With Hope and Without Hope

Chapter 50: A Safer Place

"Oh!" the woman said, startled as she rounded the corner and nearly bumped into Pippin. "Forgive me, I was lost in my thoughts and not attending to my surroundings." She paused, and seemed to look at him unusually closely. "Do you have need of something?"

Pippin's mouth opened but at first no sound came forth. He tried again. "I—I only wanted some water," he said, hoping she would point him in the proper direction and continue on her way. Uncomfortable as he was in this strange house, he did not wish to catch anyone's notice. "Please, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"There is no need to apologize. You have asked for water. There is no crime in that," the woman said. Pippin's unease uncoiled a bit. "Is it for drinking or some other need?"

"For cleaning a wound, Lady," he said quietly.

"Are you injured? I was not informed. We have an infirmary. I can take—"

"There is no need," he said in a rush. "It—it is not a new injury. I only wish to wash it to keep it clean."

She scrutinized the hobbit. "What is your name?"

"Pippin," he said. If he didn't know better, he would have thought she recognized his name.

"I am Lady Éowyn, sister-daughter to the king. Where is your injury?"

She was kin to the king! Of all those for him to meet in a corridor! "It isn't my injury, Lady Éowyn. I apologize; I didn't mean to mislead you. I..." he gave up and shrugged.

"And whose injury is it, then?"

"The man who traveled with us," he said, focusing on avoiding Strider's name—any of them. "He has an injury to his leg. I have tended to it for days. I only wish to clean it with some fresh hot water one more day, just to be sure.

The woman apparently decided she had interrogated Pippin enough and led him in the direction from which she had come, which turned out to be a kitchen, and provided him with hot water. Then suddenly she said, "I will accompany you to your quarters."

Pippin's heart hammered. He didn't want her seeing Strider. And what if Saruman returned? He would certainly be angry. For what, Pippin couldn't say, but he was sure Saruman would find a reason to be cross. And if it wasn't Saruman, there was something else, something in the back of his mind telling him something worse was coming. "Em, he's, well, he's a bit out of sorts at the moment. It's somewhat hard to explain."

The Lady Éowyn was quiet, thinking long on Pippin's words. He remembered seeing that look on his sister on occasion, and more often on his mother. There was no way around it when a hobbit-lass—or a woman, he supposed—got such a look. "Then you will simply have to show me."

Just as he thought. Pippin simply nodded without argument and led the way to their quarters. Upon entering the small room he shared with Strider, Pippin went to the man's bedside and lit a few candles.

Pippin called to him gently. Strider jerked when Pippin touched him—he had likely slipped back into his nightmares. Pippin reminded him of who he was and where they were, as he had done before. Receiving a blank stare, he decided to give the man time. Pippin sat Strider up and used the water Éowyn had given him to wash his wound. Suddenly, Strider spoke. "One of the Nine is come." Pippin's hand halted with Strider's words. Of course. Now that it had been named, he recognized what had been lingering in the darkness of his mind. Worse than Saruman indeed.

"Are you sure, Strider?" he asked, though he had little doubt in the man's senses.

Strider raised his head and looked at Pippin as an answer. His clear, focused eyes made Pippin's heart surge, despite the news. After a long minute, however, he seemed to lose some of the clarity he had gained. He frowned. "We shall surely never leave Orthanc now."

Disheartened, Pippin tried once more. "No, Strider. We've left Isengard. We are in Edoras. Try to remember. The long, long ride on the horses. And we spoke with the King of Rohan—at least, Saruman did." His voice grew small as his hope faltered. "Do you not remember?"

Strider looked at him, forlorn and hopeless. He closed his eyes, and when they opened, Pippin saw a bit more awareness within. "Forgive me, Pippin. I try to recall but it is all a clutter of memory. I remember... a blue sky, yes, I remember that. I recall seeing the Golden Hall from a distance. Yes, I remember now. It was a swift journey considering."

Pippin lost some of his sympathy with Strider's last words. "Well, perhaps when you're on your own horse. Try riding while desperately grasping at the one before you so as not to fall off."

"That was not enjoyable, I take it?" he said, and rewarded Pippin with a ghost of a smile. Pippin shook his head vigorously.

Someone behind made a small noise. Pippin had forgotten Lady Éowyn entirely. "Pippin, I apologize for interrupting, but I must ask a question."

Pippin did not look at Strider, for he would find no counsel there. "Of course, Lady Éowyn. Strider, this is Lady Éowyn, sister-daughter to the king. Lady Éowyn, this is Strider. He is the one with the injury, as you have seen."

Lady Éowyn nodded to Strider, then turned back to Pippin. "Pippin, are you aware of Saruman's whereabouts at the moment?"

"I'm afraid not, Lady Éowyn. He left us in this room some hours ago."

She turned to Strider now, and Pippin could not fathom what she saw. "What do you know of the Nine, whom you say approach Edoras? How do you know of their arrival?"

Strider stared at her for a long time, and his haunted eyes did not scare her away. "I know only that they approach. I sense their presence. As do you."

Éowyn frowned and Pippin tried to explain. "It's that sort of cold feeling that makes you forget what it is to be warm. That tells you a Black Rider is near. And it's possible that Saruman is meeting with whoever has come. He may be planning to pass Strider off to the Black Rider. I heard much of his plans when I served him in his tower, but it wasn't clear that he truly meant to go through with this."

The woman looked as if she were going to say something but decided against it. She seemed less surprised than Pippin thought she ought to, considering what they had just told her. "If this Black Rider comes for Strider, you ought not to sit about waiting for it. I can show you a place safer than here, if you will come with me. Are you able?" she said, turning to Strider.

"There is no place safe from the Nazgûl," Strider said, and Pippin thought his eyes looked a bit clearer than when he had arrived. Yet Strider appeared undecided. It would be up to Pippin to keep Strider safe.

If the lady Éowyn took them somewhere neither Nazgûl nor Saruman could not find them, Strider would be protected from both. And Pippin might avoid what he had dreaded since arriving in Edoras. He was sure Saruman would put his own hands on that Stone again. His stomach turned. He feared that almost as much as the approaching Black Rider. "How can you be sure this place is safer than here?"

"It is a place where they will not look," she answered and went to the door as if that ended the matter. She looked back upon reaching the threshold. Pippin still held doubts, but it was worth the chance. Strider looked wary, but seemed to wait for Pippin's decision. How upside down the world had turned if the heir to the throne of Gondor looked to a hobbit—and Pippin, no less—for guidance.

If only he knew how to put things right, to make Strider the man he was when they had left Rivendell, the man who would be King of Gondor. But of all those Strider could have by his side at such a time, he had only Pippin. Pippin could only do his best and hope it was enough. He held out his arm for Strider to lean on.