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All That Glisters  by Lindelea

Chapter 20. Clearing the Air

Ferdi instinctively pressed Starfire towards the distant horror, but Pippin blocked him with equal determination, and the stallion was reluctant to ride down the mare.

 ‘No, Ferdi!’ he repeated.

Ferdi drew a shuddering breath, for it was already too late. Much too late. The Rangers were efficient in their methods, not having a cruel ruffian's attitude of finding sport in prolonging the agony of dying. The Men, though still moving in dying reflex, had broken their necks as they fell. He averted his eyes from the twisting figures, and a moment later turned aside, bent in the saddle, losing what remained of the fine breakfast the Tunnelys had provided. He scarcely noticed that Pippin had come alongside and was supporting him as he retched.

When there was nothing left to lose, he straightened slowly. Pippin let go of him and brought out a handkerchief, wetting it from his water bottle and extending it to Ferdi. ‘Here,’ he said. ‘Wipe your mouth out.’

Ferdi did as he was told, but the bitter taste remained. He could not meet Pippin’s gaze.

 ‘I’m sorry, Ferdi,’ Pippin said. ‘I didn’t realise...’

 ‘I told you,’ Ferdi said shortly. ‘You didn’t believe me?’

 ‘I knew that bodies would be hanging from the trees,’ Pippin said, ‘for I did believe you, Ferdi. What I didn’t realise was that they’d be in the midst of hanging up more.’ He took an unsteady breath. 'I wouldn't have put you through seeing such a thing, after your own experience, for the world.'

 ‘Didn’t Diamond tell you what they did? Could you not find it in your heart to spare them?’

 ‘Diamond told me how young Will risked his life to save Hilly from the bog, and how Jack warmed them and fed them when they were suffering a deathly chill...’ Pippin said.

 ‘And you turned them over to the Rangers; you sent them to their deaths,’ Ferdi said low. ‘Didn’t you expect...?’

 ‘I did not turn them over to the Rangers,’ Pippin said stiffly. ‘They must have been taken after they slipped away in the darkness, while you slept...’

The rebuke went to Ferdi’s heart and he bowed his head.

They had been seen, and now a Ranger came up. ‘I beg your pardon, Sir,’ he said to Pippin. ‘We didn’t expect you until teatime.’

 ‘Thought to take care of a little business beforehand?’ Ferdi said, and laughed harshly. He was too tightly wound, and barely managing to keep hold of himself.

 ‘Steady on, cousin,’ Pippin said, and turned to the Ranger. ‘How is it that I didn’t know more Men were taken?’ he demanded. ‘No messenger...’

 ‘Undoubtedly the messenger is seeking you near the Shirebourn even now,’ the Ranger said. ‘Your own archers brought these Men to us. They said they were hunting ruffians by your order, and they found these and rode them down, bound them and brought them to us.’ He looked from Ferdi to Pippin. ‘When they said you’d be following, we thought we’d get the unpleasantness over before your arrival.’

Pippin might know of hanging, might have seen it in the Southlands, but there was no reason, as far as the Rangers were concerned, for him to watch Men die. It was bad enough to see the aftermath.

Pippin nudged his mare forward, and Starfire automatically followed. ‘But, Sir...!’ the Ranger protested.

Pippin turned his head slightly to snap, ‘I want them given a decent burial, at the least!’ He forged towards the freshly-hanged bodies that were now dreadfully still. Ferdi followed. Though he rode with his head down he knew that bodies were hanging farther into the wood; he’d already glimpsed them. As they rode, Pippin pulled a kerchief up over his mouth and nose, to filter some of the charnel stench that hung heavy on the air in this part of the wood, and Ferdi followed suit.

When they reached the newly-dead, Pippin stopped and surveyed them. ‘Which was Will?’ he grated.

Ferdi raised a countenance white and bleak under its covering, looking from one distorted face to the other. He swallowed down sickness and forced himself to look closely. Pippin waited.

At last, Ferdi said, ‘I...’ and stopped.

 ‘What is it, Ferdi?’ Pippin snapped. His nerves were wearing thin; this was more like the Morannon, the atmosphere of this place, than a peaceful little woodland just outside the sleepy Shire.

One of the Men was bearded; neither sported silvering hair.

 ‘Not them,’ Ferdi murmured, feeling weak. He reeled in the saddle and the Ranger caught him as he slipped sideways. He had the terrible feeling that he would be the next to balance precariously upon a log while a noose was laid over his head...

When he came to himself again, he smelled only fresh air: green, growing things and leaf mould and dirt. A fire crackled nearby, and he wondered if he had dreamed again. But no, when he opened his eyes, Pippin sat to one side of him, holding his hand in a firm grip, and a Ranger sat to his other side.

 ‘Better?’ Pippin asked quietly.

 ‘How can anything ever be better again?’ Ferdi said. When he closed his eyes, just to blink, he saw Will, and Jack, and little Rob, faces dark and distorted. In his mind he could hear little Rob pleading, his voice blending with that of another young boy.

 ‘Ferdi,’ Pippin said. ‘You said it wasn’t Jack and Will. Diamond described them to me, and I’m inclined to agree with you. The clincher is that these ruffians had no boy with them.’

 ‘We’ll see if we can pick up their trail,’ the Ranger said, but Pippin spoke sharply.

 ‘No! Leave them be.’

 ‘Leave them?’ the Ranger said, astounded.

 ‘Let them go,’ Pippin said. ‘If you Rangers happen to find a man with silvering hair, a youth, and a small boy coming out of the Shire in the near future, leave them. They have my guarantee of safe passage.’

 ‘Your guarantee...’ the Ranger said.

 ‘So say I,’ Pippin said. ‘Only the King can gainsay me. It is my right to grant such. You read your Edict and you’ll see.’

 ‘Yes, Sir,’ the Ranger said, rising abruptly. ‘I’ll pass the word.’

Ferdi was attempting to sit up, hindered by the spinning of his head. Pippin moved to help him. ‘Steady, cousin,’ he said. ‘You’ve had a bad turn.’ When Ferdi was safely upright, his cousin reached beside him, bringing to bear an oversized cup half-full of sweet, icy water from a spring that bubbled nearby. ‘Drink, now.’

Ferdi drank, and the dizziness subsided.

The Ranger returned and seated himself again. ‘Done,’ he said. ‘Was there anything else? You said you had a matter of business to discuss.’

 ‘I do,’ Pippin said grimly. He waved in a vague gesture to the side, and from his next words Ferdi guessed that he was motioning towards the grisly part of the wood where death reigned. ‘I want all the bodies decently buried,’ he said, ‘not just that fresh lot we were unfortunate enough to bid farewell.’

 ‘Sir, I...’ the Ranger said carefully.

 ‘The Edict says nothing about leaving them hanging to feed the birds,’ Pippin said, standing to his feet to stare eye-to-eye with the Man, hands upon his hips, a picture of offended hobbit.

 ‘It’s intended to discourage...’ the Ranger began, but the Thain was having none of it.

 ‘Fat lot of good it does!’ he flared. ‘Men are still coming into the Shire, while you sit on your backsides, expecting stinking corpses to do your duty for you!’

 ‘Pippin,’ Ferdi breathed uneasily, but the Ranger nodded soberly.

 ‘Very well, Sir,’ he said. ‘We’ll bury them, and pass the word to all the outposts.’

Pippin nodded, his eyes still flashing fire. ‘You do that,’ he said coldly.

 ‘Please,’ the Ranger said in a conciliatory manner. ‘Sit down. You must eat something. It is a long ride back to the heart of the Shire.’

 ‘I couldn’t,’ Ferdi said, but Pippin put a heavy hand on his shoulder.

 ‘We’ll be delighted to join you,’ he said with a decided nod. ‘Won’t we, Ferdibrand?’

 ‘I...’ Ferdi said, as Pippin seated himself once more.

 ‘We are, however, in haste, so if you’d bring on the food without further delay, we’d be grateful.’

 ‘Of course, Sir. The King is due at the Bridge within a few days...’

 Pippin snorted. ‘There’s rather a more important celebration at hand,’ he said. ‘My wife is being honoured by the good hobbits of Pincup, and I have no intention of missing the festive breakfast!’

 ‘Indeed, Sir,’ the Ranger said gravely, and rose to see to the comfort of the guests.

Pippin looked over at Ferdi, finding his cousin staring at him in astonishment. ‘You have to be firm with these Men, cousin,’ he said pleasantly. ‘They can be quite reasonable, just so long as you keep them well in hand.’





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