrow, he insisted, ‘Well he is! He is a knight of the White City, and he must follow the King’s commands. The King’s edict is quite clear: it is death for a Man to cross the Bounds. The King himself honours the edict and has declared that he will not pass over. Your husband must honour his liege. We have violated the edict, and not by chance or error, but by choice. Besides,’ and he eyed Diamond narrowly, ‘he’d see us holding you prisoner in a dim light, I suspect.’

 ‘Prisoner?’ Diamond gasped.

Jack nodded. ‘So it must be,’ he said. ‘We’ll run for the border, that we will, and try to evade the Shirriffs and the Bounders, yea, even the Tooks. I cannot leave you here, bound, and I cannot set you free to raise the alarm...’

 ‘But we wouldn’t...’ Diamond tried to protest. Jack eyed her wearily.

 ‘You say that you wouldn’t,’ he said, ‘but that hobbit there, I suspect, has sworn to defend you with his life. He’d take a dim view of letting a ruffian, a law-breaker, off scot-free.’