Flowers, Gems And Estella - Chapter XVII
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Celandine, although having never gone fishing, was completely in favor of such a venture for her and Estella, as well as Doderic, Ilberic and Merry. Estella suspected that this last name was the reason Celandine so urged her to come with – it was never denied.
“Don’t you want to go fishing, Estella – you’ve never been before, and it’s so much fun! We need something to do until Merry’s birthday party – three weeks seems like three years when you’ve nothing to do!”
“But you’ve never been either, how would you know?”
“Well – Doderic and Ilberic. They said that we would both like it a lot, so they invited us.”
“But didn’t you invite us?”
“No, of course not – well, the two of them were talking about it, and I asked if we could come – they said yes, and that we would love it! And Pippin will come too!”
“But don’t only lads go fishing?”
“That’s just the stereotype that we need to diminish, Estella, by doing something that us lasses don’t normally do.”
“But last night, you said you would never talk to your brothers ever again – right after they dragged you off to their room, because they wanted you to steal them something?”
“Oh, that? Well, it all worked out – it wasn’t really anything, the thing they wanted. Don’t worry about, okay?”
“You sure? It’s not about something else?”
“Absolutely certain. We’re going fishing, and you’re going to have lovely time – and then later this evening we’re going to the Midsummer’s’ Festival, and you’ll have a good time there too!”
“Oh, yeah – forgot about that. How many festivals do you all have, anyways?”
“Well – at least one during each season, two in the fall, because of harvest.”
“Why all the extravagant galas?”
“Us Brandybucks,” Celandine said, shaking her head, “We like to get together, I guess. It gives us an excuse to escape those that we see every day, and see those that we don’t see every day. For instance, my brothers will go there to find wives, while my father will go there to escape his.”
“I’ll probably have to spend the whole evening with Mentha and Mellie.”
“Well, you’ve done pretty good to avoid them lately – seems like you come over here every day, with some tale of how a young lad they met distracted them, and you were able to escape.”
“Let’s hope I can do it again tonight.”
The day’s fishing did not merit any actual fish, but the trek itself had been enjoyable enough. It was a warm and bright summer, as the five of them sat on the Brandywine Bridge, dangling their legs over the edge, and watching as their fishing poles distorted the otherwise clear reflections. Estella watched as ripples passed over her own face, causing it to fade into a blurred image – when it came back, it still carried the same bored expression. She had to admit it was not the fun Celandine had promised. Nothing much was said during the course of the day, and they left empty-handed.
“So – how do you all think the fishing went today?”
The eight of them – Estella, Celandine, Merry, Pippin, Doderic, Ilberic, Mentha and Melilot – sat at a table that evening, sipping drinks. For Estella, it was no more exciting than the fishing had been – she wasn’t surprised that no one had seemed to even hear her speak. Doderic and Ilberic said nothing – Mentha and Melilot were staring at a group of lads gathered on the edge of the dance floor. Frodo was also present at the festival, but absent from their own table – it seemed many years since he had actually taken part in childish antics such as theirs, even less so since he and the others had come back from – well, wherever. Estella had to admit she still did not know where it was they had gone.
“Good, bad?” Estella repeated.
Celandine looked over at the lads, and turned back to Estella, rolling her eyes. “Hey guys!” she yelled at them.
They looked up, surprised. Pippin had been in the middle of sipping a drink from his mug – ale dripped down his chin as he looked to Celandine. Doderic, beside him, seemed almost offended. “What’s up, Sis?” he said cattily.
“Well, Estella just said something – I think it’s rude that you all aren’t listening to her. Right, Merry?”
Merry looked up from staring at his mug of ale. “Huh?”
“I was just saying,” she said, nodding her head towards Estella, “That Estella seemed rather bored today. She’s not used to our – traditions. They probably don’t do a lot of fishing in Bywater, being that they don’t have the Brandywine like we do, eh?” Celandine said, taking a big swig from her drink.
“Well, we have the Bywater Pool – and The Water, which is only a little stream, hardly any fish to be had from that, really. So, I guess we only enjoy fish every once in a while, when my father buys some from the market, on Fridays – but, we sometimes go swimming, in the shallows of the pool. It’s usually just the younger hobbits, none of the older ones really like water.”
“Swimming! Of course, we can go – hic – swimming tomorrow!” she said, slamming her mug on the table in her excitement. A brown liquid spilled out of it onto the table. “Say, that doesn’t – hic – look like water – but swimming! We can go right now! Oh, but we’re not dressed for it! Estella, you’ve got – hic – such a pretty dress on, I wouldn’t want it to be ruined! Isn’t Estella’s dress absolutely – hic – gorgeous, Merry?”
Merry had been staring at his cousin in astonishment at her actions. “Um, yeah – it’s, real pretty. A lovely shade of blue. Are you okay, Celandine?”
“Me? Why, I’m perfectly – hic – fine, dear Meriadoc!” she said, raising her mug in the air, and taking a long sip from it, “Mmm – nice, very nice that is. Estella – did I ever tell you, that you’re my – hic – best friend, in the whole Shire – no, the whole world, even!”
Celandine was waving her mug around, and taking long, extended drinks from it – and acting quite giddy, as well.
“Oh no,” Merry said, a grave look on his face.
“What?” Estella asked, “What is it?”
“She’s drunk – her mug. She got water, but someone’s switched it.”
“Doderic and Ilberic,” Estella said, noticing that the two lads in question were missing, as were Mentha and Melilot. She looked to the dance floor, and saw them waltzing with two unknown lasses – she also saw Pippin near the floor, and recognized the girl he was talking with as the one he’d danced with at the wedding, Diamond Took.
Merry grabbed Celandine’s mug, and stuck his finger in it – he brought it out, and tasted the brown liquid. “Ale,” he concluded.
“What? But – well, wasn’t that what you were drinking? How come you didn’t get drunk from it?”
“She drank it too quick – she must have still thought it was her water, though I don’t know why she didn’t notice the different taste of it. Come on, she’ll make a fool of herself if we leave her here.”
Each grabbing an arm, Merry and Estella were able to steer a tipsy Celandine away from the throng – a deserted table sat under a tree on the outskirts of the party, bathed in dim light. Estella sat with her, while Merry hurried off to retrieve some water.
“Well, I guess I should watch what I drink around Doderic and Ilberic from now on – who knows what I may already have ingested?” Estella said.
Celandine smiled, and laughed quietly to herself. She looked up at Estella, as if never having seen her before. “Hey – I’ve seen you before,” she said, pointing to her.
“Yes, Celandine – I’m Estella, remember?”
“No, I saw you – hic – at the wedding thing, for Rosie-Posie and Sammy-Wammy. You were – hic – in the wedding party, weren’t you?”
“Yes, yes I was,” she said, taking a handkerchief from the pocket of her dress and wiping it across Celandine’s sweat drenched face.
“You were – hic – very pretty. I remember, seeing you and Merry – hic – dance together.”
“Yes, I remember that. Anyway, Merry says that you’ll be fine soon – perhaps in a few hours, when you sleep it off.”
“Good lad, he – hic – is.”
“Oh yes! Very nice, I suppose – nice of him to help you out, in your condition.”
“Mm-hmm – he likes you, you know.”
“Oh? Well, that’s nice – I like him too. He’s not really that bad, once you get to know him. He jokes around a bit, but –”
“No, no, Estelly Welly!” she said, waving her hands about, “No, he really likes you! He told me – hic – himself, you know!” She giggled after she’d said this.
“What?” Estella said, confused.
“I know, I know! I don’t – hic – understand either!” she laughed giddily, “But that’s what Merry-dear said – oh, he’s such a – hic – dear isn’t he? My favorite cousin!” she said, her arms flailing through the air like a bird.
“C-celandine – maybe, you s-should calm down –”
“No, no, no! I – I have to tell you this! Doddie and Ilbie, they – hic – told me, on the day Merry-dear came to talkie to you! And they took – hic – me to their roomie – they said they wanted to stealie something! Those two jokers, they’re so – hic – funny!”
“W-what are you t-talking about?”
“And in their roomie, they told me, about why Merry-dear was there – he said to them, that he liked you, and wanted to – hic – get to know you better, silly head!” She laid back her head in laughter. “But Merry-dear said not to tell you – hic – so I shouldn’t tell you. But I already – hic – did that, didn’t I?”
Estella silently nodded.
“So, Estelly, you – hic – should get to know Merry-dear, for he’s such a sweetie. And if you – hic – married him, you and I would be cousins! Estelly and Merry! Estelly and Merry! That rhymes –” she said softly, before slumping over in a drunken slumber.
Estella sat there, saying nothing, staring at Celandine’s snoring form.
“Is she asleep?”
She looked up upon hearing the voice – it was Merry coming back, bearing two mugs of water. He handed one down to her. “Here, thought you might want a drink too. Do you have a handkerchief?”
“Oh, yes,” she said, taking from a pocket of her dress a lacy handkerchief. She handed it to him, and took from him the mug of water, saying, “Thank you.”
“So, how has she been? Anything ridiculous that she blathered on about?” he said, smiling – he dipped the handkerchief into his own mug of water, and with it dampened Celandine’s sweat-drenched brow.
“Oh, um – no, nothing. She, uh – she fell asleep, almost as soon as you left.”
“Good, I’d hoped she’d be able to sleep it off.”
“That’s why she wanted me to go fishing today,” Estella whispered softly.
“What about fishing?” Merry said, looking up at her.
“Oh – um, Celandine. She told me why – why she wanted to go fishing so badly. Before she fell asleep that is.”
“What’d she say – were you even able to understand it?”
“She, uh – she said, because she wanted to go swimming. She didn’t really like the fishing part, but she’d hoped that we could go swimming later.”
Merry only laughed. “Probably just part of her intoxication – nothing that makes any sense, I’m sure.”
“Yeah – nothing.”