Chapter 6. Lying Low

The slow trip carrying the stretchers back to the main part of the Smials was made longer by the hobbits who gathered to see and touch the rescued. The healer had sent a runner ahead, to let the Mistress know the Thain was alive, and to tell her to find Samenthal's wife, to break the news to her as gently as could be.

Merry was amazed at the number of hobbits who thronged the Thain, as if assuring themselves that he had not been lost to them. He remembered Pippin's frustration, the subtle disrespect that he'd met on returning to Tookland six years earlier, the stubborn resistance to any plan he might put forth. 'But that's not the way Thain Paladin did things...'

He'd had his work cut out for him, to win the hobbits of Tookland, to weed out the seeds sown by his father's constant and outspoken disdain.

It seemed Pippin had won this particular battle. As a matter of fact, his hobbits' affection was threatening now to overwhelm him. The healer's voice rose to a shout. 'All right, clear out, the lot of you! These hobbits need air!' The rescuers pushed back the crowding hobbits more vigorously, and the stretcher bearers were able to make their way to the main entrance to the Smials.

The rescuers allowed the waiting relatives through their protective line. Weeping wives came up, one to throw herself upon her husband, another to take up a hand gently in hers; a mother tenderly kissed her son's grimy cheek and hugged him as if he might break.

The Mistress of Tookland knelt by the Thain. 'Pippin?' she said softly.

Her husband opened his eyes and smiled. 'Hullo, my love,' he said. 'What's for tea?'

'Tea's over and done with,' she said.

'Did you save me any seedcake?' he whispered.

She kissed his forehead. 'I think I might be able to scrape up a few crumbs.'

His eyes went to their son. 'Faramir, I want a word with you...' he said, trying to look stern.

'Yes, Father?' the boy said.

'I understand you led them to the abandoned tunnel. I know you've been told more than once about the dangers of that tunnel...'

'Yes, Father,' the boy repeated.

'All I have to say to you, lad, is...' the Thain took a few shallow breaths. 'Thank you.' He closed his eyes again, and Healer Woodruff stepped in.

'I'm sorry, Mistress, we need to get him into a bed. I want to check him over and this is not the place to be doing it.'

'Yes, of course,' Diamond said, rising to follow the stretcher.

***

As Diamond helped to wash the grime from her husband, he opened his eyes again. 'Just when I'd managed a thoroughly even coat of dirt,' he said. 'Now look, all my work's wasted.'

'Could be worse,' Diamond said, surprising herself with her next words. 'We could have been laying you out for your burial.'

'Aye, looks as if I've got it backwards, then. First the burying, *then* the laying out. You mean it goes the other way around?'

'Yes, I think so,' his wife said.

'Ah, well, just think, you still have that to look forward to,' he said. At her puzzled look, he said. 'Ask for me on the morrow, you'll find me a very grave hobbit.'

She made a face. 'I don't think I care for that joke, and it's one I've heard before.'

He nodded, 'O aye, 'tis a very old joke.'

When he was clean and tucked in with clean sheets and propped up with pillows, he sighed.

'Sorry, Sir, but you can't rest quite yet,' Healer Woodruff said gently.

'It's always something,' he muttered.

'I don't like the sound of your lungs,' she went on. 'We've got to get you to try to cough.'

'Ah, no, I'd rather not,' he answered.

Diamond was shocked, but the healer spoke as if he'd agreed whole-heartedly. 'We're brewing some tea right now that will loosen things up a bit, and I'm going to have you breathe some steam for me.'

The Thain shook his head. 'I'm tired,' he said, 'and my head hurts. Let me be.'

The healer smiled, shook her head, answered, 'I'm afraid we cannot do that. And you know it very well, Sir. You can rest a few minutes whilst the tea is brewing, but then we've got to start the fight that's ahead of us.'

The Thain closed his eyes. 'Tired,' he said again. Diamond looked to the healer, panic stirring deep within her, and met the worry in the other's eyes.

The healer squeezed the Thain's shoulder and rose. 'We'll let you rest now,' she said, and nodding to the Mistress to follow her, she left the room.