[*Varda*]

Around 10 minutes later, Mirabella returned with the remainder of the hobbits, who were shivering and badly bruised. Olo felt deeply relieved at the return of them all, safe and sound, almost, and they warmed themselves around the fire. Then, came the most important question – what were they to do next? Olo voiced this question to the huddle of hobbits.

“Well….”Ama asked, “Does anyone even know where we are?” The movement of many shaking heads answered this.

“This is awful,” Rosie murmured. “What on earth are we going to do? My ma and pa will be so worried!”

“But…we have to do something!” Falco cried. “We can’t just sit here for ever! Couldn’t we just walk upstream? We must come to something…the Shire must be up there somewhere?” Night had truly fallen now, and all the hobbits became increasingly aware of the darkness around them, and the eerie shapes that stood out in the moonlight.

“How are we going to eat, though?” asked Ama. “We weren’t prepared for anything like this!” A few of the hobbits laid their meagre rations down in front of them, but it was clear it wouldn’t last them until they got home.

“I can look for my pack,” Olo said doubtfully. “It must have washed up somewhere….but I don’t see the food being very edible…” With that, the hobbit scurried down to the shore to find it, returning some minutes later, with some ale, cheese, and very soggy bread. The hobbits looked dismal, and there seemed to be little hope.

“Come on, we have to cheer up,” said Mirabella. “We can’t go on in this dark, and we can’t sit here and complain. Let’s sleep out the rest of the night.” The hobbits, while worried about the next few days, were worn out from their swim to the shore, and without another word curled up on the hard ground and fell asleep instantly, not caring about any dangers out there.