Three Witches In A New World

Chapter Three

 Word Count: 1439

The next morning, Madison was the first one (or so she thought) to wake up. And as she entered the kitchen, she could see that her sisters are already in there cooking breakfast. "Oh! I see that you two are awake already!" said Madison, as she entered the kitchen. "What happened to you last night, Maddie? I thought you would have joined us in the guest room!" said Alexandra. "I was awake for a little while, and spoken to Thorin for a little bit!" Madison replied. "Ewe! You are talking to Thorin! Please tell me you didn't flirt with him!" teased Sadie. "I wasn't flirting with Thorin, you idiot!! We was only having a brief conversation!" snapped Madison. "Come on, Maddie, don't get so touchy! You always had a crush on Thorin, admit it!" said Sadie. "Sadie, I cannot stand the dwarf, especially after the what he said to us earlier this evening! Now let's drop it! I don't want to discuss this anymore!" said Madison, sharply.

Shortly, the rest of the Company entered the dining room, as breakfast is being served. "Hey, how did you manage to get all the food for breakfast?" asked Kili, grinning. "We restocked Mister Baggins' pantry!" said Sadie, smiling back at the dwarf. "That is nice of you! You must have really gotten up early to go get the food!" said Fili. Alexandra didn't want to tell the dwarves that she and Sadie used their magic when they restocked the hobbit's pantry. They decided to keep that part to themselves. As for Thorin, he kept watching Madison as she ate, and the two younger Van Buren sisters took notice. "Madison, why is Thorin staring at you?" Alexandra whispered to her oldest sister. "I don't know, Alex! Maybe he's staring, because he has nothing better else to do!" grumbled Madison. After breakfast, Thorin instructed everyone to pack their belongings, and to meet outside The Green Dragon Inn, afterwards.

Unfortunately, there was not enough ponies to go around, and so the Van Buren Sisters ended up having to share ponies with one of the members of the Company. Alexandra already had decided she would share with Fili, and Fili very much gladly accepted. Sadie decided she would ride with Bofur, whom gladly would share a pony with her. As for Madison, Madison had no other choice but to share with Thorin, whom asked her to ride with him. And so she mounted the pony, sitting in front of Thorin. "Why do you fear me, Miss Van Buren?" Thorin asked the young woman. "I don't fear you, Thorin. It's just that I fear of getting too attached to you." said Madison. At first, Thorin was puzzled on Madison's words, but it didn't take long that he had caught on. "Are you saying you're afraid to get attached to us knowing you'll return home after the quest?" asked Thorin. "Yes--no! I don't know. I really don't know what I'm saying really, because we don't have a home no more at home." said Madison.

"You don't have to go back, Madison. Once we reclaim our home, you and your sisters can stay with us!" said Thorin. And the two of them sat in silence for a while, as they waited for the hobbit to show up. Meanwhile, Madison could hear Sadie and Alexandra taking part in the wagers with the dwarves, as they placed bets on whether Bilbo would show up or not. And it was Alexandra and Sadie who caught in on the bets, as they decided to make the Dwarves do silly acts if they lost the bet. Madison rolled her eyes. "Oh, brother!" Madison grumbled. Sometimes I'm beginning to wonder about those two, thought Madison.

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An hour later, they could hear a voice call out, as everyone turned around, and they could see the hobbit running towards them, waving contract in hand. Shortly, Bilbo hands over the parchment to Balin, as the older dwarf looked over the contract. "Well, it appears that everything is in place! Welcome to the Company of Thorin Oakenshield!" said Balin, with a smile. "Give him a pony!" said Thorin, flatly. "Wait, wait! I can walk! As Far as Frog mort.." Bilbo began to protest, when Fili and Kili grabbed him and placed him on a pony. "Well this is it, ladies! We're going on an adventure!" cheered Sadie. "And I'm already missing the net!" grumbled Alexandra. "Alex, you won't miss it after a few weeks and months with the dwarves and hobbit!" said Sadie. "What's the net?" asked Fili. "The internet, Fili. It's a communication contraption called the computer, where you stay in contact with people from long distances. However the internet can be a very dangerous place if you're not careful!" said Alexandra as they rode.

Listen to her, she's already starting to talk like a walking, living Wikipedia! thought Sadie. No soon as they began riding, Bilbo spoke up. "Wait! Stop! I forgot my pocket handkerchief!" cried out the hobbit. Thorin snarled, as everyone stopped. "Here!" called out Bofur, as he torn off a piece of fabric off his jacket, and tosses it to the Hobbit. "No, no, no! I don't think you want to use that, Bilbo! Here, take some of my tissue!" said Sadie, as she jumped off the pony she is sharing with Bofur, and hands over tissue to the Hobbit. "Thank you, Miss Sadie!" said Bilbo, smiling at the youngest Van Buren sister. "You're welcome, Mister Baggins!" called out Sadie, as she mounted back on the pony. "Moving on!" called out Thorin, and they pressed on. The Company rode along, talking merrily as the youngest Van Buren Sisters spoke constantly of their old home in Connecticut, and their struggles, long before they had lost their beautiful Victorian home.

"How old are the three of you, really?" asked Kili. "Madison is 373 years old, I'm 369, and Sadie is 358." replied Alexandra. "Good heaven's above! You're older than the rest of us combined!" exclaimed Fili. "Even older than our Uncle!" said Kili. "You three don't look your age at all!" said Ori. "That's because we're immortal! And no, don't compare us to elves, either! We are definitely not like elves!" said Sadie. "But you sure could probably give the elves a run for their money!" teased Kili. Madison rolled her eyes. Even Thorin smiled at his youngest nephew's remark. Hours later, it was later that evening they stopped to set up camp. Oin and Gloin had made attempts of starting a fire, and they ended up arguing over whom was going to start the fire. Madison couldn't take the two dwarves arguing much longer. "That does it! Nothing can't get done with two grown people arguing like big children over starting a fire!" snapped Madison as she approached the fire circle, and placed her finger on the logs.

To everyone's surprise, flames appeared magically on the logs. Gandalf smiled, as he watched Madison starting the fire herself. "How did you just do that?!" exclaimed Kili. "A witch cannot reveal her secrets, Kili!" said Madison, and she sat back down. "Well job done, Miss Van Buren!" said Gandalf. "Thank you!" said Madison. As the evening progressed and supper had been eaten, the Company shared stories and jokes. Even Fili and Kili chimed in, telling stories of their childhood, which made the Van Buren Sister's laugh. In exchange for Fili and Kili's stories, Madison even told some stories of their life, from the very beginning. "So the three of you came from a long line of witches then!" said Kili. "And warlocks, because our father is a powerful Warlock." said Sadie. Hearing this, Gandalf's eyes darkened. "Miss Van Buren, May I have a word with you please?" spoke up the wizard. "Of course!" said Madison, and she followed the wizard away from the Company.

"What's wrong, Gandalf? Is it something that Sadie had said?" asked Madison. "What is the name of your father?" asked Gandalf, sternly. "Sven, why?" asked Madison. "Have you met your father?" asked Gandalf. "No, our father had abandoned us as children because he went into the Dark Arts-our mother told us that story many times----Gandalf--you know something do you? You know about our father! Tell me, why are you inquiring this now?!" snapped Madison. Gandalf closed his eyes and sighed, preparing to break the news to Madison of whom her father really is. "Miss Van Buren, you promise you don't tell anyone of this!" began Gandalf. "Not even my sisters?" said Madison. "Especially your sisters!" said Gandalf. "Well, tell me what you know of our father!" snapped Madison, impatiently.