Flowers, Gems And Estella - Chapter VIII
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An hour after she set out from her own house, Estella finally made it to the Cotton farm – her feet were by this time freezing, and everything from her waist down was soaking wet. The warmth of the fireplace within was welcome, as Rosie hung her cloak before it to dry.
“I suppose I should count you among my most true friends – I don’t think I know very many who would trudge through snow a-foot-and-a-half deep, when I’m sure she would rather stay at her own house in front of her own fire,” Rosie said, sitting down in a chair beside to the one Estella was seated in.
“Like I would stay there – what with my mother wanting me to help her in the kitchen, my father sitting smoking his pipe for hours on end, and my brother bugging me about what I was doing out so late last night – I consider this a welcome change,” she said, toasting her feet in front of the fire.
“Still, it’s very reckless of you – I only hope they haven’t gotten frostbit,” Rosie said, gesturing towards Estella’s feet.
“I’ll have you know, that at my house, I’m famous for being reckless!”
“Yeah? And what reckless things have you done?”
“Well, once, one of those ruffians who invaded the Shire came to our house, and I stood up to them and tried to fight – Fredegar pulled me back, and for that we were both thrown in the Lockholes.”
“Estella!”
“Oh, that’s not nearly the worst – last night, I actually allowed Merry Brandybuck to walk me home!”
“Oh – I thought I saw you leaving the pub with him last night. Anything special happen?”
“I don’t know what you’re implying, Rosie – but I don’t like it one bit,” Estella said, pretending to be fully offended.
“Why Estella, I don’t how you could possibly twist my words into some juvenile meaning – I was just implying that I shall checking the post daily for the announcement of your and Merry’s engagement.”
Estella quickly picked up a cushion from behind her, and swatted at Rosie with it – it missed, as Rosie grabbed her own cushion from the sofa, and proceeded to swipe at Estella with it. Estella dodged, falling off the chair and onto the floor in a fit of laughter – Rosie dropped her cushion and joined her on the floor, sharing in her mirth.
When they were finally able to stop, which was long after Rosie’s older brother Tom came in to find them in their riotous state, Rosie excused herself, saying she needed a glass of water. A narrow stairway separated the living room – where they were – and the doorway to the kitchen – where Rosie was headed. Once Rosie was on the other side of the stairway from Estella, she peeked around, and whispered to her, “Mrs. Brandybuck!” Estella rose from the floor quickly to chase after her into the kitchen. She avoided running after her once they were in the kitchen – they were many shelves with fragile glasses and dinnerware, and an oven that Mrs. Cotton had filled with baking bread. Should one of them have run into it, they might have been burnt.
Estella stood on the other side of the carved oak table from Rosie – they joked in making irate glances at each other. Neither could keep a straight face for long, and both burst out in fits of giggles.
“Well – I guess, I should at least call you – Mrs. Gamgee,” Estella panted, breathless.
Rosie laughed, then silenced herself with a hand to her mouth before taking a sip from her glass of water. “And why do you say that, Mrs. Brandybuck?”
“Well, it’s obvious – isn’t it? You walked home with Sam last night – which is definitely more, shall we say – scandalous, than my actions last night.” Rosie scoffed at Estella’s words. “I mean, the whole Shire doesn’t know that Merry has eyes for me – which is completely preposterous, as well as false. And I’m afraid, Rosie, that I can’t say the same for Sam and yourself.”
Rosie sighed. “Well, I guess I can’t deny what you’re saying about Sam and I – but I wouldn’t be so surprised if our own Merry came to have eyes for you, Estella dear.”
“Why do you say that?” she asked, taking a bite out of an apple she picked up from a nearby basket.
“Oh, no reason – just, something I happened to notice last night, that’s all – something I happened to notice, and hear from Sam.”
“I’m not going to even ask what it was you heard – it was no doubt no good.”
“Fine then – I won’t tell you anything else Sam said,” Rosie said, walking past Estella back into the living room.
Estella followed her – she had wanted to hear from Rosie all morning about what had happened the previous night. I didn’t trudge through snow for an hour for nothing.
“All right,” she said, coming into the living room and sitting down in front of Rosie, “You can tell me all you want about Merry – just tell me about what happened with you and Sam, too.”
Rosie had obviously wanted to tell Estella about this, for she put down the empty glass and immediately broke into the story. “Well, after you two left, I turned out the lights and locked the door of the pub – just closing up, you know.” Estella nodded. “So Sam and I started heading here – he asked me how I had been doing, how my family had been doing since the Occupation – I think he wanted to know that we had been all right. I told him we’d been fairly okay – a lot better than some families, I imagine. And then he said, ‘Are you and Estella friends?’ I said that we were, and he said something like, ‘Merry said something to me about her – I forget exactly what it was. Just saying he’d seen her somewhere that day – think he said it was in the marketplace, or something like that. That may not be right, though.’ I said I didn’t know if he had seen you or not.”
“I did see him there one day – with Pippin, though. We weren’t alone,” Estella said. She looked up to see Rosie looking at her, with one eyebrow raised. “What? We weren’t alone, nothing happened!”
“I didn’t ask you if you had been alone – I just thought it was strange that you were acting in defense when I hadn’t even accused you of anything. But anyway – Sam said something about him and I meeting again sometime – he suggested that he go out in this snow. I said that he shouldn’t, but who knows what he’ll do? He might be brave, like you.” Rosie seemed by this time a bit flustered – her hands were playing idly with the hem of her dress, and her cheeks were a light red. “And then – I kissed him.”
Estella’s jaw dropped. “You what? You mean – on the cheek, right?”
“Well, I did kiss him on the cheek first – but when I drew away, he looked at me – and he looked so sweet. But also – well, I’ve always wondered what happened to him and the others when they were away – when I look at Frodo especially, I can see that pains of something terrible – something happened to them Estella, something they’ll never forget. And I guess, last night, I saw in Sam’s eyes some of that same pain that I often see in Frodo’s – he looked hurt, like he had held the weight of the world on his shoulders – and he was willing to hold that weight even longer, but it was getting to him, he was getting tired. But also, he looked like just being with me – some of that pain was healing. And then I kissed him again – or, he kissed me – well, I don’t know exactly.”
Her cheeks were blood red by now, on of her hands was being held so tightly by the other that it was also red – but Rosie didn’t seem to even notice.
Estella could only stare. “You mean, you kissed him – not on the cheek?”
Rosie shook her head.
“On the lips, you mean?”
Rosie nodded, the faraway look still present in her eyes.
“Then what happened?” Estella asked.
When next Rosie spoke, it was in a calm, quiet tone. “Then I came in here – and went to bed.”
They sat there for several more minutes – Rosie sat with the wistful look on her face, and Estella sat staring at her, unable to say anything to break the trance her friend was in.
It wasn’t until Rosie’s brother Tom came up behind and shouted that they said anything or even moved – they jumped at hearing him.
“Tom, you big idiot!” Rosie shouted after him as he ran up the stairs laughing.
“Rosie’s out late at night, smooching with Sam Gamgee!” he shouted into the second floor they had thought was empty – until now, when her mother came down, asking what Tom was shouting about.
“Perhaps I’d better go,” Estella whispered. Rosie nodded, agreeing.
Estella slipped out the front door, unnoticed by Mrs. Cotton, and out into the chilly afternoon. The sun was coming out – indeed, by evidence of the slowly melting snow, it seemed to have been out for some time.
Merry, interested in me? Perhaps it was just Sam’s foolishness that brought the matter up – searching for something to talk about with the lass he had long had eyes for, his befuddled head had stopped on the best topic it could think of in the heat of the moment. I’m sure Merry just said it in passing – or maybe didn’t say it at all. Perhaps it was Pippin – yes, Pippin was there, and he would surely be foolhardy enough to say something as insignificant as that. Sam just got confused around Rosie – he’s liked her for quite a long time. And if they kissed – well, perhaps we’ll all be getting letters announcing their engagement soon. She laughed to herself as she remembered Rosie’s comment. Mrs. Brandybuck indeed. She banished the thought from her head as she walked home.