Chapter 18. Skulking into Danger
When Estella awakened, in part from the painful intrusion of a thorn in her foot when she'd unconsciously tried to adjust her cramped position, she could still see daylight shining through the leaves, though it had a quality to it that spoke to her of late afternoon. Ferdi was still breathing slowly and evenly – not snoring, but genuinely asleep, she thought, and wondered curiously if he'd trained himself not to snore, somehow, or if he were naturally not a snorer?
Cautiously, she tested her sore ankle, prompting a twinge that made her bite her lip, hard, in her effort not to make a noise. She lay unmoving on her side for what felt like forever but was probably less than an hour. Just when she thought she might try to change position to gain some relief, she heard the sound of voices – Big Men, she deemed, from the noise of their passage, snapping twigs and swishing branches. Luckily, the sounds faded away without coming any nearer. Now she was twice as stiff as she'd started, once from lying without moving and twice from stiffening at the sound of ruffians so close by their hiding place.
Estella's strong will had been the despair of her mother, had secretly impressed her father, and had frustrated her brother Freddy no end when she insisted on tagging along after him and visiting cousins like Frodo Baggins and Merry Brandybuck and even Pippin Took who, though a bit younger than the others, was equally skilled at making mischief. Now she employed that will in helping her continue to lie absolutely still, listening to her companion's soft breathing, the sounds of birdsong, the rustles of passing animals, and the crashing of heavy bodies nearby. They must have gone to ground close to a path that Lotho's louts frequented.
She might have dozed at some point, for she became aware that she could no longer hear Ferdi's soft breathing. She started at the thought of being alone here, where Lotho's Men might stumble over her at any time. As her good sense reasserted itself (Don't be a ninny! What Man, however clumsy, is going to stroll through the middle of a bramble patch?), she felt Ferdi's arms tighten around her briefly in reassurance and then release her again. She hadn't heard him breathing because he was awake and listening to their surroundings, just as she had been.
'If I'd known we were so close to the path, I might have chosen differently,' he breathed in her ear. 'But then, I simply guided us to the first brambles I found, hoping to reach cover before the dawning.'
She turned her head to be able to use as low a voice as possible. 'And we almost did,' she said. 'But I've listened to several passers-by, and none have seen us...'
'Thus far,' he whispered.
She made a loose fist and hit him on the arm. 'Don't borrow trouble!'
'No,' he agreed. 'We've brought plenty with us, as it is.'
But more trouble was on the way. They heard barking, rapidly approaching, and Men's shouts, and a frantic rustling – and a rabbit ran right into their hiding place. The dog was not far behind. He yelped as he collided with the outermost layer of thorns and then barked and (from the sounds of it) began digging. Paralysed by fright and surprise, the rabbit cowered against Estella, its soft fur brushing against her hand.
'Come now, Killer!' a Man's voice said close behind the dog – too close!
Both hobbits froze. Estella even stopped breathing and closed her eyes. Would the Man see them?
'Come now!' the Man repeated. 'So he ran into the brambles, did he? How d'you expect to fetch your little friend out of there again? I'm not going to get myself all scratched to smidges for a morsel! Pah!' He spat in evident disgust.
'What is it, Ferny?' another voice said.
'Ran that rabbit to ground in the brambles,' the first voice said. 'Not worth the bother. If we go after it, it'll just run out the other end and be on its merry way.' He spat again. 'Useless cur!'
The outer edge of brambles jerked as the dog dodged his kick, but luckily, those hiding within remained well hidden.
When the heavy footsteps had died away, the rabbit's trembling stopped. Estella felt the tickle of its whiskers on her hand, and then it jerked in consternation and launched itself out of the brambles at top speed. She couldn't help laughing.
Ferdi must have felt her shaking, for his whisper came again. 'Is aught amiss?'
'Just a poor wee creature... p'rhaps it thought I was a fellow rabbit, from the fur I'm wearing, but then it got a whiff of you and bolted!'
She felt more than heard him chuckle. 'A whiff of me?' he whispered.
'Of a certain!' she said, using a backwoods Bolger's expression rather than a Tookish "Aye". 'I hate to tell you this, Uncle, but you're in sore need of a bath!'
'Am I?' Ferdi said. 'And what about you?'
'I smell like a rabbit!' Estella said, somehow injecting haughtiness into her whisper.
As twilight began to draw its shadows over the Wood, traffic on the path dwindled. Once darkness had fallen, they listened a long time but heard no more men. 'How's your nerve?' Ferdi said at last.
'My nerve?' Estella asked, confused.
'We can resume our travels if your ankle gives you no twinges.'
'Can we?'
'But you must be honest with me! You'll need two sound legs for some of the country we'll be crossing...'
Estella took some satisfaction from his use of "legs" instead of "limbs" as if she were a lad or a pony rather than a cumbersome lass who was putting him in danger.
'So – how is it?'
'My nerve, or my ankle?' she asked. He remained silent, waiting. At last, she said, 'It's better.'
'But not sound,' he pressed, correctly divining that she spoke of her ankle.
'Not quite.'
'Thank you for being truthful,' he said, 'and not giving in to the temptation to give me the answer you think I want to hear.'
'I think you want to hear the truth, actually,' Estella said. 'For 'tis my ankle that's weak, not my will... nor my nerve, either.'
'Very well,' he answered. 'We can go and look for another bramble patch, but there's no guarantee we'll find one nearby. A number of Men have walked right by us and not seen us, even the ones whose dog chased a rabbit into our midst. Although...'
'Although?'
'Although,' he said. 'Seeing as how we may have run out of food – if we preserve the shrooms for the daytime stretch of walking as we'd originally planned – and have to forage, I'm surprised you didn't catch our supper when you had the chance!'
'Catch my own little cousin for supper!' she said, pretending dismay. 'Why, we're wearing the same coat, we are!' She paused to listen, but it was only the breeze rustling the leaves above them. 'You go and forage all the foodstuffs you like, but leave my relations out of it!' And she subsided to a grumble while feeling his silent laughter surrounding her.
'Very well,' he repeated. 'If you've enough nerve to endure another day like this one, with noisy Men interrupting our well-earned rest, then I think we should stay here and call well enough "good".'
'Good,' she said, nodding against his arm.
'The Man in the Moon has already risen to begin his day,' he said. 'Just off the full... he should begin to light the sky, a little, soon even though the trees are hiding him. I think...' he paused and went on, '...if you have any personal business to take care of, now would be the best time. Once the Moon climbs higher in the sky, some Men might be inclined to tramp along the path once more. Just listen – hard! – for movement before you move, yourself.'
'I will,' she nodded.
She felt more than saw him pick up his walking stick from the ground and lift it over their heads, recreating the tunnel they had burrowed under. As he was making a path out of the brambles, she was already moving – loosening the strings fastening her cloak and lifting it over her head. Her legs were more vulnerable, but the rabbit skin protected the rest of her, and her hood could continue to offer Ferdi some protection, at least.
It was such a relief to be free of the thorny, scratchy, grabby brambles! Both hobbits exited to the left – away from the path – and then separated. Estella found a small stick, dug a hole under some ferns, relieved herself, and took care to cover the results.
When she returned to the "entrance" to their hideaway, Ferdi was waiting. He lifted the brambles with his stick and waited while she crawled under, then let the brambles down again. 'I'll be back soon with some roots and spring greens, I hope,' he said. 'Perhaps even a few strawberries to sweeten the pot.'
When he'd pressed a handful of bread-and-meat into her palm earlier, he'd told her it was the last. Apparently their journey had taken longer than he'd anticipated. They ought to have reached the borderland tomorrow, but they'd be resting an extra day for the sake of her dratted ankle. 'And we wouldn't want to put too much of a dent in our supply of mushrooms for the excellent Shirriff Tallow by eating too many of them...' she said in answer. 'For I don't fancy having to go back and gather more – and come down that hill a second time!'
'We certainly would not,' he answered. 'And you can breathe easy, for that hill is out of our way in any event!'
He did not warn her to stay as quiet as possible; nor did she warn him. She simply crawled into the middle of the bramble patch, made a small nest of bare ground, and curled herself small under her rabbit-fur cloak, the better to warm herself as the night's chill deepened. She did not ask for her hood, for she knew it would help Ferdi burrow more quickly into their shelter when he returned, which ought to add a small measure of safety to his efforts.
Despite her long sleep throughout the daylight hours (interrupted by noisy ruffians as it had been), she soon fell asleep. When she awakened again, the Moon was high in the sky, peeping down through the leaves, and Ferdi was easing himself into their hiding place. He froze, half-in and half-out, at the crashing approach of several Big Men on the nearby path, but luckily, the ruffians were relying on the Moon to light their way rather than carrying lanterns.
And grumbling about it! Estella stopped her mouth with her fist so they wouldn't hear her laugh. It wasn't funny, but somehow it was!
At last the Men were gone, and Ferdi wormed his way into the middle of the brambles where Estella waited, though he sat down close to her rather than in her lap. 'Success!' he said. 'Our feast awaits! And I took some time to scout a bit, and we're closer than I'd realised... and I was able to gather enough for tomorrow, and after tomorrow there'll be no need to gather more...' Late tomorrow or sometime the day after they should reach their destination, he meant, and her heart leapt within her.
'Then what are we waiting for?' she said.
'Indeed,' he answered, and she felt him fumble a cloth about the size of a large pocket-handkerchief into her lap, the four corners tied together. 'One for you,' he said, 'another for me, and two for the morrow.' She heard the soft rustle of her backpack as he tucked the remainder away.
She untied the corners of the cloth and surveyed the riches within with the help of her fingers and her nose. Roots there were; she wasn't sure what kind, but they were juicy and crunched between her teeth almost alarmingly, and so she made a conscious effort to chew as quietly as she might. There were several kinds of roots, one of which was somewhat sharp, one had a hint of sweetness, and another was spicy. The leafy greens were also a mix of flavours, some sweet and others tangy or sour. Some long, thin plants turned out to be wild onions. There was even a handful of wild strawberries, tiny but flavourful. Estella thought she might never have tasted such a wonderful, rich, abundant feast before, not even the one she remembered from old Bilbo's birthday party! Ferdibrand had also been one of the guests that night, one of the "gross" of hobbits invited to fill up Bilbo's whimsical number of guests. She wondered what he might be thinking... but she was soon to find out.
About halfway through her portion, she thought Ferdi said something about a wedding feast. 'I'm sorry?' she said. 'I didn't quite hear...'
'Today was the day,' Ferdi said. 'As I was out and about, digging for roots, I whiled away the time contemplating the calendar. Do you know what day it is?'
Estella shook her head. 'I've lost track,' she admitted. 'I don't even know if it's washing or ironing or mending or some other day!'
'Of course,' Ferdi answered. 'Rosie doesn't keep a calendar these days... no point in it. The Boss doesn't allow celebrations – he seems to find satisfaction in making Shire-folk as miserable as possible. And inside our borders,' (and she realised he meant the free Tookland), 'we must practise constant vigilance. Lotho's Men test our defences nearly every day, and we must keep on our toes and be ready for them. And in the Outer Shire, just as it is in the Woody End, no gatherings are allowed, so that means no birthday parties or other celebrations. No highdays. No feasts or remembrances.' She heard him sigh. He didn't start eating again, but he didn't speak, either. Just sat quietly, as if he were immersed in thought.
Estella listened to him not-eating and not-speaking for a long time. 'So what day is today on the calendar?' she asked at last.
'My wedding day,' Ferdi said, and Estella thought he suppressed a sigh. 'Last summer, we began our planning. What a grand affair it would have been! Nothing is too good for my sweet Nell...'
'But...' Estella said, her head a-whirl. Had she made him miss his own wedding by delaying his return to Tookland? She was horrified at the thought.
'But...' he echoed. 'Nobody's getting married these days. No celebrations are possible – have been possible – since Lotho closed all the inns and then closed down the borders,' he said. 'Himself is rather occupied with matters of safety and working out the answers to future problems ahead of time. He'd hardly take time away to marry off one of his daughters, now would he?'
Somehow she understood that he had refrained from speaking the name or title of the Thain, a name and title that were damningly Tookish in the midst of hostile territory where it was decidedly unhealthy to be a Took.
'I suppose he wouldn't,' she whispered. 'I'm sorry.'
She heard him huff very softly. 'Not half as sorry as I am,' he said. 'Ah well, it cannot be helped, I suppose. We can always hope... sometimes that's all we can do. That, and work towards the future...' She looked over at him and saw his teeth gleaming in the darkness as he grinned at her. 'And be a thorn in the Boss's side so much as possible.'
'We'll just chuck him into the middle of a bramble patch without a rabbit-skin cloak, shall we, Uncle?' she said.
'I like the way you think, lad,' Ferdi said. 'Keep it up, and I've no doubt you'll go far.'
***