Merry and Pippin hurriedly gather their booty and race away...with Frodo and Sam on their heels.
MERRY:
(looking behind him) I don't know why he's so upset, it's only a couple of carrots.
PIPPIN:
And some cabbages...and those three bags of potatoes that we lifted last week.
And then the mushrooms the week before.
MERRY:
Yes, Pippin, my point is, he's clearly over reacting.
The BAYING OF LARGE DOGS sounds!
(CONTINUED) 40.
CONTINUED:
(2)
PIPPIN:
Run!
CUT TO:
EXT. WOODED ROAD -- DAY Frodo, Sam, and Merry and Pippin tumble head over heels down a bank, onto a dark, wooded road. CLOSE ON: A winded Pippin, his face inches away from a large pile of Horse droppings...
PIPPIN:
That was close.
Frodo picks himself up and looks around quickly.
MERRY:
(groaning) Ow...I think I've broken something.
Pulls a LARGE CARROT, almost broken through in the middle, out from his back pocket.
MERRY (CONT'D) Oh.
SAM:
(turning on Merry and Pippin) Trust a Brandybuck and a Took.
MERRY:
What? That was just a detour...a shortcut.
SAM:
A shortcut to what?
Pippin has spied something under the trees on the far side of the road.
PIPPIN:
(excited) Mushrooms!
CLOSE ON:
SMALL, brown mushrooms growing amongst the Loamy undergrowth. Sam, Merry, and Pippin race toward the mushrooms! Frodo is tense and watchful. He realizes they are on a wooded road. Scattered leaves rise into the air Whirling down the road as if blown by an invisible wind... 41.
SUDDENLY... THE SOUND OF HORSES HOOVES...
FRODO:
I think we should get off the road.
A long drawn WAIL comes down the wind, like the cry of some evil and lonely creature.