Ch2.
“Frodo… Merry, are you here?” the puzzled hobbits pushed open the door and called for their friends.
“Yeah, we’re back here… we are unpacking,” Frodo called to Pippin and Sam.
Frodo and Merry stood above open suitcases in the one bedroom of the large suite. Merry was tugging at the worn corner of a pillow, trying to get it out from under three layers of folded clothes. “Gahh, I need a bigger suitcase,” he struggled with his pillow for another second before ripping through the clothing and pulling it out of the bottom.
Frodo looked up as his companions walked through the small kitchen into the back of the suite, where the beds were lined up in a neat row shadowed by highly placed windows that showed only a little sunlight, giving the room a dim glow.
“What’s up?” Frodo asked at the slightly crazed expressions that Sam and Pippin were obviously trying to hide.
“Oh, nothing…” Sam started only to be interrupted by Pippin who launched into explaining the entire ordeal.
As Pippin told Merry and Frodo about the weird encounter they had in the lower dining room of the inn, the more it seemed like some coincidence. It probably meant nothing. As the four hobbits relaxed in the room, all suspicious thoughts about the previous events melted and were forgotten.
The friends had spent hours chatting about previous encounters during the journey that had taken place only a few weeks before. After what seemed like years of silence after a finished conversation, Pippin got up to leave.
“Where are you going?” said Merry, surprised by the sudden movement of his companion.
“Oh,” said Pippin, “I was heading around the street corner to see if I could get something for my headache.” Pippin looked paler than usual, his skin pulled tight across his brow. He winced as he kicked the end table by the door. “And something for my leg,” he said through clenched teeth. He turned and shuffled through the door muttering something about truly being a fool of a Took.
With a worried expression on his face Sam stood and followed Pippin. “I’ll go with him,” he said to Merry and Frodo as he turned around into the hallway, “Make sure he’s okay.”
Merry got up as well, but instead of moving towards the exit he headed for his suitcase and pulled out a huge, dusty book from a large pocket that was tearing at the seams from trying to contain the antique.
Frodo stared at the book with an expression of bewilderment. “Umm, what is that for?” he asked Merry.
“Oh, this?” Merry grinned at Frodo’s look of awe. “Just an old book, I thought I’d do a little reading in my spare time. I found it in an old trunk in the attic. It’s really nothing special.”
“What kind of book is it?” Frodo asked still a little taken aback to see his well-known friend curled up on his bed with a book on his pillow. He went over to where Merry lay on his stomach, the book flopped open to a yellowed page smeared with something suspicious looking.
“Like I said, nothing special,” Merry looked up blushing. Set out before his friend was the biggest most detailed cook book that Frodo had ever seen. Page after page was decorated by odd patterns of leafy vines that bordered the most intricate of recipes. There were pictures to accompany the instructions as well.
Frodo sat down beside Merry and as the pages slowly turned and the minutes ticked slowly past the two friends barely noticed that Sam and Pippin where still missing.