Chapter 16. The Dark before the Dawn

Ferdi built up the fire and piled wood near at hand. As full dark fell, he shooed Farry to Diamond’s lap, then sat himself down with his back to the broad bole of an ancient tree. He thrust several arrows into the dirt by his side, handy for swift shooting, took up his bow and sighed.

Farry had managed to put the bound ruffians out of mind while gathering wood, but now he had a full view of them, to one side of the cheery fire, and he burst into fresh tears.

 ‘Now, now, Farry,’ Diamond said.

 ‘Why?’ Farry gulped.

 ‘I don’t understand, lovie,’ Diamond said gently.

Farry turned his tear-streaked face full upon Ferdi. ‘Why?’ he demanded.

 ‘Because they’re ruffians,’ Ferdi answered calmly, thinking he knew what the lad was about.

 ‘They’re not ruffians!’ Farry said hotly. ‘They’re not!’

 ‘They entered the Shire,’ Ferdi said, unruffled. ‘There is an edict, you know, issued by the King.’ He raised his voice. ‘You there!’ he called. Jack raised his drooping head. ‘You knew about the King’s edict?’

 ‘We did, Farry,’ Jack said, rightly divining the reason for Ferdi’s question. ‘We knew. We came into the Shire by stealth, and we were trying to leave the same way. We knew well enough. We just thought we knew better than the Rangers and the Bounders.’ He still hoped that, by cooperating to the fullest now that all was lost, he might yet save little Rob.

 ‘But you’re not ruffians!’ Farry shouted. ‘You saved Hilly! He was drowning, I know he was. Mama covered my face, but I saw enough... his pony was eaten by the bog, and he was being swallowed...’

 ‘Farry,’ Ferdi remonstrated, but the lad turned back to him.

 ‘They oughtn’t to hang for saving Hilly’s life!’ he said vehemently.

Ferdi was taken aback; he opened his mouth, but no words came.

 ‘Farry!’ Diamond said in shock. ‘How can you say such a thing!’

 ‘I heard him,’ Farry said bitterly, with a nod at Ferdi. ‘I heard him talking with Da. He said there are bodies of Men hanging from trees all about the Bounds of the Shire as warning! He was angered by it...’ and to Ferdi he added, ‘You know you were! You said so!’

At a loss, Diamond repeated, ‘Farry...’ but he turned to her, fresh tears welling in his eyes.

 ‘I know what hanging is,’ he spat. ‘I saw it, when we travelled to the Southlands!’

 ‘You were no more than a babe,’ Diamond whispered, ‘a faunt...’

 ‘I saw!’ Farry sobbed, and buried his face in his hands. ‘I saw!’ he whispered, and gave himself up to weeping. Diamond gathered him close, helpless to do more, and held him until, exhausted by the storm of emotion, he fell into a troubled sleep.

Ferdi silently rose, threw more wood on the fire, and settled once more with his back to the tree, bow at the ready and an arrow fitted loosely to the string.

 ‘What is it?’ Diamond said softly, cradling her son. ‘Why don’t you sit closer to the fire?’

 ‘There might be others out there,’ Ferdi said huskily.

 ‘But the archers...’ Diamond said.

Ferdi shook his head. ‘More archers are on their way,’ he said obliquely. Diamond’s eyes widened as she took his meaning. They were alone in the little copse, with Ferdibrand alone to guard them. She held Farry a little closer. She’d never felt vulnerable in the heart of the Shire before, but now she imagined rough Men slipping over the borders of the Shire, and all in search of gold.

 ‘No one’s going to rescue us,’ Jack said quietly from the other side of the fire, though he had caught the implication as well. No archers! They might have slipped away after all. They'd been captured by a one-handed hobbit and a single archer, the latter only half his size and the other not all that much taller. ‘We acted alone. I doubt there are bands of ruffians wandering the Shire; it was difficult enough for us to make our way in, unobserved, and I know the Shire like you know the fur on your foot.’

 ‘How is that?’ Ferdi asked, stifling a yawn as he slumped a little lower against the tree. Mercy, but he was weary. The talk would help to keep him awake until Pippin arrived. He didn’t even know the Shire like he knew the fur on his foot. He’d seen very little outside of Tookland and a slice of the Woody End, and but a dim memory remained of the Bridgefields of his early years.

 ‘I walked every inch of the Shire, I’ll wager, and more than once,’ Jack said. At Ferdi’s snort, he nodded. ‘Tookland as well,’ he said. ‘The Tooks are a wonderful folk, always ready with a jest or a question, always prepared to welcome a traveller with a meal and a pint.’

At Diamond’s look of wonder he laughed humourlessly. ‘Well, they were,’ he said, ‘before the Troubles, that is. Why, I had families of Tooks in the countryside who hailed me as a long-lost cousin and looked for me at the same time every year!’ He lowered his voice. ‘I never went to the Great Smials but once, though,’ he said. ‘I worked hard, the one time I visited there, and ended up paying Mistress Lalia for my bed—in the stables!—and board.’

 ‘You worked hard?’ Ferdi said sceptically.

Jack bowed his head and upper body. ‘The Amazing Allemondo, at your service,’ he said grandly. He smiled then, more than a little irony in his expression, and said, ‘I’m afraid I cannot astonish you with my illusions... disappearing coins and magically appearing pocket-handkerchiefs and such. I seem to be a little tied up at the moment.’

Ferdi guffawed and then wiped his face free of expression. ‘I’m in danger of finding some small liking for you,’ he said, ‘and that would not do at all.’

 ‘Not at all,’ Jack said obligingly, but then he leaned forward. ‘Unless...’

 ‘What?’ Ferdi said suspiciously, sitting straighter, his hands tightening on bow and arrow.

 ‘Please,’ Jack whispered. ‘Do what you will with me, but let the lads go. I led them into this. It’s not their fault...’

 ‘What I will or no matters not at all,’ Ferdi said, relaxing again with an effort, though his knuckles whitened on the bow, betraying his inner perturbation. ‘It is the Thain you must deal with, and I suspect he will turn you all over to the Rangers without a quiver of compunction.’

 ‘I expect you have the right of it,’ Jack said morosely. He sighed and looked down at the lads, who’d slumped to the side and managed to sleep despite their bonds. ‘I am so very sorry, my lads,’ he whispered, ‘for all the good it does.’

 ‘No good at all, I’m afraid,’ Ferdi muttered.

Quiet reigned in the clearing then. Jack’s head drooped and he seemed to doze. Diamond felt her eyelids grow heavy; she curled around Farry on the bed of ferns Jack had laid down and pulled her cloak over them.

Ferdi, chilled, rose again and stomped around the clearing, taking deep breaths to clear his head. He stood close to the fire for a moment, warming his hands, before adding more wood to the blaze and retreating to take up his post once more, sitting against the tree, looking around the clearing to the darkness beyond the reach of the firelight. How he wished there were two or three score of archers there! Still, all he had to do was stay alert until Pippin and Merry came... all he had to do... all...

He jerked awake, realising he’d dozed, but not for long. The fire still burned brightly, and all the others in the clearing were deep in slumber. What had wakened him? The snap of a twig? ‘Pippin!’ he called, and listened. Nothing stirred. The fire popped once more and he relaxed.

Not long now... not long. All he had to do...

Jack wakened at the sharp call, but he was stiff from the night air, and so he sat, head bowed, listening for the greetings that would mean that he and the lads would be roused to begin the long, final march to the Bounds where the Rangers watched.

No greetings rang out, however. The only sound was the soft breathing of the sleepers, the crackling of the fire, the whispering of the breeze in the leaves above his head. He moved restlessly, the muscles of his arms cramping. How he wished he could change his position!

Almost without thinking, he twisted his wrists within the bonds, and felt one hand slip free. He froze. He moved his hands slightly. Yes, the knots had loosened; the rope wrapped itself with loving care about one wrist, but his other hand was free!

He raised his head slowly, looking to the Tookish guard. Ferdi’s head rested on his knees; his bow was on the ground beside him, hand still loosely clutching the polished wood.

Ever so slowly, Jack pulled his hands to the fore, easing the rope from his wrist, coiling the slim line. He raised the coil to his lips in benediction, laid the rope down and turned to Will, placing a cautious hand over the youth’s mouth.

Will came to with a start. Jack placed a silencing finger over his lips, and Will nodded, the light of hope dawning in his eyes. Jack quickly untied the cord about Will’s wrists, and nodded for Will to do the same for little Rob. In the meantime, he rose, picked up the sliver-grey rope, and crept across the clearing to their packs. He reverently stowed the rope away with a gentle pat, breathing his thanks, and lifted his pack and Will’s. With a glance at sleeping Ferdi, he walked gingerly back to where the lads sat, urged them to their feet, and began to steal from the clearing.

 ‘Wait!’ came a hiss, and the three “ruffians” froze, shoulders taut, waiting for an arrow to bury itself between the shoulder blades. They waited for what seemed an eternity, not daring to move nor to look behind; hearing nothing, but knowing how silently hobbits move.

Suddenly Diamond was there, a heavy bag in her hands, her eyes shining in the firelight. ‘I don’t know what wakened me,’ she whispered, ‘but I’m glad I caught you before you could slip away.’

She held out the bag awkwardly, and Jack took it, feeling the heaviness in the heft.

 ‘Some thieves you are,’ Diamond said so low that Jack barely heard. ‘It was in the saddlebags all the time, and you never looked!’

Jack shook the bag slightly, hearing the soft clink of coin on coin. ‘I cannot...’ he began.

Diamond smiled. ‘Thain’s gold,’ she whispered, ‘given with blessing.’ She gestured to the darkness outside of the firelight. ‘Go with grace,’ she said.

 ‘I’ll never forget you,’ Jack said softly.

 ‘Nor I,’ Will said, and Rob kissed his hand to Diamond, an oddly adult gesture.

 ‘Go!’ Diamond said. With a last bow, Jack stepped into the shadows, followed by his lads... and they were gone.

Diamond returned to her bed of ferns, curled herself around Farry once more, and gave herself up to sleep.