Part 7

Merry was tossing and turning. Something wasn’t right. He struggled to hold onto sleep as he burrowed under his covers and shifted to what he hoped would be a more comfortable position. He twisted again, tossed the covers off of his shoulders and turned over on his face. He buried his face against his cool pillow and sighed. Little half dreams flittered through his mind and he reached out for them.

"Are you asleep," he heard a tiny voice which sounded so far away ask. "Are you asleep, Merry?"

Merry shifted on the bed and kicked out with one foot. "Who’s there?" he asked in a sleepy voice.

"Are you asleep, Merry?" the little voice asked again.

"I’m trying to be," Merry said crossly, not opening his eyes.

"Can I sleep with you if I lay really still?" the little voice asked.

"Is that you, Pip?" Merry asked interested but still half asleep.

"Are you asleep, Merry?" the little voice asked.

Merry was confused. The voice was too high and too tiny for Pippin’s voice. Pippin’s voice was still rather high and still could sound terribly young but this was wrong. Merry thrashed about on his bed and wished he hadn’t eaten that extra plate of sausages before turning in for the night.

"Are you asleep? If you are, I can be quiet. I just want to sleep in here with you," the tiny Pippin-voice said again.

Merry moaned and tossed about until one arm hung over the side of the bed. "Pippin?"

"You aren’t asleep are you, Merry?" again the voice asked.

Merry sat up in the dark, quiet bedroom and looked wildly about. "Pip?" he murmured. There was no one there. He sat staring into the darkness for a minute or two more and then with a deep sigh he lay back down and closed his eyes. Pippin was probably sound asleep in his own room and his younger cousin’s voice hadn’t sounded like that in a while now. He missed Pippin. "Go to sleep, Merry," he told himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam frowned at the sight that met him when he walked into Mister Frodo’s barn early that morning. He had just finished a large breakfast at his smial in the cozy kitchen with the Gaffer and he had thought to get a bit of a head start on organizing things for today’s building. He had a rough night’s sleep and he suspected that he was up so early because of that. He couldn’t seem to put his conversation with Mister Merry out of his head. All night long bits and pieces of it had disturbed his sleep. He had finally woke up at four am and decided to get an early start on breakfast. The Gaffer, who is an early riser by his very nature, had joined him at about 4:30 and they had passed the morning in pleasant conversation over a wonderful meal.

Now, Sam stood in Mister Frodo’s barn looking down at the small form that was curled up on the floor under a blanket and sighed. He wondered if Mister Frodo knew that his youngest cousin was sleeping out in the barn.

Master Pippin had one of Mister Frodo’s fine goose-down quilts over him. The lad was curled up in a tiny ball, his head completely covered. Only one arm stuck out from beneath of the quilt. Sam smiled as he noticed that the bruised fingers were holding that damnable hammer. Sam shook his head. It would be best not to startle Master Pippin awake. One might just get hit with that hammer if the lad were surprised while he slept.

Sam eased away from the sleeping Took and walked over to the barn door that opened facing Mister Frodo’s smial. There was a faint light coming from the kitchen already this morning. It seems as if no one was doing much in the way of sleeping and them that were sleeping were doing it in the wrong places.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Frodo smiled as Sam entered the kitchen. "I was just making a pot of tea and warming up some scones," he said. "Please join me, Sam."

"I didn’t mean to disturb your mornin’ Mister Frodo," Sam said as he reluctantly closed the kitchen door behind himself. "I just thought you ought to know."

Frodo laughed gently. "Relax, Sam," Frodo said. "Please sit down and join me. I do believe that just lately Pippin is seeing more of you than I am. I’ve missed you."

Sam blushed and sat down at the table as Frodo poured them each a cup of tea and sat a warm tray of scones on the table. "I guess I have been a bit busy just lately," Sam said reaching for a scone. He’d had a very large first breakfast but he suspected that he had room for a scone or two. It did seem as if it would please Mister Frodo if he ate something.

"I am guessing that you’ve been extremely busy and I am afraid that it is my fault that so much of your time has been taken," Frodo said.

"It hasn’t been no trouble," Sam said.

"All the same, I know that you have things to do," Frodo said. "I suppose that the Gaffer might be less than pleased with the fact that I’ve taken so much of your time."

The Gaffer had mentioned the fact that there were gardens to see to and that Sam would have to take time away from the favor that he was doing for Mister Frodo this very afternoon. "Well, Mister Frodo," Sam began. "I will be needin’ the afternoon off today. My Gaffer says that I need to get to a few of the garden jobs that we have a’fore things get ahead ‘o us too much. I plan to help Master Pippin until luncheon and then I’ll have to be away for the rest ‘o the day. I’ll be back in this evenin’ if you’d like me to do anything here around supper time, though."

"What I would like is for you to take this evening for yourself, Sam," Frodo said. "Spend some time with some of your friends or read a book or do something that you enjoy. I won’t need anything this evening."

Sam smiled. Only Mister Frodo would think to say that Sam ought to take time out and read a book. Most folks wouldn’t think that Sam ever read for pleasure but Mister Frodo knew better. Ever since Mister Bilbo had seen fit to teach him to read, Sam had enjoyed it. The Gaffer thought it was all right for practical purposes, but he didn’t understand how a hobbit could just sit down and enjoy reading for pleasure. Mister Frodo understood. "It might be nice to have an evening to myself," Sam said.

"Splendid," Frodo said taking a drink of his tea. "Then you do that. I’ll be wanting to speak to you tomorrow morning though after I’ve had a chance to speak with Mister Tunnely."

"Then you’re goin’ to see him today?" Sam asked.

"I am indeed," Frodo said removing a scone from the tray and putting a bit of jam on it.

Sam wanted to ask what Mister Frodo intended to say to Mister Tunnely but he knew that wasn’t any of his business. He suspected that he’d hear soon enough. Word of such things did seem to get around.

"I do appreciate all of the help that you’ve given Pippin," Frodo said. "The lad has been so excited about his project since you began helping him with it."

"Oh, I clean forgot about what I come to tell you," Sam said.

"What was that?" Frodo asked.

"Well, I don’t know if you know this or not, Mister Frodo. Master Pippin is sleepin’ in the barn," Sam said. "I seen him out there when I was comin’ over to get a few things ready for his lesson today."

"Pippin is sleeping in the barn?" Frodo frowned. "I saw him go to his room after he and I had finished his writing lesson last night. I wonder when he went out to the barn?"

"Well, he seems fine," Sam said not wanting to worry Mister Frodo any. "He has one ‘o them big quilts ‘o yours over him and he just looks as if he’s doin’ a bit ‘o campin’ out is all. I just thought you ought to know where he was in case he’d not told you."

"He didn’t tell me," Frodo said with a sigh. "Pippin is not exactly having one of his better visits this time. "I am not entirely sure that I did him a favor by having him come to Bag End this summer. I may have made things worse than they needed to be. He might have been better off staying at Whitwell and having his lessons there."

"I’m sure Master Pippin will be fine once all ‘o this business with the carpentry is over," Sam said. "I think he’s just a bit worried about his project and what Mister Tunnely’ll say. He might even be relieved once he finds out old Mister Tunnely has quit."

Frodo frowned. "Well, don’t say anything to Pippin about that just yet, Sam," Frodo said thoughtfully. "You and I will talk again about that subject in the morning."

"Yes, Mister Frodo," Sam said and he stood up from the table. "I best go out and wake Master Pippin so’s we can get started, since I’ll not have any time this afternoon to work with him."

"Good idea," Frodo agreed. "I’ll fix Pippin a quick breakfast. You can just send him here to eat and that will give you time to organize things for the day."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Master Pippin had been a bit sulky after his breakfast and Sam wondered what Mister Frodo might have said to the lad about sleepin’ in the barn without permission but he didn’t ask. The lad would talk about it if he was of a mind to. Master Pippin always spoke his mind. The lad was standing near the work table waiting for Sam to tell him what he ought to do next. Master Pippin had on the foot guards and the gloves. He was ready to begin. Sam walked over to the table and asked, "What do you know about measurin’ and sawin’?"

"I did lots of measuring when I was making my first wheelbarrow," Pippin said. He glanced over at the pile of wood that had been the first wheel barrow and frowned. "I don’t think I measured some of it as well as I measured other parts of it because somehow it didn’t seem to fit together like this wheelbarrow of Frodo’s." He looked at the wheelbarrow sitting beside of the worktable with admiration. "How long do you suppose it takes someone to get good enough to build one like that?"

"Well, I don’t know where Mister Frodo got that one," Sam said. "I suspect that he bought it from some hobbit who does that sort ‘o thing for a livin’. I guess it might take a while to get that good."

Pippin dug a toe into the dirt on the barn floor. "I don’t suppose mine will look anything like that."

"It won’t look like nothin’ a’tall unless we get to work on it," Sam said. "Now, I want you to measure the side ‘o Mister Frodo’s wheelbarrow with this measuring line. As we’ve got Mister Frodo’s wheelbarrow here, we’ll just use it for a pattern."

Pippin grinned and took the line from Sam. He knelt down next to Frodo’s wheelbarrow and began to try and measure the side of the wheelbarrow. Sam watched and he was instantly aware of why Master Pippin’s measurements had not been quite right before. "Master Pippin, you want to put the very end ‘o that line on the edge ‘o the board," Sam said.

Pippin looked up confused. "What do you mean?"

Sam bent down next to Pippin and took the younger hobbit’s hand and placed it on the edge of the wheelbarrow’s side. He put the very end of the measuring line in Pippin’s hand. "Line up the edge ‘o this with the edge ‘o the wheelbarrow’s side next to the top ‘o the board and then stretch it out to the other end of the board. You want to keep the line tight so’s it don’t bunch up," Sam instructed.

"Why do we want to measure at the top?" Pippin asked as he carefully pulled the line tight against the wood.

"Because that’s the longest part on this wheelbarrow. See how the front ‘o the board slants down and gets smaller at the bottom?" Sam asked.

"Oh, right," Pippin grinned. "I guess I have to measure my board to the biggest size and then saw off the bottom to make it smaller since you can’t saw something and make it bigger, can you?"

Sam puzzled on that for a minute and then managed to sort it out. "No, you can’t," he said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Now, remember, I do all of the talking this time, Meriadoc," Frodo said firmly. "You are allowed to come with me, but I will be doing the talking, understand?"

Merry sighed. "I understand, but I don’t like it."

"Well, if you don’t think that you will be able to abide by the rule on this then perhaps you had better wait for me outside," Frodo said. The two of them were standing in front of The Ivy Bush. Frodo knew that Mister Tunnely was having his second breakfast there because the Gaffer had said that Mister Tunnely always had second breakfast at The Ivy. Frodo planned to surprise Mister Tunnely. He didn’t want the old carpenter to have any warning about this conversation. He also didn’t want Merry making things worse.

"I can be quiet," Merry said quickly. "I just hope that you can be firm enough about it all."

Frodo frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, sometimes you are entirely too polite, Cousin," Merry said.

"When you are older you will realize that you can catch more flies with honey," Frodo said. "It is best to be polite in such matters if you expect to get anywhere. I don’t like what Mister Tunnely has done and I don’t think that he has dealt fairly with us, but if I walk into The Ivy Bush and begin to yell at him then I most certainly won’t get anywhere at all."

"Just don’t let him push us around," Merry warned. "You have to be stern too. Let him know who’s in charge."

"I am not in charge of Mister Tunnely, Merry," Frodo said. "I hired him to do a job on behalf of Pippin’s father but I am not in charge of him. He may chose to take the job or not as he sees fit. Now, he took the job and so I have a right to expect him to complete it but I am not in charge of him."

"When folks work for you, you are in charge," Merry said. "Doc says that if you let folks see that you aren’t keeping an eye on them, they’ll slack off. Folks will get away with what they can if you aren’t firm with them."

"You just let me handle this," Frodo said. "This is a bit more delicate than that."

Merry shrugged and followed Frodo into The Ivy Bush. He wished his father were here now. Doc would handle Mister Tunnely. He doubted that Frodo was up to the task. Frodo would be entirely too nice and Mister Tunnely would go right on talking unkindly about Pippin and would probably even manage to get more money to do the job of teaching Pippin carpentry. Merry wished that he’d have gone to see Tunnely himself instead of allowing Sam to talk him out of it.

Mister Tunnely was indeed having second breakfast. He was sitting at a table near the back of The Ivy with several full plates in front of him. He had his back to Frodo and Merry and so he didn’t notice them as they approached his table. That much was good, Merry thought. They’d at least surprise the old goat.

"Good morning, Tobias," Frodo said when they reached the table. "You are just the very hobbit that I wanted to see."

Mister Tunnely choked on a mouthful of potatoes and Merry tried not to smile. At least the old goat felt guilty enough that he wasn’t happy to see them. Maybe they would at least ruin Mister Tobias Tunnely’s second breakfast. That was something anyway.

"Frodo," Mister Tunnely said regaining some of his color and wiping his mouth off with a serviette. "What are you doing here at The Ivy this morning?"

Frodo pulled out a chair and smiled. "If you don’t mind, may we join you?" Frodo asked.

Mister Tunnely looked as if he minded very much but he smiled tightly and said, "Of course. Please sit down. Did you let Willow know that you’d be wanting breakfast?"

"Oh, we’ve eaten all ready," Frodo said pleasantly.

"Well, it wouldn’t hurt to eat again," Merry said looking at Mister Tunnely’s breakfast longingly. The Ivy put forth a very tasty breakfast.

Frodo tried not to show his annoyance. "Why don’t you go over and order something then, Merry. Mister Tunnely and I will be here talking."

Merry grinned in anticipation of a third breakfast and quickly went off to find Willow. Frodo thought that maybe this was best. He was doubtful that Merry would have been able to hold his tongue for this little meeting. He turned his attention to Mister Tunnely and said, "I heard a most unsettling rumor yesterday and so naturally, not being one to take much stock in rumors, I decided that I would simply ask you myself,"

Mister Tunnely sipped at his tea. His composure had returned and said, "Well, I am certainly glad that you did come directly to me, Frodo. How can I be of service?"

"Well, someone is spreading the rumor that you have decided to quit tutoring my cousin, Peregrin at carpentry," Frodo said.

At this point Merry appeared with a large cup of milk and a plate stacked high with toast. "She’s bringing the rest over when it’s ready," Merry said as Frodo eyed him. "This is just to start on."

"Wouldn’t you be more comfortable eating at another table?" Frodo asked.

"Oh, no, I’ll be fine here," Merry said taking a bite of his toast and then talking around it. "You and Mister Tunnely just go on with what you were talking about and I’ll just have my breakfast." He shot Mister tunnely a toast-filled smile and then returned his attention to his plate.

Frodo struggled to keep from losing his temper with Merry. He pasted his smile back on his face and looked at Mister Tunnely again. "The lad has quite an apatite," Mister Tunnely said approvingly.

"Yes," Frodo agreed and then he turned the conversation back to the matter at hand and away from Merry’s meal. "I did want to address the issue of that rumor with you, Tobias."

"Well, I’m afraid that isn’t a rumor at all," Mister Tunnely said.

"You don’t mean to say that you’re quitting do you?" Frodo asked trying to look surprised while Merry continued to stuff toast into himself.

"I am sure that you must realize the extent of my injuries at the hands of your cousin," Mister Tunnely said rubbing the top of his head. "You were there when it happened and so I know that you are aware of it."

"I do know that you took quite a blow to the head and I was very upset about that," Frodo said. "I did think that since it was a very unfortunate accident that you, having had experience with many a young hobbit learning carpentry, would understand that it was not intentional."

"Oh, I don’t think that the lad meant to injury me," Mister Tunnely chuckled as Willow sat down several plates in front of Merry and refilled Mister Tunnely’s tea cup. "No, the problem is hardly one of intent, Frodo. I simply can’t allow myself to be put into a situation as risky as that."

"I don’t believe that I am understanding what you mean," Frodo said even though he knew exactly what Mister Tunnely meant.

Merry forced himself to ignore the conversation and began to eat his eggs and bacon. If Frodo wanted to handle this then there wasn’t anything he could do about it.

"Why Frodo, surely you realize that your cousin shouldn’t be allowed to use tools after what happened to me," Mister Tunnely said and he rubbed the top of his head again. "That lad is too clumsy to be a carpenter. He could injure himself or anyone that he comes into contact with. His father must have known this."

Frodo frowned. "What do you mean that his father must have known it?"

Mister Tunnely chuckled as if he and Frodo were having a laugh together even though Frodo wasn’t smiling now, much less laughing. Mister Tunnely winked at Merry who had a mouth full of tomatoes and eggs. "Well Mister Paladin Took’s no fool," Mister Tunnely said. "He wasn’t about to risk his own health teaching the lad carpentry. He hired me to do the job. He must have known that the lad was dangerous."

Frodo’s hands fisted in his lap and his stiffened slightly but he maintained his control. "You are highly recommended as a carpentry tutor and so I am sure that Paladin’s reason for hiring you was simply because of your expertise and had little to do with anything else," Frodo said.

Frodo certainly was doing a splendid job of handling his emotions in all of this, Merry thought as he slathered a piece of toast with blackberry jam and continued to eat. It was easier to keep from saying anything if his mouth was full of food.

"Perhaps you’re right," Mister Tunnely said smiling. "I am known for my skills and maybe Mister Took was only seeking the best possible instruction for the lad, but even so, I simply cannot continue to take his money when I know already that the lad has no talent for carpentry. The child must be suited for something that requires less skill." He took a sip of his tea. "I’m sure that the Tooks will find something that the lad can do eventually but it is best that they be aware that it isn’t carpentry."

"Do you really think that one week’s worth of instruction is enough for you to decide that?" Frodo asked, his voice still remarkably level.

"Oh, yes," Mister Tunnely said. "Why I’ve never in all of my years as a skilled carpenter and tutor had a more inept and more hopeless student. That lad is dreadful." Mister Tunnely must have noticed the anger growing in Frodo’s eyes because he quickly continued. "Oh, the child can’t help it and so I don’t blame him. He is simply too awkward and careless to learn carpentry. He lacks coordination and he doesn’t concentrate well. Is he normal?"

Now it was Merry who was choking on his toast.

"I mean is he perhaps a bit slow?" Mister Tunnely asked in a lowered voice.

Frodo was suddenly on his feet and seemed to tower over the table in a way that Merry hadn’t realized was possible. Both of Frodo’s hands were flat on the table and he glared at Mister Tunnely, his usually bright blue eyes now cold with anger. "Are you suggesting that my cousin is less than intelligent, Mister Tunnely. Surely that isn’t what you meant to say," Frodo said in a tight voice.

"I know sometimes the family has a hard time admitting when one of their own turns out to be less than normal though it happens in the best of families and especially with the Tooks," Mister Tunnely said sitting back in his seat so that he was as far away from Frodo’s angry stare as possibly without getting up. Merry had stopped eating now and was watching Frodo.

"If my cousin were, as you say, less than normal, then I would be willing to admit it though I would still consider it the height of rudeness for anyone to bring the subject up," Frodo said. "However, for your information, Peregrin is extremely bright. He is a normal, intelligent young hobbit and if you have been unable to instruct him in the skill of carpentry then I would have to assume that the fault is yours and that you are not so talented a tutor as we were led to believe."

Merry’s mouth dropped open. He had completely forgotten his breakfast now. Frodo was angry.

"My skill as a tutor is not in question here,’ Mister Tunnely objected.

"It most certainly is," Frodo said a bit louder. "You claim to be able to teach young hobbits how to work as carpenters or at the very least to instruct them on the rudimentary skills that will allow them to make simple repairs to items on their farms and in their smials and yet after only one week’s worth of instruction you have quit a job that was offered to you in good faith. To me that speaks volumes about your so-called skill as a tutor!"

Merry watched as Mister Tunnely’s face began to turn a vivid red and a small vein began to throb in the old hobbit’s temple. Many of The Ivy’s patrons were now sitting and listening to the exchange going on between Frodo and Mister Tunnely. They could hardly help but hear it since Frodo was now practically yelling.

"You can ask anyone in Hobbiton!" Mister Tunnely shouted back and now he was standing also. "I am a well-respected tutor!"

"You are a fraud!" Frodo said. "You failed to teach my cousin anything at all while you were supposed to be instructing him. From what I gather, all you managed to do was insult him and to get yourself hit over the head with a hammer!"

"That child is a menace!" Mister Tunnely said.

"You are supposed to teach children how to use a hammer properly before you give them a hammer to use," Frodo said. "You didn’t do anything at all to teach Peregrin about carpentry. You took Paladin Took’s money and failed to hold up your end of the bargain!"

"I cannot teach that lad carpentry without risking my own life and I gave back that money," Mister Tunnely shouted.

Frodo laughed which made Merry and Mister Tunnely very uneasy because it was not a pleasant laugh. "You mean to say that you are afraid of one small seventeen-year-old hobbit?" Frodo laughed again. "You mean that you are incapable of doing your job because you are afraid of your student?"

Several patrons of The Ivy laughed at this. Frodo was certainly providing them with a fine show at second breakfast. "You are going to stand there and let everyone in this room know that you can’t control one student?"

"I can’t teach that lad carpentry!" Mister Tunnely shouted his face dangerously red now. "I doubt that there is anyone in this entire Shire who can and that is precisely why you are here now! You need me!"

"I don’t need you for anything," Frodo said in a voice that resembled a low growl. "In fact, I plan to let everyone that I have dealings with know exactly how worthless you are, Tobias. If anyone should ask me then I will be more than pleased to inform them of how you failed to do the job for which you were hired and how you failed to come to me and resign. I will let them know that I found out that you had quit from a third party because you were too cowardly to come to me and inform me on your own. I will tell anyone that asks that you have been caught telling shameless and hurtful lies about my cousin, for which, if you continue to do so, I shall see to it that you are run out of Hobbiton with nothing more than the clothing on your back!"

Mister Tunnely was staring at Frodo now. "I did not say anything that-"

"You had better stop right there, Tobias or I will be forced to send for a Shirriff," Frodo said and now Merry stood up. He moved over next to Frodo and glared at Mister Tunnely. "If I ever hear that you have said anything at all about Peregrin Took then I will indeed send for a Shirriff and have you brought up on charges. You will not be permitted to spread rumors about my family as long as I draw breath," Frodo said.

"You won’t be able to find anyone who will tutor that child," Mister Tunnely said backing up a step from his chair and nearly tripping over it. "There’s no one in all the Shire that can teach that child how to pick up a hammer much less build anything." He moved further away.

"That ain’t exactly so, Tobias," Hamfast Gamgee said from his seat near the front door of The Ivy. Frodo and Merry hadn’t seen him come in and they were both startled when he spoke. "My Sam’s havin’ quite a bit ‘o luck with the lad."

Mister Tunnely turned to look at Hamfast. "You mean to say that you are allowing your son to instruct that child in carpentry? You son is a gardener! What does he know about carpentry?"

Hamfast grinned. "He knows enough to know that you got to do more than talk about it to your student in order to teach him a thing or two. My Sam says that all you done was talk about how fine a carpenter you are to the lad and that you didn’t spend no effort showin’ him what was what."

"I’ll have you know that I did my best to teach the child what I know about carpentry!" Mister Tunnely said.

Hamfast shook his head. "Well, then I’ll wager that your best weren’t good enough

cause my Sam has been havin’ to teach that lad everything from the ground up if you take my meanin’."

"Gaffer, do you think that Sam would take on the job of teaching Pippin carpentry formally if I were to offer it to him?" Frodo asked and Mister Tunnely turned around and started at Frodo in shock.

"You can’t mean to let a-a-a-a gardener teach your cousin carpentry!" Mister Tunnely sputtered.

"I would have offered Sam the position to begin with if it had been entirely my choice," Frodo said calmly. "I just didn’t dare to hope that Sam would have the extra time for it. He’s very much in demand for his gardening skills and I know that Hamfast relies on him to be available for other jobs. Paladin and I talked it over and decided that Sam simply wouldn’t have the time to work Peregrin’s lessons in with everything else that he has to do and so we settled for you."

There was a collective snicker that filled the room now and the Gaffer leaned back in his chair and looked as if he were deep in thought. "Well, o’ course Sam is very busy this time ‘o year Mister Frodo but seein’ as it’s you and seein’ as how you been left in a lurch so to speak, Sam might be able to work somethin’ out. He is quite fond ‘o Master Peregrin and he told me that the lad was in need of proper teachin’ as he didn’t get it a’fore."

"I hadn’t wanted to impose on Sam but Peregrin has responded so well to Sam’s teaching in the short time that Sam has been working with him," Frodo said smiling at the Gaffer. "If you think that there is even the slightest chance that Sam would be able to tutor Peregrin then my worries are over."

Hamfast rose from his seat and started over to Frodo. "Why don’t we talk about this over some apple cobbler, Mister Frodo? I don’t speak for my Sam, but I can let you know what all he’d have to work around as I know about his other jobs."

"Splendid!" Frodo grinned.

Mister Tunnely stood there looking as if he’d been hit hard in the stomach. All of the bright red anger had drained out of his face now. He stared at Hamfast Gamgee and Frodo Baggins as the two sat down at the table.

"I’ll go let Willow know that we need cobbler, Gaffer," Merry said and he started across the room. As he passed Mister Tunnely and leaned over and whispered so that no one else could hear him. "If you say anything else to anyone about Pippin, I’ll find you and I’ll black both of your eyes. That’s how we do things in Buckland." He then smiled broadly and said in a normal tone of voice, "Looks like everyone got what they wanted, Mister Tunnely. We get Sam for Pippin’s tutor, Pippin learns carpentry from someone who knows what they’re doing, you get plenty of spare time to sit around here at The Ivy and Sam will get all the money that you would have made." Merry walked over to Willow and said, "We need three orders of apple cobbler and some milk please."

Mister Tunnely quickly left The Ivy with a very nervous look at Merry before doing so. Those Bucklanders were queer folk and that lad probably would do exactly what he said he would if that mad Baggins over there with the Gaffer didn’t beat him to it. Frodo was at least half a Brandybuck after all.