Part 16

"This letter is from Paladin and he is in complete agreement with my decision to hire Sam," Frodo smiled looking over the top of the letter at Merry who was less than attentive. They were seated at the kitchen table and Frodo had been opening his mail. Frodo frowned. "Did you get any sleep last night, Merry?"

"What?" Merry asked jerking awake and nearly putting an elbow into his plate.

"Honestly, this is getting quit ridiculous," Frodo sighed. "First Pippin and now you too?"

"I keep having this dream," Merry said. He looked at Frodo and yawned. "It’s not really a nightmare, but it’s disturbing all the same." He yawned again. "Who’s the letter from?"

Sighing, Frodo put the letter aside. "Never mind the letter now. Tell me about the dream."

"There isn’t much to tell, really," Merry said. "I just keep thinking that Pippin is in the room talking to me."

"About what?" Frodo asked curious.

"Well, nothing really," Merry said rubbing at his eyes. "He just keeps asking me if I’m awake. It’s very odd. He asks me if I’m awake and when I sit up he isn’t there." Merry yawned again. "What do you suppose it means?"

"I suspect that it means that you are worried about Pippin," Frodo said gently."I don’t believe that dreams always have to mean something, but it sounds to me as if you are letting your worry over Pippin’s sleeping problems follow you into your sleep. It sounds as if you are going to bed at night thinking about Pippin."

"He’s little in the dream," Merry volunteered. "What do you suppose that means?"

"Little?"Frodo asked. He wasn’t sure if Merry meant that Pippin was younger than he is now or if Merry might be dreaming about a very small Pippin.

"Like maybe about six or eight years old," Merry said. "His voice is too high for now and he sounds as if he’s afraid. It’s the way he used to sound when he’d slip into bed with me because he didn’t want to sleep alone." Merry moved his plate out of the way and lay his head on the table. "Just ignore me and go on about your morning. I’ll just lay here and be exhausted. You were probably right the first time. Dreams don’t always have to mean something."

"Why don’t you go in your room and be exhausted," Frodo sighed. "I’ll wash up in here and I’ll wake you for elevenses."

Merry got to his feet to leave the kitchen. "Maybe I will sleep for a few hours. I don’t seem to have the dream when I nap. It only happens at night." Merry left the room looking as if he might go to sleep on his feet.

Frodo sighed and ran a hand through his dark curls. "Peregrin Took, you have got to explain this night time worry of yours to us before we all go around the bend," he said to himself.

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

It was just before supper time when Pippin raced into the smial breathless and grinning from ear to ear. "Frodo! Merry, come see!" he panted his eyes shining and his face slightly pink from running all the way from the barn.

"Come see what?" Frodo asked.

"It’s finished! I finished it! My project is finished! Come see!" He charged over and took hold of Merry’s arm and pulled. "Come on, Merry!"

"I’m coming," Merry laughed as Pippin pulled him to his feet and began to tow him toward the door.

Smiling, Frodo followed the two of them as Pippin dragged Merry toward the barn chattering all the way. "I didn’t think I’d ever be able to finish it even with Sam, but I did and now it’s finished. It’s not like the first one at all. This one looks like what it is instead of looking like something else and all of the wheels roll!"

When they got to the barn door, Merry stopped and pointed to the sign which was still in place just where Pippin had put it. "Come on, Merry!" Pippin insisted still pulling on his older cousin’s arm.

"Are you sure?" Merry teased refusing to be moved any further.

"Merry!" Pippin shouted looking indignant and excited all at once. "Come on! The sign was just until it was finished and it’s finished now. Come on, Merry!"

Frodo laughed. "In you go, Meriadoc. It’s about time we had a look at this project," Frodo said giving Merry a slight shove.

Merry allowed Pippin to pull him the rest of the way into the barn. Once inside, they saw Sam standing by something draped with an old pony blanket. "Isn’t this what happened the last time?" Merry asked looking at the blanket and raising an eyebrow.

Pippin glared at him and quickly went over to where Sam was standing. "This is it," Pippin said and before Merry or Frodo could say anything, Pippin pulled the blanket aside and then stepped back.

Frodo and Merry moved over toward the now-revealed wheelbarrow as Sam stepped out of the way to allow Pippin’s older cousins a closer look. Pippin stood behind the wheelbarrow bouncing nervously on the balls of his feet and chewing on his lower lip.

Frodo ran a hand over the smooth surface of the wheelbarrow while Merry leaned over and studied the three wheels, grinning proudly. Sam schooled his own face to appear neutral. The truth of it was, he was almost as anxious to hear their reactions as Master Pippin was. After all, this was his first tutoring job.

"You built this?" Merry asked, straightening up and looking at Pippin.

"Sam showed me how," Pippin said in a nervous whisper.

"You done it all, Master Pippin," Sam reminded him. "I showed you how, but you done the work yourself."

Frodo lifted the handles on the wheelbarrow and rolled it forward on its front wheel a few feet. He then sat it down and let it roll on all three wheels. He was a bit puzzled by the design change and wondered how that had come about. "The extra wheels," Frodo said but before he could finish the question, Pippin came over and crouched next to the wheelbarrow.

"They’re in case you over-load it," Pippin said losing the nervous tremor in his voice and becoming bolder. "I do that all the time with ours at home. With the extra wheels, you can move stuff even if you can’t lift it. If you can lift it, then you can use it like any other wheelbarrow." Pippin reached down and pulled a small metal bar into place on one of the back wheels. "They lock so they won’t let it roll down hill while you’re unloading it. I think it makes it more practical."

"Pippin?" Merry said still studying the wheelbarrow.

Pippin stood up and looked across the wheelbarrow at his older cousin while Frodo continued to lock and unlock the wheels. "Yes, Merry?" he said in an anxious voice.

"This is the most amazing wheelbarrow that I have ever seen!" Merry pronounced. "It’s brilliant!"

Sam watched as Pippin’s face lit up brighter than one of old Gandalf’s fireworks. Well, nearly that bright anyway. Sam’s own face was splitting into a grin also.

"You like it?" Pippin asked. "You think it’s well-built and everything?"

"It’s wonderful, Pip," Merry grinned.

"You’ve done a great job on this, Pippin," Frodo said. "The extra wheels are a splendid idea."

Pippin could hardly contain himself as he basked in the glow of his older cousins’ praise. He had puffed out his thin chest and was positively alight with pleasure and pride. Suddenly, he looked over at Sam. Before Sam knew what was coming, Pippin lunged over and wrapped his arms around the startled gardener and hugged him. "It was Sam," Pippin said. "He let me try the extra wheels. He didn’t think it was a silly idea at all and he agreed to it right off. He showed me how to measure the boards and shellac it and make the wheels and everything!" Pippin stepped back from Sam, took hold of his hand and dragged him over to the wheelbarrow. "The first one was dreadful, wasn’t it, Sam? The wheels were all wrong and you could see through the bottom of it to the ground and the handles didn’t match up, did they Sam?"

"Well, you done the best you could without any proper lessons, Master Pippin," Sam said embarrassed to find himself the center of attention. Both Merry and Frodo were grinning at him now.

"Sam didn’t do any of it for me," Pippin said. "He made me do it. He even made me take the old one apart myself. He wouldn’t let me have any of it easy but he showed me how to do it and he didn’t even yell at me when I almost hit him with the hammer." Pippin smiled at Sam proudly. "I missed him on account of he’s much faster at ducking than Mister Tunnely was."

Merry and Frodo laughed at this and Sam smiled shyly. "I guess I am faster than Mister Tunnely," Sam said.

"And smarter too!" Pippin said. "And Sam is the best carpentry tutor in the whole Shire!"

Frodo watched in amusement as Sam turned a shade redder than he’d been before.

"And you are now officially the finest wheelbarrow-builder in all of the Shire, Pip," Merry said.

"You certainly are," Frodo agreed.

Pippin turned to Sam and asked, "Did I pass or do I have more lessons?"

"You passed," Sam said still looking embarrassed by all of the attention. "But if Mister Frodo or your father want you do have a few more lessons then you can always build something else."

"Can I?" Pippin asked excitedly. "Frodo, do you suppose I could build something else?"

"If Sam has time for a few more lessons, then it is fine with me if you build something else," Frodo said.

"Do you, Sam?" Pippin asked. "Because now that I can use a hammer properly, it might be good to practice." He looked hopeful.

"I think that I can get the Gaffer to let me give you a few more lessons," Sam said, pleased to know that he wasn’t going to be losing his only student just yet.

"Do you think I can build something else, Merry?" Pippin asked. "I mean do you think I’ll be good enough?"

"Pippin," Merry said also looking quite proud. "I believe that you can build anything that you want to build. In fact, I might just have to get you to show me exactly how you built such fine-looking wheels."

Pippin lunged at Merry now and hugged him tightly while Frodo and Sam smiled.

"Let’s all go to the Green Dragon for supper in honor of this unveiling of the finest wheelbarrow in the Shire," Frodo suggested. "I will personally see to it that everyone present has more food than they can possibly eat."

"I realize that you are very wealthy, Cousin," Merry said, his arms around Pippin holding the younger lad in place which was becoming very difficult. "But are you sure you can afford to feed us to our satisfaction?"

"Have you ever gone hungry while visiting me?" Frodo asked trying to look scandalized.

"Not yet," Merry admitted.

"Then let’s go before they run out of the good things," Pippin said.

Frodo laughed.

"Race you, Merry!" Pippin yelled and slid out of his older cousin’s grasp and ran.

"That’s cheating!" Merry yelled running after him.

"Come on, Sam," Frodo said. "You and I will walk."

"Oh, you go on, Mister Frodo," Sam said holding back "This here celebration ought to be for Master Pippin’s family. You and Mister Merry ought to celebrate with him."

"We wouldn’t be having this celebration if it weren’t for Master Pippin’s fine carpentry tutor," Frodo said reaching over and taking Sam by the arm. "Pippin will be disappointed if you don’t join us and so will I."

"Well, I don’t want to stick myself in where it’s not my place," Sam said still a bit reluctant.

"Samwise Gamgee, if I want to treat you to supper at the Green Dragon for a job well done, then I think it is your responsibility to allow me to do so," Frodo said pretending to be stern.

Sam grinned. "Might supper include an ale or two?"

"It most certainly will," Frodo said, putting an arm around Sam as they walked out of the barn. "Thank you, Sam. I haven’t seen Pippin that happy all summer long."

"He worked hard," Sam said.

"So did you," Frodo said. "Now, we better catch up to those two cousins of mine before they order more food than even a Baggins can afford."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Pippin was excited by the entire set of circumstances. At seventeen he had only been in The Green Dragon on a couple of occasions and those had been early in the afternoon. This was supper time and the place was starting to fill up with the regular nightly visitors. A good number of them knew Frodo and some of them knew Merry but it was Sam who seemed to be getting the most greetings. The older hobbits introduced Pippin to anyone that came by their table which increased Pippin’s enjoyment. Pippin was very social and so he was quick to acknowledge greetings. Frodo had ordered a round of ale for himself, Sam and Merry when they were seated. Pippin had frowned only slightly when he realized that he would not be getting any ale. His good humor did not wane for more than a second though, and he eagerly took the cold mug of ginger ale from their serving lass with a polite ‘thank you.’

Frodo then proceeded to allow Pippin to order the evening meal for everyone. Merry’s eyes widened in surprise and Sam looked a bit worried but Frodo only smiled as Pippin stood and began to tell the serving lass what he wanted. "We’ll have a big plate of cheese and crackers and some of those slices of cold ham to start off, if you please," Pippin said.

In a very low whisper, Merry said to Frodo, "I thought we’d be eating cake all evening."

Pippin continued, "Then roasted potatoes, mushrooms, the cooked carrots, beef stew, bread, cooked apples, and do you have any roasted chicken?" He looked hopeful.

The lass smiled. "We do, sir," she said and Pippin grinned even wider at being called sir in front of his older cousins.

"Then we’ll be wanting that and some peas too if you please," Pippin said.

Sam looked over at Mister Frodo to see if his master might be getting nervous about the size of the order but Mister Frodo was just smiling and sipping his ale.

"I’ll bring the cheese, crackers and ham slices right away," the lass said. "And if you think of anything else you can let me know when I return. I can always add it on."

Pippin was very pleased with this. "Thank you," he said and as she walked away to get their order he turned to the others and said in a low voice, "Are all of the lasses who work here as nice as that one?"

"They are," Frodo said.

"Think you ordered enough food, Pip?" Merry asked taking a sip of his own ale.

"Well, she did say if I thought of anything else that she would add it on," Pippin said taking a large gulp of his ginger ale. "I think she likes me."

"You Tooks," Merry sighed. "You think all of the lasses like you."

"Only because we Tooks are quite popular," Pippin grinned.

"And apparently quite hungry," Frodo said.

"It wasn’t too much was it?" Pippin asked.

"Not for a celebration dinner," Frodo said.

"Oh, and speaking of celebrations, I nearly forgot," Merry said and the other three looked at him as he stood up and gave a loud whistle through his front teeth. Everyone in The Dragon turned to look at him. He cleared his throat and said, "May I have your attention, please?" Everyone continued to looked at him. "I would like to make a toast," Merry declared raising his mug of ale to murmurs of approval from the crowd. Hobbits enjoyed good toasts for several reasons. One, it was an excellent reason to drink and two it usually meant that a celebration was in progress and Hobbits love celebrations. Merry reached over and pulled Pippin to his feet beside of him, cleared his throat again and said, "A toast, to my cousin, Peregrin Took who has just built the finest wheelbarrow that this Shire has ever seen!"

Pippin blushed slightly and everyone stood and drank as if Pippin had just been elected Mayor or something of that sort. There was a round of applause and everyone sat down just as the serving lass brought over the tray of cheeses and ham that Pippin had ordered. She smiled at him and said, "Congratulations on your wheelbarrow. I’ll have the cook to send out extra mushrooms with your meal."

"Thank you," Pippin said and as she walked off he looked over at Merry and gave a gloating smile.

Merry laughed and they all began to tuck into the food which didn’t stop coming for some time afterward. Several folks stopped by near the end of the celebration feast and congratulated Pippin on his wheelbarrow and some asked questions about it which pleased Pippin no end. He spent quite a bit of time explaining about the two extra wheels and praising Sam’s ability as a tutor. Sam spent most of the meal blushing. One of the Proudfoot family asked Sam if he planned to become a full-time tutor.

"Oh, no, sir," Sam said with a modest smile. "I like gardenin’ too much to do that. I just took on the job o’ teachin' Master Pippin because he is such a fine student."

Pippin nearly choked on the mouthful of peas that he was enjoying. Mister Proudfoot grinned at Pippin and patted him on the shoulder. "I look forward to seein’ this wheelbarrow at the fair, lad."

As Mister Proudfoot walked off Merry said, "How much money do you suppose you’ll get for it, Pip?"

Pippin swallowed his mouthful of peas and said, "I’m not selling it."

"You aren’t?" Frodo asked. He wasn’t entirely surprised. He had suspected that Pippin would want to keep the three-wheeled wheelbarrow, especialy after all that he’d been through to build it.

"It’s already got an owner," Pippin smiled. "I’m planning to make a present of it."

"Who’s the lucky hobbit?" Merry asked.

"That is a surprise," Pippin said and shoveled in another mouthful of peas.

"You and your surprises," Merry said. "It seems you’ve kept one secret or another all summer long."

Pippin just smiled at him. Frodo wondered who Pippin might be giving the wheelbarrow to but a glance at Sam revealed that the young gardener didn’t have the answer to that either. At least this secret was a pleasant one.

When they left The Green Dragon sometime later they were all completely full and Frodo’s money bag was considerably lighter. Pippin was still bouncing about as if he were on a wild pony. He chattered all the way back to Bag End and the smile that had been so often absent from his face this summer never wavered.

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

Tobias Tunnely squinted at Mister Proudfoot. He wasn’t sure if he’d heard correctly.  He'd only had one ale this evening and had not been in The Ivy Bush long when Mister Proudfoot had sat down at his table to join him for a round or two. "The Took lad is doing what?" he asked.

"He’s entering his wheelbarrow in the fair," Mister Proudfoot said. "The lad was in The Green Dragon celebrating it with his cousins and Hamfast Gamgee’s son. "Seems they were all right pleased about it. That young Merry Brandybuck even offered up a toast."

Tobias paled slightly at the mention of Merry Brandybuck. That lad was trouble walking if ever he’d seen it. He frowned at Mister Proudfoot and said, "You mean to tell me that Peregrin Took has an entry for the fair?"

"Not just an entry, but the finest wheelbarrow in the Shire according to all accounts," Mister Proudfoot said.

"Who’s seen it?" Tobias asked warily.

"I hear tell several have seen it and that it’s a beauty," Mister Burrows, the town baker said as he joined them. "Word over to the Dragon is that It’s the biggest wheelbarrow anyone’s ever seen."

"How big?" Tobias frowned becoming more distressed with each bit of news. One of his students always won the first prize ribbon at the fair. In fact for the last three years in a row, his students had taken not only first place but second, third and fourth. Lots of lads and even a few lasses were taught carpentry at home by well-meaning friends and relations but only a scant few had managed to win so much as an honorable mention. It was always Tobias Tunnely’s students that took the awards. He tried not to think about the year that Bilbo Baggins had entered a beautiful wooden hope chest that Sam Gamgee had built in the competition. That had been a very dark year indeed for Tobias Tunnely.

"Don’t rightly know for sure, but I hear tell that you could put old Duff Hillstead’s oldest daughter in it and it wouldn’t tip over," Mister Burrows said.

This caused many a raised eyebrow because everyone knew that old Duff Hillstead’s oldest lass was, as the saying went, filled-out more then her share and more than someone else’s.

"It can’t be that big," Tobias said nervously.

"Might be a bit larger than that," Ned Greenholm said. "I hear you could put a couple of baby pigs under her arms and it still wouldn’t tip none."

"Probably ain’t a word ‘o truth to it no how," Mister Proudfoot laughed. "You know how folks talk."

"Still, I’ve watched that young Took lad work with tools and I find it hard to believe that he was able to make any sort of a wheelbarrow," Tobias said keeping his voice low. He certainly couldn’t let word of his comment get back to that Brandybuck lad.

"Oh, well, Frodo Baggins hired a tutor for the lad," Mister Burrows said. He frowned at Tobias and continued. "I hear that he managed to hire Sam Gamgee for the job."

"Now that’s a feat indeed if you ask me," Ned Greenholm said. "Why I hear that the Gamgee lad is goin’ into the carpentry business. Frodo was lucky to get him a’fore he got all booked up with jobs."

Tobias went a bit paler. His mind raced. Was it actually possible that Sam Gamgee was going to become a carpenter? Had any of this been due to his own rather unfortunate remarks about the Took lad? "Booked up? Is it official then?"

"Well, he tied to deny it earlier this evening when I spoke to him over to the Dragon," Mister Proudfoot said knowingly. "But I suspect that was on account of Frodo bein’ there and all. I think ole Sam didn’t want his employer knowin’ that he was going to be settin’ up shop and leavin’."

"But Sam Gamgee isn’t trained in carpentry!" Tobias objected a bit too loudly and everyone in the Ivy turned to look at him. He tried again not to think about Sam's hope chest. "Why he didn’t have any formal lessons. I know for a fact that his father and his older brother taught him. He didn’t have a proper tutor. How can he set up his own business? Why that would be like someone without any training startin’ a bakery or a black smith’s shop or something of that nature!"

"Settle down, Tobias," Mister Burrows chuckled. "There’s plenty of work about the Shire for more than one carpenter."

"I think Tobias is right to worry," said Ned. "Why once the Took lad wins the fair there won’t be no stoppin’ Samwise. He’s a real go-getter that lad is. Why I hear tell he was tendin’ gardens when he weren’t no more than six or so."

"Then you been hearing things that aren’t true," snorted Mister Proudfoot. "Sam was at least twelve a’fore he was workin’ a garden on his own."

"Only twelve?" Tobias murmured worriedly. "But surely he can’t mean to do this. What about his gardening job? Hamfast Gamgee is getting on and I suspect that he’s counting on Sam to step in and take over before too long. In fact, Hamfast has cut his own jobs back considerably over the last couple of years."

"Maybe Sam don’t want to follow in his father’s foot-steps," Ned reasoned as he downed his ale. "Some don’t you know. My own lad flat out refused to be a pig farmer like me, you know. He said he couldn’t stand the animals and he wasn’t spendin’ his life raisin’ ‘em."

Mister Proudfoot laughed. "Did he ever decide what he could stand to do or is he still livin’ out at your smial with his feet under your table?"

Ned scowled. "He’s just havin’ a hard time makin’ up his mind about things is all. I don’t want him rushin’ off to do somethin’ that he ain’t fond of."

"Like earnin’ a livin’ for himself now that he's forty?" Mister Proudfoot asked smirking.

Ned frowned. "We wasn’t talkin’ ‘bout my lad. We was talkin’ bout Hamfast Gamgee’s lad."

Before this could go any further another of the Proudfoot family walked over and grinned, "I hear tell you got competition this year for the fair, Tobias. Word’s out that Paladin Took’s lad has built a wheelbarrow with an extra handle on it that makes it easier to push when it’s full. The thing’s supposed to have an uncommon haulin’ room and some sort of a cover to keep the rain off of whatever you're haulin' in it.  Supposed to be uncommonly good for haulin' firewood."

TBC

G.W. 10/22/2005