XIII.  Cue:  Superstition and fear

What He Cannot Say

            “Frodo, why did you not tell Merry and Pippin you were sailing?”

            “It was tearing me apart, Gandalf.”

            “And you did not tell Sam, either?”

            “He realized it, there at the last.”

            “And you told none of them goodbye?”

            After a silence:  “I couldn’t say that.  I--I’ve not said it since....”

            “Since when?”

            “Since my parents died.  I said it to them, and then they never came home again.”

            “And why did you not say it to Sam, Merry, or Pippin?”

            “I was afraid--terrified....”

            “Of what?”

            “That if I said it--I’d never--never see them again.  Ever.”