Overall: Thanks to katakanadian for her beta-reading comments! A better story is resulting, as usual.

Geography: Thanks to llinos for her invaluable aid in figuring out the geography of the Shire.

Chapter 4: The problem with formatting has been fixed. Thank you, Miriel, for letting me know!

Chapter 5: The firmly pro-life stand of hobbits is a logical projection from Frodo's statement in "Scouring of the Shire" that no hobbit had ever deliberately killed another. Pippin's disparaging remark about Men results from having seen the wider world in his travels; he saw Men in Gondor, the bad as well as the good, and he saw the results of the ruffians' occupation of the Shire as well. "Some of his best friends" may be Men, but he knows better than to view all Men as the same.