[Child of the 7th Age]

Child could see the stars dimly through her little port hole. She had tried getting up several times, but had only succeeded in giving herself an even larger headache. Hour after hour had passed. No one had popped their head in her door, or stopped by with a drink or a hello. Kali had gone back to his work, and promised to check on her later. Child felt dismally lonely. She missed Snowhobbits and Lindo, and a hundred other things.

All these strange people, and no Piosenniel. It didn't even seem like the same ship anymore. In the camps, there had always been people around to laugh and cry with. The children would run up to her and rub their heads in her skirt. She had a wild fantasy of slipping a skiff over the side of the Star and padling furiously back to land. Maybe she could find her way back to the Shire and start a school for children. But, of course, that was ridiculous. She had given her word to Ancalimon and Maura to see this thing through, and she was not going back on that.

Just then, the door opened slowly and Kali edged from from the hallway. She quickly dried her eyes, and asked him, "Where is everybody?"

Kali looked down at the floor and shrugged. He wouldn't even meet Child's eyes. "I guess they're at work," he said.

"At work?!! I go away for over seventy years, and they're too busy working to drop in for a chat?" Child's mood was swinging from loneliness to anger. She was beginning to wonder what kind of place the Star had become. This tall Elf pacing by in the hallway had looked very solemn and serious. An impish voice inside her head said that Tule must have eaten one too many pickles to have such a sour look upon his face.

Kali looked at Child and spoke softly, "Maybe they're a little afraid to come in here and visit."

Child stared at him with wide eyes. "But why would anyone be afraid of me?"

Kali looked up at her. "When I lost my mother, the last person in my family, my friends came once to say they were sorry, but some of them never came again. I guess they didn't feel comfortable because they thought I was sad, and they didn't know what words to say."

Child looked puzzled and was about to ask what any of that had to do with her. Then the realty of Kali's words pushed into her head. "Kali, the words that Maura and I spoke to each other in front of Bird and Angara and Rose, are those the sad words you mean?"

He shook his head yes. "And there were other things too. Bad things that happened to hobbits. You tried to stop them, but you couldn't."

"Tule said we should leave you alone, and not bother you. When he feels sad, he goes by himself and remembers things. He told us to respect your sorrow and not say anything about why you were sad."

Child shook her head. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "You tell that blockhead Tule that I'm not an Elf. I'm a hobbit. And I like to see people, even if I'm sad. And if Daisy or you want to ask me questions about the hobbits and the camps, or even about the mysterious Maura, that's just fine with me."

Kali shook his head yes. "We wanted to see you, but we didn't want to make you sad."

"Believe me Kali, talking with you two won't make me sad."

"One more thing, Kali. Tell Angara, I'd better see her cheerful face in my room. Tell her I survived 73 years in a prison camp without a single gash or bruise. She did more physical damage to me in one short flight than all of the Orcs in Beleriand combined." Child figured that should get her attention, and rouse up her ire to come in and talk.

[ August 22, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]