At last our four heroes come back to their beloved Shire. One evening they reach the Brandywine Bridge wet and tired, but to their dismay they are denied entrance. The Shire is no longer the place they left behind. Shirriffs guard the gates and uphold new unreasonable laws, ugly buildings sprout everywhere, and there are evil Men in the Shire who are using the Hobbits as slaves. And all orders seem to come from Bag End, from the mysterious Sharkey.[More]