Chapter Text
Baggins gave a dramatic sigh, as he lay draped upon the settle, one slim hand to his forehead, and the other letting a book fall from suddenly lifeless fingers to the floor at his side. "There is absolutely no hope for it, Gamgee," he groaned tragically. "Boredom and this infernal heat have combined forces to make an end of me. Leave on this jaunt of yours, if you must, but I'm afraid I shall be a gibbering fool by the time you return. Remember me fondly, my dearest, in better times, before I was left alone to be roasted slowly alive, in this stifling smial."
I could not help giving a snort of amusement, as I reached for my favorite potion manual, and a small book of elvish poetry with which to occupy myself on my journey. "You know you're more than welcome to tag along, Frodo. In fact, I do wish you would. It's bound to be cooler up north, you know, and I really must make myself available to Halfred, if he needs my help. Little as I've seen of him in all these years, I still can't abandon him. Not that I remember him all that well, but I certainly would never hear the end of it from the gaffer."
Baggins studied me carefully for a moment, and then let a smile creep across his face, causing me to hold my breath just a bit. The change in our relationship was still fairly recent, and when he gave me the look he was giving me at this moment, I could feel my heart lurch for just a beat in a heady sort of wonder. I had never dreamed, in all my lonely nights, I had never had the faintest hope, but now had come days of bliss and joyful trust and all possible dreams come true. So when this mystifying request had come from my much older brother, who lived in the northern village of Hardbottle, I had seriously contemplated ignoring it completely.
Yet family cannot be denied, and I was bound north, on what could very well prove to be a fool's errand. I had asked Baggins to accompany me, but he had at first demurred, not wishing to intrude into what appeared to be a family matter. Indeed, that had always been his solitary way, but these days the hobbit whom I thought I knew had turned out to be a very different sort altogether, and to my delight, he let his smile deepen, and gave a slight chuckle. "I suppose there is no help for it," he murmured, as he swung his legs around and sat up on the settle. "I'm destined to tramp the Shire at your beck and call, Samwise Gamgee, and oddly enough, that fate does not trouble me in the least. Very well, let us take to the dusty road, and visit this brother of yours in the hinterlands."
"Oh, Frodo, me dear," I couldn't help my cry of delight as I dropped the volume in my hand without another thought, and immediately crossed the room, embracing him, as he rose, with a passionate kiss.
"Exactly," he laughed quietly, as we eventually separated, his dark blue eyes sparkling with happiness, and his arms firm around me. "I wasn't that keen on the idea of being apart from you, either. I suppose I'll have to take on this family of yours, in some manner or other, and those are details we can work out as we go along. So let me pop a few things in a pack, and give word to the Widow, and we shall be off in the morning. In the meanwhile, one last night's rest in a decent bed might not go amiss."
"Rest, do you say, Frodo?" I teased him merrily, giving a quick nuzzle at the base of his throat to emphasize my position. "Not exactly what I had in mind, but I shall leave that up to you, my love."
"I'll never be able to deceive you, will I, Sam-love? Not what I had in mind, either. Very well, we can let the Widow know of our plans tomorrow," he breathed as his mouth found my eartip and I consequently suddenly lost all feeling in my legs, buckling against him with a groan of desire.
I'm not entirely sure we made it to that bed, at least the first time.
The sun was already drying the dew the next morning, as we left Bag End. My pack was heavy, laden as it was with medical supplies, and Baggins had graciously consented to tote my sisters' gifts in his pack, since he had not thrown much more in it than a spare shirt or two, and a packet of his favorite pipeleaf. This early in the morning, there was still a coolness in the air, and the fresh scent of flowers in the fields and hay in the meadows. I hoped to make good progress early on, and then find some shady glade in which to wait out the middle of the day. The prospect of a leafy secluded nook was immensely tempting to myself, and presumably Baggins as well, so we made good time out of Hobbiton, with little conversation, but rather a amiable companionable silence.
But as we strode along the infrequently traveled road to the north, he matching his long-legged lope to my stride, it suddenly struck me that my brother might find him an odd traveling partner for a humble hobbit such as myself.
"The thought had crossed my mind as well, Gamgee," he chuckled warmly, as I tentatively brought the matter forward. "The beauty of it is, of course, that gentlehobbits are generally considered eccentric and unpredictable. So the idea that I should, quite spontaneously, be contemplating purchase of land in cooler climes in which to have a second smial dug, should not appear entirely out of character, I should think. And what better time than now, with you available to have your brother show me the lay of the land, so to speak?"
"That sounds relatively plausible," I gave an impressed nod. "Quite honestly, I'm not sure if it matters, for I hardly remember him, but it is well to have a plan I suppose. You weren't around when he still lived at Number Three, were you?"
"Not for long," Baggins confirmed, with a shake of his head. "I do remember some largish blond lads appearing with your father from time to time, but they both left for the north within months of my arrival."
We walked on under the warming morning a short while longer, when he suddenly stopped, under the shade of a stately oak at the side of the road, and with what I was surprised to see was very nearly apprehension on his face, asked me, "Tell me, Sam, has your father ever indicated that he considers our living arrangement somewhat out of the ordinary?"
I had to laugh at that, and drew him close for a quick kiss. "On the contrary, the gaffer believes himself quite canny in foisting me off on you. I always had quite a healthy appetite, you know, and the idea that my room and board come at your expense tickles him no end. And despite my change of profession, he still believes I 'do for you', in a general sort of way, and am a healer as a side-line. I've never felt it necessary to clarify the situation, I'm afraid."
Frodo gave his customary short bark of a laugh, and drew me closer. "Excellent plan, my dear. It is always wise to let useful assumptions alone, especially when they are not entirely true. Although I must admit that you certainly do 'do for me', although not at all in the way your father supposes."
"So the assumption is truer than I realized, and I am not dissembling to him in the least," I teased him playfully, with a hand that was seemingly unconsciously straying under his shirt to more promising territory.
"Samwise, unless you plan on stopping for a while right here, you might not go much further," he rejoined, with a delighted grin, and no signs of the least bit of concern over that prospect.
That was all it took for me to give a quick glance around our surroundings. There was a hedge, and a tree beyond it that I pointed out silently, with a nod of my head. With Frodo's hand tightly in mine, we hastily made our exit from the roadway, and soon were where we had left off earlier that morning. It promised to be a very lengthy trip to Hardbottle.
Indeed, it took the good part of four days to make the trip to Hardbottle. I felt no compunction on that regard, since the request had not mentioned any particular urgency, and so we spent the early mornings and late afternoons leisurely making our way north, and our mid-days under a leafy tree, and our evenings under the stars. There were few inns along the way, and I did not wish to spend the nights in any stuffy smial, with the attendant issues of lack of privacy and the invariable questions, and Baggins clearly felt the same. I was used to living out of doors when I made the occasional trip to attend to my more far-flung patients, and Baggins was soon enough a dab hand at getting a campfire going, or preparing a freshly-caught fish for our dinner. That did not surprise me in the least, for I never have known such a hobbit for making a methodical study of a new skill, and becoming an expert in it in no time.
The sight of the occasional smial was becoming more and more frequent, on the fourth morning out, and I realized that we should be in Hardbottle by noon. When I mentioned that fact to Baggins, who had been, to my silent amusement, making a careful study of the clay at the side of the road, he gave me a thoughtful look and indicated a grassy bank under a small grove of rustling beech. "Then let's have a seat, Gamgee," he murmured. "It would be well to go over the facts, once again, before we arrive. What exactly was your brother's request?"
"It was actually quite vague," I replied, settling myself comfortably beside him, staring up at the brilliantly blue sky, and glad for a bit of shade. "Just that he had heard I had some experience in the healing business, and he'd be glad of my opinion on a troublesome matter."
"Surely there are local healers, even out in this remote part of the Shire," Baggins frowned. "Any indication as to why they would not do?"
I shrugged, and pulled the letter from my pocket. "He's never been one for his letters, so I suppose he had someone write it for him. Perhaps he did not wish to go into particulars in that case."
Baggins took the paper and studied it carefully. "Definitely the work of a scribe for hire," he announced, with a nod. "Not the sort of scrap of paper that might be found about a smial, if one did not do much writing, and the ink is of professional quality. Very well, we may assume the sender did not wish to go into detail in such a public sort of way. Is this your brother who is the roper?"
"I never remember," I had to admit, a little shamefacedly. "I've really had so little contact with them. One's a roper, and the other raises sheep, I believe. Never have been able to keep track of which is which."
"Not to worry, my dear," Baggins reassured me, with a warm smile. "It has been a delightful jaunt, thus far, in any case, and I am most indebted to you for coaxing me out of Bag End." He rose to his feet, and reached down to help pull me up. "And if there isn't an opportunity to personally let you know in the next few days, how grateful I am that you have made entirely a new hobbit of me, let me just affirm that fact before we go on."
With a lingering and thorough kiss, as we ducked behind the trees, I gave him my hearty response. But it was nearing noon, and we were still very close to the road, so we straightened our clothing, shouldered our packs, and left the beeches. We were soon into the village of Hardbottle.
I had come this way once as a very young lad, in the company of my mother before she had died, and I remembered quite vividly the roper's barn, and how it stood in the center of the village. It was still just as I remembered it, and certainly it appeared as if very little else had changed in Hardbottle in these past ten years, likewise. A couple of plump ponies were tied to a rail at the stable next door, standing sleepily in the noon sun with lazy swishing tails, and the town pump dripped steadily next to them. There were two or three shops scattered about the small village green, and one fairly large inn, whose sign indicated it to be the Spotted Toad, and which seemed to be doing rather good business this drowsy afternoon.
"I believe this is my brother's establishment," I mentioned to Baggins tentatively, as I walked up to the open entrance of the barn and peered inside the dim, musty interior. There was no-one within, however, and as I drew back, Baggins indicated the inn with a tilt of his head.
"Apparently the ropers are to be found here," he murmured with an amused smile. "Quite a practical approach, actually, since any potential customers appear to be in there as well."
"Very well, it's as good a place to look for my brothers as any," I chuckled. "The fruit does not fall all that far from the tree, as the saying goes, and this is certainly where the gaffer would have been in such a warm afternoon. Let us have a mug, then."
"In addition, I must make arrangements for a room, I suppose, if there is such a thing to be found," Baggins mentioned mildly, as we crossed the village green. He gave a rueful smile at the sight of my face. "I entirely agree, my dear Gamgee, but it is evident that your brother would have made arrangements for you, since he has invited you. I, on the other hand, am unexpected, and in my guise as a wealthy gentlehobbit, must expect the best accommodations this village has to offer. Thus, presumably, the inn. But do not fear, my dear, there will time for the both of us to be together. I expect our investigations will involve seeing a good deal of the local countryside. Indeed, I will make certain they do."
There was no debating the truth of what he said, but it was with a certain heaviness to my heart that I followed him into the Spotted Toad. Whatever my brother's dilemma was, I emphatically resolved to myself, I planned to make very short work of it indeed.
The inn was cool and dim, and conversation between the patrons appeared to be confined to the occasional murmured remark, as befit a gathering of folk who had known each other for a very long while and had not much of interest to discuss that had not been thoroughly discussed on innumerable occasions before, but our arrival changed all of that instantly. Heads turned immediately, and I heard a low whistle in the back of the room. " 'At's a Gamgee, if I ever seen one. Hamson, 'tis your brother!"
"And mine too, no doubt," a voice close to me grunted, and a hobbit near my elbow rose to his feet. "Not that you'd be rememberin' us all tha'much, but I'd be Halfred. This 'un," he indicated a large, weathered hobbit making his way to us through the crowded room, wearing a grin and tightly gripping his extremely full mug, "'ud be Hamson. 'Tis good to see you again, Sammy-lad. All grown up, an' no mistake!"
We cordially shook hands all way round, as our audience beamed with general approval, and then Hamson noticed my silent companion. "An' who might this be w'you, Sam-lad?" he asked curiously. "'Tis a familiar look about you, but it's been many a year since I was Hobbiton-way, and I can't quite recollect."
"Not at all surprising, since I'd just gotten to Bag End a few months before you left, I believe," Baggins responded politely, leaning forward to shake hands as well. "Frodo Baggins, at your service."
"Why, if it ain't ever the young Took lad, from Buckland-way!" Hamson exclaimed with surprise, as an excited buzz began to circulate the room at the mention of the fabled Bag End. Turning to his brother, he nodded his head in Baggins' direction. " 'Twas the young lad old Mister Bilbo took in. And here in Hardbottle. Now ain't that something!"
"Well, you see, Gamgee here happened to mention that he was heading this way," Baggins quickly interposed, with a polite smile, "and he was good enough to allow me to accompany him here. I'd heard the climate was delightful in these parts, and had the thought of purchasing up a bit of land."
All curiosity regarding the likeliness of the pair of us traveling together immediately vanished at that statement, and the room, as a whole, immediately perked up considerably. News of Bilbo's reported dragon gold had evidently reached the farthest reaches of North-Farthing, and every hobbit present, who held title to the most humble plot, began instantly to see certain possibilities.
Quickly realizing their companions' intents, my brothers immediately took each of us by the elbow, and whisked us out of the inn with some aclerity. "Plenty o'time to be takin' care of that later," Halfred muttered when Baggins made a comment about needing to check into the availability of a room. "But you don't want to be danglin' gold in the face of that lot. Not if you want a moment's peace, that is. And there's serious matters to be discussed as can't be mentioned in a public room. To my smial, then. It ain't far."
Halfred's wife, a small and slight lass with a shy smile, was at the gate to meet us as we reached the small smial, in a grassy bank down a side path from the center of the village. " 'Tis my Poppy," Halfred introduced us with a warm smile and a quick kiss, "and this," he added, turning to his wife and throwing a loving arm around her shoulders, "is my brother, young Sammy. And likewise Mister Frodo, from under the Hill."
"Oh, my," Poppy's cheeks flushed at that news, and she ducked her head nervously. "We're honored indeed, young sir! I'm sure we're naught as you are used to, but our smial is yours, if it'd be your fancy."
"No, really, it is I who would be immensely in your debt for such a kind offer," Baggins immediately replied, with sincere gratitude. "I have my doubts as to whether I'd ever have a moment's peace at the inn, and Gamgee here can testify that I really don't require much in the way of luxuries at all."
I, of course, quickly testified to that fact, and she led us to a well-shaded side yard, with comfortable benches and a simple tea laid neatly out on a small table. " 'Tis too warm to be indoors, on such an afternoon," she murmured, with still obvious nervousness, unconsciously clutching her apron in her hand, "so I thought it might be more pleasant to have tea out here, but just let me fetch another cup and plate, and perhaps a seed cake, or some more berries. . ."
But as we enjoyed what really was a delightful meal, Baggins' subtle praise and obvious enjoyment were so genuine, that Poppy seemed to relax in her position as hostess, and both of my brothers were soon quite at their ease in the unexpected presence of a gentlehobbit. Baggins had, I had previously noticed, considerable skill in putting folk at their ease, when he wished to, and he used his utmost wiles on this occasion. In no time at all, we were comfortably on a first name basis, and my brothers had quite relaxed their initial guard. Indeed, I had almost forgotten the reason we were here, when Halfred cleared his throat, in a meaningful sort of way, and gave Hamson a significant glance.
" 'Tis good to have you here, Samwise, no mistake, and Mr. Frodo likewise, but there's a reason I'd asked for your help. There are some mysterious doings, in these parts, and I need the advice of one who ain't caught up in all this talk, if you know what I mean."
Actually, I didn't in the least, but I patiently waited for my brothers to clarify.
" 'Twas the sheep as I noticed first," Halfred began, helpfully clarifying for me which brother was engaged in which profession. "They weren't taken sick, exactly, least as far as I could tell, but there were days when one or t'other 'ud seem that tired. I even had t'carry one or two of them home from the field to the shed, some days. But after a day or two, they'd be fine again. I looked them over careful-like, and there was no sign of anything off. Ate their feed, too, and never got that sorry look a sick sheep will get. Just seemed tired."
"So I set myself to watch them from afar, to see what might be a-worritin' them as they grazed," he continued, setting his cup down on the table, "and that's when I found it."
Baggins held his hands lightly together before him, and his attention was seemingly on the trellis covered with long-beans, next to where we were sitting, but I knew, from past experience, that he was following the details the Halfred was relating quite carefully.
" 'Twas never made by no hobbit," Hamson suddenly added, in a rough, deep voice, and I noticed Poppy gave a start, and Halfred shot his brother a stern warning glance.
"No way o'knowing who made it," he continued his account quickly, "but that ain't the important point. 'Twas a sort of trough, you see, fashioned out of stone, and well-hidden behind the far hill. Looking like it'd of been there for a long time indeed, for there's moss a-growing all over it, but I've been living in these hills for nigh on a dozen years now, and I'd wager a barrel o'the Spotted Toad's finest that it wasn't there before."
He paused in his account at this point, and I could see that there a reluctance between he and Hamson to go further. But with a slight smile towards her husband, Poppy rose up and took up the tea pot. "I'll just put a bit of water on to boil, for this is getting too cool, t'be sure."
"Oh, aye, that'd be fine, m'dear," Halfred returned her smile, and settled comfortably back in his chair. "There ain't a better lass in all the world," he murmured to me as she left, "but she does get that anxious at times. Although, I must admit t'feelin' that way meself."
"The trough," Hamson reminded him pointedly, as he produced a pipe from the side pocket of his trousers, it being far too warm for a jacket.
"Well, then," Halfred took a deep breath. "A trough is generally used for water, or mayhap feed, but there warn't no water in this one." With a quick look around, he lowered his voice and continued. " 'Twas blood as we found, and no mistake about that."
I must admit to being quite startled at this pronouncement, but as I gave Baggins a glance, I could have sworn I saw the ghost of a smile on his face for just an instant. He was all seriousness, however, as he sought his own pipe in his weskit pocket. "This is really quite curious," he mentioned mildly, as both of my brothers turned towards him with a start, clearly having forgotten his presence for the moment. He began to search in his other pocket for his normal pipeweed, but I gave a warning cough and held out my own pouch. He might quickly find his invitation rescinded, and himself back at the inn, if my brothers caught a whiff of that particularly noxious leaf. With a private glance of amusement in my direction, he graciously accepted it, and returned to the matter at hand.
"You are quite certain the trough was not there before, and yet it gives all appearance of having been there a very long while, to the extent of being moss-covered, even during these hot days. Yes, very curious indeed."
"And the matter of the blood?" I reminded him. "Is that not curious as well?"
"Not nearly as much. In fact, I had expected that."
But before he could explain himself further, Poppy returned with a fresh pot of tea, and the conversation turned to family matters.
I had been unable to find my way to sleep that night. It was due, perhaps, to the straw mattress, to which I had become quite unaccustomed in the last few years, or possibly the unexpected location of it, so near the front room fireplace, now seasonably empty and unused, or most probably, the solitary condition of it. My brother and his wife had their bedroom, of course, but there was no other. Thus any guests were put up in the rarely used front room. However there had only been the one spare mattress for the moment, which meant that Baggins had, at least for this night, the choice of the inn, or the front room at Hamson's smial. He had chosen the latter. I had my doubts, having vague recollections of tales of my nephews and nieces as related by my sisters, but he gaily waved off the warning, and oddly enough, I could see that he was actually enjoying the unusual social interaction. "No worries, my dear hobbit," he murmured to me, with a reckless grin, as he had prepared to leave with Hamson after dinner, quite a decent one, I might add. "I'll be back before second breakfast. I anticipate a good deal of tramping about in the woods will be necessary tomorrow, mind you!"
Fortunately, Halfred appeared to have the same qualms about putting Baggins up in our brother's well-populated smial, and privately assured me, before he retired for the evening, that he would see that another mattress was brought to his own smial for the next night. So it was a matter of only this night alone.
But oddly enough, this one night seemed to stretch out into an interminable number of hours, and I was beginning to regret not leaving with him. That never would have done, of course, for it was clear that Poppy, in her own shy manner, had been anticipating company happily, and had made my sleeping area as comfortable as possible. It was a straw mattress, to be sure, but sturdily made with just the right amount of give. The linen sheet that covered it had been doubled over and ironed smooth, so that no annoying ends poked their way through to harass the sleeper. There was a small chest set next to the mattress with a vase with a lovely bouquet, and a small flask of water and a glass. The room could not possibly have been more neatly swept or tidy, and the thought crossed my mind that I knew very little about my brother's wife. Indeed, now that I considered it, I was not entirely sure when they had been married. But there was no doubting the fact that they appeared to be very happy together.
There was only a small window in the room, purely there for the purpose of letting a bit of light in during the daytime, but I found I could see the moon through the mottled pane. I stared at the silvered moon, now waxing nearly to fullness, and realized that I still had no clear idea why I was here. Halfred's sheep seemed to be having difficulties, but although I was a healer, I was certainly no expert in the diseases of livestock. The trough that had been discovered in the woods was puzzling, without a doubt, but blood in it or no (and I had my private doubts on that score), did not seem to be a compelling reason to draw me here from Bag End. With a weary yawn, I wondered if Baggins had made any more sense of the matter than I had, and returned to my bed. This time, I fell into a deep slumber, and was awakened much later that morning by the near-by crowing of a very tardy rooster.
Baggins arrived with Hamson in time for second breakfast, and only the keenest eye could detect the weariness in his countenance, but there was no mistaking it when he let his guard down for just as instant, as he wished me a good morning. "I'm afraid the young'uns were a mite excited last night, what w'the company and all," Hamson mentioned blithely, as he sat down at the kitchen table and poured himself a mug of tea without waiting for an invitation.
"Energetic lot, ain't they?" Halfred asked with a grin, sitting down across from his brother, but his question was clearly directed to Baggins.
"Indeed, full of high spirits," Baggins agreed with the cool detachment of a confirmed bachelor, joining the others at the table and pouring himself a mug of tea as well. The twinkle in his eye when he gave me a quick glance, however, promised a more full account later in private.
But Poppy, who had just brought a fresh loaf of bread in from the summer oven, bit her lip at that comment, and a hastily concealed expression of sadness washed across her face. With a quick murmur to her husband about looking for some strawberries for us, she quietly left the smial unnoticed by the others present.
The sheep found themselves late to pasture this morning, since Halfred had awaited the arrival of our brother and Baggins before he led them out, so there was a certain amount of annoyed bleating and jostling from the sizable flock, as Halfred directed them on with a dexterous flick of a staff here and there. Baggins and I were not in the least discontent to find ourselves well behind the dusty flock and its leader. I strode along the well-trod path close at his side, yearning for the opportunity to touch and connect, and could see by his momentarily unguarded expression that he felt the same, but it was not, for the moment, possible. So I gave a nearly imperceptible sigh, and resolved to bide my time, and noticed, from the sudden quirk in his smile, that my longings had not gone unnoticed.
Following the narrow path from my brother's smial, we wended through the parched and dry hills, up through poplar, and then oak, and finally pine, until we reached cooler lands and greener grass. The flock broke into a shambling trot, as they recognized their pasture, and were soon contentedly grazing at the top of a high hillock, bordered with stunted pine and gorse. Halfred paused under one of the larger pines, and pulled out his pipe. "They're well-enough on their own, for the time, should you care to look about a bit," he remarked with a grin. "They'll have naught but grass in their silly heads for a while, I'd wager. 'Twas a late start we got today."
"It is certainly more pleasant up here in the hills," Baggins remarked casually, gazing about us. "I can almost imagine there's a bit of a breeze."
"Fair more than that, come autumn," Halfred grunted, taking a deep pull on his pipe to get it started. "I know it's time to bide below when the winds commence to blowing me into the creatures." But then, suddenly remembering that Baggins had ostensibly come this way in the market for land, he added quickly, "But it certainly has a fine view, if you care for that sort of thing."
And in point of fact, it definitely had that. Baggins scanned the horizon with a keen interest. "Indeed it does," he commented thoughtfully. "Tell me, Mr. Gamgee, is that the north, in that direction? I think I'm a bit muddled."
"Aye, 'tis at that." Halfred took a slow draw on his pipe and watched him carefully.
"And are there any more villages in that direction? I must confess to being quite unknowledgeable about the North Farthing. That's why it was so fortuitous that your brother happened to be coming up this way. I'm afraid I quite invited myself along, and do apologize once again to inflicting unexpected additional company on you and your family."
"Seein' as how you spent last night with Hamson and his lot, it's I who ought t'be doin' the apologizing, I'm thinking," Halfred chuckled. "Not to worry, you'll be stayin' at our smial tonight, along with Sam here, and Poppy loves a bit of company about the smial."
"Your wife is such a charming lass," Baggins continued, with obvious sincerity, "and somehow I suspect she is not from Hardbottle. Do I guess correctly?"
"Aye," he answered slowly, his gaze turning from us, to the pine covered hills beyond. "There are other villages to the north, though you'd not be hearing much of them in other parts of the Shire, no doubt. She came from one of them."
Sensing a reluctance to enter into this subject, Baggins immediately pulled back from the line of inquiry. "It was just a sense I had about her, a trifling whim. But you are a very lucky hobbit, it seems to me."
"I'd be that, and no mistake," Halfred gave a fierce puff on his pipe, with a very nearly angry expression.
I felt it time to draw attention away from Baggins at this point, so I gave a polite cough. "And the trough, Halfred. What direction would that be in? Perhaps Mr. Frodo and myself could take a look about."
"Oh, that direction," Halfred took out his pipe and indicated a group of trees to the left, all irritation suddenly gone. "You'll see summat of a path just under there. Follow it a bit of a way, and look for a stand of yew. "Tis under them. Take care you heed your way though, so as to find your way back to the smial when you've a mind to. Or give a shout and I'll point the way out if needs be. There's no one else about, I could find you, sure enough."
We left Halfred there, thoughtfully smoking and staring out over the heedless sheep.
It only took three turns of the path, a large auspiciously placed boulder, and a small grove of rustling beeches thick with their summer foliage, before I had him in my arms, at last. Hungrily we clung to each other, sharing a far too long delayed kiss. My brother's difficulties were the farthest thing from my mind at the present, and I'm afraid some small corner of my mind began to irresponsibly calculate how long it would take us to get back to Bag End, if we left immediately.
But it seemed as if Baggins could read my thoughts in my eyes, as we at last pulled apart, and he gave a low chuckle. "Not yet, my dear; we've a few more nights to spend here, I believe. It would never do to leave your brother still baffled regarding this whole affair. But it shouldn't take too much longer to solve. And until then, I'm afraid that discretion is the key."
"Hang discretion," I growled, feeling not at all charitable regarding my brother's dilemma, and keeping my arm firmly about Baggins' waist. "I'm sure I can't make heads or tails of the matter. And I'm quite sure I still don't understand why Halfred sent for me in the first place."
"Because you are an outsider, my dear, and that's a critical matter to him at the moment," Baggins explained in an amused tone. "In fact, once we investigate this trough, I believe we need to take advantage of our outsider's status, and have ourselves a mug at the Spotted Toad."
"Good heavens, Baggins, you can't mean that," I exclaimed in alarm, recollecting the avid interest of the patrons of that inn in us. "I should think that you, especially, would want to stay as far as possible from that lot."
He gave a short bark of a laugh at my response. "Come now, Gamgee, it should be a most delectable prospect. I imagine we will be the recipients of as much free ale as we can manage, and we will also be on the receiving end of a considerable amount of information, some of which might actually be pertinent. And I do believe that it is a fair walk back to Hardbottle, especially for two strangers who hardly know their way around at all. In fact, I would suspect that we will not reach town until well into the afternoon."
It was the decided gleam in his eye that suddenly made me see matters in a wholly new light, so I smiled back, and declared, "Very well, Frodo-love, we will do as you wish. I'm entirely at your command."
As if it were ever otherwise.
We found the trough, under the stand of yew, as directed. It was a smooth and weathered stone, dark grey and about a foot and a half high, with a shallow hollowed-out indentation on the top. I would never have considered it a trough, myself, but I suppose that was the use that immediately sprang into the mind of a herdsman. There was, indeed, a bit of moss still on its northern face, and the one aspect about it that struck me at once was that it seemed oddly out of place, although I could not have said why.
When I mentioned as much to Baggins, he gave a wry smile, and noted, "Of course it is, my dear Gamgee. This is hard granite, from the north. Not at all like the sandstone in these parts. Of course, that indicates that it was brought here, for I must assume it did not roll to this location on its own. The hollowed indention could have served many purposes, and functioning as a trough is certainly one of them. The moss at the side, as well as your brother's testimony, is evidence that it has not been here for a very long while, since it is not damp enough in this location to have grown naturally. And you'll notice that there is no disturbance of the ground around it, implying that it quite possibly was brought to this location last winter, when the ground was covered by snow."
He then delicately brushed off a few dried leaves that had settled on the top of it, and examined its surface more closely. "Ah, here it is, then," he chuckled with satisfaction, lightly brushing the indention with his finger and holding it up, showing me the dark powder that clung to his finger. "This would be the blood of which your brother spoke."
I gazed at it with a horrified fascination. "Why on earth did you expect to find that, Baggins?" I asked in wonder.
"My, my, and you a healer," he teased me lightly, with an affectionate smile that took all possible bite out of his words immediately. "What other cause could there have been for the inexplicable occasional lethargy of the sheep? It didn't seem to last very long, and as your brother mentioned, they never appeared to actually be sick. They were bled, and by someone who was taking care not to cause irreparable damage."
"Well, that certainly makes sense as far as a cause," I mused, "but very little about the rest of this matter does. Who on earth would wish to do that and for what reason?"
"Indeed, that is the question," Baggins looked to the distant horizon, suddenly thoughtful again. "But there are an odd number of indications pointing to the north, wouldn't you say? Well, let us off to the Spotted Toad and see if answers are to found there. Of course, as I mentioned," he added, with a sudden smile and spark to his eye, "it wouldn't surprise me in the least if it took us quite a while to get there. These country paths can be so very confusing."
The sky was a brilliant blue above, as I gazed up through the thick canopy of leaves, and felt the barest whisper of a breeze stroke my bare skin. The thought that the sun was not directly above any longer, so it must be somewhat past noon, crossed my mind in a most abstracted sort of way, for my more immediate concern was the sensation of light but lingering kisses traveling down my stomach, and then, ah! Past. I closed my eyes then, and lost any sense of where and, indeed, who I was.
The next time I opened them, Baggins was curled next to me and we were both breathing rather heavily and more than a little covered with the sheen of an honest sweat. The breeze was most decidedly there, but still deliciously light, and I closed my eyes again, and curled into his embrace.
The next thing of which I was aware, the sun was far lower in the sky, I was being gently but firmly shaken, and there was a swift kiss of my nose and an amused voice in my ear. "They will be sending out someone to search for us, Samwise my dear, unless we make a public appearance somewhere. Come now, my love, it is time to arrive at the local establishment and let the locals have at us."
Yawning, I sat up and enjoyed the sight of fleeting flesh as Baggins clothed himself again. I then shrugged my clothing back on as well, and gave myself a rueful stretch. "I certainly wouldn't have minded another hour more," I complained lightly, dusting my jacket off lightly. "I don't think I slept particularly well last night."
Baggins, who had just finished adjusting his sleeves, raised an eyebrow at my remark. "You have absolutely no idea," he muttered, as I burst into laughter, remembering his own accommodations of the night before.
"Not to worry, dearest," I caught him up in my arms, and kissed him heartily. "It will much quieter tonight, I can assure you of that."
"Just promise me we'll find our way, before too long, back to our feather bed in Bag End, and I will be able to manage just about any calamity that awaits us," he returned my kiss with enthusiasm, and I promised him that without a single word.