Frodo and the hobbits hear noises during the night and when they wake in the morning there is no sign of Tom or Goldberry, so they eat breakfast alone. They leave and start making their way up a steep slope. At the top, Frodo sees Goldberry and he runs to hear. Together, they look over the wide expanse of the horizon to the east and west. She tells him to hasten on his way and she watches them leave.
They make their way back into the Old Forest and hear the sounds of strange birds. Around midday they see a line of trees in the distance that they think denotes the eastern road. They stop to eat and let the ponies run free. The day is sunny but a fog rolls in and puts a chill into their bones. "They felt as if a trap was closing about them; but they did not quite lose heart." Book 1, Chapter 8, pg. 175. A stone standing on end, as if part of a long gone building, frightens them. They begin to move through the fog and they see more pillars. Frodo gets separated from the rest of the group. He is in darkness. He panics and thinks that a voice is coming from the ground. He falls to his knees and is unconscious. A Barrow-wight has taken him. He lies silently in the barrow and thinks of all the stories he has heard in his life. To his right is Pippin, Merry, and Sam. A sword lies across all four of them. The others are partially covered in treasure. A song pushes through the air. Frodo considers using the ring. He sees a limb that does not belong to a Hobbit and cuts it off with one great heave. He begins to chant Tom Bombadil's rhyme and Tom appears. The chamber begins to disintegrate. The hobbits stumble out and Tom follows with arms full of treasure. The swords are ancient and Tom gives a short one to each of the hobbits. Their clothing has been changed with strange rags. They take them off and run in the grass until they feel clean. Tom brings the ponies back to them and promises to take them all the way to the road safely.
They march on through the day, relieved when they finally reach the road. Frodo hopes that the delay may have lost the black riders. Tom sends them to the Prancing Pony in the town of Bree where he knows the innkeeper. They ride toward the city walls under rising stars.
