Part 13

The kitchen was dark save the of light from the dying fire in the hearth. Pippin shivered a bit though the room was not at all cold. It was summer and so even after the fire had died out for the night, it was still quite warm. Pippin stood in the doorway to the kitchen clutching the large quilt to his chest and listening. He was sure that Merry was in bed because he had passed Merry's room on his way here and had heard his older cousin snoring softly. Still, he felt it better to be safe than sorry after that conversation with Frodo during his writing lessons.  He frowned a bit as he remembered their talk.

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"What shall I write this evening?" Pippin asked. There was always the hope that Frodo would be unable to think of anything and that Pippin would be able to escape his hated lessons.

"Why don’t you write a nice long explanation as to why you are intent upon sleeping in my barn?" Frodo suggested, raising an eyebrow.

Pippin laughed nervously and said, "Really, what do I have to write?"

"I really would like for you to write out the reason or reasons why you are sleeping in the barn, Pippin," Frodo said. "Is there something wrong with your room?"

"No!" Pippin had nearly shouted. "No, it’s nice enough. Bigger than my room at home and I like it fine."

Frodo studied him intently. Pippin’s eyes were open too wide and he was playing with the quill in his hands, which fortunately, had not yet been dipped into the ink. Pippin was twirling it between his fingers as he talked.

"Pippin," Frodo sighed. "I won’t be offended if there is a problem with the room. In fact, I’d be pleased to know if anything is amiss. You and Merry are not the only company that I have, you know. I would hate to put someone in that room only to find that it was drafty or uncomfortable. If there is a problem, maybe I can fix it or at the very least, avoid putting guests in there."

"I’m sure that anyone else would love to sleep in there, Frodo," Pippin said quickly. "I love sleeping in there. It’s a very nice room with a very nice view of, well, not a view of anything really, because it doesn’t have a window but if you have the door open then there is a nice view of the hallway."

"Does it bother you that there isn’t a window?" Frodo asked when Pippin had stopped rattling on about the view.

"No, not at all," Pippin said. "I like dark rooms filled with dark furniture for sleeping in. My room has too much light in it at home and that other room that you usually put me in was just full of light!"

Frodo frowned. Pippin’s original room had not had a window in it either. "Pippin, be honest with me."

"I am being honest, Frodo," Pippin said as the spinning quill shot from his fingers and spun on the edge of the desk. Pippin reached over and grabbed it quickly so that it wouldn’t fall into the floor. "I like the room and it was ever so nice of you to move me into that one now that I’m older."

Frodo smiled gently. "Well, I did think that the room you were sleeping in might not work for you anymore. I seem to recall that you complained a bit last visit about sleeping in the little room off of Merry’s room. Something about not even having your own private entrance to the hall?"

"Well, this room has a view of the hall and a door of its own and everything," Pippin said. "What was that little room off of Merry’s room really supposed to be for? It wasn’t a nursery or anything was it?" Pippin looked embarrassed at the thought that he might have been sleeping in a nursery for all of those years.

Frodo smiled. "No, it wasn’t a nursery. It was a dressing room. Bilbo kept that room for guests that were planning on staying for a while. He said that the little room was perfect for keeping extra clothing or additional items that folks sometimes bring when they come to stay for a while," Frodo explained. "When Merry first began to come here, he was quite young and he always brought extra clothing and some of his favorite toys with him. That is why Bilbo began to put Merry in that room.  Merry used the little room like a play area."

"That seems reasonable," Pippin said grateful that he had been sleeping in a play room or a dressing room rather than some nursery. "So that’s why it’s Merry’s room then?"

"That’s why," Frodo said. "Then when you began to come to visit, you usually came with Merry and so it seemed a good idea to put you in the little room near Merry. Bilbo thought that you’d be more comfortable in there and I am afraid that I failed to realize, until this visit, that you’d out-grown the little room and would need a larger room to stay in. Something with a private entrance and room to move about in."

"The new room that you've put me in is a very nice room," Pippin said unconvincingly. 

"Then why are you sleeping in the barn?" Frodo asked.

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Pippin didn’t hear a sound anywhere within the smial. That was rather frightening to him as he stood there in the kitchen doorway listening. It might have been nice to hear a cricket or maybe the fire crackling, but there wasn’t a sound. He supposed that meant that Frodo was in bed too.

He thought again about his old room, the little room off of Merry’s room, and remembered how surprised he had been upon arriving at Bag End this summer for his visit with Frodo to find that the little room had undergone some changes.

He had never been allowed to stay for the entire summer before and he was feeling very grown-up because his parents were letting him do this. He had been excited and a bit nervous as well. The entire summer was a very long time to be away from home. He’d been clutching his pack to his chest and following Frodo into Merry’s room. He was thinking all the while that Frodo would then show him into the little room where he always stayed.

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Pippin stood in the little room and stared at the writing desk, bookshelves, and large, comfortable chair. Where was his bed? "Frodo, how am I supposed to sleep in here?" Pippin asked.

Frodo chuckled. "Well, you aren’t supposed to sleep in there."

"But you invited me!" Pippin objected. "You said that I could come and that I could spend the summer with you and Merry. You said-"

"Calm down, Pippin," Frodo said gently, hearing the rising panic in his younger cousin’s voice. "I didn’t say that you were no longer welcome. I said that you wouldn’t be sleeping in that room."

"You’ve put me in with Merry?" Pippin asked. "Because if you have, I’m too old for that."

"Of course you are," Frodo said. "I’ve not put you in with Merry."

Merry, who had been sitting his own things down and ignoring them both, spoke now, "Good, because his feet are entirely too cold and he squirms about too much."

"I do not," Pippin said indignantly.

"You do," Merry said.

"I’ve arranged a room across the hall for you this time," Frodo broke in with the hopes of avoiding an argument.

"You have?" Pippin asked with a last, rather longing look at what had been his little room.

"I have," Frodo said. "Come on and I’ll show you so that you can get settled in before supper. Sam is making beef stew for us and I wouldn’t want you to be late to the table. You know how quickly Merry can finish a bowl of Sam’s beef stew."

"Take your time, both of you," Merry said, grinning. "I don’t mind if you’re a bit late."

Frodo laughed and led Pippin out of the room and across the hall.

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Sighing deeply, Pippin began to tip-toe across the kitchen floor toward the back door.

"Going somewhere?"

Pippin jumped and then tripped over the end of the quilt which was trailing about his ankles and sat down hard on the floor. Frodo quickly lit the lantern on the table and came over to help Pippin up. "Are you all right?" Frodo asked extending his hand to his cousin. 

Pippin accepted Frodo's assistance.  He now stood clutching the blanket and trying to regain his composure. Frodo hadn’t meant to startle Pippin that way. Pippin looked so very young just now and so frightened that Frodo wished he’d left the lantern lit.  He wished that he had been a bit more direct about this situation. He had hoped to catch Pippin sneaking out to the barn but he certainly had not meant to terrify the lad.

Earlier in the evening, after Merry and Pippin had gone to bed, Frodo had decided to wait here in the kitchen to see if he could catch Pippin leaving the smial.  After talking to Pippin during the lad's writing lessons that evening, Frodo had become convinced that Pippin had been lying to him.  Pippin had attempted to lay blame on Merry for the fact that he was sleeping in the barn.

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"So you’re sleeping out in the barn to keep Merry from looking at your project?" Frodo asked skeptically.

Pippin nodded. "You know how sneaky he can be, Frodo and I don’t want him to see my whe-project until it’s finished."  Pippin looked a bit sheepish and said,  "Sam and I had a bit of trouble today and if Merry finds out about it, he'll be sure to tease me."

"What sort of trouble did you and Sam have?" Frodo asked.

Pippin blushed a bit and then suddenly grinned. "I have an idea!" he said brightly. "Instead of writing about sleeping in the barn, I can write about what happened today!" I’ll write about how Sam got his feet stuck to a board."

Frodo had known that Pippin was attempting to divert him from the issue at hand, however his curiosity about how Sam had got his feet stuck to a board had won out over his need to know why Pippin was sleeping in the barn. "That sounds interesting," Frodo said hoping that he didn't look too amused.

Pippin smiled. "It was my fault but Sam said it was only an accident and-"

"Write it," Frodo smiled putting a finger to Pippin's lips. "You need practice writing, you do not need practice talking, Peregrin."

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"You startled me," Pippin said accusingly. "I thought you were asleep."

"I thought that you were asleep also," Frodo said. "Would you like to tell me what you and your bedding are in the kitchen at this hour?" When Pippin didn’t answer Frodo continued. "I know that you aren’t going out to the barn because you and I have talked this over, remember?"

"I know, Frodo," Pippin said. "I just want to be ready to start on my wh- a, project when Sam gets ready and Sam gets up very early so it’s hard to be ready when he is unless you get a head start and sleeping in the barn helps."

"I know that Sam doesn’t expect you to sleep in the barn," Frodo said. "Don’t try to lay blame for this on Sam. You have been turning up in odd places in the morning since you arrived for your visit. I have found you asleep in the front parlor four times.  I have found you asleep in Bilbo's study.  I have found you asleep at the kitchen table. You are not sleeping in the barn, Peregrin Took. I hope I am making myself clear on this point."

Pippin nodded.

"Would you like to sleep in one of the other bedrooms tonight?" Frodo asked gently. "I can move you down the hall in the room across from mine."

"No, I don’t need to move," Pippin said. "I’ll go back to bed now." He left the kitchen with the quilt in his arms.

Frodo watched him go. Why wouldn’t Pippin simply explain what was troubling him? What was this about? He’d given the lad every chance to discuss this and had even offered to move him into another room. It couldn’t have anything to do with sleeping alone because Pippin was actually willing to sleep in the barn by himself rather than sleep in his room.

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When Sam entered the kitchen the next morning he found Master Pippin sitting at the table sound asleep with his head resting on his arms.  The young Took was fully dressed as if he were about to go out for the day or had just returned home.  If the lad had been a bit older, Sam might have thought that Master Pippin had come home from a night of drinking and passed out in the kitchen. Sam reached over and gently shook the lad awake. "Are you all right, Master Pippin?"

Pippin’s head popped up and he blurted out the first thing that he thought of. "I wasn’t in the barn."

"I just wanted to see that you was all right, Master Pippin," Sam said, surprised by the lad’s response. "You was sleeping at the table when I come in to start breakfast and I thought you might be feelin’ badly."

"Oh," Pippin said meekly, rubbing his eyes. "No, I’m fine. I just woke up early and so I thought I’d wait for you here and I guess I fell asleep."

"Well, you best go on back to bed for a while, Master Pippin," Sam said. "Them boards are still a might tacky and I don’t expect that we will be able to put them together until after lunch."  Sam glanced down at his own feet as he thought about exactly why the boards were still tacky and blushed slightly.  Pippin was too sleepy to notice.  "I’m goin’ on over and do some work for the Gaffer in Mistress Slope’s garden this mornin’. It’ll give them boards some more time to dry.  I just thought I'd come over and start breakfast for Mister Frodo before I set to my other jobs."

Pippin nodded. "I’ll just sit here and watch you fix breakfast, Sam." He yawned and put his head back down. "Maybe I can help you."

"I suspect that you ought to just rest while I fix things, Master Pippin," Sam said softly. The lad was already sound asleep again.

Sam had just turned to get the potatoes out of the bin when he heard footsteps. He turned and saw Mister Merry standing there and looking over at Pippin. Merry sighed and asked in a soft voice, "How long has he been sleeping there?"

"I don’t know," Sam answered, also keeping his voice low. "I just got here and I found him at the table like that. I woke him up, but he fell on back asleep. He said he was up to get an early start on his carpentry."

Merry shook his head. "Are you starting this early?"

"No," Sam said. "It’ll be after lunch today a’fore we get to it."

They both looked at Pippin. "I’ll get him," Merry said. "He walked over to Pippin and gently took him by the shoulders. "Come on Pip, let’s go on back to bed."

Pippin stirred a bit and yawned. He lifted his head and looked at Merry. "I’m helping Sam with breakfast."

"Sam can get breakfast on his own," Merry said, pulling Pippin to his feet. "I think you should lay down for a while longer. I’ll wake you for breakfast."

"I don’t want to go back to that bed, Merry," Pippin said grogily. "Can I just sit here?"

"Why don’t you come into my room and sleep for a while?" Merry asked as he steered Pippin around the table by the shoulders. "I’m not sleepy and so I won’t be using it. It’s probably still warm."

Sam noticed that Mister Merry was still in his nightshirt. The young Brandybuck didn't look like he'd intended to stay up for the day, but Sam didn’t mention this.

"Maybe just until breakfast if you really aren’t *yawn* sleeping in it," Pippin mumbled.

"I’m not," Merry said and he winked at Sam and propelled Pippin out of the kitchen. Ten minutes later, Merry had settled himself under a blanket on the parlor sofa and drifted back off to sleep.

About thirty minutes later, Frodo passed through the parlor on his way to the kitchen.  He stopped when he noticed someone sleeping on the sofa.  He was surprised to see that it was Merry rather than Pippin.  Frodo leaned over and tucked the blanket up around Merry's shoulders and sighed.  Now, it seemed that both of his younger cousins were sleeping in locations other than their beds!  Frodo inhaled deeply catching the aroma of bacon cooking and took comfort in the fact that someone, most likely Sam, was making breakfast.  Perhaps things would seem better after he'd filled up his corners.  With a last glance at Merry, Frodo made his way to the kitchen.  Maybe he'd tease Sam about the incident involving the shellac.  Frodo grinned.  Maybe that would make him feel less embarrassed about getting caught by Sam with a mouth full of grapes the other morning but  first, he would have some of that bacon.

TBC