[Child of the 7th Age]

Although Daisy and Rose remained in the water, Child decided to leave to begin dinner preparations. Kali had already caught a number of fish and entrusted them to Child to take down to the galley. She climbed back up the rope until she reached the deck, precariously balancing her load, which consisted of a large new seashell and a pail full of sea bass.

After depositing the fish in the galley, Child dropped by her cabin to get out of her wet clothes. She unlocked the door, a precaution she had taken during the time of the unknown stowaway and which she still adhered to both from caution and habit. For at any given time, she still had a number of older manuscripts and artifacts in her care which she was studying.

Child glanced about the cabin which now seemed quite cramped with all her belongings as well as those of Daisy scattered about in all directions. She laughed in recognition. Apparently, this was one way in which Daisy was a completely normal hobbit. Yet there were others, Child reflected, which seemed to hint that the girl's background and experience hadn't been quite so "normal".

As Child gazed around the room, she noticed a small note sitting on her desk which had not been there before. Now, who had put that there, and how had they gotten in? This time, however, her questions were quickly answered as she surveyed its contents:

Child --

I couldn't resist "burglaring" my way inside your room. You might remember a previous instance when my own possessions were similarly disturbed.

But, this time, I have a good excuse. Veritas and I have completed our studies of the time travel device and our calculations show that there may be some navigational problems, as you suggested earlier. We have come up with some suggestions as to how these may be minimized.

We may be expecting too much of the device by not only asking it navigate thousands of years of history in one instant, but also to come out in the precise location where we need to go. In order to minimize possible distortions, we are advising Mithadan to sail here and now in the Fourth Age to the spot where we actually need to land in Beleriand itself.

This will ensure that the device focus on our chronological destination only, and should minimize any distortions inherent in attempting to transverse so many thousands of years. We are also suggesting that we do the temporal journey in a series of shorter hops, again in hopes of getting closer to our desired target.

This sailing will take some very precise maritime calculations to figure out exactly where, amid the waves, the ancient lands lie. We feel we have the skill and expertise to do th

I have already spoken with Mithadan, and he concurs with this approach.

I did want to thank you for bringing this problem to my attention. And, Child, I am sorry if I have been a little more abrupt than usual. Your friendship means a lot to me, but I have many personal matters on my mind, and I find that these occupy my concerns to a very great degree. I ask your patience and understanding.

Piosennel

Child looked at the note and smiled.

[ July 18, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]