Delioron and Calamint found Thistlewood in the little cottage he shared with his elderly mother. After the situation had been explained to him, Thistlewood was off to talk to the watchmen to arrange the guard around Willie Banks’ house and the temporary closure of Archet from outsiders for a few days to ensure the safety of the hobbits. Meanwhile Delioron and Calamint stayed in the semi-privacy of Thistlewood’s room, while his mother sat in the front room knitting. Delioron and Calamint discussed about Paladin Took’s traveling plans and tried to guess when the ruffians might make their move to try and kidnap him.
”Is he really dead?” Calamint asked. ”Hodhion? It was Hodhion, the ’kinsman’ who gave you the information?”
”Yes”, said Delioron. ”He’s dead. Murdered.”
”Who killed him?”
”Bill Ferny”, Delioron lied without a pause. He wasn’t sure why he gave the Constable that particular name, but it seemed perfectly logical to do so. Logical, and safe. He could have named Coddle instead, but Coddle was dead and Bill Ferny had managed to slip from Delioron’s hands. At least so far.
Calamint chewed on that for a while. ”We will leave early tomorrow morning”, he finally said. ”We’ll be in Bree by mid-morning and stop by Bree-town Jail where I will report to the other senior Constables and have a few more guards attached to our party. It is not likely they will strike between Archet and Bree, is it?”
”Anything outside of Archet is a possibility”, said Delioron. ”What then?”
”We will move along from Bree as soon as possible. The trip from Bree to Buckland will take two days, so we will have to camp by the road for one night. That would seem like the perfect spot to hit, would it not? In the middle of the night, right in the middle of nowhere between Bree and Buckland?”
”Perhaps”, Delioron nodded. ”And then?”
”The next day we will arrive in Buckland”, Calamint said, puffing furiously on his pipe. ”Where Paladin will meet Ferumbras Took, the Thain of the Shire. Together they will take the Bucklebury Ferry and cross the Brandywine to the Shire. If they make it that far, they have made it home safely I’m sure.”
Delioron shrugged. ”What’s a ’Thain’?”
”Oh, I’m sorry. The Thain is the title of the traditional military leader of the hobbits of the Shire. One could say it’s the most powerful position in the hobbit society. There is the Master of Buckland and the Mayor of Michel Delving, the hobbit capital, but the Mayor is more like a figurehead and the Master of Buckland’s reign reaches no farther than Eastfarthing. You could say that the Thain is the closest thing to a King the hobbits have, perhaps a little like your Steward Denethor in Gondor…”
Calamint did not notice how Delioron stiffened a little in that moment.
”Will you accompany us?” Calamint asked.
”All the way to Bree. Then I will have to depart. To contact the Rangers.”
”I suppose you must”, said Calamint. ”It’s getting late in the afternoon. I would invite you to stay the night here but…”
”You forget I have a room in the Mad Badger Inn. Are you coming there for a pint tonight?”
”I wish I could, but I must keep my wits about me tonight. We will have to rise early, and preferably not be hungover tomorrow morning when we escort Paladin to Bree.”
”Good night then, Calamint”, Delioron said.
”Good night to yourself”, Calamint said and puffed on his pipe. ”See you in the morning.”
