The more I think of it, the more confident I am that it must be four years that she was away.
Where she went, why she went, and what happened to her during that time, I do not know.

There was no way for her to tell me, any more than there was a way for Lop-Ear and me to tell the Folk what we had seen when we were away.

Like us, the chance is she had gone off on an adventure-journey, and by herself.

On the other hand, it is possible that Red-Eye may have been the cause of her going.

It is quite certain that he must have come upon her from time to time, wandering in the woods; and if he had pursued her there is no question but that it would have been sufficient to drive her away.