A few yards further on there was a turning to the left. They went down a path, neat and well-kept and edged with large white stones. It led them quickly to the river-bank. There there was a landing-stage big enough for several boats. Its white posts glimmered in the gloom. The mists were beginning to gather almost hedge-high in the fields, but the water before them was dark with only a few curling wisps of grey like steam among the reeds at the sides. The Brandywine River flowed slow and broad. On the other side two lamps twinkled upon another landing-stage with many steps going up the high bank beyond. Behind it the low hill loomed, and out of the hill through stray strands of mist shone many round hobbit-windows, red and yellow. They were the lights of Brandy Hall, the ancient home of the Brandybucks.
Long, long ago the Brandybucks had crossed the River (the original boundary of the Shire on this side), attracted by the high bank and the drier rolling ground behind. But their family (one of the oldest hobbit families) grew, and grew, until Brandy Hall occupied the whole of the low hill, and had three large front doors, several back doors, and at least fifty windows. The Brandybucks and their numerous dependants then began to burrow and later to build all round about. That was the origin of the village of Bucklebury-by-the-River. A great deal of the land on the west side of the river still belonged to the family, almost as far as Woodhall, but most of the actual Brandybucks lived in Buckland: a thickly inhabited strip between the River and the Old Forest, a sort of colony from the old Shire.
The people of the old Shire, of course, told strange tales of the Bucklanders; but as a matter of fact the Bucklanders were hobbits, and not really very different from other hobbits of the North, South, or West – except in one point: they were fond of boats and some of them could swim. Also they were unprotected from the East except by a hedge, THE HEDGE. It had been planted ages ago. It now ran all the way from Brandywine Bridge to Haysend in a big loop, furthest from the River behind Bucklebury, something like forty miles from end to end.9 It was thick and tall, and was constantly tended. But of course it was not a complete protection. The Bucklanders kept their doors locked, and that also was not usual in the Shire.
Marmaduke helped his friends into a small boat that lay at the stage. He then cast off and taking a pair of oars pulled across the river. Frodo and Bingo had often been to Buckland before. Bingo’s mother was a Brandybuck. Marmaduke was Frodo’s cousin, since his mother Yolanda was Folco Took’s sister, and Folco was Frodo’s father. Marmaduke was thus Took plus Brandybuck, and that was apt to be a lively blend.10 But Odo had never been so far East before. He had a queer feeling as they crossed the slow silent river, as if he had now at last started, as if he was crossing a boundary and leaving his old life on the other shore.
They stepped quietly out of the boat. Marmaduke was tying it up, when Frodo said suddenly in a whisper: ‘I say, look back! Do you see anything?’
On the stage they had left they seemed to see a dark black bundle sitting in the gloom; it seemed to be peering, or sniffing, this way and that at the ground they had trodden.
‘What in the Shire is that?’ said Marmaduke.
‘Our Adventure, that we have been and left behind on the other side; or at least I hope so,’ said Bingo. ‘Can horses get across the River?’
‘What have horses got to do with it? They can get across, I suppose, if they can swim; but I have never seen them do it here. There are bridges. But what have horses to do with it?’
‘A great deal!’ said Bingo. ‘But let’s get away!’ He took Marmaduke by the arm and hurried him up the steps on to the path above the landing. Frodo looked back, but the far shore was now shrouded in mist and nothing more could be seen.
‘Where are you taking us for the night?’ asked Odo. ‘Not to Brandy Hall?’
‘Indeed not!’ said Marmaduke. ‘It’s crowded. And anyway I thought you wanted to be secret. I am taking you to a nice little house on the far side of Bucklebury. It’s a mile more, I am afraid, but it is quite cosy and out of the way. I don’t expect anyone will notice us. You wouldn’t want to meet old Rory just now, Bingo! He is in a ramping mood still, about your behaviour. They treated him badly at the inn at Bywater on the party night (they were more full up than Brandy Hall); and then his carriage broke down on the way home, on the hill above Woodhall, and he blames you for these accidents as well.’
‘I don’t want to see him, and I don’t much mind what he says or thinks,’ said Bingo. ‘I wanted to get out of the Shire unseen, just to complete the joke, but now I have other reasons for wanting to be secret. Let’s hurry.’
They came at length to a little low one-storied house. It was an old-fashioned building, as much like a hobbit-hole as possible: it had a round door and round windows and a low rounded roof of turf. It was reached by a narrow green path, and surrounded by a circle of green lawn, round which close bushes grew. It showed no lights.
Marmaduke unlocked the door, and light streamed out in friendly fashion. They slipped quickly in, and shut the light and themselves inside. They were in a wide hall from which several doors opened. ‘Here we are!’ said Marmaduke. ‘Not a bad little place. We often use it for guests, since Brandy Hall is so frightfully full of Brandybucks. I have got it quietly ready in the last day or two.’
‘Splendid fellow!’ said Bingo. ‘I was dreadfully sorry you had to miss that supper.’
‘So was I,’ said Marmaduke. ‘And after hearing the accounts of Rory and Melissa11 (both entirely different, but I expect equally true), I am sorrier still. But I had a merry ride with Gandalf and the dwarves and Elves.12 We met some more Elves on the way,13 and there was some fine singing. I have never heard anything like it before.’
‘Did Gandalf send me any message?’ asked Bingo.
‘No, nothing special. I asked him, when we got to Brandywine Bridge, if he wouldn’t come along with me and wait for you, so as to be a guide and helping hand. But he said he was in a hurry. In fact, if you want to know, he said: “Bingo is now old enough and foolish enough to look after himself for a bit.”’14
“I hope he is right,’ said Bingo.
The hobbits hung up their cloaks and sticks, and piled their packs on the floor. Marmaduke went forward and flung open a closed door. Firelight came out and a puff of steam.
‘Bath!’ cried Odo. ‘O blessed Marmaduke!’
‘Which way shall we go: eldest first, or quickest first? You will be last either way, Odo,’ said Frodo.
‘Ha! ha!’ said Marmaduke. ‘What kind of an innkeeper do you think I am? In that room there are three tubs; and also a copper over a merry furnace that seems to be nearly on the boil. There are also towels, soap, mats, jugs, and what not. Get inside!’
The three rushed in and shut the door. Marmaduke went into the kitchen, and while he was busy there he heard snatches of competing songs mixed with the sound of splashing and wallowing. Over all the rest Odo’s voice suddenly rose in a chant:
Bless the water O my feet and toes!
Bless it O my ten fingers!
Bless the water, O Odo!
And praise the name of Marmaduke! 15
Marmaduke knocked on the door. ‘All Bucklebury will know you have arrived before long,’ he said. ‘Also there is such a thing as supper. I cannot live on praise much longer.’
Bingo came out. ‘Lawks!’ said Marmaduke looking in. The stone floor was all in pools. Frodo was drying in front of the fire; Odo was still wallowing.
‘Come on, Bingo!’ said Marmaduke. ‘Let’s