[Child of the 7th Age]

Child awoke with a headache. She had hoped answering the riddles would solve the problem of where and when to rescue the hobrim, but it had not.

Several of Mithadan's points seemed critical. Why was Kali afraid to sail West? Child had assumed he was simply following the advice of the Faithful not to go to lands forbidden to mortals. This could be true, but perhaps something else was at work. Perhaps he was afraid of something dreadful that had happened to his people.

Child had also assumed that the hobbits' removal to Numenor had been a voluntary one, done by them for personal reasons. But Mith raised the chilling prospect that their removal had not been voluntary and that they had been thrust there by some power, perhaps evil, for reasons unknown.

And strangest of all was the question why hobbits were never recorded in the history of Elves or Man before the middle of the Third Age? Perhaps, hobbits had been safely tucked away in Eru's mount for some reason, and not just the Stoors but all the hobbit community. Perhaps, indeed, the safety of the world depended on them being hidden. Then, any attempt to rescue them before the designated time would not be a boon, but a terrible mistake.

They must be very careful, or they could do more harm than good.