Chapter 7. Poorly 

(About five years later; Faramir is now ten years old.)

‘Well then,’ the Thain said to the hobbits who had gathered in his study at his summons, and stopped as if he could not find the words he wanted. 

Not so long ago, rogue Men had threatened grievous harm to young Faramir in their determination to obtain a ransom in gold from the Thain and the treasure-hoard of the Tooks, once lost under Ferumbras (or his mother Lalia), but then found again under Pippin. In the end, theirs had been the loss. They’d lost their gamble, and they’d forfeited their lives into the bargain. Following that, the fever that had swept through the hobbits of the Muster like a scythe after the lad’s safe return had merely been like bitter icing slathered over a rancid cake.

Ferdi looked around the room, taking the measure of the hobbits waiting to hear what the Thain might have to say. Reginard had been called away hours ago on some errand. Pippin was still showing the strain of recent events, though Diamond was a force to be reckoned with in her efforts to make sure the hobbit rested and ate well. Ferdi thought he rather resembled their cousin Frodo when that hobbit had returned from the Outlands, somehow both greater and yet, oddly, at the same time diminished. On further thought, Pippin was about the age now that Frodo had been then, making the remarkable resemblance between the two cousins even more striking.

Ferdi himself, still recovering from his near-fatal encounter with the ruffians who’d stolen the son of the Thain, felt a bit shaky, though he did his best to conceal it. Tolly looked like a hobbit released from the Lockholes, the result of his long bout with the recent fever, worse than the one that had overshadowed young Faramir’s fifth birthday some years earlier. Hilly’s appearance was only a little better. 

Truth be told, all four of the hobbits in the Thain’s study were looking somewhat more than poorly this day, in Ferdi’s estimation. Or would it be somewhat less than poorly? A piece of whimsy worthy of the Thain himself. Ferdi dismissed the thought and tried to fix his attention on Pippin.

‘I –‘ Pippin said, and fell uncharacteristically silent again.

‘Yes, cousin?’ Hilly said in his most helpful tone, putting the conversation on a personal level rather than an official one. Time would tell if it were the right move, but then, Hilly seemed to have a sure sense of just how far he could push his childhood friendship with the Thain.

‘Farry turned ten on his last birthday,’ Pippin said at last, and his listeners exchanged glances. So this was about the young son of the Thain. ‘I – Ferdi took me to task, last month, of how shockingly I have neglected my little son these past few years, such that he even took it upon himself to run away to Gondor, poor lad, where he “might not be a bother” to his parents.’ He swallowed hard. ‘That I was overwhelmed with the responsibilities of being Thain is a poor excuse at best.’

His three listeners stiffened at this opening, for the circumstances of Farry’s running away had blackened Ferdi’s and Tolly’s reputations; because they had tried to cover up the lad’s disappearance while searching for him, the Thain had accused them of child-stealing. Even though they were exonerated in the end by the testimony of young Faramir himself, the Talk of the Tooks was not in their favour. And then, of course, real child-stealers had crept into the Shire...

Ferdi wrenched his attention back to the Thain, who was sounding rather diffident at the moment, less sure of himself than usual. ‘I know it is traditional for young Tooks to take up the bow when they reach the age of ten,’ Pippin was saying.

Things were becoming clearer. Pippin was addressing, as it was, the three hobbits who’d been responsible for Farry’s shooting lessons when the son of the Thain had been a mere faunt.

‘After the fever,’ Ferdi began cautiously, but Pippin cut him off with an impatient wave.

‘Yes, yes, I know, after that fever, he was too poorly to take up the lessons again...’

‘And when he did take up the bow, his aim was not what it had been,’ Hilly said smoothly. ‘His head ached, or his eyes... the fever...’

‘It was just as well,’ Pippin said. ‘The Talk was against us as it was.’

His three cousins nodded in response.

‘But – he ought to have started his instruction again when he reached the age of ten,’ Pippin continued doggedly. ‘And he didn’t.’ He drew as deep a breath as he was able. ‘And that brought more accusations, more talk, that the Thain and Mistress were overindulging their son, letting him slip the “customary” lessons that all young Tooks must suffer, whether they will or no.’ The wry twist of his mouth called to mind Pippin’s own trials with the customary archery lessons.

‘So I called you here to ask you today...’ Pippin said, and spread his hands. ‘Should the lad have private instruction, as you three were part of some years past? Or should he learn in company with the other lads his age here in the Smials?’

Ferdi exchanged glances with the other two archers, but as he opened his mouth to answer, Regi spoke quietly from the doorway. ‘That may be a moot point, pending the inquiry.’

‘Inquiry?’ Pippin said in honest surprise, his eyes sweeping the hobbits in the room. Seeing that they were as much in the dark as he was, he met Regi’s sombre gaze with a look of puzzlement. ‘What –?’

‘The Tooks have called a convocation,’ Regi responded, and from the toneless way he spoke the words, Ferdi knew he was perturbed indeed.

Pippin’s eyes narrowed as he regarded his Steward. ‘Why wasn’t I –?’ he began.

‘It has come to their attention that there has been a banishable offence,’ Regi said over the Thain’s question.

Ferdi’s dizziness intensified, and he swayed, but Tolly took his arm and steadied him. The two had come too close to banishment themselves, not long before Yule, when Pippin had accused them of child-stealing. But Faramir had proved their innocence – hadn’t he? As Tolly’s grip tightened on his arm, he had the feeling that his cousin was having the same doubts.

‘Banishment,’ Pippin said, his voice bleak. Not surprisingly, it was the most difficult task for a Thain to have to carry out: sending a hobbit who had proven a danger to others into exile, outside the Bounds of the Shire, a brand on his cheek to mark him forever outcast from former family, friends and homeland.

‘Mercy,’ Hilly whispered, and Ferdi clearly heard him gulp. They’d all been too close to this in recent weeks.

Pippin had marshalled his senses. ‘But how can the Tooks call a convocation without informing the Thain?’ he asked in his most reasonable tones.

A long, uncomfortable silence followed, but at last Regi answered. ‘The Thain stands accused,’ he said quietly, and his voice roughened as he added, ‘among others.’ Although he cleared his throat, he apparently had nothing more to say, simply waving to the doorway, where several others could now be seen waiting.

And so, instead of discussing the benefits of having Faramir train with other Tooks his age, Ferdi found himself being shepherded, along with Pippin and Tolly, by Haldegrim, Isenard and Adelard, hobbits of the Thain’s escort, through the strangely empty corridors of the Great Smials to the great room. Hilly followed behind the group, uncharacteristically at a loss for words.

The lack of hobbits in the Smials proper was explained as soon as they entered the large gathering room. The tables had been removed, replaced by row upon row of benches and chairs, and it looked as if the entire population of the Great Smials, plus a great many hobbits from Tuckborough and outlying areas, every one of them a Took, were seated there.

Ferdi wondered how the room had been so altered, how so many had been gathered together in the space between early breakfast and now, an hour or so before teatime, without his knowing, or Hilly or Tolly – or Pippin, in particular. Yes, none of them was at his best, but... The event had obviously taken some time and care in the planning.

Custom would have had the seated hobbits rise and bow to the Thain as he entered, if this were any other occasion. But the crowd sat unsmiling, silent and staring on their benches. In the front row, Ferdi could see Tolly’s Meadowsweet and his own Nell, sitting together, their arms around each other, eyes wide and faces pale with fear. He was glad to see that Diamond was not there. Likely one of the healers had decreed that she be kept quiet and apart until some resolution was reached, lest the tension cause harm to the babe she was carrying.

Through the roaring in his head, Ferdi could scarcely hear the preliminaries as someone began to speak in sonorous tones. A baker’s dozen of prominent Tooks sat at a long table that remained by the entrance, one of the head tables, in fact, where the Thain and Steward and their families would typically sit at mealtime. An unlucky number, he thought numbly, and found it difficult to swallow down the lump in his throat.

The escort manoeuvred the three accused hobbits to stand at the front of the room, to one side of the table, where Regi’s brother, Everard, already stood. There was some small discussion that didn’t seem to be a part of the proceedings, whereupon chairs were produced for Pippin, Tolly and Ferdi, and it seemed important – though understanding the reason was beyond Ferdi in that moment – that they should sit in the chairs, with Everard standing beside them and Regi just beyond him, even as Hilly was sent to sit on the front bench of spectators. At least he seems to be out of it, Ferdi thought. Out of what?

Fortinbrand, a distant cousin of Ferdi’s and a prominent Took of the Smials, stood up. ‘When the Thain returned from the Woody End with Ferdibrand and Tolibold, before the recent Muster, he announced to the Tooks and Tooklanders that the two had been falsely accused of a serious crime.’

Many of those in the room nodded at this. They had been there, in the courtyard of the Smials that day, and had heard the words of the Thain. (They had also likely heard, and perhaps spread as well, the gossip that the accusation might or might not have had some truth to it. No smoke without fire, after all...)

‘The Thain also told you that the false accusations had been dealt with, the accusers had been confronted, judgement was passed, and restitution was awarded,’ Fortinbrand continued, and swept the crowded room with a keen gaze. ‘But he did not tell you the full truth of the matter.’

A murmur arose, that was as quickly quelled as Erlingar Took, obviously chosen as the moderator of this meeting by the fact he sat centred among those sitting at the table, banged a hammer against a steel plate to command order. The sound cut through the noise of conversation like a knife through hot butter, and silence fell once more.

‘I –‘ Pippin said, but Fortinbrand now turned to address him directly.

‘Thain Peregrin,’ he said formally, his voice cold. ‘Were these, or were these not the words you spoke, in informing the Tooks why Tolibold was taken away, bound, and Tolibold and Ferdibrand were returned to the Smials under escort, still bound, until you spoke the words of freedom?’

‘I –‘ Pippin said, and then he stood straighter and nodded. ‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘That is what I said. Ferdi and Tolly were never guilty of –‘

‘Please answer the questions as they are asked,’ Fortinbrand cut him off.

Ferdi was sweating now, a cold sweat that trickled icy down his back. He’d only seen one convocation before this one, but he’d read of them in the records, and not only were the Tooks following tradition to the letter, but they were deadly serious about it. This was much more serious than the hearing Fredegar Bolger had conducted over race-tampering some years earlier. Of course, race-tampering was not a banishing offence. 

And somehow, Ferdi was caught in the middle of this nightmare, with these other hobbits who shared his predicament.

‘From what has come to light,’ Fortinbrand said, ‘these two hobbits,’ and he indicated Ferdi and Tolly, ‘were accused, tried and sentenced to banishment for intending harm to the son of the Thain.’

There was a stirring on the benches at that, but it was soon quelled as the Tooks sitting there leaned forward to hear more, some eager, others resigned, the rest appearing horrified at the accusation.

Fortinbrand’s gaze now swept the five hobbits sitting and standing at the front of the room. ‘Who accused them?’

‘I did,’ said Pippin.

‘No, I,’ Everard put in. ‘It wasn’t the Thain’s first thought – I was the one, put it in his head.’

Pippin held out a staying hand. ‘No, Ev’ard,’ he said firmly. ‘It was my accusation that carried the weight.’ Looking courageously back to Fortinbrand and the Tookish councillors arrayed along the table, he repeated clearly, ‘I did.’

‘It is our understanding that Regi was swayed by his brother’s arguments, and did not make the first accusation,’ Fortinbrand said. ‘In point of fact, we were told that he argued against an over-hasty judgement,’ he added, and the other councillors nodded at this. ‘So, Reginard, you may go and take a seat amongst the Tooks.’

But the Steward stubbornly shook his head. ‘I will stand – or fall – with Thain Peregrin,’ he said. 

Erlingar allowed the resulting murmur to continue for a few moments before he rapped the room to relative quiet with a few hammer strokes. ‘Next question,’ he said into the silence.

‘Who rendered judgement?’ Fortinbrand asked. ‘Was it you, Thain?’

‘No!’ Pippin said, stung. ‘That would hardly be justice!’

‘Was it justice?’ Fortinbrand asked, his eyes narrowed.

‘It was the Master of Buckland,’ Regi said. ‘Master Meriadoc heard the witnesses and pronounced judgement.’

‘Meriadoc Brandybuck?’ Fortinbrand clarified.

‘Yes,’ Regi said. ‘It would have had to be him, or perhaps the Mayor. The Thain was an injured party...’ But he was drowned out by cries of indignation from the crowd.

‘A Brandybuck! A Brandybuck, to pronounce banishment on a Took!’ The ire of one of the councillors could clearly be heard above the tumult.

‘A Brandybuck,’ Fortinbrand echoed as Erlingar called the room to order once more. ‘Did it not occur to you to call a convocation of Tooks to deal with this? It is the right of a Took to be banished only by The Took – or if The Took is involved somehow, and unable to render judgement, then by fellow Tooks, by custom and tradition.’

‘I never banished anyone before,’ Pippin said, staring at nothing, sounding numb. ‘Nor had Merry. I –‘ he fell silent.

‘I –‘ Regi said into the hush that followed. ‘I’m sorry, Thain. I ought to have known. I ought to have been able to advise you...’ His voice broke. ‘The fault is mine. Don’t punish Peregrin for my own failing...’

As far as Ferdi could see it, the Tooks, should they take a hard line in this difficult situation, could see fit to banish himself, Tolly, Pippin and Everard for various reasons. Regi might well be pulled into the current and drowned along with them, as an old Marish saying went. The Tooks in their wrath might even express the desire to banish Merry from the Shire for his part in this whole miserable business. His mother was a Took, after all, making him vulnerable to a Tookish judgement. Lucky Merry, he thought. At least he’s in Buckland. That’s halfway banished already.

Erlingar rapped with his hammer a few more times, cutting into Regi’s plea. ‘You’ll have your chance to answer questions,’ he said, and to Fortinbrand, ‘Now then, Querier?’

‘So,’ Fortinbrand said, taking up the thread of the narrative again. ‘They were accused, tried and sentenced to banishment.’ He let the awful words sink in before asking in a mild tone. ‘Why is there no brand on their cheeks?’

To his horror, Ferdi realised his hand had risen of its own accord to cover his cheek, where the heated iron had been bare inches away from leaving its terrible mark, all too recently. He closed his eyes as weakness washed over him, heard a rising murmur in his ears, and then – nothing at all.

A pungent smell made him recoil, try to turn his head away. Smelling salts, he thought. Who has swooned? ‘He’s coming around,’ someone said into the darkness. Healer Woodruff, he thought. ‘Stand back! Give him some air,’ someone else said. Mardibold? Of course he’d be here, seeing that his younger brother Tolly seemed to be in danger of banishment.

‘Ferdi? Ferdi, do you hear me?’ Woodruff insisted. ‘We could carry him to a couch or a bed,’ someone else said. ‘Lay him down, make him comfortable. Get him off the hard floor, at least.’

‘No,’ came the voice of Fortinbrand, bending close, from the sound of it. ‘If he or anyone else is to be banished this day, he has a right to hear the proceedings against him and the others.’

Banishment, he thought. Not a nightmare, then. It’s all too terribly true. He forced his eyelids open, saw Woodruff bending over him, other faces, blurred, behind her. ‘What...?’ he said, reaching out a fumbling hand.

‘Steady now, lad,’ she said, taking his arm, her voice kind, which only served to worry him more. Woodruff grew ever more gentle as circumstances darkened. His prospects must be grim, indeed. ‘Do you think you can sit in a chair?’

He nodded, his head swimming, and let her hands, and others, take hold of him, help him up to a sitting position on the floor, then onto his feet before they eased him down onto a chair again. He looked to one side: Tolly, jaw clenched, sweat running from his forehead. 

On his other side sat Pippin, face white with strain, and breathing raggedly, though he waved the healers, Mardibold and Woodruff, away in irritation when they would have turned to him. ‘Let’s get on with it,’ the Thain said tightly.

The crowd at the front of the room dispersed as hobbits returned to their seats, leaving all in order again.

‘The question was asked,’ Erlingar said as smoothly as if no interruption had occurred, ‘as to why these hobbits, sentenced to banishment, do not sport brands. Indeed, why were they returned to the Great Smials? Why were they not carried over the Bounds and cast out?’

‘Because the accusations were false!’ Pippin hissed, with such intensity that he had to quell a coughing fit immediately after, though he waved off all offers of aid.

‘How do we know they were false?’ Erlingar followed up. ‘Querier?’ he said to Fortinbrand.

‘We would call as witness, Faramir Took,’ Fortinbrand said to the councillors.

‘This is highly irregular!’ Rudigrim Took spluttered. ‘A child is hardly to be considered a competent witness!’

***