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The Rescue by Lindelea	72 Review(s)
Lady Forlong	Reviewed Chapter: 26 on 4/19/2025
Hero - Heroine LOL And she never told Merry. What a way for him to find out! Author Reply: She never told Merry. Somehow this "surprise" revelation, courtesy of Pippin, makes me chuckle. Merry knew about "Twig" since he was part of the search party that restored Estella to her parents, but he didn't know the half of it! Thanks so much for reading and stopping to send along your impressions. I appreciate it.

Lady Forlong	Reviewed Chapter: 22 on 4/18/2025
Losing your wits like a Mad Baggins probably wouldn't make things any worse right now LOL Author Reply: LOL! I imagine a Mad Baggins could make quite a lot of sense if people would only listen to them! Thanks! I appreciate your reading and taking time to leave a good word or three.

Lady Forlong	Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 4/18/2025
Given their culture, I suppose it's understandable that hobbits who leave the Shire are presumed dead. Author Reply: The Shire-folk are awfully self-isolating. Even Tolkien said as much. I would suppose that makes the Travellers even more intrepid and courageous, in that light. They have little or no idea what lies beyond the Bounds – they only know that banished hobbits never return (because they're not allowed to, not necessarily because they've died, but how would someone be able to tell?). Except for Bilbo, the first time he left the Shire (and maybe more times, for he was the wandering sort). That said, even Bilbo vanished permanently that last time he left the Shire. Only one of the Tooks who went to Sea is noted to have returned – maybe, depending on how one interprets the note about Isengar in the Took Family Tree. The remaining Boffin who went to Sea and Took who went off on a journey, according to notations in their respective Family Trees, were apparently never heard from again. Thanks for listening to me natter on about hobbits. I can never see to get enough of them.

Lady Forlong	Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 4/18/2025
Forced marriage to Lotho Sackville-Baggins? A fate worse than death! Author Reply: O I know! The thought makes me shudder! Glad to have you along for the adventure! (Did I say that? I meant, "for the story" of course.)

Lady Forlong	Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 4/17/2025
I almost forgot that Merry and Estella get married after he comes back from his adventures while his family and friends are having their own adventures back home. Gotta love how these hobbits take care of each other. Author Reply: I do love how these hobbits take care of each other, for sure! When I first started writing fanfic, I had no idea who Merry married because Estella didn't appear on the family trees in my copy of LOTR! Luckily, I started my fanfic imaginings with Pippin and Beregond's friendship in Gondor, and then branched out to write about Bergil's perspective after his father saved Faramir's life. Finally, by the time I started writing Jewels, someone had told me about Estella. And the rest is... more fanfic, I guess you could say. Thanks for reading and stopping to share your thoughts! I really appreciate it.

	Reviewed Chapter: 26 on 4/17/2025
𝘗𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘥, '𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯?' '𝘌𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱, 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦,' 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥. '𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦!' Why do I feel like Pippin would want to test this someday? 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘩𝘰𝘸, 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰? 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘛𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧? 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐'𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘳 – 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥... 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳? Ok, so Pippin is not a popular successor at this point. But the Tooks will not depose him, will they? Pippin's retelling of the story is succinct and to-the-point, as we say here. He's quite a good speaker, and he knows how to attract and then maintain the attention of his audience. It is impressive to see how he has learned. 𝘗𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, '𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘹 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘧𝘧'𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘥!' Pippin stating the obvious! By the way do the Tooks know that the Fox was Ferdi? Glad to see Estella finally getting the honours she deserved. She is really a heroine of the Tookland. Such a great ending to this story. I've really enjoyed this journey with Estella. Author Reply: I think that if Pippin ever gave in to the temptation to test the Tooks' ingenuity, Diamond would probably grab him by the shirt and yank him down into his seat. Her firm, no-nonsense look would then prompt him to say, 'Please take your seats' almost automatically, simply from the force of her personality. Diamond may laugh at fools when they're not inconveniencing anyone else, but she is not the type of person to suffer a fool lightly when he's being a pain! Pippin lives with the threat of being deposed for nearly a decade, first because of his reputation and occasional recklessness, and later because of his compromised health. However, once Sam travels to the South-lands and brings back healing for the Thain, the Tooks settle down at last. More or less. Pippin deliberately states the obvious here in order to redirect his listeners' mood. Although many of the Tooks (and Lotho's Men) did not connect the Fox with Ferdi during the first part of the Troubles, it became general knowledge by the time the Travellers returned. He was originally dubbed "Fox" because of his wily ability to elude capture by Lotho's Men; I don't remember whether it was first a Man or a Hobbit that dubbed him so. So the listeners know that Pippin is talking about Ferdi, and they are also quite familiar with Ferdi's resistance to healers, and quite a few of them have heard Ferdi's grumbles about those "two weeks in bed"! Thus, even though Pippin wasn't anywhere near Tookland at the time he's describing, the joke works as he intends for his listeners at this particular time. Similarly, Merimac Brandybuck went under the name "Badger" on his forays from Buckland into the occupied Shire so that Lotho and his ruffians couldn't trace him back to the Brandybucks in general and Saradoc in particular. (He may also have been protecting Saradoc from the knowledge that a rogue Brandybuck was taking action against Lotho's ruffians; since Saradoc was, at least on the surface, cooperating with Lotho (to protect his wife Esmeralda, who was a Took), he would have had to forbid any further exploits on his brother's part if he'd become aware of them. Anyhow, that's why you see Ferdi and Merimac calling each other "Fox" and "Badger" in some stories. It was good to see Estella recognised for her courage and contribution to Tookland's survival. I think Paladin originally passed her over because he didn't want her caught up in the scandal of having lived as a lad, knowing Estella's grandmama Bolger as he did. Old Jessamine (Boffin) Bolger would have made Estella's life miserable once she returned to her former life. Either Paladin had more compassion for the lass than he had for his own son, or Eglantine told him to omit Estella from the list of names he read at the Free Faire commemoration ceremony. I'm not quite sure which it was. I'm so glad you enjoyed the story! Now that this one's finished, I've started revising the draft chapters of The Proposal. (I can't remember whether this story spun off of that one, or that story spun off of this one. They're related, anyhow.) Eventually, the remaining chapters of that sister-story will also appear here on SoA, if all goes well. That's my aim, anyhow, to finish all the WIPs before I turn my attention to other matters. (If I ever do. Middle-earth remains as fascinating as it ever was.) Author Reply: p.s. I don't know if it's obvious, but Pippin deliberately avoided all mentions of "Twig" and Estella passing for a lad in his storytelling. Gossip can be so... awful.

Leithian	Reviewed Chapter: 25 on 4/12/2025
Hi Lindelea, how're you? Thanks for another amazing chapter. '𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪' 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴,' 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. '𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘮𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦, 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴...' Always so stubborn Ferdibrand... Nice to see Estella up and about. '𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶?' 𝘔𝘶𝘮 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘺. '𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘐 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵, 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨!' '𝘕𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘵!' 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥. '𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳,' 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳. '𝘚𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳?' 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥. '𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?' 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴. '𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭,' 𝘔𝘶𝘮 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘭𝘺. I agree with Mum. If not for Woodruff, he would have marched with the Muster. The Tooks have really talken a lot of risks for the whole Shire, and it is high time that they are respected by the rest of the Hobbits. Awaiting the finale! Till then Author Reply: I'm doing well, thanks! It has been an interesting week on the home front. One day of electrical work on our house has turned into an entire week (and counting). I'm looking forward to having reliable electricity when the process is finished. Such a luxury! (You and Mum are probably right. I think if he'd not got on Woodruff's last nerve, Ferdi would have been able to get out of bed after a week and ride to the border to join the Muster, and he'd've been able to take part in or, at the very least, witness the victory he helped to bring about!) I write Tooks as a whole as stubborn. I guess they're in good company! According to Tolkien, hobbits are slow to change, clannish, and parochial, having a limited or narrow outlook or scope. Finale is due to post today!

Leithian	Reviewed Chapter: 23 on 4/5/2025
I am worried about Ferdi, he seems to be badly hurt. Somehow I like him even better for wishing to warn the Thain despite the fact that he needs to rest and recover. And I dislike the Thain even more knowing his subsequent treatment of Ferdi in 'Flames'. But I'm getting ahead. 𝘔𝘺 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩—’ ... ‘𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 – 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘮𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘮𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘯... Ummm I don't seem to understand what he's saying here. I mean that if the Smials are taken then Tookland will fall and there will be no place safe in the Shire. Does he intend for Estella to remain undercover forever? Oh please let the Travellers return soon, it is all getting out of hand. Don't mind me actually, it is far too early in the morning... Now that I know that your stories always have a happy ending, I'm eagerly waiting for it. Author Reply: Bless you! The Paladin in this story is much closer to the way I write him in The Farmer's Son (which follows an alternate timeline, and that alternate timeline, unfortunately, does not intersect much with Flames). So you might think of him more kindly that way, I hope. I do like the old hobbit, and I even liked Farmer Paladin of the original timeline (before he became Thain, that is, poor fellow). Yes, you described the potential disaster exactly. The point will become clearer in the next chapter, I think. If the Smials are taken and the leadership of the Tooks is wiped out, it's likely that the back-country Tooks (including Harley and Mum and their children) would have to band together, find defensible hiding places, and fight a sort of guerrilla warfare. If things were to continue as they're going, the safest course for Estella would be to continue to live as Twig – for the rest of her life, as long as that might be. (And considering the ruffians' goal, directed by Sharkey, is to destroy the Shire – for though he has not yet arrived in the Shire, his influence seems plain to me in various hints by Tolkien: the half-orc in Bree, the cruelty and destructiveness of the Men who came to work for Lotho, the description of the Lockholes survivors. Lotho thought the Men were working for him, poor foolish hobbit.) In that case, Estella's future would be uncertain or even distressingly brief. The remaining Tooks and Tooklanders would face a bitter struggle, knowing they were marked for death and living with that knowledge, but they'd go down fighting, and they'd never stop resisting and hoping against hope, somehow, to overcome in the end. As Sam and Frodo and Merry and Pippin proved, hobbits are amazingly courageous and stubborn creatures! I'm so glad that Tolkien wrote a different ending to their story! And I have done the same, as you noticed! (You're right. It's late May or early June at this point, and the Travellers are certainly taking their time in turning their steps back home. Silly hobbits, imagining that the Shire is just as peaceful as they left it... They are in for a shock!) Don't mind me, I was up past midnight writing Chapter 15 of Tolly's new story and lost track of the time. The bedtime patrol (cats) are elsewhere tonight. Usually one or another of them starts biting my leg around 10 p.m. or so to remind me to finish what I'm doing and go sensibly to bed. (((hugs))) Thanks so much for reading and pausing long enough to share some food for thought! I hadn't really examined closely what would happen after the Great Smials should fall and the Thain should be captured because that's a story I could never write, actually. Just summarizing it and thinking about what might have happened was almost too terrible to contemplate. (Along those lines, I think you'll continue to appreciate Paladin, and Eglantine too, in the next chapter, due to post on Monday or Tuesday, because they know what the stakes are and they rise to the challenge. And I hope you'll enjoy the story's ending. I laughed as I wrote it.)

Leithian	Reviewed Chapter: 22 on 4/2/2025
Lindelea, are you doing well? I wish there was something I could say to make you feel better. And don't you worry about your stories. They're awesome as always and I suspect that people are not leaving a lot of reviews in general. Of course you know the responses better than me but I have noticed that once there used to be around 10-15 reviews on a chapter while nowadays there aren't even 5. I miss the old atmosphere of SoA... As for the Tolly story, I'm sure your long time readers will appreciate it, he is a pretty well loved OC I think. Not as much as Ferdi but then the Fox is special. *** As for this update, oh my God!! Unfortunately some ruffians have brains in their heads. And what a diabolical and disgusting plan they have cooked up. The honorary member of the border guard has quite a lot on her plate now. I assume that both of them will have to somehow enter Tookland safely but that's not the half of it! They'll have to persuade the Thain to change strategy or something to avoid harming hobbits. Estella's internal monologue was amusing to read. I think it is a phenomenon or something... high altitude psychosis but that's at high altitudes... don't want to google right now... is it a scientific thing? Or just her normal 'wit' coming to life? The chapter has ended on quite a cliffhanger, and I am eager to know how the subsequent events will turn out. Btw I have a habit of reading reviews and somewhere you mentioned that you are planning to work on the Thain story. Ecstatic pretty much sums up my feelings. I loved the Bucca storyline and it is also interesting to see the evolution of Paladin's character from the humble farmer in 'Pearl of great price' to the grumpy old Took in 'Flames' and 'Jewel'. I think my review is getting too long, so I'll wrap it up here. Take care Author Reply: I'm doing well, thank you for asking. The past week was more stressful than usual because a close family member had a close call and ended in the hospital for a few days. Now it's as if everything is back to normal and nothing happened (this person is almost never sick at all, and has bounced back from the emergency with seemingly as much resilience as a hobbit! I'm so envious.), but last week was not fun. Meanwhile, I have to avoid RL stress as much as possible, and I'm pretty careful about doing just that. Except for the unavoidable, of course. I'm heartened to hear that Thain, though long absent, has not been forgotten. (I know Larner hasn't forgotten it, for almost every time we meet, she reminds me she's waiting for the next chapter, LOL.) I miss the old atmosphere a SoA, too. I must have been pulled away when things were at their height, and when RL finally gave me leisure time again, things had gotten quiet. I'm glad the site is still here, and people are posting stories! Some of the other archives where I had bookmarked stories on my want-to-read list are gone. Bless the SoA admins who have kept it going, even in the face of hackers. But I really miss the lively interaction, and that makes me doubly bless people who pause, even if they have nothing more to say than "Hi!" or maybe "I'm still here" or "I wonder what'll happen next?" "The honorary member of the border guard"! :grin: Master Merry just might be in for a surprise. You never know. As to the internal monologue: I've read accounts of people who struggled through life-or-death situations and described their thought process as breaking into two pieces, one telling them what to do and the other reflecting their dismay and confusion and fear. Sort of like a rational adult leading a frightened child by the hand. Except that Estella is not the kind of person to be passively led by the hand; her feisty side (like Twig razzing the Old Uncle) usually pops up. When you strip away the veneer of sweet reasonableness she wields like a shield, she has a pretty sharp (swordlike?) and sometimes acid wit. In other words, the "talking to yourself and hearing an answer" phenomenon can be a coping mechanism triggered by the survival instinct, if I'm remembering right. An older family member of mine also routinely talked aloud to themself – and answered! – as an ADHD coping mechanism to stay on track and not forget what they were doing because of distractions. Isn't the brain fascinating? I wonder if high altitude psychosis is related in some way to nitrogen narcosis, which affects sea-divers in deep water? Interesting. I'll have to look that up. I have had altitude sickness, myself, while hiking in the mountains, and had to stop 100 vertical meters short of the summit where we were going to take panoramic photos. My friend took my camera onward and took my pictures for me after we were warned that altitude sickness could be fatal if one ignorantly tried to power through it. I could still think clearly, and I didn't talk to myself (or answer!), but I had the worst headache of my life until I was able to get down to a lower altitude. Regarding subsequent events, things will continue to happen quickly from here on out, as the story is nearly finished! Though it started rather slowly, it is galloping to the ending. Here's hoping this review reply is not too long! When my coffee has not yet kicked in, I tend to ramble. Author Reply: Shoot, I just did the math, and I converted wrong just now. That time hiking in the mountains, I had to stop 30 vertical meters from the summit, even more frustrating! My brain translated 100 vertical feet to 100 vertical meters as if feet were yards... I understand that yards and meters are not quite the same, but they are close enough that the comparison made sense... until I realised I had changed feet into yards, which isn't the same at all. I'm usually better at converting to metric, but (as mentioned earlier) my coffee is only just beginning to kick in.

Leithian	Reviewed Chapter: 21 on 3/30/2025
Thanks for another thrilling chapter! 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬 – 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 – 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘵. 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘍𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘪 𝘣𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵! Of course the ruffians' cooking is farthest from the hobbits' idea of proper food! 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘳𝘶𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 "𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘰-𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴", 𝘢𝘴 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘭𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘉𝘰𝘭𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘌𝘯𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘰-𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩, 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘍𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘵! There is learning on the fly, and then there is this! I am gaining a healthy amount of respect for Estella. 𝘚𝘭𝘰𝘸, 𝘧𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘗'𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦? This girl is something else, I say. I think she should have confirmed that the final guard was dead, to leave no witnesses, but maybe it would take too much time. Anyway, I do hope it doesn't come to haunt them later. 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 – 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘺, 𝘌𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴. And a merry dance they'll lead the ruffians... Author Reply: Your review really brightened my day. (Thank you!) On a bad day, when I see "hits" on a chapter but 0 reviews (that is, not even a single short response), I have the unreasoning fear that people are clicking into the chapter, reading a sentence or two, and then clicking out again because they hate it. Silly of me, I know. People aren't necessarily disappointed; they're just busy, and too many may be having their own bad days. Stress abounds. *** Imagine a world where the worst torture you can think of is to feed a Man's cookery to a Hobbit! I'm so glad you like Estella! She had the potential to become a terrible person, what with her father's apparent inability to say 'No' to her right on up to the time when Freddy swept her away to go into hiding. But she had some good influences in her young life – including Frodo! – and Rosie and Hally's example and training, her perilous journey with Ferdi, and her life as 'Twig' all worked together to transform her from a spoilt, self-centred rich kid into a fiery, indomitable, fiercely loving adult who was not afraid to confront any problem that might arise. As to leaving no witnesses... I couldn't do that to her. In general (meaning in everything I've written to this point), I've extrapolated Tolkien's statement (which he had Frodo say) that 'no hobbit has ever killed another on purpose in the Shire, and it is not to begin now', along with his observation that Hobbits do not hunt for sport, to a general reverence for life on the part of Hobbits. Thus, my Tooks kill ruffians only reluctantly (except for a brief period during the Battle of Bywater when, frankly, they lost their minds in the heat of battle), and those who have killed are haunted to the end of their days by their knowledge of having taken a life. All that to say, Estella might have checked to see if the guard was unconscious and tied him up, and yet doing so might have put her in more danger! By getting close enough to tie him up, she would have been vulnerable to him grabbing her suddenly if he was faking. Luckily, her aim was true. The guard was unconscious and didn't see her cut Ferdi's bonds and lead him out of the clearing. Ah those zany ruffians... Estella doesn't know it, but she's elevated herself to the exalted position of 'Tookish border-keeper' with her taunts and dodging and stone-throwing. Wouldn't it be fun if the border guards made her an honorary member of their society? Again, thanks so much for reading and taking the time to share your thoughts and impressions.

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