The Hunt for the Ring

[Alcuin]

E was the catcher; Khamûl was the batter. The hounds to the hunters: he hoped he was driving the prey toward E, and he was making him aware of it. As far as Khamûl and E knew, the only way out was by the bridge, and they had the Ringbearer trapped between the hills and the river. Khamûl just missed Frodo at Maggot’s farm: he’d found his way into the lower lands in the floodplain and ridden across Maggot’s fields.

Come to think of it, when Khamûl followed Frodo to the Ferry, he was probably following him from Maggot’s farm: he must have thought that the Ringbearer would be caught by him and E at some lonely spot along the road that ran along the river. By taking the Ferry, Frodo and his friends might have just avoided a trap.