A Hobbit's Quest for Knowledge
23 September 2015 Shire Reckoning (595 Fourth Age)
Frogmorton, The Shire, Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor
Rosa Proudfoot entered the Frogmorton Branch of the Shire Library. She was curious about something. She had just finished re-reading her copy of the Red Book of Westmarch. (She had lost count of how many times she had read it.) She had thought about some things. Like, where Meriadoc the Magnificent and Peregin I had ended up at the end of their lives. She had also thought of Frodo and Samwise having ended up in the Ancient West, but thought it would be easier to find the information on the former two.
She walked up to the service desk. One of the librarians came up. "Hi, Rosa," she said. It was one of her friends, Estella Brownlock. She was surprised to see her.
"Hi, 'ella," Rosa said, with slight timidity.
"I haven't seen you here before," Estella said.
"I guess I have read at home," Rosa said quietly and a slight shrug. She was always a quiet hobbitess.
"So, what brings you here?" Estella asked.
"I'm looking for information," Rosa answered, matter of factly.
"You've certainly come to the right place," Estella said with eyebrows raised and slight humour. "What are you looking for?"
"I'd like to confirm whether or not the information in the Red Book concerning where Peregin I and Meriadoc the Magnificent ended up is true," Rosa said.
"You don't trust the Red Book?" Estella asked with curiosity.
"No," Rosa answered. "I'd like independent confirmation."
"Well, we have a great many firsthand accounts of the Battle of Bywater, so I'm sure that happened."
"I know that happened," Rosa said, with a tone of annoyance.
"We also have many firsthand accounts of Gandalf's visits."
"I am certain he existed too."
"So," Estella said. "Just whether Meriadoc ended up in Rohan and whether Peregin I ended up in Gondor," she asked for clarification.
"At the moment," Rosa answered.
"Certainly," Estella answered. She went over to the filing system. "This will take some time," she said.
"Of course," Rosa said.
An hour later, Estella found Rosa reading some three hundred year old public journals. "You found it?" Rosa asked.
"No, we don't have the information here. All we found was the information in the Red Book itself," Estella said apologetically.
"I see," Rosa said, with disappointment.
"We could check with the Bucklebury and Tuckborough branches if you like, they would be the mostly likely places that the information could be," Estella answered.
"How long would that take?" Rosa asked, asked with slight impatience.
"From Tuckborough, tomorrow morning. From Bucklebury, two days," Estella answered confidently.
"Right," Rosa said, in thought. "I can wait."
"You can write a public journal in the meantime. If someone else wants the information, they'll know that Frogmorton isn't likely to have the information, other than the Red Book."
"Certainly. But I didn't go to the public journals."
"No problem, Rosa. But a future search for the information will include the public journal," Estella pointed out.
"Good point," Rosa said, "I'm going to read something else over the next couple of days, she decided.
"Go ahead."
As Rosa poured over the information in the library, and Estella wondered what had come over her friend, two Quick Posthobbits left Frogmorton. One to the southwest, towards Tuckborough. The other to the east, towards Bucklebury.
