On a fair Hobbit day in the Shire, Sam found himself doing some gardening at Bag End. Sam could not help but overhear the conversation between Frodo and Gandalf who was visiting the Shire at the time as he sometimes did. Suddenly, Sam found himself intently listening to the conversation and found that it was quite remarkable. Sam quickly finished tidying up Frodo's yard and then ran over the dirt-trodden path to tell Merry and Pippin his newfound information.

  "They want him to go all that way to destroy some silly ring!? What about the danger of such a mission!" Merry exclaimed.

  "Think of all the missed meals! We ought to go with him and make sure he doesn't starve." continued Pippin.

  Sam nodded and said, "That may be true, but Gandalf seemed sure there was no other way. I'll be going to tend to my garden now but I'll give you any news I hear as it turns up." Sam then trotted off to his Hobbit house and left Merry and Pippin to ponder this information. For a while, they did nothing but sit there and watch the fire while deep in thought. It was not until the Sun had set in the sky and a cool breeze came in through the open window that prompted Merry to get up and close it.

  "It might do us some good to sleep on it and think about it some more tomorrow," Merry said.

  "Ah, you're probably right, let us meet up here tomorrow and decide what we will do then," Pippin replied. The Hobbits slowly made their way to their warm beds and briefly collapsed upon them, tired after so much thought.

  Early the next morning, Merry and Pippin joined together at the same worn-down garden shed as they had left the night before. The light of day revealed the small stature of the shed and the windows had curtains that obscured what was inside the shed. In the shed, there stood a table that the Hobbits had set up with food and drink for them while they held their meeting. Before speaking they first had to confirm that no one was trying to snoop on them. Upon confirmation that no Hobbit was nearby, Merry began,

  "Well, we shan't walk up to Mordor on our two feet and with our bare hands! I believe we should need some swords perhaps, and shields and we mustn't forget plenty of food either!"

  Pippin retorted, "Swords? What good will swords and shields be against the orcs and Sauron? I have thought up something that will help more than swords."

  "What may that be then?"

  "I've brought some plans along with me but the gist of it is an armored wagon that attacks!"

  "How would an armored wagon attack? The most I could see it doing is running someone's toes over!"

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  "It would not just be a wagon of course! Take a look at these diagrams would you?" Pippin said as he pulled pieces of parchment from his bag. Written on the parchment were pictures of specific parts of the machine and its weaponry with hastily written descriptions alongside each part. Merry looked over the pages while Pippin looked on in satisfaction, pleased with his work. After a couple of minutes, Merry said,

  "I can hardly read the script but from what I could gather it seems quite grand indeed. The only problem is, who will construct this contraption?"

  "We would of course! It's not that difficult."

  "But Pippin, you can hardly whittle a stick without it breaking and I fare little better in that regard. This needs much more skilled hands than ours to construct it."

  "There's no harm in trying at least. For Frodo, I am certain we could learn the necessary skills."

  "I suppose you are right. I would do anything to help Frodo and would like to know if this machine of yours would actually work."

  "We better get to it then!" Concluded Pippin. The two Hobbits became aware of the food they had set on the table and decided to finish up their meeting with a meal. They subsequently departed from the shed and continued on with their day. Early in the morning, and still before the sun had arisen, the Hobbits would get to work. Each day, they observed how the sky would slowly brighten and change and how the Shire would arise as the day began. Their days were busy with few breaks other than meals and by the end, they were exhausted and eager for sleep. Pippin went off to learn how to work wood and Pippin went to learn metalcraft and they would then switch their studies when they felt they understood enough. Both would even learn to properly whittle a stick after much trial and error and were irrationally happy about it. One fine day in the Shire, Merry and Pippin beheld Frodo outside his house looking up at the sky. Merry casually strolled up to Frodo and mentioned as had become their custom on such fine days,

  "What a beautiful day it is today! Would be an awfully nice time to go on a trip wouldn't it?"

  "Ah yes, I believe it would, but what is there outside the Shire that I would like to see?" Frodo reciprocated. Merry would then trot off and rejoin Pippin to go eat their lunch. Lunches consisted mostly of sandwiches with assorted fillings and a drink of water as they had little time to prepare anything else. Merry was sitting while he tried to take a splinter out of his hand when Pippin proudly declared,

  "I have become quite the master of all sorts of crafts now and believe that I am ready to build the wagon we discussed."

  "I believe the same! However, a thought has occurred to me. Where will we find the supplies?" Merry corroborated.

  "I suppose we could find some jobs to do and buy the materials."

  "Oh no, not more work!" Merry and Pippin then had to find jobs. The rest of the hobbits were perplexed at their behavior. It was unusual for hobbits to be so busy as they were simple, carefree people and recently Merry and Pippin had been bustling around all day, learning every craft that they could learn in the Shire. Hobbits started to spread all sorts of rumors that they were leaving or had actually been replaced by spies who worked for the enemies of the hobbits. There was a general consensus in the Shire that Merry and Pippin were to officially join Bilbo as the strangest hobbits on this side of the Brandywine River. Merry and Pippin were only able to find work as farmhands which was much to their disappointment as they had hoped to use their newly acquired skills. Due to the lack of other jobs, Merry and Pippin simply got to work.