Day Six: early evening to bedtime

The Thain’s contemplation of the plans on the wall and view out the window were interrupted by the sound of running feet in the corridor and a loud knock on the office door.

Pippin turned quickly toward the door and nearly shouted, “Enter!”

Ferdibrand and Everard rushed in out of breath.

“We found it!” Everard panted.

“The missing money; it was in the last tunnel we searched behind a fairly new-looking wall,” Ferdibrand elaborated.  “We pulled a board off to look behind it and there it all was just staring us in the face.”

As each search team now returned, Regi sent them all off to get their evening meal as he and the Thain prepared to retrieve the lost treasure.  Before they left the office, though; Pippin sent a message to Diamond to let her know that she no longer needed to question the maids and the that the lost items were found and he would explain everything to her later.

-----

Once they had the false wall removed and they could see how much was there, Pippin was faced with a new set of problems.  “Where are we going to put it till we can count it?” he asked.  “It’s too late today to sit and count each type and value of coin we have here.  Also how are we going to transport it to the treasury?”

“That is actually the easier part,” said Regi.  “We just get some flour sacks and a wheelbarrow and haul it that way.  We don’t have to be neat about it, just get it there tonight.  Tomorrow, if you want, I and a couple of the family lawyers can come down and count  and catalog it all and bring you the figures.”

“That should work, but you’ll have to do it in the afternoon.  We have the meeting with the sheep farmers tomorrow morning.  I can’t forget that dark cloud hanging over my head.”

-----

With the four of them, it didn’t take a horribly long time for them to gather everything together and bag it up.  They loaded it into a barrow and wheeled it to the treasure room.  This was one of the three room in the Great Smials that were kept locked when no one was in them.  The other two were the Thain’s office and the healers’ stillroom and herbal storage.  The stillroom had multiple keys so that each healer had one and the Thain’s office had two keys, one for the Thain and his assistant.  The treasury had just one key that the Thain kept.  He would only let the key go to someone else if they had business to conduct there.  Usually the Thain would be there whenever the treasure room was opened.

Pippin had grabbed the key from his desk before leaving his office and now used it to unlock the door.  They placed all the bags together in a near corner of the room, and once all were satisfied with their work, Pippin relocked the door.  Ferdi offered to take the barrow back while the others headed to dinner or to other evening activities.

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Pippin went to his quarters in the hope that Diamond hadn’t yet headed to supper.  He was relieved when he opened the door to find her there.

“Did you want to go to the dining room for supper?” he asked.

“Yes,” she answered, “but we have a few minutes before we have to be there and I think we need to have a small discussion.  Would you like to give me a clearer picture of just what is going on?  You upset your mother pretty badly, you know”

“I was afraid of that,” he admitted.  “Di, there’s no delicate was to say this; my father was losing his mind I think.  I think I saw the signs but just didn’t want to believe it.  I’d seen another leader fall apart before my eyes and when I saw it in Da, I just tried so hard to deny it that I closed my eyes to it.  He was becoming more and more obsessive and he was starting to horde things and there were other things too.

“Anyway, Da had hidden a rather large sum of money and we had to find it.  Without it, I wouldn’t have the leverage I need to get us the best deals we can craft on the new contracts we are going to have to draft.  That’s the other thing: all of our purchasing contracts have lapsed and he never renegotiated them.  He had hoped to make the Tooklands self-sufficient but there’s no way that is possible, nor should it be.  We need the Shire as much as the Shire needs us.”

Diamond put her arms around her husband’s neck and, going up onto tiptoe, gave him a soft kiss.  “I can’t make it all better but know that, no matter what, I love you.”

Pippin smiled at her.  “That means the world to me.”

Offering her his arm, he escorted his wife to the great dining room for the evening meal.

-----

When they reached the dining room, Pippin and Diamond joined their son and the child’s grandmother at the head table.  Eglantine gave her son an intense look but said nothing.  Pippin didn’t do much talking to anyone during the meal.  He had not eaten much at all that day because of everything that had happened and was determined to make up for it now.

As the meal was ending, Pippin asked Diamond to collect Faramir and take him home.  Pippin wanted to have a quiet talk with his mum.

-----

Eglantine allowed Pippin to walk her to her suite.  Once there, she invited him in and offered him a seat.

“Would you like some tea?” she asked.  “I would offer you something a little stronger but I don’t have anything on hand at the moment.”

“Actually,” Pippin answered her, “a cup of something soothing like chamomile would be wonderful.”

By the time she returned with the tea pot and cups along with a few dainties on a tray, he had managed to relax into the overstuffed chair by the hearth a little bit.

“Now, what did you want to talk about?” she asked as she handed him his tea.

“Mum, I’m really sorry about what happened today.  I needed to know what Da might have done with the money and I didn’t think about how the questions I was asking might hurt you.  You loved him and what I said could be hurtful to his memory.  Will you accept my apology?”

She set her cup and saucer on the table and looked hard at her son.  “I didn’t appreciate your talking ill against you father in front of so many people.  That was not good form.  I do know that you had to figure out what was going on and what he had done but I felt that was a much too public airing.  Be that as it may:  I understand your father had his warts and you’re having to clean up some big messes he left.  I accept your apology and ask that you simply think before you speak.”

“That’s still one of my weakest areas,” said Pippin, “but I’ll keep working on it.”

“That’s all I can ask.”

“Not to change the subject, well, actually to change the subject, can I ask you for some advice on a personal front?”

His mother smiled a little smile and nodded.

“I’m trying to give Diamond a surprise on Highday.  I’ve asked Pim to watch Faramir so that we won’t be disturbed.  I need to find several of Di’s favorite flowers and I want to find some of the wine she likes as well as having some of her favorite dainties made up.  I need to find plenty of candles and a few other personal items.”

“What do need from me?” she asked.

“Can I just ask the cook to fix the nibbles I want?  I’m not used to how that works.  Diamond always handles that.  The same for the wine, if we have what she likes here.”

“Yes, you can just make a list of what you want and when you want it and give it to the head cook.  You can check with her about the wine too.  If we don’t have it, she can tell you where you can get it.”

“The other thing I need is for you to keep her busy tomorrow afternoon while I’m getting everything together.  Also, if you can, can you keep her distracted until I come to get her on Highday.  Nothing stressful because I want her relaxed and happy when we get together.”

Eglantine had a knowing look on her face.  “I’ll think of something,” she said.  

“Good,” he said.  “I hope this goes well and she likes it.  I want to reassure her that she is the most important thing in my life.”

“She knows but she’ll appreciate the reminder.”

After that, he finished his tea quickly and gave his mum a kiss.  “I need to get back.  I should spend a moment with my son at least and I have a meeting that I’m not looking forward to tomorrow.”

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When Pippin got to his quarters he was greeted by Diamond with a sleepy Faramir in her arms.  “He wants a story from his da,” she said.

Pippin took the lad and carried him to bed.  About 20 minutes later, he came out and found Diamond readying things for bed.

“Shall we make it an early evening?” he asked.

“I don’t know about you, but I definitely feel like I could use a good night’s sleep.  And no, no extra activities tonight either.  Give me a day or so and I’ll be as interested as you are.”

Pippin held up his hands in negation.  “I hadn’t even planned to ask tonight.  I’m distracted and I don’t think you’d enjoy being with me that way when I’m feeling like this.”

They both looked at each other and gave a little laugh.  He reached for her hand and she let him lead her to the bedroom.

Soon the suite was quiet and all was at peace.