Meanwhile in Buckland, Marigold Cora Knotwise was running. She was running to her love's hobbit hole. She was frightened. Large spiders were everywhere. Merry always knew how to comfort her in her times of fear.
No one called her Marigold before, except her mother, and now people were starting to talk about her with her first name. That always led to trouble. Something else was wrong, and she wanted to find out what it was. "Merry? Merry? Where are you?" She wandered around his empty hobbit hole, searching for him.
"Meriadoc Brandybuck! Are you hiding from me," she cried, but got no answer, "MERRY? It's Cora!" She began to sob. Merry was gone. She had to find him. She left to the Green Dragon to ask around about him.
"Sorry lass, no sign of him."
"I was looking for him earlier, and I didn't find him either!"
"Nope, haven't heard from him for weeks."
There were only a few people in the Green Dragon, as everyone was holed up, trying to avoid the spiders. Cora noticed an old hobbit in the corner, and went up to him. Why, he wasn't old at all! It was Samwise Gamgee, come in from a day in his garden!
"Sam? Do you know where Merry is?"
"Cora! You frightened me. As a matter of fact, I saw him leave a few weeks ago with another hobbit, Gilly Ploughman. She said he was hurt, and needed immediate attention."
"H...h...hurt? What kind of hurt? Did she say?"
"No, but I reckon it was a spider bite. They are roaming around.
"Thanks, Sam." Cora left the inn, and turned around to go back in.
"Did she say where they were going?"
"I heard her mention Gondor."
"Thanks."
Cora saddled her pony, Ivy, and began riding in the direction of the Misty Mountains. She knew Gondor was beyond them, though she had never been past it. She put on a brave face, packed her things, strapped her hobbit-sized sword and dagger on, and rode off into the dusk, hoping she wouldn't run in to any spiders.
Cora was passing into Rohan when she came across a Wildman. She didn't know why he was alone, because they usually traveled in packs, but he tried to take her off her horse. She couldn't reach him with her sword, but her horse trampled him as she rode further across Rohan and into Gondor.