Chapter 24. Many Meetings

About an hour before teatime, a stable worker heard the ring of ponies' hoofs on the stones of the courtyard and ducked out of the warmth of the Great Smials' stables, shading his eyes against the slanting rays of the late-afternoon winter sunshine as he looked to see the angle of the Sun. Not all that long until teatime, he thought as he turned to greet the arrivals: four riders. Enveloped in cloaks and hooded warmly against the chilly temperatures, the anonymous travellers pulled their ponies to a stop before him. 

'Sir?' the stable lad guessed, based on his understanding that the Thain was due to return this day – and at about this time. His speculation was rewarded as one of the riders pushed back his hood to disclose Pippin's face. 'Well come, Sir!' he added more confidently. 

'Sorrel!' Pippin said in reply, sliding out of the saddle. 'Feed these ponies well and bed them deep! But be sparing with the water to begin; we rode down from the North Farthing almost without stopping, so despite the chill, they will likely need cooling out after the long effort...' 

'Aye, Sir!' Sorrel said, tugging at his cap before he stepped forward to seize Wind-tail's reins. Though the other travellers' faces remained hidden within their hoods, he recognised Regi's Amber and Haldi's Nipper as their riders dismounted and turned the ponies over to him. 

The fourth pony was unknown to him, and the rider's embroidered cloak differed from the style typically seen in the Tookland. Perhaps a north-Took had travelled with the party? 

The unknown visitor handed his reins to Sorrel and said, 'His name's Coal.' 

His voice sounded oddly familiar from the depths of his hood, making Sorrel wonder if he might have met the fellow before. But before the stable worker could ask any questions, the visitor added in dismissal, 'Take good care of him; he belongs to The Red.' 

'I will!' Sorrel promised. Bolham the Red! he thought in awe, for that hobbit was practically a figure of legend in the Shire, and the stories of his exploits had only grown in the telling. But then the stable lad shook his head at himself; he was on duty, and wool-gathering was not one of his assigned tasks! He firmly turned his mind to the care his charges needed. If three other stable lads helped him, then each of them could devote complete attention to one of the arriving ponies. 

Even as he took charge of the weary mounts, he identified Haldi's distinctive voice saying, 'Come along now,' to the stranger. The groom nodded to himself; the escort's voice matched with the pony he'd arrived on. 

The two turned away and walked towards one of the lesser outer doors, the one that offered the shortest route to the Thain's apartments, as well as his study.  

The Thain and Steward lingered, and the stable worker heard Pippin mutter to Reginard, 'Regi, go on into Tuckborough and find Mardi and Fredebold, as we discussed; ask them to wait in the second parlour until summoned.' 

Sorrel wondered: Did the visiting north-Took bring word about Tolly's fate? Perhaps someone had found his body weeks ago and buried him, and the news had only recently come to light! Or... and the thought made him gulp... perhaps the bog had yielded up the head of escort's body at last. Had the unknown rider accompanied the Thain to inform Tolly's closest relations of that fact? 

Many rumours have sprung from much less evidence, and so it goes almost without saying that soon the Talk was flying about the stables and quickly spreading further. 

***  

It was about an hour before teatime when an urgent knock sounded at the door of one of the healers living in Tuckborough. Young Hilly (named for his Uncle Hilly, a hobbit of the Thain's escort), answered the door and turned to yell, 'Da! Regi's here!'

'Hilly!' Mardibold scolded mildly as he emerged from his study. 'Remember! You are to invite the visitor in and then come and knock on the study door. Or find me if I'm elsewhere. We don't shout indoors unless it's an emergency.'

'Is it an emergency, Regi?' the small lad asked the hobbit at the door, craning upwards to meet the Steward's serious gaze.

'It is, rather,' Regi said.

'Regi says it's an emergency, Da!' Hilly shouted, and then he skipped towards the kitchen at the back of the smial, planning to ask again (for perhaps the fourteenth time since the end of the late noontide meal) if it were almost time for tea?

'Hilly!' Regi called after him. 'Would you please inform Meadowsweet that she's needed?'

Without looking behind him, the lad waved a wild arm. 'Sweetie!' he yelled, and disappeared into the kitchen.

Mardi hurried to the door and shook his head in silent apology. 'What's the emergency?' he asked. 'You've just arrived from the North Farthing, I gather. Is the Thain in distress, and Woodruff is not available?'

'Woodruff will be tied up for the next hour or so...' Regi began, and Mardi nodded, only to stop short as his son-in-love continued, '...and so will you be, as well.' But then the Steward looked down the hallway towards the kitchen and other rooms in the smial and took Mardi's arm. 'Let us talk in the study, lest we ignite a wildfire of Talk beforetimes...'

Wondering, Mardi allowed Reginard to escort him to his study; however, his son-in-love did not go in but paused at the doorway, waiting. 

A moment later, Meadowsweet emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron, and the Steward beckoned to her to join them.

Once the study door closed securely behind them, Regi surveyed his audience. 'There's no easy way to tell this,' he said.

Mardi, connecting Regi's news with events in the North Farthing, swayed and lost all colour, and Meadowsweet caught his arm to steady him. 'They – they've recovered his body...?' he gasped.

The words brought a sharp intake of breath from Tolly's beloved, but then Meadowsweet mastered herself and shook her head. 'No...' she said shakily, then repeated her denial in a stronger voice. 'No.'

'Perhaps you'd better sit down, Mardi,' Regi said. 'You don't look well.'

Meadowsweet agreed. She steered her brother-in-love to one of the easy chairs by the little hearth in the study and seated the healer before he quite knew what was happening. 

Then she turned to Regi. 'I don't need to sit down,' she said defiantly. 'Now. Tell us.' As she looked from Regi's solemn visage to Mardi's pale one, she softened her tone and deliberately chose to speak lightly. 'You aren't simply inviting yourself for tea, with your Rosa still in the North-lands, I take it?'

'Sweetie,' Regi said, lifting his hand to halt the flow of words. 

She fell silent, waiting. 

The Steward breathed deeply. 'Tolly's alive,' he said simply.

'Alive!' burst from Mardi, while Meadowsweet snapped, 'Of course he is! What nonsense...?'

But Regi rode right over them. 'Listen to me!' he said.

'We're listening... now, if you'll only talk to us!' Meadowsweet retorted sharply.

'Mardi,' Regi said, locking gazes with Tolly's oldest brother. 'You remember certain cases from the Troubles... mostly Tooks who were released from the Lockholes as a warning to other Shire-folk, witless and wandering.'

'I remember,' Mardi said faintly. For of course he remembered those cases all too well...

Regi went on. 'Some would not answer to their own names and did not recognise or remember their loved ones, and...'

'And they withered, and died,' Mardi whispered, looking into a far distance. And then his gaze returned to Regi, and he said, 'And my brother?'

At hearing this exchange, Meadowsweet's breath came fast and sharp, and she pressed her clenched hand against her breast. She had complete confidence that Tolly still lived. But... what if something had happened to make him like one of those miserable wretches who had survived the Lockholes but died soon after their release?

'There's a healer in the North Farthing,' Regi said, 'Bolham north-Took's wife, as it turns out, who has pulled at least one hobbit back from the brink of madness and death. Woodruff should have her notes even now, and no doubt is reading them as quickly as she may. We've brought Tolly back with us...'

Meadowsweet threw herself forward, grasping Regi's arms. 'Take me to him!' she demanded.

'As you love your husband, listen to me!' Regi thundered, causing Meadowsweet to blink and loosen her grip, though she didn't let go completely.

'In short,' Regi resumed more quietly, 'according to Healer Agate, the key to Tolly's recovery lies in reconnecting his memories – his past self – himself, that is, with the part of him that has been living the life of a north-Took in Bindbole Wood for the past few months.'

'Living the life...?' Meadowsweet faltered.

'The day he disappeared, he was struck by lightning and nearly died,' Regi said bluntly.

Meadowsweet gasped, and Mardi sat as still as if a bolt had struck him as he sat there.

Regi continued, 'The bolt left him with no memory and no knowledge of who he was or where he'd come from. He was near death when a family of north-Tooks found him and nursed him back to health – and when his memories remained locked beyond his reach, they helped him to build a new life, there in the Wood.'

'And then?' Mardi said, not sounding like himself at all.

'And then, Mistress Eglantine saw him at the Winter Market in Bolton. To make a long story short, she found the Thain and told him, and The Red guided the Thain to a cottage deep in the Wood, and Hilly went along, o' course...'

'Because Tolly's his brother!' Mardi said.

'Exactly,' Regi nodded. 'And when Bolham knocked upon the door, and Tolly answered and saw Hilly...'

'My lost-and-found brother succumbed to madness,' Mardi said dully, all hope extinguished as swiftly as a candle in a puff of wind. 'Just like those Tooks released from the Lockholes, when they were brought home and saw the faces of their loved ones.'

'And but for Healer Agate, Tolly might have gone the same way,' Regi said. 

'Might have,' Mardi muttered, staring at Regi.

But Meadowsweet sighed in relief, and the Steward stared into her face and added, 'Just as you may lose him still.'

Mardi stood up from his chair and confronted Regi face to face, hope warring with desperation in his countenance. 'But there's hope?' he demanded. 'Might have gone, you said, but... ' He gulped and echoed, 'May lose him still.'

'That's what I said,' Regi confirmed, but he took Mardi's arm and turned him back towards the chair. 'Sit down, Mardi,' he said. 'You're worrying me.'

Though Mardi sat himself down again, he seized Regi's arm and said, 'There must be hope – there must be! ...or you would not be here, and telling us this...' He paused, obviously thinking over Regi's words, and resumed the tones of a healer working through a difficult case. Looking into the distance, he said, 'Pulled at least one hobbit back from the brink, you said. It sounds as if we can somehow help him reconnect his memories – his past self – himself, that is, with the part of him that has been living the life of a north-Took in Bindbole Wood for the past few months.' He focused on Regi once more and asked, 'Have I understood you correctly?'

'That is what Thain Peregrin is hoping to do,' Regi confirmed.

Mardi eyed Regi keenly. 'But how do we do that?'

'Woodruff has Agate's notes – she's the healer in Bolton I mentioned,' he reminded Mardi. 'You're to collect your brother Freddy and meet her in the second parlour... Do you want...?' 

But before the Steward could offer to send someone with Mardi, for the hobbit had seemed close to collapse bare moments ago, Tolly's brother had leapt up from the chair and left the study. As they heard the front door slam, Regi could only hope that Mardi had taken the time to grab his cloak from the hook by the door.

But now Reginard became aware of Meadowsweet's repetition of his name as she took up where Mardi had left off. 'Regi... Regi! How do we do this? How do we save my beloved from,' she gulped and bravely forged ahead, 'madness... and death?'

'The key is introducing Tolly – carefully! – to the people he knows in this life,' Regi said, taking her hands in his and meeting her gaze soberly. 'With every connection he makes, healing happens inside his head. In fact, much healing was already accomplished in the North Farthing; Agate thought he had reached the point where he could survive if he should choose to stay in the North Farthing and did not return to the Tookland.'

'Did not return...?' Meadowsweet asked, not sure she'd heard correctly.

Regi nodded. 'He might have remained safely in Bindbole Wood,' he said heavily. 'Healer Agate explained the likely outcomes to Tolly – and since his life hung in the balance, the choice was his to make.'

'What choice?'

Regi explained, 'The safest of the choices your beloved faced was to continue living as a north-Took and allowing his memories of Tooks and the Tookland to fade quietly away once more. Returning to the Tookland is a gamble that poses the gravest danger to him.'

'I don't understand,' Meadowsweet faltered. 

'Tolly's memories of all the Tooks who travelled to Bolton were restored, some more easily than others. Seeing Hilly again – there is no easy way to tell this – it nearly killed him.'

'Hilly!' Meadowsweet whispered.

Regi nodded. 'Tolly has – obviously – many more memories to deal with here... His memories began confronting him even as we rode southward; from what I saw, they continued to increase the closer to "home" we came, and now they threaten to overwhelm him.'

'The closer to home, the greater the danger,' Meadowsweet murmured. 'But why should that be?'

'The closer to home he came, the higher the stakes mounted,' Regi confirmed. 'And the higher the stakes, the more fraught with danger and difficulty the situation becomes...'

'I don't understand,' Meadowsweet said stubbornly. 'Shouldn't home be the safest place of all?'

'You must understand, for Tolly's sake,' Regi insisted. 'Those closest to the hobbit pose the most danger to him, in terms of driving him deeply into himself again,' he clarified, then confessed, 'I don't quite understand how it works, but the Thain witnessed it in the cottage, with Hilly and Ferdi and Haldi and himself. Hilly, all unwitting, nearly destroyed his brother. But with Agate's guidance, Ferdi was able to help Tolly remember him safely.'

He searched Meadowsweet's face. 'Sweetie,' he said. 'You are the closest to his heart. And so, you must be the last to welcome him home, for his own safety. You must not push yourself forward in your eagerness to embrace him...'

Meadowsweet caught her breath. 'I begin to understand,' she said. 'I think.'

'Do you?'

'I do,' she said firmly. 'The closer to home, the greater the danger,' she repeated. 'For I, too, remember those Tooks who returned from the Lockholes... and died in the bosom of their families despite everything the healers along with their loved ones tried.'

'Good,' Regi said. 'Then I'm going to help you carry the childer back to your suite in the Smials, and we'll bring Tolly to you when he's... as ready as may be...' 

The Steward's last few words betrayed his uncertainty, but Meadowsweet merely gripped his arm a little more tightly and then released him. 'I understand,' she repeated.

'Good,' Regi said, regaining his confident tone. He waited while Meadowsweet bundled up the babes, and then he took the older, heavier child from her. Together, they walked from Tuckborough to the Great Smials and the suite of rooms that remained set aside for the Thain's head of escort. 

They avoided the more direct route that would have taken them past the Thain's study, but as they passed the branching corridor, Meadowsweet caught a glimpse of a small, silent crowd gathered outside the study door.

Her heart jumped at the knowledge her beloved was there, even now. Nevertheless, she followed Regi steadily and did not pause as they continued to her door.

'I'll send you a minder to watch over the bairns,' Regi said, 'that you may give Tolly your undivided attention.'

She nodded, resolving to nurse the babes a little early and soothe them to sleep. Asleep, they'd likely remain quiet and thus do their part in the effort to save their father.

'But here is the most important consideration,' Regi said, once inside the door. 'This is the part you must remember, without fail.' Looking deep into her eyes, he said, 'You won't be alone; Woodruff will bring Tolly home. She will knock upon the door and open it and lead Tolly within. You must be there, on the spot, in the sitting room waiting for him – but you must not make a sound! Do you understand me? You must not speak! Not a word!'

'Help – help me to understand,' she stammered.

'You must let Tolly speak first,' Regi said. 'That's critical, or so the Thain told me. Your beloved will be working quite hard... even though he may look as though he sees and hears nothing, even though he may not seem to see you in the room at all. For Tolly's sake, you must steel yourself to wait... patiently...' the Steward met her ironic look with a serious one of his own, 'and then respond to whatever he says with...' he seemed to fumble for the words, '...with love, and reassurance. Acceptance, and... understanding.'

Meadowsweet grimaced. 'I will wrap up my sharp tongue in cotton wool if that is what my beloved needs me to do,' she said.

The Steward smiled faintly. 'I'm not sure you need to go to that extreme,' he said. 'But... pretty close, or so it sounds to me.' 

He took her hands and stared into her eyes then, for a long moment, and finally said, 'Grace go with you, Sweetie.' And then he let himself out, and Meadowsweet hurried to make everything ready for Woodruff's knock.

*** 

After sending Regi on his errand, Pippin caught up to Haldi and Tolly just outside the outer door to the Smials. 'Keep your hoods on,' he said out of the corner of his mouth as the doorward opened the door for them. Accordingly, the two hobbits' faces remained hidden as the Thain escorted them along the corridor, nodding to acknowledge others' greetings along the way. 

When they reached the study, Adelard, the messenger on duty, tapped at the door and opened it for them.  

'Ev'ard,' Pippin said in greeting to the hobbit rising from the chair behind Reginard's desk. 

'Pippin!' Everard said. 'Is Regi with you?' He spared a glance at the two tall, hooded hobbits flanking the Thain. From his outward appearance, one obviously belonged to the Great Smials, but the other's clothing varied from the local style. Was he a north-Took, perhaps? 

'I sent your brother on an errand,' Pippin said dismissively. 'He'll be back soon. But if you wouldn't mind, Ev'ard...' He ushered the two hooded hobbits into the room while beckoning to Everard to join him in the corridor. Then he closed the study door behind them. 

'Are you sure...?' Everard said, intending to ask the young Thain if it was wise to leave those two anonymous fellows alone in the study, but Pippin cut him off. 

'Ev'ard,' Pippin said, 'I need you to go and find Woodruff and fetch her to me forthwith.' 

'Is someone ill?' Everard said. But Pippin said nothing, merely stared him down. Almost not of his volition, Everard nodded and headed towards the infirmary at a swift walk. 

Next, Pippin turned to Adelard. 'Would you please track down Rusty Stubbletoes for me?' he asked. 'Since Ferdi and Nell are away on holiday, I'm not sure where he might be at this time...' 

'Yes, Sir,' the Messenger said. 'I'll find him. And send him to...?' 

'Here, to the study,' Pippin said. 'And thank you, Adel.' 

As Adelard turned away, Pippin opened the study door and called within, 'Haldi! Take up your station before the door, please. As we discussed.' 

Ah. So one of the figures who'd accompanied the Thain was Haldi. Adelard wondered as he walked away who the other might be. Hilly? Ferdi? No, not the latter, for the Thain had just said Ferdi was still in the North Farthing or else on his way back to the Smials with Pimpernel. A north-Took?

He also wondered what As we discussed might mean? 

Haldi hung his cloak and hood on a hook just inside the door to the Thain's study and took up the Messenger's post outside. 

Pippin nodded to him, entered the study and hung his own garments on another hook, gesturing to Tolly to do the same as Haldi pulled the door securely closed. 

'I knew them both,' Tolly said. 'I mean, I recognised both of them: Ev'ard – Regi's brother – and Adel, one of the escort.' 

'Good,' Pippin said. 'I'm glad you're remembering people. But we're still going to follow Healer Agate's plan of getting them used to you one or two at a time, at least until the Talk starts spreading. Even then, I think the quiet approach is probably best for everyone.' 

'All this secrecy...' Tolly said, his tone bemused. 

Pippin spoke without thinking. 'We're going to do our best to keep you from drowning in Tooks, once the word gets out that you've returned.' On second thought, people's reaction to news of Tolly's return was all too predictable.  

Tolly nodded. 'Sounds uncomfortable,' he said, one corner of his mouth twisting. 

'Well,' Pippin said, tilting his head slightly, 'I must admit, an awful lot of people hereabout have refused to believe you were dead...'

Tolly shook his head in wonder.

Pippin continued, 'Nonetheless, there's no accounting for how they might react to hearing you're back from the dead.' Then he straightened and added, 'We don't want to startle anyone into fits at thinking we've a ghost wandering the hallways. While many here at the Smials are sensible folk, too many others might fly into a panic or would do their best to stir up trouble, at least from what I've seen.' 

Receiving Tolly's wry nod, Pippin continued, 'And for your own good, we want you to meet with your friends and relations singly and in small batches, that you might not become overwhelmed or overtired at any time.' He smiled and added, 'Healer's orders.' 

'That could take an awfully long time,' Tolly said, narrowing his eyes, and though he unTookishly did not protest the idea of following "healer's orders", Pippin did not take warning. Truth be told, his lack of sleep and the long ride home were beginning to tell on him. 

'Ah well,' he said. 'You'll be quite busy anyhow,' and at Tolly's look of surprise, he clarified, 'settling your family in here at the Smials, the north-Tooks... Meadowsweet...' 

To Pippin's alarm, Tolly's face took on the faraway look that meant he'd lost his way in sorting through memories and dreams, clarity and confusion. In addition to the word-picture she'd drawn comparing the recovery process to walking through a treacherous bog, Agate had described Tolly's thoughts as if the hobbit were walking a challenging and sometimes rugged path obscured by billowing clouds of fog; at times, the Sun might break through and make Tolly's way clear to him, but at other times, the fog might blow across the hobbit's mental view. 

Agate had also emphatically warned of the critical need to prevent, if at all possible, the fog's descending upon Tolly and completely closing him in again. Or worse, causing him to lose his footing in the bog the hobbit must traverse...

Pippin's repetition of Tolly's name brought no response. His unthinking mention of Meadowsweet must have plunged Tolly's mind from sunshine into a thick fogbank. Even as the young Thain fixed his smile firmly in place, he mentally kicked himself while hoping he hadn't done irreparable harm to his cousin. A knife's edge... 

Perhaps they should not have brought Tolly back to the Tookland... Perhaps they ought to have brought Meadowsweet to the North Farthing instead, though it would have taken time, as the new babe was still too young to travel safely. Too late to change ponies now, he thought worriedly. We're right in the middle of the stream. 

Besides, as Healer Agate had said only a few hours ago, None of our options is ideal. 

That's torn it, Pippin said to himself. His casual mention of Meadowsweet had set Tolly back... but how far? And had his thoughtless error carried them beyond remedy? 

Tolly had not yet seen Meadowsweet; his beloved remained only a half-remembered dream to the recovering hobbit. Agate had recommended leaving Tolly's reunion with Meadowsweet until last. She'd hoped that Tolly might become strong enough before then, able to understand what parts of the situation had been beyond his control and to accept the choices he had made, whether consciously or all unwitting. 

Now Pippin began to wonder, considering Tolly's current state: would encountering his oldest brother Mardibold worsen or help the situation? 

Trying to speak matter-of-factly, the young Thain tried to break through the encroaching mist, lest it become miasma, or worse. 'Gorbyl and the childer will be arriving within the week,' he said, weighing every word. Surely the north-Tooks would be a safe topic! 'By your leave, I had thought to provide the three childer with small, gentle ponies they might call their own. They're all of an age to be taking riding lessons with the other children in the Smials, even your little songbird...' 

This practical talk – and perhaps Pippin's explicit mention of Lark, who had been such a healing influence during Tolly's time in the North Farthing – gently jarred Tolly from his reverie. 'That would be very generous of you, cousin,' he said, some awareness returning to his eyes. 

Tolly's lost much of the ground he'd reclaimed earlier, Pippin reflected grimly, if we're back on cousinly terms now. For it seemed that Pippin was once again cousin to him, not Thain. Earlier the previous day, the hobbit had taken no notice of others addressing his younger cousin as "Sir", nor had he found it necessary to follow their lead. Pippin wondered how long it might last this time? 

He also wondered if Tolly had pushed down the memory of his position as the head of the Thain's escort – if he had even forgotten his time as a hobbit of the escort under Ferdi's earlier headship. How far back had he regressed in this current lapse? And was it recoverable? The knife's edge haunted his thoughts, only briefly interrupted by the sound of Haldi's distinctive tap on the study door.

The door opened and admitted Healer Woodruff, and only the healer, even though Everard had likely returned to the study with her after finding her and bringing her here. Pippin wondered if others now lingered outside, and how many might be gathered there, and if the crowd might be growing...? 

Pippin also thought about the sheaf of closely-written pages containing explanations and instructions, enclosed in a slim box of finely-tooled leather, that he'd given Haldi to carry before they'd set out for home. Upon Woodruff's arrival outside the study, Haldi would have pulled out Agate's notes and asked the healer to pause, "by order of the Thain", telling her to read all of the first page, there in the corridor by the light of the lantern hanging by the door to the study. Per the Thain's orders, the escort would have reinforced Agate's instruction, underlined at the bottom of the page, to maintain calm and show no surprise. 

It must be vitally important, Pippin thought yet again, for Agate to convey to Woodruff such a redundant-seeming instruction since healers invariably practise such emotional control in any event. 

Pippin had also ordered Haldi to refuse admission to Everard or any other arriving hobbit, according to the plan as Agate had written it out, at least until Woodruff should emerge once more and tell him otherwise. 

Up until his recent mention of Meadowsweet, the young Thain would have thought that such extreme precautions, similar to those that Agate had enforced back at the cottage in Bindbole Wood, were no longer necessary. But now, knife's edge had returned to haunt his consciousness, and he blessed Agate's experience with this malady, along with her foresight regarding Tolly's situation as it currently stood. 

Clearly following the protocol that Agate had worked out with her earlier cases, Woodruff entered without speaking and made sure the door closed firmly behind her. The bland expression she maintained belied her keen gaze as she approached Tolly. The recovering hobbit might have been mistaken for a statue, his face devoid of all expression, while Pippin hovered at his side. 

Studying his cousin closely out of the corner of his eye, Pippin watched Tolly notice Woodruff's presence and assume a polite smile, as if he prepared to greet a stranger, but then the hobbit blinked. Let him be the first to speak, he reminded himself, just as Agate had instructed Tolly's cousins in the little cottage in the Wood. 

'Do I know you?' Tolly said, scrutinising Woodruff's face and thereby confirming to Pippin how much ground his cousin had recently lost. He could only hope that regaining that ground would be easier a second time. 

Woodruff serenely held out her hand to the recovering hobbit. 'Hullo, Tolly,' she said in a low, pleasant tone that conveyed a polite greeting and nothing more. 'My name is Woodruff.' And then she waited. 

'Woodruff,' Tolly echoed, his own face blank. But then it seemed to Pippin as if a light slowly dawned in his eyes and spilled over to infuse his face. Then Tolly took a deep breath and let it out again, as if a piece of the puzzle that eluded him had slipped into place. 'Healer Woodruff?' he said. 

Woodruff smiled as Tolly took her hand in greeting. 'That's right, Tolly,' she said quietly. 'It is good to see you.' 

But Pippin's cousin looked puzzled. 'I am well,' he said, seeming confused. 'I'm in no need of a healer!' 

Woodruff's smile deepened subtly. 'O' course you are,' she said, 'looking well, that is. I simply wanted to welcome you home.'

'Home,' Tolly breathed. For the first time, he seemed to see the room where they were standing. 'The...' he faltered. 'We're in the Thain's study?' 

'Yes,' Woodruff said, her smile undimmed as she gently squeezed his hand. 'We are in the Thain's study. I would deem it a nice, quiet place where we can talk... where you can find your balance... and not be disturbed.' 

'But won't the Thain be disturbed?' Tolly wanted to know. 

'Not at all, cousin,' Pippin said to him. 

'Are you certain, cousin?' Tolly asked, turning his head briefly before meeting Woodruff's gaze once more. 

'Quite,' Pippin said. He wasn't sure if Tolly had yet remembered – again – that he was the Thain, despite Agate's earlier assurances that Tolly would come to such knowledge in his own time as he sorted all the scattered pieces of memory into their proper places once more. Tolly had come to that knowledge before they'd left the North Farthing, and hopefully, he would be able to do so again. 

Now Woodruff gave Tolly's hand another squeeze and repeated, 'It is so good to see you, cousin. But I must be about some business, and so I will hope to see you later.' 

'Yes,' Tolly said, letting his hand drop to his side when Woodruff released it, but not voicing his usual quip about hoping he would not have occasion to see the healer anytime soon.  

Woodruff nodded, maintaining her smile. But after she turned away from Tolly, Pippin saw her brow wrinkle as she moved towards the door to depart. He wondered if she was on her way to make adjustments to the plan. She said nothing more, however, but only exchanged nods with Pippin before she slipped out of the study, opening the door just wide enough but no wider, arousing Pippin's suspicions that others waited in the corridor, just out of sight. 

When next the door opened, Rusty, who had served Tolly's family faithfully since the escort had married Meadowsweet, entered. If anyone else was waiting in the corridor – and Pippin suspected that several people had gathered outside the door by now – they did not give away their presence by any sort of noise or movement. 

Rusty did not quite follow Agate's protocol, for he walked up to Tolly and said, rather uncertainly, 'Sir?' Then, as if realising his mistake, he fell silent, his eyes wide with dismay. 

But Tolly seemed to know Rusty at once, for he smiled and said, 'Rus! How good it is to see you again!' 

'Sir?' Rusty said, somehow infusing the syllable with more hope than before. 

'I do hope you're not about to brew me a "nice pot of tea",' Tolly said, lifting a sceptical eyebrow. 

'Never!' Rusty responded. Before he might slip and mention "the Mistress" or "Meadowsweet", Pippin caught the hobbitservant's eye and shook his head in warning. Rusty seemed to catch the message, for he said nothing about a pot of tea for Meadowsweet and something else for Tolly but only suggested, 'I suppose a tall glass of beer or ale would not go amiss, however?' 

Tolly laughed and slapped Rusty on the back. 'As always,' he said, 'you anticipate my every need! How in the world do you manage it, Rus?' 

As this was a question Tolly had asked him often in the past, Rusty was confident in his answer. 'That would be telling!' he said. 'You know I cannot give away my secrets, Master.'  

His eyes glinting with mischief, looking at that moment much like the "old" Tolly, Pippin's cousin answered, 'Ah, but I live in hope that one day you'll forget your resolve, and slip and tell me...' 

'Very good, Rusty,' Pippin eased into the conversational flow. 'Now, I think you were in the middle of an errand when we interrupted you, and...' 

'Errand?' Rusty said, momentarily confused, but then his face cleared. 'Ah, yes, Sirs,' he said, and began to edge towards the door. 'My errand. If you'll kindly excuse me...?' 

'Of course,' Tolly said, and Pippin echoed him as the hobbitservant left the room, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket as he went. 

Pippin resisted the impulse to wipe his own brow. These carefully orchestrated introductions were hard work! ...but Agate had promised that Tolly's rate of progress would accelerate if they could manage to establish a firm foundation to begin with. The young Thain could only hope they were accomplishing that aim, even as Healer Agate had laid out the plan. With the exception of his earlier misstep, as it were. 

Speaking of the plan... even now, Healer Woodruff should be in the second parlour, skimming through Agate's notes and explaining the situation to Mardibold. For his part, Regi would be dealing with Fredebold, Tolly's next older brother who, though several years older, had only a child's understanding. Pippin wasn't sure if that made him more or less dangerous to Tolly in his current state. 

Even as the young Thain was thinking these thoughts, Haldi's tap sounded at the door again, and Reginard entered with Freddy. This was not a random occurrence. Woodruff was in charge of the order of introductions; thus, Pippin understood that Freddy was the next hobbit she'd determined should greet Tolly. He hoped she had the right of the matter.

Fredebold's eyes were dancing with delight; perhaps the others had presented this interview as a game for him to play? 

Regi walked Freddy right up to Tolly. The Steward had reacquainted Tolly with himself at the party the previous night, and they'd travelled together from the North-lands to the Smials this very day. Thus, unless Woodruff had taken a moment to warn him of Tolly's setback within the past hour, Regi had no reason to wait for Tolly to speak first, though he'd be aware of the need for extra caution in dealing with the hobbit's nearest and dearest. 

In any event, the Steward halted Freddy in front of Tolly, released his arm, and said to the latter, 'I have someone here who would like to greet you.' 

Pippin held his breath at seeing the faraway look return to Tolly's eyes. In contrast, Freddy's grin widened as the moments passed. 

And then suddenly, Tolly's face cleared, and he said, 'Freddy? What are you doing here?' 

Fredebold burst out laughing. 'I win!' he said. 'I win the game! I always win the game!' 

'O' course you do!' Tolly said cheerily. 

'You spoke before I did!' Fredebold grinned. 

'I did at that,' Tolly confirmed, adding, 'It's good to see you, Freddy! It feels as if it's been a long time,' as he reached to hug his brother. 

Freddy returned the hug, thumping Tolly's back and repeating, 'I won!' 

As they broke apart, Regi took Fredebold's arm once more and said, accompanied by a gentle tug, 'Come along, lad. They'll be serving tea in the great room soon enough. Would you like to see what sort of teacakes are on offer today?' 

'I like teacakes!' Freddy announced, allowing himself to be escorted to the study door. Just before they exited, he turned again to Tolly and said yet again, 'I won!' 

'You did!' Tolly agreed, smiling. 

'I shall see you later, Brother!' Freddy said. 'I am on a quest to discover what kind of teacakes might be on offer.' 

'You do that,' Tolly encouraged, '...and sample a few for me, while you're at it.' 

'I will!' Freddy crowed, at his most cheerful, and then Regi managed to push him gently out the door. Pippin wondered what they'd told the hobbit. Perhaps they hadn't even informed him when Tolly had gone missing, nor that his younger brother had been presumed dead. His family might have simply told him that Tolly had gone on a long journey. Come to think on it, that would probably have been the kindest approach to take with the poor benighted hobbit. 

Pippin couldn't help sighing. 

To his surprise, Tolly let out a sigh of his own, shook his head, and said, 'He can be exhausting, poor hobbit. But he means well, all the same.' 

'That he does,' Pippin said, on firmer ground since he was responding to something Tolly had said. 'And I'm sure he'll enjoy the teacakes.' 

'That he will,' Tolly agreed. 

***