...and...

Chapter 7. ...and...

Burned and battered, aching in every muscle, his mind strangely blank, a hobbit had awakened face-down in a growing puddle as rain bucketed down around him. He had convulsively rolled over, coughed, choked, fought for air. Tried to rise – to no avail. Blindly groped all about himself, finding only water and mud. Some compulsion had driven him to roll back to his hands and knees, but they would not bear him up for more than a few seconds before he collapsed face-down in water once more. Somehow, though he had not the words to formulate the thought, he had realised that water and life were not compatible. He had reached forward as far as he could, tortured muscles and joints protesting, grasped at the ground, and dragged himself forward. Again and again, he had repeated the effort, mindless but determined.

He had not been aware when the mud and water beneath him became moss and then a thick, wet layer of duff, with its mixture of decaying leaves, needles and branches. His fingers had dug into the duff, past the soaked surface and into the dry part, yet his mind had not noticed the difference – or even that the puddled water that had threatened him was well behind him now – but drove him onward, ever onward, even as pain wracked his body and he sobbed for breath. He crawled unthinkingly, like a wounded animal, ever onward, stopping only when he swooned. Every time he came to himself again, he dragged himself onward once more. All was darkness around him, and he was thus unaware when the light returned after the dark clouds passed, and of the later darkness that fell, followed by light, and then darkness, light again, and darkness, and finally, when his leaden limbs at last refused to obey him, he knew not the return of the light, for he still could not see.   

When his strength failed at last, he lay, covered (though he did not know it; could not feel it) in wet leaves and hidden by the brambles he'd crawled under, all unknowing. All was darkness around him, within and without. Nor had he, with his blasted, deafened ears, heard the voices calling, sometimes nearer and then farther, or the sounds made by hobbits thrusting their way through the undergrowth as they searched. For his world had gone silent as well as dark, within and without, with neither thoughts nor words remaining.

*** 

'We searched,' Hawfinch said, 'both in the Wood, in a growing circle starting from where the injured pony was found, as well as in and around the bog where his hat was found.'

Ferdi, seeming stunned, sank back into his chair as the Shirriff continued his narrative.

They'd tentatively connected the hat to the saddlebags on the injured pony in the Wood even as Hawfinch acknowledged that it was only a guess. As the Shirriff explained the actions he and the hobbits who'd responded to his summons had taken after finding the hat in the bog, Sam moved forward and placed the hat on the Thain's desk. Pippin picked up the hat and looked at Ferdi. 'Would you be able to tell if it's his?' he said.

Ferdi shook his head, passed his hand over his eyes, and said, simply, 'Rusty.'

Regi rose immediately, went to the study door and yanked it open precipitously. He told Isen, the startled Messenger standing just outside the door, 'Fetch Rusty Stubbletoes. Quickly!'

Pippin waited to speak until Regi had closed the door and returned to his desk. Then he cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention. 'But if the pony survived the lightning bolt,' the Thain argued, 'then surely his rider...'

'We don't know!' the Shirriff said, frustrated. 'Had he dismounted? Was he standing beside the beast, or a few steps away? Was he closer to the tree the lightning struck – and so it burned him to coals but left the pony alive?'

'Lightning doesn't burn a body to coals,' Pippin argued. 'At least, I've never seen such a thing.'

'And how many bodies of hobbits – or any other creature, for that matter – that have been struck by lightning have you seen?' Regi asked quietly, adding, 'Sir. I mean no disrespect, but we must be practical here.'

'How many have you seen yourself?' Pippin countered. Then he turned back to the Shirriff and said, 'Were you able to determine if the lightning bolt struck the pony directly? Even there in the Wood?'

'There's a burn mark on a nearby tree,' Hawfinch answered. 'We suspect – though there's no way of knowing for certain – that the lightning struck the tree, which acted as a guide, bringing the bolt to the pony – and, we guessed, its rider.' He paused, then added, 'Perhaps he was less injured than the pony, and was able to stagger away... He might have been disoriented, gone in search of help, and blundered into the bog...? But then, that's just more guesswork.'

There was a sharp rap on the door, and then it opened and Rusty, who served both Tolly's and Ferdi's families, entered. His eyes went first to Ferdi, but that hobbit had a hand over his eyes as if his head pained him. Then he saw the Thain beckon to him. 'Sir,' he said. 'How can I be of service?'

'Here,' Pippin said, lifting the hat. 'I have a hat here that I'd like you to identify for me.'

'A hat?' Rusty said, mystified. But he came forward and accepted the hat from the Thain and turned it over. His face cleared. 'O this is Master Tolibold's hat,' he said. 'O' course.' He looked up. 'Did he lose it somewhere, and they wanted to know who to return it to?'

'How do you know it's Tolly's?' the Thain asked.

Rusty pointed to a mark on the inner band inside the hat. 'That's his mark, Sir. I mark all clothing items when they're acquired so that if something's sent out for cleaning or repair, I can verify that it belongs to one of the hobbits I serve.'

'So it's Tolly's hat,' the Thain said to no one. Before anyone else could say anything, he looked to Rusty. 'Thank you for your help, Rus,' he said. 'You may go back to what you were doing, and please accept our apologies for interrupting your work.'

'No apologies necessary,' Rusty said. He bowed to the Thain and Steward, looked uncertainly towards Ferdi, whose hand still covered his eyes, nodded to the others in the room, and moved to the door. As he exited, he said, 'Thank you, Sir,' though it was fairly clear that he wasn't quite sure why he was thanking the Thain, and he was wondering how Tolly's hat fit into the picture. 

After the door closed behind the hobbitservant, Pippin addressed the Shirriff. 'What I'd like to know is how Tolly's hat ended floating in the bog while his pony was found injured and struck by lightning in the Wood!'

Hawfinch threw up his hands. 'Did they take the wrong path and blunder into the bog?' he said. 'Did the pony leave his rider to sink and drown, and flee to the Wood, only to be caught by the storm?' He shook his head in frustration. 'Was he, as I said earlier, perhaps less injured than the pony, and able to stagger away, and blundered into the bog...?' His gaze swept the others in the room. 'Was he even there at all? The only solid evidence we have is the pony!'

And his hat was the unspoken thought that hung in the room.

'What tracks did you find?' Ferdi put in, uncovering his eyes. 'What story did they tell?'

The Shirriff shook his head. 'The storm brought with it winds and heavy downpours,' he said. 'Any sign that might have been left was washed away.'

Ferdi stood to his feet and looked to the Thain. 'I would like to go,' he said. 'Hang tradition! Please,' he said, 'my Nell will understand,' his voice was almost pleading as he ended, 'surely she'll understand...'

Pippin nodded, exchanged glances with Reginard, and nodded again. 'Go,' he said quietly, and then stronger, 'Go at once! I will explain to my sister...' And to Hawfinch, he said, 'I want you to take the fastest ponies in our stables, and ride at all speed... Ride one and lead another, so that you may go faster by changing ponies as you go. Ferdi is the best tracker in the Tookland, and if the rain and the storm have left any sign at all, he will be the one to find it.'

Though the Shirriff seemed bewildered at this turn of events, Mayor Sam took him by the arm and guided him out of the study, then pulled him along to the stables in Ferdi's wake, for the Thain's special assistant had run ahead to arrange for the ponies the Thain had ordered.

By the time Ferdi and Hawfinch galloped out of the courtyard, each leading a relief mount, a small crowd of hobbits were gathering on the stones, including Pippin and Reginard, along with Sam Gamgee.

Pippin turned to Sam. 'I must beg your pardon, Samwise,' he said.

The Mayor was surprised. 'My pardon?'

'The Shirriffs look to you, and here I am, issuing orders to your hobbit...'

'And, as I very well know, Tolibold looks to you,' Sam said quietly. 'I would expect nothing less than the fastest response on your part, if there's any hope of finding the hobbit alive.'

Pippin simply shook his head and stared at the ground without speaking. The seconds stretched out. The clatter of hoofs from the departing ponies, their shoes striking sparks against the stones of the courtyard, had been replaced by a low murmur on the part of the hobbits around them.

'Sir?' Reginard said at last.

Pippin blinked, seemed to shake himself, and looked up. 'Nell must be told,' he said.

'And Meadowsweet?'

The Thain closed his eyes as if in pain, and when he opened them again, he said, 'I don't know what to tell her.' He swallowed hard. 'What do we say to her?'

Regi had seldom seen the young Thain at a loss before, but then he was at something of a loss himself in this moment.

Mayor Sam rested a work-worn hand on Pippin's shoulder. 'Tell her the truth as you know it,' he said. 'That's all you can do.'

At Pippin's anguished look, he added, 'Tell her he's lost, and searchers are looking for him. At least, that way, she can hope... at least until something more definitive comes up.'

Pippin sighed. 'Better to hope, I suppose,' he said heavily. He looked to his Steward. 'Regi,' he said. 'I want you to inform the rest of the escort of the situation. Send as many of them as you see fit to join the search. Hunters, too. Anyone with tracking skills.'

'Sir,' Regi said, and hurried away to comply.

*** 

'Ferdi?' Pimpernel said as the door to their suite opened. It was nearly teatime, so perhaps Pippin had let Ferdibrand off early, seeing that they were still technically newly wed – and would be for six months more, at least. As long as an entire year, if they held strictly to tradition. At the lack of response from her beloved, she turned around, and her eyes widened in surprise. 'Pip? What're you doing here? I thought you were Ferdi!'

In a lighter moment, Pippin might have turned her confusion into a jest, but he simply shook his head and closed the door quietly behind him, shoulders slumping.

This did not bode well, leading Nell to gasp, 'Has something happened to my Ferdi?'

'No – yes – no, Nell,' Pippin said, lifting a hand to stay her alarm. Unfortunately, his answer had been alarming in itself.

'What is it?' she said, crossing the room to where her brother stood, there by the door – as if he wished to escape somehow – and taking his arm.

'I sent him to the North Farthing,' Pippin said.

'You sent...' Pimpernel said, unbelieving. 'But...'

Pippin shook himself free of her hold and then reached to take her hands in his. 'Tolly's missing,' he said. 'Ferdi's the finest tracker in the Tookland... maybe even the Shire. He – he hoped you'd understand why he felt he had to go...'

Pimpernel stared at her brother, stricken. 'But of course,' she said. 'I remember how we used to jest that the two of them shared a single brain between them... but what we really meant was that they shared one soul...' Her eyes flooded with tears, and she gave a sob.

'Will you be all right here, Nell?' Pippin asked quietly. 'For I must go and tell Meadowsweet... something...'

Nell wiped her eyes and lifted her chin bravely. 'I will come with you,' she said. 'I don't know what to say, but...'

'Neither do I,' Pippin agreed. 'But something must be said at this point, especially before the Talk should bring the news to her ears. Better that she hears the facts from the Thain, at least as much as we know at this point.'

With great courtesy, he offered her his arm, and together, they went to find Meadowsweet to give her as much news as might be conveyed, at least for now.

***