So onward they went, seeing the same landscapes over and over again. They walked into a cornfield that barely went over Morantwen's head. Morantwen did not too much like the sharp maze path they were upon but that was nothing compared to the worries of Sam. Frodo was quite ahead of the group and knew the way better. When he veered off into the left of the path, Sam quietly followed but in his mind, he didn't like not seeing when he was headed. And much less did he like not knowing where his Mr. Frodo was headed. So when he came out of the impending darkness, and saw that Frodo was neither left nor right of him, he started to panic. He didn't ever hear Morantwen come behind him about ten feet away.
"Mr. Frodo? Frodo? Frodo!" he yelled. Frodo came rushing from the right corner in front of Sam. Sam, on the verge of tears, breathed a sigh of relief.
"I thought I'd lost you." Frodo stared at Sam with wonder in his eyes.
"What are you talking about?" he said. Morantwen was wondering the same question.
"It's just something Gandalf said."
"What did he say?"
"'Don't you lose him, Samwise Gamgee.' And I don't mean to." Frodo smiled.
"Sam, we're still in the Shire. What could possibly happen?" Just as he said that, something came out of crop beside them and slammed into Sam. Frodo and Morantwen looked down at him just as someone struck into Frodo. Morantwen stared down upon the two hobbits to see who or what had run into them. But the strangest thing, she realized she was not staring down upon two hobbits, but four. A blond-haired, hazel-eyed one and a green-eyed, light brown-haired one was laid upon her two friends. The one with green eyes spat out a bit of dirt and looked at his accidental victim. He looked in surprise upon Frodo and spoke to his comrade.
"Frodo. Merry, it's Frodo Baggins." Merry was just in the middle of standing up to look at his cousin.
"Hullo, Frodo." Sam jumped toward Frodo and the other hobbit.
"Get off him. Come on, Frodo." He pulled Frodo up and helped him brush off his clothing. Frodo looked at Merry and his other cousin, Pippin, and realized that they were holding and picking up a bunch of vegetables.
"What's the meaning of this?" he asked. Sam realized, as Merry and Pippin were giving all the vegetables to him, just exactly what was going on.
"You've been into Farmer Maggot's crop!" Merry nodded as he piled on carrots into Sam's arms. Suddenly, they heard a voice yelling from afar. Morantwen paused in laughing silently at the ridiculous little halflings to listen to what must have been Farmer Maggot.
"Get back here! Get out of my field! You know what's gonna happen when I catch up with you?" he yelled. The hobbits, closely followed by Morantwen and Astalder, ran briskly into the corn stalks. They are pretty fast, Morantwen thought with a smile. Though the smile quickly went away when she realized the crazy farmer was still on their tail. With an ax in hand as well!
"I don't know why he's so upset," yelled Merry, over the sound of rustling stalks and the farmer's inane yelling, "It's only a couple of carrots!"
"And some cabbages," Pippin added, "And those three bags of potatoes that we lifted last week. And-and then the mushrooms the week before."
"Yes, Pippin. My point is, he's clearly overreacting!" They started to come to the end of the crop wall. What they didn't know was that there was a cliff right outside it. Frodo came out first, stopping right at the edge to avoid toppling over. Pippin came not a second after, bumping slightly into Frodo. Merry came next, bumping into Pippin. And then there was Sam. As Morantwen came out with Astalder by her side, she saw Sam bumping nice and hard into Merry, sending them all downhill. Morantwen watched in strangely mild concern as she approached the edge and saw all the hobbits in a pile at the bottom of the ledge. With her elven grace, she walked gingerly down the rough, grassy floor. Carefully, but quickly, she reached the bottom with Astalder close behind. She watched as the four hobbits managed to untangle themselves from the confused mess they were in. Sam sat up and brushed himself off.
"Trust a Brandybuck and a Took!"
"What?" said Merry, rubbing dirt out of his hair (that was probably there before), "That was just a detour. A shortcut."
"A shortcut to what?"
"Mushrooms!" yelled Pippin. Him, Merry and Sam, who was dying for more mushrooms, raced over to collect them. Morantwen was busy eating a bit of lembas bread as she stroked Astalder's mane. Meanwhile, Frodo walked into the middle of the road they fell into and stared down it. He didn't like the feeling of thinking that he, Merry, Pippin, Sam and Morantwen were here alone.
"I think we should get off the road." Suddenly, he looked back at the road. Morantwen looked too. Her heart started to beat faster and harder. There was a puddle by her feet. She stared into it and focused on her image. But she could not. All she could see was her eyes. They were glowing brighter than the sun. She looked back at the road and immediately heard a shriek. It came shrill and chilling. She saw Frodo turn toward the other hobbits.
"Get off the road, quick!" he yelled. He looked at Morantwen and she could almost see the terror in his eyes. It turned her blood to ice. She gestured him to go. He nodded and leaped toward a hollow under a tree root. The others followed. Morantwen turned to the shadows. She led Astalder toward a wide-bodied tree that cast a large shadow.