I stepped out of the round door that covered my hobbit hole. The scent if the flowers put a smile on my face as I wrapped my scarf around my neck.

Merry met me at the gate.

"Ready?"

"Ready," I confirmed.

We began walking towards the outskirts of the Shire where Farmer Maggot's farm lay. Merry and I 'borrow' his crops every week or so, and today was another one of those days.

Greeting some hobbits as we walked by, Merry and I saw the beginnings of the plantation.

"So, did you hear those screams last night?" I asked after a while.

"Yep," Merry said, looking at me earnestly. "Some have said that the watchman 's head was cut off."

"What?!"

"There have been strange rumors floating around..." Merry continued.

"Oh, come on, it's only morning!" I said, laughing it off. But the strange, dark, feeling remained with me for the rest of the day.

Pushing past the corn stalks, Merry and I reached the spot were Maggot grew his cabbages and carrots. Merry looked at me before we dug into the soil and pulled them up.

I stopped and looked around when I heard some voices.

"What's that, Merry?" I asked.

He stopped and listened for a moment. His eyes grew wide. "Farmer Maggot!"

We piled the crops we had into our arms as took off through the corn stalks. As we ran, I heard a different pair of voices.

I listened close and heard: "...what could possibly happen?"

When we burst through the stalks onto a dirt path. Merry was slightly ahead of me and hit something, falling down on top of it. I began to laugh, when I ran into something and fell, copying Merry.

No. It was someone.

"Frodo!" I said, recognizing the hobbit. "Merry, it's Frodo Baggins!"

Merry stood. "Hello Frodo."

Someone grabbed the back of my jacket and pulled me off.

"Get off 'im!" A gruff voice said. It was Samwise Gamgee, the Baggins' gardener. "Come on Frodo." He helped him up and brushed him off.

"What's the meaning of this?" Frodo inquired.

Merry picked up the carrots off of the ground and shoved them into Sam's arms.

"Hold these," he instructed.

Sam looked down at the food in his arms. "You've been into Farmer Maggot's crop!"

A dog barked not far off. Farmer Maggot's hoe could be seen above the corn stalks. He shouted some insults.

Merry grabbed Frodo's shoulder and pushed him into the corn to run after me.

Sam stood frozen with the vegetables in his arms, listening to Maggot: "get outta my field! You better watch out when I catch up to you!"

Sam looked down and the crops and dropped them, following us.

"I don't know why he's so upset," Merry said, pushed past the corn. "It's only a couple of carrots!"

"And some cabbages," I added, leading the way, "and then those three bags of potatoes we lifted last week...and then the mushrooms the week before!"

"Yes Pippin!" Merry interrupted. "My point is, he's clearly over reacting!"

"Run!" I urged, looking back. I stopped abruptly, for there was a large gorge directly below us. Luckily, Merry and Frodo stopped in time, as not to knock me off the cliff, but we had forgotten Sam, and he, looking back for Farmer Maggot, rammed into us and we tumbled down the hill.

Flying off of another small ledge, I landed in some leaves, with Merry on top of me, Sam on top of him, and Frodo was lucky enough to land on top.

I opened my eyes to a large, green pile of manure.

"Oh," I spoke, "that was close."

Merry groaned. "I think I've broken something." He pulled a carrot out from under him...it was snapped in half, hanging on a hinge. "Ooh."

"Trust a Brandybuck and a Took," Sam muttered angrily.

"What?" Merry sat up indignantly. "That was just a detour. A shortcut."

"A shortcut to what?"

I looked past the pile of green poop. My eyes grew wide. "Mushrooms!"

I tried to get up, but Sam was faster and pushed me down. I attempted again, only to have Merry push me over. When I was sure Frodo wasn't going to tackle me, I followed eagerly.

We greedily stuffed the mushrooms into a bag we had.

Frodo didn't notice. He was stepping cautiously to the edge of the road. He seemed to be listening for something.

"Oh that's nice," I said, pointing to a fat one.

Some wind swirled leaves around by Frodo's feet.

"I think we should get off the road." He said, barely audible.

A distant screech could be heard, getting closer.

"Get off the road!" Frodo cried.

"Quick!"

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Dun dun dun! Ok this chapter is dedicated to livinyoung13 (again, kinda), for your positive and encouraging comments

Sorry if this chapter was short, by the way and for the slow update.

Thanks to whoever wrote the script for LotR films, Peter Jackson, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan