Huzzah! Another chapter!
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A Light In Dark Places – Chapter III
Home looked much as it ever had, much as he’d remembered – the front door, though perhaps showing its old age by the scratch marks here and there, was the same vibrant red hue that it had always had been. Change, however, had occurred, as there was evidence of scorch marks upon the aged wood.
Did the Ruffians try to burn the Great Smials? Pippin pondered as he stood before the door for the first time in over a year – he shook his head, expelling the thought from his mind. The Smials had stood for much longer than he’d ever been alive, since before the time of the Old Took – his own life paled in comparison to it, for he would live perhaps no more than a hundred-and-ten, whereas the hole had stood for countless years. It would no doubt be here when he was gone and his sons were grown.
This hole has seen countless generations of Tooks, old and young, pass through its halls – lads who grow up to become Thains, lasses who may leave to marry, or perhaps stay and keep up the place. Entering the hole, he was reminded of how he once claimed to be able to navigate the Smials with his eyes closed – shutting his eyelids, he tested this hypothesis now. Through the foyer he marched, and into the main hall that branched off to several passages and rooms – the kitchen he recognized to his left, and could smell the familiar scent of bread baking in the oven for the day’s luncheon. Directly in front of him was the massive dining hall, its height perhaps rivaled only by
Brandy Hall’s own refectory – Pippin had never taken the effort to actually measure how big the two rooms were, but he suspected that they differed by only a few feet at the most.
To the right of that, past the entryway that lead to the living room, was a long tube-shaped passage that directed into the rest of the quarters – the bedrooms of the hole’s inhabitants, and various other rooms, such as the library and study. The quarters of Paladin and his family were on the first floor, almost directly off from the main hall. Five dormitories and a private common room, mostly for reading and smoking, and other intimate gatherings between members of the Thain’s family – it was no difficult task for Pippin to navigate these rooms, though having bumped into walls a couple times, most likely the result of his long vacation, as his sisters referred to it.
“So, little Peregrin’s back, eh?” Pervinca had first said to him, a tight, fake smile upon her face, “Where have you been, widdle bitty baby Pippy?”
It was nothing out of the ordinary, though – Pervinca had been cruel to him since the day he was born, most likely since it was his birth that made him the youngest and not she. A fact that Merry should be happy that he does not have to deal with. Now, a week later, everything was more or less back to the way it was – his sisters ignored him, and as usual, he cared not, sneaking off to The Green Dragon or to lift some mushrooms from Farmer Maggot’s with Merry.
Maggot seemed to have forgotten all about us, Pippin thought, entering his own familiar room. It was never easier to slip past his dogs than it was that time – in time, though, everything will be the same again. Sighing, he threw himself upon the soft featherbed – it quaked in the sudden weight, before settling down once more. Like our Shire – a storm of controversy has no doubt accompanied our return, but it will soon die down, though perhaps they will never truly forget it – there are those who still speak of Bilbo’s disappearance all those years ago.
“Ah, it’s so good to be home,” he sighed, and resting his hands behind his head, snuggled into the warmth – his eyes eventually closed over in slumber, and he fell asleep.
Some time later – he knew not how long, though the sun had apparently set, judging by the darkness outside – he was awakened by a knock on the door outside. Snorting, he jumped up in bed. “Whosat?” he said sleepily, rubbing his eyes, unable to see in the darkness.
“Peregrin?” a voice said from the hallway, one that he recognized as his mother’s, “You missed luncheon and dinner – will you be attending supper?”
“Yes!” he said, jumping out of bed as fast as he could and immediately tripping, falling head first beside the feathery mattress, “Yes, I-I’ll be there,” he said pitifully from his place on the floor.
“All right, I’ll see you there.” The sound of footsteps retreated from his door, and he stood up as best he could, tousled in the covers that he’d tripped over. He felt around for the candle he knew to usually be beside his bed. Someone may have moved it – during the Occupation, people were locked in their homes, and firewood was no doubt scarce. And with a little candle such as mine – it would not surprise me if Pervinca had lifted it. He soon found it though, and lighting it, rose from his place on the floor – there were several covers and sheets tangled about his feet, as well as on the bed. Sighing once more, he unraveled himself and exited the room.
Most of the Tooks were already gathered in the dining hall once he arrived – few looked up upon his arrival, perhaps long used to his absence before then.
“Peregrin, there you are!” his father exclaimed heartily as his son sat down beside him.
“You missed luncheon – everyone was worried about you, dear,” his mother said from across the table, sitting on the other side of Paladin.
“Well, maybe not everyone,” he said, looking to his sisters who were content in ignoring him.
“You’re a growing boy, lad – meat and potatoes, that’s what you need. Most unnatural it is, for a hobbit of your age and size to not want to eat,” he said, taking another sip from his ale, “That must have been some traveling that you did, for you to get so thin and scrawny while you were away!”
“Are you quite all right, Peregrin?” his mother asked of him.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine – just let me eat, I’ll be good as new.”
“Or not,” Pervinca sneered from further down the table, “The lad’s such a gaunt thing – why, I’d venture to guess that he’s no longer as tall as he is wide.”
“Now, now, Pervinca,”
Took said, “Peregrin’s always been a little small for his age – no need to make fun of him for it.”
“Aw, he doesn’t care what I say about him,” she said, and launched back into conversation with her cousin, Angelica Took, next to her. Pippin was able to catch small snatches of their talk, and paid no mind to what he heard – the two were discussing distant cousins Amethyst and Garnet Took, for reasons he did not know nor care for.
“I see they’re excited about Fastolph and his family coming for the yearly visit,” Eglantine commented of the two lasses, “What about you, Pippin?”
“Huh? What about me?” he said, looking up from his plate with a fragment of food inches from his mouth.
Took sighed – her son, though gone for over a year, did not seem to have changed in the least little bit. “The upcoming visit with our family in the North Farthing, of course – they’ll be here in less than a month, I believe.”
“You mean we’re still doing that old thing?”
“Peregrin!” his father exclaimed beside him, “We Tooks have been doing that old thing since the days of Isengrim II, visiting our northern cousins – with the exception of the previous year, it is a tradition that we have upheld, and will continue to upheld well into the future.” Pippin could tell the implication in his father’s words – that even when his father was dead and he himself was Thain, the tradition would still be in place.
“Well, why didn’t you visit one another last year?”
His father fell silent, judging his words most carefully. “As you might know, our entire Shire suffered great losses – we had family in the Lockholes at
Michel Delving, many of our crops were destroyed, not to mention other hardships.” His face fell as he spoke, as did his wife’s. “The North-Tooks, though having not suffered as greatly we did, agreed that it was not in the best interest of our families that we travel just then – it was dangerous at that time to trek throughout, what with Ruffians willing to rob and kill all who even dared to venture outside their homes.”
“Terrible, terrible times,”
Took said sadly, shaking her head.
“But now, it is important to strengthen those ties between our families – we need their assistance, as much as we need any other family’s help, to heal the wounds our Shire has suffered.”
“And that’s why I, as the future Thain, should help to strengthen these bonds, for the good of the future,” Pippin said.
“Exactly – now you’re thinking strategically, my lad.” Paladin said little more after that, apparently content with himself. Pippin, though, was a different matter – he had never seen any benefit in these visits, and tried more than once to shirk off when it came time for his family to travel to Long Cleeve. There was no relenting in Paladin’s stance, though, and Pippin was forced every spring to travel up North when he would rather spend time with Merry at The Green Dragon, or pinching mushrooms from Maggot’s fields.
He sighed, and took a sip of the potato soup before him. “It’s so good to be home,” he mumbled after swallowing.