Chapter 22. Lost and Found

Mum and the two lads crouched silently in the little digging, not much more than a hole in the ground, dark and damp, lined with roots and the ends of worms, listening to the rough voices of Men calling to each other.

Mum winced at the first few smashing noises, then sat stoically, listening to the wanton destruction of her home. Beneath her the dog whined, and she hushed him, her hands tightening on his muzzle so that he might not erupt into a fury of barking. The lads huddled against her, hands tight on their bows, arrows ready to fit to the string at need, but she hoped it would not come to that. They’d have time for an arrow apiece, perhaps, before the ruffians seized them and exacted an awful revenge.

All stiffened as a Man’s voice was heard close outside their hidey-hole. ‘Well, what have we here?’ Mum stopped breathing, but kept holding on to the dog’s muzzle, feeling the lowest vibration of a growl under her hands.

’Bill, come here! Look what we’ve got here!’ came the rough cry.

’Well, well, lookee here, a nanny goat and her kids,’ was the answer, and Mum relaxed slightly. They’d released the goats before running to the hole, wiping their own tracks out as they went. Evidently some of the goats had not wandered far.

’No rats to be found, but their goats will do us just fine,’ the first voice said. ‘We’ll get as much milk as we can, and then we’ll have us a feast of roasted meat!’

’Better not stay around here too long,’ Bill warned. ‘There’s a troop of rats not far off, and they might come if they see the smoke.’

’Haw. We left them little enough to find,’ the first ruffian said. ‘Come along then, we’ll find good hiding in these hills, I think.’

The hobbits sat silent and still, long after the voices retreated, and a good thing, too, for more voices were heard later. They didn’t sound quite like the earlier ones, but it might have been a trick of the ruffians to draw any hobbits out of hiding, so they stayed tight in the hole. Mum held the dog firmly though he squirmed under her, and his throat vibrated with barks straining for release.

Suddenly one of the voices was raised in a shout, and all the hobbits started up. Mum lost her grip on Nip and the dog wriggled out from under her, bursting from the hole in a volley of eager barks.

’Da!’ Hardy shouted, crawling out of the hole, past the thorny brambles, and running to where a group of Tookish archers milled, the dog jumping at several of them and barking wildly. ‘Da!’

’Hardy!’ an archer called, and as the lad jumped upon him he took his youngest son in a fierce hug, tears running down his cheeks. ‘O my lad,’ he said. ‘My lad... where’s Mum?’

’Here,’ Mum said, emerging from the brambles, pushing her tangled curls back from her face.

’You’re safe,’ the archer said. ‘When we saw the destruction and the blood, we thought the worst.’

’Chickens and goats,’ Mum replied. She was beginning to shake from reaction, and pulled the featherbed closer about herself. Not knowing how long they’d be stranded, and having a clear idea what the ruffians would do, she’d gathered what she could in the few moments she’d had after Hardy brought her the warning.

’And Twig? Is he well?’ Hardy’s Da asked.

’Twig?’ Mum said. Odd that the lad hadn’t rushed out as quickly as Hardy... she looked behind, to see that one hanging back, unaccountably shy. ‘Twig, come out now, it’s all right.’

’I’m not afraid,’ Twig said defiantly, and at the husky voice, Rudivacar started.

’Estella?’ he said joyfully. ‘Estella!’ he shouted, striding forward to envelop the filthy lad in a great hug.

’Uncle Rudi!’ Estella said, muffled by his shirt.

’Estella?’ Hardy said in wonder. ‘You’re a girl?’ he asked in disgust.

’Aye, Twig’s a girl,’ his father said, releasing him after another hug. ‘But bonny and brave for a’ that,’ he added proudly. ‘As fine as any of my lads, I’m glad to say.’ His older sons gathered around Estella, exclaiming in wonder at the trick their parents had played.

’Our cousin’s a girl?’ the eldest said.

’You don’t have to make it sound so terrible,’ Estella flared.

’No wonder you had Twig sleeping in the kitchen,’ Hardy grumbled. ‘It wasn’t because there was no room, like you said.’

’We told you truth,’ his Da said, ‘as we always do. It was handy, having no room. You were the ones decided Twig was a lad when the Fox brought Twig to us, as you may recall, and we simply didn’t correct the idea. Safer for Twig, with the threat of ruffians and all.’

’No ruffians were in Tookland at the time,’ the eldest son said.

’Ah, but they came in later, didn’t they?’ their Da answered, unruffled. ‘The Fox had his reasons, and he paid us well for our silence.’ He looked about at the destruction. ‘Looks as if those coins will come in handy, doesn’t it?’ His wife clutched the featherbed a little tighter, with its bag of coins sewn into the seam.

One of the knights (Merry! Estella realised) swayed, steadied by the other, whom Estella recognised as her cousin Pip, now grown much taller than she remembered, thinner and more grim as well. Pippin said now, ‘Rudi, I want you to take Merry back to the Smials with you; I’ll send half the escort along. The rest of us are going to hunt down this party of ruffians.’

’I’m fine,’ Merry protested.

Pippin snorted. ‘Tell it to the healer,’ he said. ‘I imagine once Woodruff gets a look at you, she’ll want to pop you into a bed for a day or three, and she’ll be right.’

’You’ve never paid heed to healers in the past, why would you start now?’ Merry said.

’Your colour’s bad,’ Rudivacar said critically. ‘You’ve lost a fair amount of blood, from all appearances, and a few days in bed will do you no harm.’

’I want you to go with them,’ Hardy’s Da said to Mum. ‘Take Hardy back to the Smials with you; it’ll be safer until we have all the vermin cleared out.’

Mum nodded. With no front door, her hobbit hole was as vulnerable as the hidey-hole. ‘You take care,’ she said.

He smiled and gave her a squeeze, fixed Hardy with a stern look and said, ‘Take good care of your Mum, now.’

’Don’t I always?’ Hardy said.

His Da laughed and gently slapped his back. ‘That you do,’ he said and turned away to mount his pony again.

Merry continued to protest as Pippin and Rudi helped him onto his pony, then Estella mounted behind Rudi. Mum mounted the pony they’d brought for Estella, with Hardy behind her. Nip jumped up at the pony's side, then settled himself to run alongside Mum's pony, growling a bit to let the pony know he carried the dog’s treasure on his back.

’Good hunting!’ Rudi called to Pippin and his escort, who raised their bows in return.

’See you back at the Smials!’ Pippin shouted, wheeling his pony around to follow the tracker who’d already started along the ruffians’ trail.