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The Farmer's Son  by Lindelea 4 Review(s)
LarnerReviewed Chapter: 14 on 10/12/2012
I managed to miss the last chapter of this, I see. Frodo needs to be warned, but how can that be done when no one knows exactly where he, Sam, and Pippin might be along the way to Buckland, or which route they might have taken. And now, between tiredness and worry, the thought is gone. Poor Paladin!

Author Reply: That was a problem! How do you warn someone who's in transit? Poor Paladin, he needs a night's rest to sharpen his brain, I think. (Add to lack of sleep the oppressive atmosphere of Dark forces in the Shire, and I'm sure he's not thinking as clearly as usual.)

DreamflowerReviewed Chapter: 14 on 9/28/2010
Oh, poor Paladin, so very exhausted! And of course, he wanted to warn Frodo. I worry about what's clouded his mind...is it mere fatigue or something more sinister as the wraiths move about the Shire in their search?

So glad to see another chapter of this!

Author Reply: Well, I don't think fatigue is completely to blame, though if you asked Paladin, he'd probably say so. What is that old ditty? By the pricking of my thumbs...

SoledadReviewed Chapter: 14 on 9/26/2010
Hmm, very mysterious. Just what was that idea Paladin seems to have forgotten?
His interaction with Eglantine is very sweet, BTW.

Author Reply: He was going to send a quickpost rider off to warn Frodo that somebody was after him. But then his solid hobbity common sense took over, dismissing the thought without his consciously thinking it over. He'll think it over again, consciously, and more than once in the days to come.

Glad you liked the interaction with Eglantine. I shook my head a little at the menfolk, before going out to do chores, insisting that the womenfolk rest a bit (although the hired hobbits *did* lie themselves down for an hour or two, after coming in from the search, so I suppose it wasn't completely unequal, and Paladin as Master could get away with insisting that others rest while he neglects his own).

Thanks!

CeleritasReviewed Chapter: 14 on 9/26/2010
Eep! I have a feeling Paladin's going to be kicking himself for that one when he finds out what Frodo's done... (And even if Frodo weren't there, surely Merry and Fatty would be off settling things in?)

Another fairly tense chapter--it could have been relaxed, but you chose to emphasize that despite the worst danger being past, everyday life still has to go on. Thanks!

Author Reply: He probably will be kicking himself, true. I'm not sure he's thinking as clearly as usual. I think a part of his mind is disturbed by the presence of such evil in the Shire (call him extra-sensitive by means of his Tookish blood and prescient dreams, if it's not too far-fetched), and yet he's a practical hobbit as well. He can't completely dismiss his foreboding out of hand (and Tolly's and Ferdi's strange "nightmare" fed that fear, if only momentarily), but he can't put his finger on what's wrong, either.

If he'd gone through with sending off a quick post rider with a vague warning, he would definitely have been kicking himself for the next few days, feeling foolish and wondering what his rashness would have done to his reputation.

What is it they say? Hindsight is 20/20. (Wonder what the hobbity equivalent would be.) Looking back, I'm sure he'll see signs and understand them better, but being right in the middle of it, and nothing really having happened--at least, he has no clue of what happened to Tolly and Ferdi, no evidence, just wild "fever talk" or perhaps (he's still not completely convinced) brandy talking--he's at a loss.

Thanks!

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