Flowers, Gems And Estella - Chapter XIX
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“And then,” Pippin said, waving his arms through the hair to emphasize his point, “They dragged me in the kitchen, and proceeded to get me soaking wet, or as they called it, getting me a glass of water!” Pippin’s hair was still slightly damp as he told the story of his visit with Mentha and Melilot to Merry later on that day. “I don’t know how you can stand being related to them.”
“Oh yeah? Well, what about your sisters – I find them quite fearful, and there’s three of them! There’s only two of Mentha and Mellie.”
“Hmm,” Pippin pondered, his hand on his chin, “You have a point there. But still, they’re no walk in the park.”
Merry nodded in agreement. “So, you say Estella was there?”
Pippin sighed. “A hundred times, yes Merry! And no, she didn’t say anything to me – well, she did say something, but nothing more than hello, and why don’t you go in the kitchen with Mentha, Pippin?” he said, imitating Estella with a high-pitched girly voice that sounded nothing like her. “You sure about this – about how you feel for her, I mean?”
“I already told you, Pippin, I’ve never been more sure about anything else!”
“Well then, why don’t you tell her?”
“Because,” he stopped short here for a moment, “Because I don’t want to hurt her – it’s too soon, Pip. We’ve all been through too much, to be starting over this soon.”
“Well – it’s been a year, and we’re fine, aren’t we?”
“Maybe – but maybe not. I mean, we seem fine, on the outside – Frodo seems fine on the outside, but how can he possibly ever be that way, when you consider what he’s been through. And Sam – if Frodo’s not fine, then Sam never will be. He has Rose, and they’ll have a family, and some of that pain will heal – but not completely! And I – I will never forget the things that I saw.” He broke off, saying nothing else for quite a while – his eyes had a glazed look over them, and Pippin knew what it was he was seeing – a great and terrible battle, on the fields of Pelennor, where so many lives were lost. Families were torn apart, friends were gone forever – never again would their lives be the same, after such an experience.
“Merry?” Pippin asked quietly.
He jolted back to the present, not even aware that he’d gone off in a daze. “And what they went through – did you know, Pippin, that the Ruffians hung hobbits from the party tree?”
“Yes, Merry, unfortunately I did.”
“You don’t walk away from something like that, and still be able to keep an innocent mind about you, Pippin – it’s just not possible!”
“And that’s why you’re not going to admit your feelings to Estella until you think she’s ready?”
“Right – I don’t want to scare her away. For now, we’re just friends, and I’m good with that.”
Pippin laughed heartily. “You’re too slow with the lasses, Merry – but maybe it’s just because you’re so madly in love with the lass, whereas I hardly know Diamond.”
“Diamond?” Merry said intriguingly, his eyebrows raised, “And who might this Diamond lass be, dear Peregrin?”
Pippin only smiled, looking down at the glass of ale he held in his hand. “Well – okay. Her name’s Diamond Took, and she’s from up in Long Cleeve, near Scary. We’re distantly related, as she’s a descendent of Bandobras Took, brother of Ferumbras II from whom I’m descendant. Her family is rather like ours is in the East Farthing, only they’re in the North Farthing – they have something like Great Smials up there. We visit every now and then, about once a year – they come down in the fall months, we go up there in the spring. We knew each other, but I never really noticed her, until this most recent spring – the first spring after the Occupation, and after we came back.”
“And, as the saying goes, love flowered in Long Cleeve?”
“I’ve never heard of such a saying, but,” Pippin said, neither denying nor agreeing with statement, “Sort of. I invited her down to Hobbiton, to Sam and Rosie’s wedding – you saw her there, with me.” Merry nodded. “And, well – ever since, we’ve been seeing each other as often as we can. Not often, mind you, only about once or twice a month.”
“And you invited her to the Midsummer’s Festival. Well, Pip, it seems to me like you’re smitten – although I’m sure you’d say different.”
“Well – I wouldn’t mind being smitten with Diamond. She’s a sweet lass – we’ll just wait to see what happens, won’t we?”
Merry had several ideas as to what might happen if they waited – wait until she realized what a slob Pippin was, or wait until the two of them were married happily, with a shower of blossoms and the happy faces on family and friends looking on – it was still too early to tell, however. He said nothing, hoping not to put a damper on Pippin’s chipper enthusiasm.
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Adjusting her straw hat and looking around to see that no one was watching her, Estella snuck a ripe strawberry from her basket and cunningly stuck it in her mouth, savoring the delicious juice before swallowing it. Hearing now shriek of protest from Mentha and Melilot, she felt certain her deep had gone unnoticed.
“I saw that, Estella,” she heard Celandine say from across the way. She looked up to see the lass, standing on the other side of the row of strawberries, that they were currently picking from.
“And you’ve never snuck one yourself?” Estella said back to her, for not minutes ago she had witnessed Celandine doing the same thing not once, but twice. She moved the straw hat atop her head to shade out the bright summer sun, which had been shining in her eyes so as to prevent her from viewing the blameworthy look on Celandine’s face.
“Well, I didn’t say anything like, ‘Shame on you, Estella, for I have never taken a strawberry whilst picking them from the orchards,’ I just commented on the fact that I did see it – and I thought you were a good little lass,” she said, smiling slyly, “You and Merry certainly have more in common than I thought.”
‘“You mean he’s also stolen a strawberry or two?”
“Or two? Why, when he was twelve, he stole all the strawberries from the pantries of Brandy Hall – it was at a birthday party for his father, and by the end of the evening, he’d eaten nearly every one, and his plot was discovered when the cooks found him still in the pantry with sticky red juice that stained his face and clothes.”
“Wasn’t he at all sick?” Estella said with an almost worried look on her face.
“Concerned, dear Estella?” she said, once again smiling slyly as a slight chuckle escaped her mouth, “I remember him feeling quite sick, as it was nearly a full barrel of strawberries. His mother, I believe, was in favor of punishing him, but seeing the pain he was in with a terrible stomachache, she relented in allowing him to spend the next two days bedridden – I think all he had to do afterwards was sweep out the pantry from the mess he’d made, and collect more strawberries, most of which he ate. You’d have thought it was the worst punishment ever, from the way he was acting.”
Estella laughed heartily, continuing the pick the ripe red strawberries from the vine – she moved down the row, preparing to pick from a vine she thought was untouched. However, there was not a berry on it, or on the one next to it.
“Celandine, had you already picked this one?” Estella queried.
“No, I haven’t been on that side of the row at all,” she said, looking over at the vine, seeing that it was void of fruit, “Are you sure you hadn’t picked it?”
“I’m pretty sure, unless –” she broke off, noticing that the vine was quivering slightly, as if it were alive – muffled laughter issued from it, prompting Estella to look within the curling vines. Crouched below, his face covered with red juice, was Ilberic, giggling to himself as he slurped down strawberries.
“Hi, Estella,” he said, looking up, smiling innocently. He wiped sticky red juice from his mouth and chin, wiping it on his shirt, which was already stained.
“Hello, Ilberic,” she said back, attempting to look down on him with a stern face – an amused smile soon broke out on her face, though, running her façade, “Is Doderic around at all?” she asked.
“Uh, yeah,” he said, now standing up and wrenching himself out of the tangled row of vines – a flattened mass of green and red lay where he had been sitting earlier, “He’s, uh, he’s somewhere, around here – um, eating strawberries, I guess.”
“Here he is,” Celandine announced, standing a ways from Estella, looking down on Doderic’s form, crouched in the row similarly to his brother.
“Looks like the game is up, Ilb,” he said, dusting himself off upon standing and wiping sticky red fluid from his face.
“Estella the tattletale,” Doderic said threateningly, looking to Estella with offended eyes.
“Just like Celandine,” Ilberic said, agreeing.
“When have I ever been a tattletale? I think you two are just mad, because we outed you in your plot.”
“Oh yeah? Estella knows what we’re talking about, don’t you, Estella?”
“I do?” In truth, she knew exactly what they were talking about – Celandine’s bout of drunkenness, and her blabbing Merry’s secret of romantic feelings.
“Don’t fool us, Estella – remember when Celandine got drunk, and she told you a secret about you-know-who?”
Estella immediately looked to see if Mentha and Melilot were nearby – they were down the row a ways, far from earshot of their conversation, which was quickly becoming awkward for her.
“Go on, Estella, tell Celandine what we’re talking about,” Doderic said, looking at her with raised eyebrows.
“Yes, Estella, do tell,” Celandine said also – her face closely matched her brother’s, “I’m curious to know exactly what I said that you didn’t deem it necessary for me to know.” She crossed her arms sternly as she said this.
“Well, why are you looking at me like that? You’re the one who said it, and you’re the one who got drunk – not a very ladylike performance, don’t you think?”
“But I asked you if I’d said or done anything to embarrass myself, or to embarrass you, or anyone else that wasn’t Doderic or Ilberic!”
“Hey!”
“But it didn’t embarrass you, or me, or anybody else – not even your brothers, who would have deserved it anyway.”
“Hey!”
“Well then what was it?”
Estella sighed then, admitting that she had come upon the point where she would have to tell Celandine what she’d said, casting a severe look at Doderic and Ilberic beforehand. “Well, you two are certainly a big help to me – you said, at the party, in your inebriated state – well, it was a secret.”
“What? Did it involve me?” she asked, looking worried.
“No! No – it was a secret not your own. You said – you said something about Merry.”
“Yes?” she said, nodding further details.
“Something about Merry – liking me,” she finished, and lowered her head to prepare for the outburst she expected from Celandine.
“That’s all? Well, by the way you were acting I thought I’d said something terrible – something about me.”
Estella, Doderic and Ilberic all had the same expression on their faces – one of complete disbelief, that Celandine would take the news with such indifference.
“Aren’t you at all concerned?” Estella asked.
“Well, yeah, somewhat – I mean, you weren’t supposed to know that, but it’s okay, because you feel the same way, right?” Estella shook her head, a confused look on her face. “You don’t? But – but why?”
“Well, you can’t force love out of someone, just because you want them to feel that way – I like Merry as a really great friend, but nothing more. There’s nothing really the matter with that.”
“Exactly what we told you about, Estella – if you don’t feel the same way, then don’t make yourself love him out of pity. Very good, very good,” Doderic said, his expression very different from the one he’d held earlier.
“You told them before you told me?” Celandine said, a slightly angry tone to her voice but a small grin on her face nonetheless.
“Well,” Estella said, shrugging, “You were asleep at the time – and I needed someone to talk to about it. I’ll admit, your brothers aren’t exactly the best choices –”
“Hey!”
“But please don’t be mad – I’m sure you’re as confused as I about all this!”
“Well, this news that you don’t feel the same way does put a damper on my plans –”
“Plans?” Estella, Doderic and Ilberic all asked.
“You see, I was planning for you and Merry to be together by the time of his birthday party – I’ve known that he likes you for quite a while, even before you came to Buckland. Oh, he didn’t tell me himself,” she said, noting the looks on the faces of her brothers, “No, I noticed it at Sam and Rosie’s wedding, when the two of you danced. That was when I knew, you see.”
“Yeah, but what’s this about plans?” Estella said, fully concerned.
“Well, according to my calculated plan, you and Merry would be together by the time of his party, and that was when he would propose to you! But sometime ago, I realized that wouldn’t happen – it was a few weeks ago, when you two still hadn’t gotten together. And even if you had by now, the party would be too soon for that, you know – don’t want to rush the relationship.”
“Because how can you rush what doesn’t exist?” Estella asked.
Celandine ignored, continuing with her complicated ideas of romance. “And now, it’s really too soon – but I think we can have you two get together by the night of his party, maybe even at the party, which would be really sweet! Perhaps, by the time of the Harvest Festival, he could propose – and you could leave for home with a fiancé! Doesn’t that sound nice?”
“That sounds like something my mother would concoct,” Estella admitted with a fearful tone.
“But now, that’s all going to pieces, because you don’t like Merry, like I wanted you to! Why not, Estella? He’s awfully sweet, and very nice – and rather good looking, although I don’t really think about that, seeing as how he’s my cousin and all. That’s like me thinking Doderic and Ilberic were handsome!”
“Hey!”
“But it’s okay!” she said almost as a way to calm herself, “We’re just going to have to work smarter.”
Estella shook her head – it seemed Celandine would not take no for answer.