Tolkien Fan Fiction
| 23 |
| The Pilgrimage |
The lock clicked, and Pippin entered the parlor that had housed the Old Took. He peered through the dust--saw the painting over the mantel of boats with baggage roped to a foreign wharf, by a figure of the Haradri monkey god holding a crescent moon. A dusty violin, bow, and tuning fork lay on the round table by Gerontius’s chair with an empty bottle and crystal goblet. Over the sofa hung a still life of a pomegranate, a cookie, a peach split to show its seed, and a slice of bread on a snowy cloth. A sunbeam slipped through a hole in the curtains, illuminating a desk on which lay some money, a pendant, and a vase of feathers from a pheasant’s tail. On the blotter lay a faded sheet of vellum, an ancient letter. Dear Father, it began. It ended, Please forgive me! Hildifons. “Thain Gerontius, I understand.” |