We crossed the Brandywine on the ferry, moving slowly through the dark waters. I was the only one of the hobbits that hadn't crossed the river before. As I watched the shores of the Shire slip away, I had a strange feeling: my old life, my hobbit life, was taking its leave, and I realized that now the adventure began, now the story that most people knew was unfolding. I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye, and wished for a moment that Frodo could have stayed at Bag End, living comfortably with me and Bella and any other children we would have.

Merry was waiting for us on the Buckland side of the river, and as I looked back, I saw that the Rider had returned to the ferry, and was sniffing out the riverbank. "Look," I said.

"What in the Shire is that?" exclaimed Merry.

"Something that is following us," said Frodo. He refused to answer any more questions about it, though, and Merry took the basket of mushrooms and rode off to Crickhollow to prepare supper and baths. Frodo and Pippin led the way to the house, Frodo holding my hand all the way there. We met Mentha on the lane, and she and Pippin struck up conversation as we approached the hedge of Crickhollow. When we reached the door, Fatty opened it, letting out a warm glow of light and Bella. "Mommy! Daddy!" she cried, and ran into Frodo's arms. Then she came to me and I carried her back into the house.

"Well, what do you think of it?" asked Merry, coming up the hall from the kitchen. "We've done our best to make it look like home."

I looked around, noticing that they had tried to put everything in a relative position to where it had once been in Bag End. Frodo noticed this too, and said, "I hardly feel that I have moved at all." I knew, though, that in his mind he was hoping he really could stay here at Crickhollow for a while, instead of having to leave in the morning as we planned. He also was trying to decide how to tell the other hobbits that he was leaving, since I was the only one he had actually told his full plans to. But he didn't know about the conspiracy, and in my head, I was trying to remember how Merry had told Frodo about it. I couldn't remember, though, so I decided to just let things take their course.

Merry led us to two doors, throwing them open. Steam came billowing out, with the smell of soap and a wood fire in the stove. "A bath!" cried Pippin. "O blessed Meriadoc!"

"Yes, a bath, Pip. Ladies through the left door, men through the right." He winked at Frodo and I as we exchanged a glance. "I know you might be used to baths otherwise, but there are children around, you know." When he said children, he sent a pointed look towards Pippin, which caused Frodo and I to laugh.

"What?" asked Pippin. "Why are you laughing?"

"Nothing, nothing," I said, smiling. "Just happy to have a bath." I still had Dorabella on my hip as I entered the room and shut the door. I set her on the floor and began to take off her little dress as she chatted happily.

"Mommy, Uncle Merry taught me a joke while you were gone."

"Oh, did he?"

"Yes. Knock knock."

"Who's there?"

"Interrupting cow."

"Interrupting co-"

"Mooo!" She giggled hilariously after delivering the interrupting punchline, and it was so infectious, I laughed too.

"That's a good one, love," I said as I lifted her into the tub and began to wet her hair. But then she pushed my hands away.

"Mommy, I can give myself a bath."

"Can you? When did you get so grown up?"

"Uncle Merry said he wasn't going to give me a bath, and neither would old Fatty. So I had to give myself my own baths to be clean and pretty."

"Well, that's very grown up of you."

"I know." I watched her play in the water a bit, trying to grab the soap but having it slip out of her hands every time.

"I'm going to take my own bath, Bella. When you're done washing, I'll come check behind your ears and then you can get dressed and go to the kitchen for supper."

"Ok, Mommy." I undressed and took a quick bath, listening with a smile to the songs that were competing for loudness in the other room. Then there was a large splash, and Frodo shouted, "Whoa!" and I knew Pippin had made a huge mess with the bath water. I laughed, then got out, dried off, and dressed, doing the same for Bella, who ran out the door as soon as it was open. "Uncle Merry, Uncle Merry!" she called. "Mommy thought my joke was funny!"

I laughed again as I followed her to the kitchen. Frodo was coming out of his room at the same time, using a towel to dry his hair. "There's so much water in the air that I'm coming into the kitchen to finish," he said. I smiled as Merry looked in and told Pippin he had better clean up the mess before he got anything to eat, and he better do it quickly or we wouldn't wait for him. Needless to say, Pippin had mopped it all up and was out at the table before any of us could sit down. Fatty asked without much hope if any of us wouldn't be wanting mushrooms, and Frodo declared that since Mrs. Maggot had given them to him, he would serve them out. What I couldn't help noticing, however, is that he put more mushrooms on Bella's plate than she could eat, and more on mine than on anyone else's, including his. I didn't say anything, though, just smiled when he winked at me.

When we were done eating, we gathered chairs around the fireplace, and Merry asked for a full account of what had happened and what that creature on the ferry dock was. Frodo wouldn't answer, and I wasn't keen on telling the story either, since I had Bella on my lap and was brushing her hair, so it was left to Pippin to tell the story, with the occasional input from me. For a while I was afraid that Bella would be frightened by the story, but she just played with her doll and was content with her own amusement. When Pippin had finished, Merry said, "I should think you were making it all up if I had not seen that black shape on the landing-stage. What do you make of it all, Frodo?"

I listened with only half an ear to the following conversation. I knew basically what was being said: the revealing of the conspiracy. Merry, Pippin, and Fatty all knew about the Ring and Frodo wanting to leave, and a lot of their information had come from me. While they were explaining that they weren't going to let Frodo go into danger with only one companion, I was trying to devise a reasonable excuse for spying on him. But I deliberated too long, and I heard Merry say, "You are not a very easy nut to crack, and Gandalf is worse. But if you want to be introduced to our chief investigator, I can produce her."

"Her?" Frodo asked.

"Yes. Come forward, Dawn." I looked over at Frodo, and I felt the blood rushing to my face as I blushed at his look of amazement. "She collected a lot of information for us."

"Dawn?" Frodo was staring at me, with foolishness, amusement, relief, or with anger, I wasn't sure.

"Yes, Frodo, it was me. I knew you wouldn't readily agree to bringing your friends with you, since you were reluctant to bring even me, but I also knew you would need more help than just I could give you. And Gandalf did tell you to take people with you as you could trust."

"But it doesn't appear that I can trust you."

I looked at him unhappily. "You can trust me, all of us, to stick with you through everything, to the very end. And you can trust us to keep any secret closer than you keep it yourself. But you can't trust us to let you go alone, not when Gandalf has said to take someone to help you, and not when we are your friends, and I more, your wife. And besides, the Elves told you as well to take those who were willing to go, and here we are."

"Indeed, they did tell me that. But I will never believe you are sleeping again." Then he laughed. "I had dreaded this evening. But you have made it better. I give in."

"Good! That's settled." Then Merry and Pippin began singing a song they had prepared for that night, and then we made plans to leave early in the morning, not long after daybreak, and head into the Old Forest. As the others finished the packing, Frodo and I said good-bye to Bella before sending her to Brandy Hall with Mentha. I crouched down in front of her, my hands on her shoulders. "Dorabella Baggins," I said, using her full name to make sure I had her attention. "Your father and I are going away for a trip. You cannot come with us, so you are going to stay with your aunt Mentha while we're gone. You'll live at Brandy Hall with her and make new friends and meet new people that you're related to. And she'll take you to see Uncle Sam and Aunt Rosie and your cousins every once in a while, too. But you have to promise me that you'll be good for Aunt Mentha, and do what she tells you to do. Understand?"

"I understand," she said with a serious face.

"If you're good, I'll bring you necklaces and dolls and dresses from far away."

"I'll be very good!" She smiled. I hugged her and kissed her forehead, squinting to hold back the tears that were filling my eyes. Then she hugged Frodo, and he kissed her forehead too, saying, "We love you, Bella." He held her face in his hands. "Always remember that."

"I love you too, Daddy." Then she took Mentha's hand and was led away into the night. Frodo and I stood in the light of the doorway, watching our daughter walk away. Before she left the hedge, she looked back, and we waved to her. She waved back. When she was lost to our sight, I turned to Frodo and buried my head in his chest, and he shut the door and wrapped his arms around me. We both knew that we might never see her again, but I more than he, because I knew the story and I knew the chances we were taking. Then Merry said, "You'll want to sleep now. It's an early morning, and you need your rest." I felt Frodo nod, his chin rubbing my ear. He led the way to the bed for us, and I recomposed myself.

We undressed and put on our nightclothes, Frodo complaining about his legs aching. When he climbed into the bed, I sat at the foot of the bed and took one of his feet and began to massage it. He moaned but laid still, and when I finished with his left, I massaged his right. Then I laid next to him and wrapped him in my arms, and he kissed my neck before falling asleep. I just watched him, lying awake throughout the night, unable to sleep for the thoughts flooding my mind. When Frodo stirred with dreams, I stroked his hair and face, and hummed quietly.

The window began to glow with the early vestiges of light, and I slipped carefully from under the covers, being careful not to wake Frodo from his sleep. I dressed quickly and quietly, choosing this day to abandon my usual skirt for a pair of trousers. Then I braided my hair and tucked it into a ball at the base of my skull. I entered the kitchen and realized I had beat even Merry in waking, and I began to build the fire in order to make breakfast. There were a few helpings of mushrooms left, and I put them in a pan with sausages, bacon, and eggs to make a large omelet. Merry entered, yawning, as I was setting milk and flatware on the table, and Pippin followed soon after, scratching his head and making his hair stand up all on one side. I laughed and smoothed it back down for him, then told him to sit down and wait for breakfast.

Merry went to wake Frodo and Fatty, and I pulled the pan out of the flames and set it on the table. I served Pippin and myself, and set out full plates for the other three. Soon Frodo staggered into the kitchen, hair sticking up all over the place, his dressing gown falling off one shoulder; behind him Merry was pushing Fatty, whose eyes were still half-closed. We sat and ate, and there wasn't much sound besides the clink of forks on plates and the sipping of milk. Frodo and Fatty went off to get dressed after breakfast, and soon after six o'clock, we were off through the fog to get the ponies and start for the Hedge.

We said good-bye to Fatty at the secret entrance through the Hedge, and then slipped under the eaves of the Forest. It was dark and musty, with the smell of rotting leaves and moss. Branches and trailers hindered us as we passed beneath the boughs of the trees, and the oppressive silence was only broken by the sound of our breaths and the steps of the ponies' hooves. Pippin shouted at the trees once, which seemed only to increase the silence that followed, and Frodo's song of forests' endings made the trees angrier. When we reached the bald hill, we saw the path of the Withywindle marked by fog, and Merry said we should try to avoid it, but I knew that would not manage it. But I said nothing as we continued down the hill and encountered the folds in the land: large gullies that we had to climb down into and then back up out of again to try and maintain our northward course. But always we were pushed to the right and downwards, and always it was harder to find a path to the left and upwards that we could follow fairly enough. Yet still I said nothing, even when the constant climbing and slipping began to wear on me.

We reached the last gully, the one that could not be climbed out of, and we decided to go along the bottom of it, to the right, downhill, which led us eventually to the river Withywindle. This was exactly the place we wished not to be going to, but it was the place we ended up. We followed the path as well as we could, but it soon began to be very hot. Our feet became heavy, and sleep seemed a very nice thing. We stopped under a large willow; it was Old Man Willow. I knew it from the song that was being sung, very quietly, behind the buzzing of the flies and the flowing of the river. Merry and Pippin sat against the trunk of the tree, and Frodo fell backward onto the ground after staring up at the tree. I tried to fight the song as well as I could, but I was not as good as Sam had been, and I found myself walking to a root that dangled over the river and sitting on it, letting my feet drag in the water. Soon I was asleep and dreaming.

The singing was louder in my dream, telling me of younger days, when the trees talked freely, and the sun shone brighter and water was clearer. I dreamed of digging my toes into the earth, feeling the coolness of it nourish me; I dreamed of my hair blowing in the wind, and the sun soaking into my skin to help me grow. Then I dreamt of the coolness of rain, my body drenched with the sweet spring showers that renewed my limbs and quenched my winter thirst. Then something from out of my dream grabbed me by my branches and hauled me out of the rain, and I struggled. "Dawn!" a voice called into my dream, not the voice that had been singing, but a different one. Yet it was familiar too, and as it said my name again, I awoke, spluttering and coughing. Frodo was crouching over me, his hands cupping my face.

I remembered what happened right before I began to dream. "Do you know," I asked Frodo, sitting up with his help. "The tree threw me in? Just tipped the root over and there I went."

"You were just dreaming, Dawn. Trees can't move their roots. You shouldn't sit in such a place if you're feeling tired."

"It was the tree singing, Frodo, that made me tired. But what about the others? I wonder what kind of dreams they're having."

"The others aren't who I'm worried about right now," he said, keeping me from standing. "You almost drowned. I need to know that you won't do anything like that again."

"What, fall asleep?"

"No, almost get yourself killed." He looked at me seriously, his eyes trained on mine.

"Frodo," I said, bringing my own hands up to cup his face. "I would never purposely risk my life, unless it was for you." Then I kissed his forehead and said, "I promise."

He shook his head, looking troubled, but stood up and helped me up, and holding hands we walked around to the front of the willow, looking for Merry and Pippin. Pippin had disappeared into the crack, and only half of Merry was still visible. Our tender moment forgotten, we beat upon the tree, yelling at it to open up and let them out. Then I remembered fire, and ran to get tinder to start a fire under the willow's roots. But as soon as the flames began to lick the dry bark, Merry and Pippin cried out from the tree, telling us to put the fire out or they would be killed. I kicked and stamped at the fire until it was out, as Frodo ran off yelling for help, quite foolishly it appeared to me. Then I heard the nonsense singing, and I remembered: Tom Bombadil. Never had my heart felt so light as when I remembered that Tom would rescue my friends from the willow.

I watched eagerly as he came bounding through the reeds, bearing his leaf-tray of waterlilies. Then Frodo and I ran to him, yelling help, but he stopped us with a motion of his hand, and we halted immediately. It felt as though a wall had suddenly pressed up against my chest. "Whoa! Whoa! Steady there!" cried Tom. "Now, where be you a-going to, puffing like a bellows? What's the matter here then? Do you know who I am?" At that he looked at me, and I looked away quickly. "I'm Tom Bombadil. Tell me what's your trouble! Tom's in a hurry now. Don't you crush my lilies!"

"My friends are caught in the willow tree," cried Frodo.

"Master Merry's being squeezed in a crack!" I cried.

"What?" he said, leaping into the air. "Old Man Willow? Naught worse than that, eh? That can soon be mended." And he set his lilies down gently on the grass, then ran to the tree. As he sang to it, he beat it with a branch, and soon Merry and Pippin were thrown out of the trunk. We all said thank you, and he laughed, and told us to follow him to his house, where we would have supper, trotting off down the path. Try though we might, we could not keep up with him, and he sang to us one last time, telling us to keep to the path and follow it to his home.

Just as were becoming so tired as to almost fall down, we stepped out of the Forest and found that the ground was rising, leading the way to a little house on a hillside. As we looked, the door opened, and a warm light spilled out onto the path, beckoning us in. We felt our weariness fall away, and we hurried to the door. A new voice began singing, sounding young and ancient at the same time. I knew it had to be Goldberry. And then we were standing in the threshold of the house, and there was fair golden light all about us.