[*Varda*]

Olo watched the Ranger disappear into the trees, his heart warmed to the Big Folk, now he knew there were some good people out there. The hobbits sat in the Bonfire Glade a little longer, the initial thrill at discovering how close they were to home replaced by silence as the hobbits mused on the events of the previous two weeks. Who would have believed that all this could stem from one small boat adventure?

Some minutes later, the hobbits rose from the ground, stamped out the fire, and began the last few hours of their journey. Buckland was so near now – Olo barely thought of the trouble he would inevitably be in from his parents – and thought only of being able to tell of their adventures to the other hobbits. He could see it now, describing the boat rushing downstream, the barrow wights, and they could lord it over the others that they had been in the Old Forest! Olo smiled exultantly. His fears had passed, and his guilt had slowly been ebbing away as they got nearer and nearer home, and the hobbit had begun to realise that they would make it.

Tom ran along at their side, sniffing out every tree and leaf that they passed by, curious about the new places that he was seeing. The hobbits spoke little, silent with relief, tiredness, and the flood of emotions that were taking over at this point. Olo looked down, and realised they were all still wearing the strange clothes from the barrow. They would look a sight as they entered the Shire!

Ama walked a little ahead of the others, and they were soon awakened from their thoughts by the sound of her calling “The gate! I can see it!” Olo dashed ahead to look, and indeed, there it was. They were home at last.