The Lonely Star -- Chapter 4

[Child of the 7th Age]

Cami had not found either Loremaster or Ancalimon, but had left messages for them to drop by to see her on the Star. Now she was working on the lower deck of the ship pulling together some of the things the hobbits would need for their journey. She'd been at this off and on for several days, and was putting the finishing touches on the project. The old tank for the sea-cows was empty. Instead, there were piles of goods and foodstuffs stacked in neat rows, as well as a stray goat or two tottering about that the children had managed to corral to take with them to the Third Age.

Gamba and Rose had been helping, but both had now disappeared. The boy had gone to Meneltarma to say goodbye to Kesha, and Rose was off somewhere with Anee. In the past few days, Rose had come to realize that Kali and Daisy were no longer to be part of her daily life, and had increasingly turned to Anee for friendship and support. Cami was grateful that the Fallohide girl and her family had chosen to remain hobbits and were sailing with them to the Anduin. Both girls seemed to have a genuine interest in herbs and healing that Cami hoped to encourage.

As far as supplies went, Cami was taking no chances. She had asked the Teleri in each of the swanships to put together a large store of preserved foodstuffs and other necessities that would be unloaded once they reached their destination. Then each of the families would select what they most needed for the trip overland to start a new life.

Ropes, weapons, cooking gear, tinder boxes, tools, fishing lines, heavy winter cloaks, even boots for the Stoors....Cami ticked off the items in her head that stood before her. Loremaster had seen her note and come down to help organize things. It was the first time they'd been together since the day before the choosing when he'd suggested she stay on Meneltarma.

Cami had been afraid there might be some tension left from that, but Loremaster had been careful not to allude to their earlier conversation. He had concentrated on the preparations at hand and asked questions to make sure she and the boy would be alright once the Star reached the Anduin.

"You are happy with your own choice?" Cami asked towards the end of the afternoon.

"Yes, I'm well content. The Sea holds amazing wonders. I will have no trouble keeping busy and productive. I'm hoping to set down some of the hobbit history from Beleriand and Tol Fuin, as well as the Tombs, so those things aren't forgotten."

Cami smiled sadly. It pleased her to think that somewhere, far away, her cousins would remember the tales of Maura and Nitir and Lindo, and pass them on to their children, along with the exploits of the Star that were aready outlined in the pages of Idril's daybook. Out loud, she simply said, "I wish I could read those. We've been together all these weeks, yet I've never sat down with you or Andril to find out more about our past. Now we're parting, and there's no more time."

Loremaster darted nervous eyes back towards Cami, "I shall miss you. You're very different than anyone I've met. Very special. I'll not forget that."

He quickly changed the subject. "Will you go by Cami or Nitir in the Anduin? Some seem to call you one name, and some another."

Cami laughed, "I expect Azra and I will carry two names all our days. But at least the other hobbits have stopped treating me as if I was a legend to be preserved inside a glass ball. The other day, Mika and I disagreed about something. He stood his ground and didn't give in. I'd rather not lose an argument, but at least he could fight back, and treat me like a real person."

She looked shyly over at Loremaster and confided, "Where I came from, before all this, I wasn't anything special. Only a poor girl of mixed Harfoot and Fallohide origin who tended other folks' children and taught them their letters. Thinking of myself as a 'wise-woman' has taken a lot of stretching. I'm still learning how to do that."

Loremaster listened to the woman, then fumbled with a small packet tucked away in his robes and held it out to the woman, "I have something for you."

She smiled sadly and took it, "But I have no mathom for you."

Loremaster shook his head, "It's not needed. I owe you a debt nothing can repay. And I take away memories of a kind woman with just a little stubborn streak."

Cami smiled and took the packet, stripping off its wrappings. It was a small day book, one he'd probably saved from the tombs. Its pages were blank and clean, but with Loremaster's name written on the front cover along with a greeting.

"I know you'll be busy where you're going. But will you do something for me? Use this book to write down the hobbit tales that will come after the time we go our separate ways."

Cami reflected a moment. She'd thought her remembering and recording days were gone forever. But perhaps, this was not a bad idea. Whatever she wrote of the early history on the Anduin could be safely given to the Elves of Rivendell at the end of her journies, to be stored there for permanent safekeeping.

"Thank you, I'll try to do that. Only I'll not say anything about how we came to the banks of the river, or the hobbrim and their appointed task."

"Nitir, there's one more thing, before you go. It's about Gamba. I'm going to miss him terribly, more than I ever realized."

Loremaster sighed, "For so long, I kept trying to pound Gamba into shape, to force him to be something different. All my hopes rested on Phura because he naturally loved the things I loved. I think Gamba knew that, and found it hard."

"But, now, I've seen the two of you together. Nitir, he blossoms with you. Gamba has strengths of his own that I never imagined. So, I wanted to say thanks for that. And, to let you know, you've taught me a lesson I hope I'll never forget."

Loremaster gave her a hug, and said in a husky voice. "Good luck to you, wherever your travels take you."

"And to you." Cami found tears stuggling down her cheeks. "I only wish there could be a magic portal between our peoples. We had so little time."

Then Loremaster turned to leave and left the hobbit to her more practical chores.

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Cami went up to her cabin and began sorting through her personal belongings, setting aside those special things that she wanted to take along. She got out a heavy backpack and slung a few items inside. The small collection of shells and stones she'd picked up on the journey, a few items of clothing, sheets of vellum and pens, a slate for children to learn their letters, her mother's brooch and a note from her father, a wooden recorder that came from Kali, the new journal from Loremaster with Maura's fragile sprig of dried heather tucked inside, a map of the Anduin from Mithadan, the mirror Pio had insisted she keep, and a large conch shell she'd gotten from Bird to make music at the party.

She smiled at her choices. Perhaps not too practical, but these things were like a roadmap of the journey she'd just completed. She also needed some necesssities, but these would come from the common pile of supplies they'd distribute near the Falls.

Just one more thing to remember. She loaded Idril's herbs and the handwritten notes she'd copied from the Elf's manual into a separate satchel to slip around her body. She planned to wear Maura's green stone about her neck, two hunting knives at her waist, and a bow and quiver slung onto her back over a tough leather jerkin that Ancalimon had given her to ward off arrows.

Cami stared into her mirror and burst out laughing. She looked nothing like the prim nanny from Gondor who'd first stepped onto the Star. If anything, she seemed to be one of those wild Fallohide lasses going off on mad adventures that she'd first heard about whenever Gandalf came to Bilbo's house and recited his tales. At the thought of Gandalf and his tales, Cami smiled.

Almost on cue, the door to her cabin was pushed ajar as Ancalimon smiled a greeting and asked to come inside. "You're ready," he said, pointing towards the satchels that lay waiting on the table.

"Almost. I knew it won't take very long to reach the Anduin with the time crystal, so I wanted to have everything ready. I was the one pushing Pio and Mith to leave tomorrow morning. I've had enough sitting around waiting."

"But you're returning to the West," Cami added, looking at him sadly and wishing that he was sailing again on the Star.

"For a while, yes. The fall of Numenor, as tragic as it was, has given us a moment to rest. I don't expect that will continue too long. We'll need to watch things carefully."

"You once said you'd look in on us sometime. Will you still be able to do that?"

He nodded. "One way or another. I've been checking on your people for many years, even before their travels to the West with Beor. I can't imagine that will stop. Especially now. Things aren't settled yet." He frowned, and looked out the porthole in the direction of the East.

Cami wished she could learn something of those more distant days when her people had first awoken, but she'd need to leave that tale to another. Her road clearly led to the Anduin.

"Can you tell me what the hobbits should do, or where we should go after the landing?" Her voice sounded uncertain.

"Cami, you and Rose have a simple task. Keep your people together as long as you can. If hobbits must wander off, keep them within the upper vales of the Anduin, between the Misty Mountains and the eastern border of Greenwood. No further apart than that."

The peddler went on to explain. "You must win them a little time to learn some things they'll need to survive. Only then, will the three clans be ready to split apart, and go their separate paths."

Cami interrupted. "But the history that I know..." she blurted out the words and then abruptly stopped. Nienna had told her not to discuss that with anyone, not even the messenger who would come from her own household.

"The recorded history that you know begins with the year 1050 of the Third Age, when the hobbits went off in three different directions. I'm aware of that much. But Manwe has stipulated that you and your people are to be dropped off some fifty years before that date."

"There must be a reason for that," she mused.

"Yes, there must be a reason, and you will need to figure that out on your own. But I'm sure of one thing. The hobbits spent over sixty years in prison, and, before that, thousands of years on a secluded isle. They've always been by themselves. Now, they must learn something about the other free peoples of Middle-earth. That won't be easy. Hobbits have a way of looking inward, and forgetting that others exist. There are also skills they'll need to master if they're going to survive."

"So this fifty-year window will be a time for Stoor, Fallohide, and Harfoot to stand together, before the years of wandering begin? To learn how to farm and hunt and fish, and live in a simple way." The simplicity and rightness of that idea struck her with force.

"Yes," Ancalimon nodded. "The hobbrim must learn to love the Sea, but your kin must develop that same feeling about the land. They must live quietly to escape the notice of the great, and leave the path of war to others as much as possible."

"But how will we meet or learn about the other free peoples of Middle-earth? It's true that most hobbits think their homes and families are the center of the world, and pay little attention to others. But, truthfully, most of those folk pay little heed to us. And, when they do, some have a hard time seeing us as anything other than children. So how are we to meet and learn about these other free folk?"

"I'll make sure there is a group of friends to greet you, and guide you northward once you reach the Anduin. They will teach you many things."

The meaning of Ancalimon's words seemed evident. Friends? Northward? Cami's eyes glowed with excitement. "Then we'll be going to Rivendell. Will Master Elrond send someone to lead us?"

At that point, Ancalimon stared at Cami with some exasperation. "Woman, use your head. I've just told you the hobbits must learn to love the land and to live in a simple way, far from the halls of war or power."

"Rivendell is a center of lore and counsel, a place for books and poetry and great Elven arts. I know you love these things, but that isn't what your people need."

Cami's face fell as she considered this.

Ancalimon added, "I have no doubt that, living in the area, you personally will manage to find your way to Rivendell, and spend some time there at the end of your journies. But that stands years away. Right now, the worst thing you could do is to desert your people and run off to Rivendell because you want to chase after books."

He fixed on her sternly. "Cami, there is a reason why you were asked to take up this task, and not Phura or Loremaster or even Andril. I am counting on your common sense. If we'd needed a great bard, someone else would have been chosen."

She nodded yes, and promised that she'd keep her goals clear and simple.

"Good, that's what the hobbits need." Then, he threw her a teasing look. "These friends will be waiting for you when you come ashore. I will make sure of that."

"But who are they?" she pleaded.

"No, we've talked enough for now. You'll have to wait." She looked at him stubbornly, but could see he was equally determined to say nothing further on this subject.

"One more thing, when you see me next, I may go by another name or look differently, but you should still recognize me."

Cami shook her head, "At least I didn't foul up there. I've read Elven history, and was able to patch things together. I figured that out some time ago. But I did have a question. When I meet you as Mithrandir or whatever name you go by, how much will I remember of our past, of the history of the hobbits, and the things that happened on this voyage?"

"You will keep all the knowledge of your past, including your friends on the Star and what you did together. You will remember everything about Beleriand and the tombs and even Sauron and the hobbrim. You may share this with Gamba or Rose, as they grow older, but othewise keep it secret, as it is not something that will be useful to the hobbits as a whole. But this history will help you, and later Gamba and Rose, to make decisions about what your people should do."

"The part that will be lost," he went on, "will be some of your memories of the future. You will recall your family and friends and even the teacher you speak so warmly of, but none of the history that surrounds them. If you had kept that knowledge, you would never have been able to make a truly free decision. Such a burden would be too great."

Cami thought a minute, then asked in a concerned tone, "But what about the hobbrim? Will the hobbits even remember they had kin?"

"They will remember their kin." Ancalimon said gently, "but only that they chose to stay behind and live a life at sea. The exact nature of that change will slip away, like a dream remembered dimly the next morning. You and Rose and Gamba will be the only ones to retain that knowlege. But, in years to come, there may be a few adventurous hobbits, particularly in the line of the Tooks, who will feel compelled to go to Sea, yet won't realize that they are actually hunting for their lost kin.

Cami sighed and felt sad. So Gamba's loss of Phura was to rebound in the hearts of the Tooks even down to the end of the Third Age. Some things did not mend easily.

"That is enough for now." Ancalimon softly interjected. "But, if I have my way, we will see each other very soon, by your reckoning at least."

"And I'll not forget you, Cami Goodchild. Neither you or Maura. Few will remember what you gave, but I will keep it in my heart. If you had done otherwise, there would have been no rescue or freedom for your people."

Then he hugged her. For a split instant, she buried her head into his grey robes and whispered. "However long or short, I shall miss you. You have taught me and the hobbits so much. I do not even know how to begin to say thanks."

He turned and left the room, and Cami resumed her packing with a curiously heavy heart.
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After all that organizing and packing and such serious goodbyes, Cami felt as if she needed to get away for a bit and have some fun. She didn't want to sit here on her last evening on the Star all by herself. Even if she couldn't find a companion, she at least wanted to go and pay her last respects to the isle.

Perhaps, Bird was in her cabin, and she'd agree to go exploring. It would be fun to visit the hobbrim in their coves, or swim out into the ocean to see Levanto, or even figure out a way to climb or fly to the top of Mount Eru and wish Angara well in her new role as its defender.

Cami slipped into the galley and stuffed a few picnic things into a hamper. A good hobbit never travels without a few treats in her pack! Then she ran down to Bird's cabin, still dressed in her gear for the Anduin, and began madly pounding on the door, hoping that she would answer.

[ December 11, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]