Here’s the next installment! Enjoy!
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A Light In Dark Places – Chapter II
It was late morning when Diamond awoke, not of her own accord, but of the sounds of many pounding feet outside her door, which raced through the hallway, down the large flight of stairs and into the living area. Several watchful pairs of eyes, of which Diamond’s was not included, gazed upon the sight of a stranger talking with the leader of the household, a Mr. Fastolph Took – the stranger had the look of a long journey upon him, evident by the dust all over his riding clothes, and the mud which caked his feet, and indeed, did not stop at his feet, but covered halfway up his leg and was nearly to his knees.
“It’s happened!” he said shakily, in an excited tone that was the result of events long hoped for, “They’ve beaten back the Ruffians! Down in Hobbiton, it was, and Bywater, too – the Battle of Bywater, they’re calling it!” He waved his arms about as he said this, his eyes wild with expression.
The hobbits gathered in the foyer let loose a collective gasp, and begun to whisper amongst themselves before Fastolph spoke above them. “How many were there? Were any hobbits hurt?” he asked pensively.
“A few, I heard, though I saw it not. But I heard it from one who did – like two forces meeting in the darkness, they described it, and when they clashed it was like the booming of thunder – there was death on the air, but more than that was hope, and freedom!” His eyes were wild with excitement as he waved his arms through the air.
Fastolph replied to this comment, but he might as well have not, for the chatter that it set off was so great that no one even heard it – Amethyst and Garnet, the two eldest of the Took daughters, set into a rant that, as usual, involved only themselves.
“Well it’s about time they got rid of those foul demons – invading our Shire like they did, how could they expect any less?”
“If you ask me, they probably thought we were powerless little halflings, unable to defend ourselves.”
“Well, that statement would apply to you two as well,” their brother Fosco Took said from behind them, “Seeing as how you couldn’t defend yourselves against a spider if it landed on your dress.”
The two girls looked at him as though he might have been mud on the bottom of their feet – their mouths were twisted in expressions of distaste, and pointing their noses snootily into the air, they exited the foyer.
“Stuck-up brats,” he commented once they were gone, and was making to go after them with clenched fists when he was stopped by his father’s hand upon his shoulder.
“Don’t go tweaking their noses, son,” Fastolph said gently.
“But you saw the way they behaved, treating everyone around them as though they’re so much better – someone needs to tell them what’s what.”
“I suppose you may be right, but perhaps it’s something all lasses go through – have you not considered things from their point of view?”
“Diamond and Ruby don’t act like that.”
“Diamond and Ruby aren’t as old as they – you must remember, they’re of marrying age, so perhaps this is their way of attracting a husband.”
“Doesn’t seem to be working, though – I know I wouldn’t be attracted to them.”
“Either way, though, you have no reason to be provoking them – perhaps they are a little patronizing towards others, but you wouldn’t want to influence Diamond and Ruby with your own condescending behavior. Remember, you are their elder brother as well as Amethyst’s and Garnet’s – as I am their father.”
Fosco sighed, and nodded at his father’s remark before making his way out of the foyer and into the winding hallways of the hole. He passed by the various rooms and halls of the Smials – all members of the Took family could be seen out and about, preparing for the oncoming day with excitement – it seemed the news of the Ruffians’ absence had made its way throughout the hole.
On the upper floors were the quarters of Fastolph and his family, which included his wife Camellia, as well as Fosco and his sisters – it was fairly empty, as most everyone was in the dining hall for breakfast – everyone except his sister, Diamond, currently in her room, sitting before the wooden table beside her bookshelf.
“You’re not interested in breakfast?” he said whilst standing in the open doorway – she did not look up from her task, though.
“Everyone’s going to be down there, chattering on about the big news – I don’t want to be there, to be part of that chaos,” she said without turning her head.
“It’s your family, not a mess of chaos,” he said, entering the dimly lit room, “I know you prefer silence and solitude, but come down – I don’t recall seeing you at breakfast yesterday, nor at lunch – you must be quite hungry by now.”
“I’m all right – remember, I eat books instead of food,” she said, grinning.
He shook his head, and chuckled to himself, knowing her statements to be quite true. Looking down to the piece of parchment before her, he spoke once more. “Writing something?”
She grinned slightly, folding the parchment and slipping it into a desk drawer. “Nothing at all, really – just random thoughts.”
“Anything you’d like me to read?” he said, smiling – Diamond was known as quite the scholarly type, penning poems and short stories during her leisure time. Fosco was one of the few that she would ever allow see her writings, as well as one of the few who had ever desired to do so. “What’s it about this time? A story based on a dream you had? A poem that rambles on about the tree outside your window? Your writings are quite good, but they often make no sense.”
“Fine,” she sighed, and opened the desk drawer once more, “Here, read it if you wish, I’m going down to breakfast,” she said, and thrust the parchment into his hand before exiting the room.
Fingering the slip of paper gently, Fosco opened it, and read the words written in Diamond’s usual curving script.
‘From distant lands they come afar
With curling smoke upon the air
And cries of war that stretch the sky
Run cross the land on hasty wings
Oh! come the four of weary feet
That trek so far away from home
Tall both of heart and height they are
Who fight so hard for native soil.’
Like most of his sister’s writings it made little sense – most likely based on one of her many unexplainable intuitions – but it was by no means mediocre, and placing it on the top of her writing desk, he made his way down to the dining hall where there was no doubt a great host of hobbits present, unable to keep quiet about the exciting news.