Untitled - BoG-Archive

The grime idea had come to Faramir; he thought their chances of remaining
unrecognised were better that way.
Boromir held his breath, trembling with the excitement. Never before had
he seen houses with little more than their roofs above the water…and on the
surface were floating bits of broken chairs, wooden kitchenware, toys, some other
things he could not discern…
However, his agitation soon gave way to disappointment. The rescue
teams had clearly left the place, taking even house cats with them. Some distance
away, he could make out their boats through a thick veil of rain.
‘They are gone,’ Faramir sighed.
Boromir pressed his lips together stubbornly and resumed his rowing.
‘Boromir, there is no one to rescue there,’ his brother pointed out.
Boromir half-turned his head back.
‘All the same, let us go and look,’ he said stubbornly, though Faramir could
hear a distinct quiver of hurt in his voice. ‘They could have left someone
behind…hey, remember that book Grandmother read to us? About a baby left in
a burning house, and how a man saved it? What if there is a sleeping baby in that
house over there, and it might drown if no one thinks of looking inside?’
Faramir thought that the chances of that were rather slim; he had not even
believed that book. What kind of parents would leave their child behind? Even if
they were as busy as their father, they would surely try to save it! He was sure
their father would, and their uncle and aunt, too. However, upon a little
consideration, he decided to humour Boromir, who was starting to look rather
unhappy.
‘Here, let me help you,’ he said, reaching for one of the oars.
Boromir sighed with relief. It was good to have Faramir along. Faramir
could be just a little bit like Father and Uncle when he wanted, and that made
Boromir both uneasy and annoyed at times…but today, they were together, and
Boromir was glad of that. Even though they were both quite wet already.
They approached a house, and Boromir moored the boat to one of the
beams sticking out of the water.
‘Tie it fast,’ Faramir said, placing the oars in the middle.
‘I know, I know!’ Boromir snapped. ‘This isn’t my first time in a boat!’
‘Yes, but you have lost it once, and the fishermen brought it back from the
sea, remember?’ Faramir said.
The older boy merely snorted and straightened up, reaching for the edge of
the roof and then suddenly pulling himself up. Faramir nodded with approval;
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