As Long as Hope Remains (Remembering the Departed, Part 2)

‘Word is, Dinny mourned his son earlier this month.’

Saradoc raised his eyes to meet his brother’s quizzical gaze. ‘The Tooks forced him to it, I’d imagine, and made him name his successor.’ He sipped at his tea and swallowed past a lump in his throat. ‘Who’s to succeed him?’

‘Reginard,’ Merimac said in surprise. ‘How did you—?’

‘The Tooks trust only what they see before them. They put little faith in faith.’

‘But—’ Merimac said.

Saradoc fixed him with a sardonic eye. ‘You know you’re next in line, should something happen to me. But Merry’s not dead.’

*** 

This drabble and the previous one were born out of a snippet from Flames recounting a clandestine meeting in the Crowing Cockerel during Yuletide after the Travellers had set off on the Quest, some time before Lotho’s ruffians burned the establishment to the ground:

There was a general shaking of heads all around, and then the hooded visitor said, 'And how long is the Thain going to be able to hold off these thieving Men with threats and mischief? One of these days, someone's going to call your bluff, and it's either shoot, or let Tookland be overrun with these vermin.' 

'Shoot,' Ferdi echoed, feeling sick. 

Regi nodded. 'Neither alternative is all that appealing,' he said. 'We'll bake that bread when it's risen.' 

The Bucklander took another sip of his beer. 'Word is, the Thain mourned his son's passing on Remembering Day.' 

'Aye,' Regi said heavily. 'How's the Master dealing with his loss?' 

'He refused to mourn,' the other answered. 'He says until he sees his son's body, he will consider him alive.' 

'Hard knocks on the Bucklanders,' Ferdi said, 'if he refuses to name a successor.' 

'Ah, well,' the other said softly. 'If need be, Bucklanders know who'll be Master should anything happen to Saradoc. And it won't be Pimple Baggins, either.' 

'Who, then?' Ferdi asked. He didn't know how the Bucklanders ordered their affairs, but he knew some things were different. Had Meriadoc left a son, even an infant, the child would have become Master at thirty-three, with a regent holding the land for him until his coming of age. Not so amongst the Tooks. It didn't matter, anyhow, as Pippin had left no heir. Regi would be Thain in any event, and if anything happened to him, the succession would pass to his brother Everard. Ferdi was next in the succession after Everard, but his becoming Thain was about as likely as the coming of the King. 

'Him,' Reginard answered shortly, and from his tone, Ferdi took warning. He saw the eyes in the face crinkle, and realised the other was smiling, but the answering voice was grim. 

'Indeed, and with all the odd things happening, let us not spread the news that the successor is out and about, shall we?' Merimac took another gulp of his beer. 

'Odd things?' Regi murmured low. 

The other fixed him with a stern eye. 'Has it not struck you that the heir to Buckland, the heir to Tookland, and the heir to the richest hobbit in the Shire all disappeared on the same day? Never mind that the latter wasn't exactly an heir anymore, he'd inherited. I still have trouble believing he came to the end of Bilbo's money. Anyhow, he's gone, with the rest.' He let the thought sink in, then said, 'I'd watch my back, were I you, Reginard. You're in the same boat as myself.'

***