"Rosel! Please come take Raina and Bellasiel. Raina will not stop crying and Bellasiel is bored!" My mother called down the hallway. I was standing in our small kitchen, washing the dishes. I sighed and stoped doing my chores so I could go to the nursery. "There you are Rosel! I need to go to the market. Amoniel is still asleep in her room and she will not be up for another hour or so. Please keep a close eye on Bellasiel - she feels adventurous today. Also try and get Raina to sleep. She has not rested for a while, so I don't know if she will. Well I must go, bye Rosel," my mother said, and bustled out the door.
I held my newest sister, Raina in my arms while Bellasiel clung to my leg. Bellasiel was five and Raina was not quite yet one. Amoniel was seven and was not quite old enough to help with Bellasiel and Raina, but she helped clean.
I walked into the den and sat down with Raina still in my arms screaming, and crying. Bellasiel was demanding my attention, so I tried to calm them both. I could tell Raina was hungry, but since my mother was gone, I could not feed her. I was not going to put Raina in her crib just so I could entertain Bellasiel. I also had to clean our small home.
I tried to sing Raina a lullaby, but she would not stop crying. Bellasiel had started chewing on the seat and I was trying to pull her off when I heard a knocking at the front door. I almost screamed in frustration. I ran my free hand through my red curls, sighed, stood up with Bellasiel attached to my leg and Raina in my arms.
I opened the door and I saw nine people staring at me. Four were very short, one a Dwarf, an Elf, a Wizard, and two men.
'A very odd company,' I thought.
The Company looked at me strangely and I knew what they were thinking. They thought the infant I was carrying and the child clinging to me were my children. "No, no, no! These are my little sisters!" I exclaimed, understanding how they thought that. A young woman answers the door with two screaming children, looking like she is going to stab you - that is like any young mother.
The Company looked almost relieved when Amoniel appeared next to me. She tugged on my dress and said, "Sister, who are these people?"
I saw several in the company smile. "I do not know. Amoniel presents an excellent question, who are you?"
The wizard began to speak. "My company and I seek aid. We are in need of some provisions if you can spare them."
"My mother just went to the market, I am sure we have food to spare and I know we have blankets. Come in." I said, over Raina's crying.
We all entered my small home. To my relief, our guests entertained Bellasiel and Amoniel. "What will I do with you Raina?" I asked her, smiling. Crying was her only reply. "I know you're hungry, but mother isn't here. Can you please stop crying?" I begged. Raina only cried more, and finally, I began to cry.
Boromir's Point of View
We entered the small village, which was full of people walking in the street. Gandalf said we needed more provisions before continuing our quest. Therefore, we went to look for the nearest house. "There!" Pippin called.
"Do not say your names. We do not know if they are spies. We are taking an enormous risk by doing this, but it must be done." Gandalf explained. We walked to the frond door and Aragorn knocked. We could hear a baby crying inside.
A young woman answered the door, holding the crying baby with a small child attached to her leg. My first thought was that she was the mother of these children, but she seemed too young. She must have understood what the company and I was thinking, because she said(,) "No, no, no! These are my little sisters!" I almost sighed in relief.
She was very tired. There were dark bags under her brilliant blue eyes, and her red curls were tangled in a huge knot. I instantly pitied her if she was responsible for raising her siblings.
Another girl ran to the door and tugged on her sister's dress. "Sister, who are these people?" I smiled at the small blonde girl.
"I do not know." She turned toward us. "Amoniel presents an excellent question, who are you?"
Gandalf said, "My Company and I seek aid. We are in need of some provisions if you can spare them."
The young woman turned down a hallway with the infant, leaving her younger sisters to entertain us. "I am Amoniel and this is Bellasiel!" the small blond girl said, pointing to her little sister. The two girls were both blonde and shared the same blue eyes their older sister did.
The sisters showed us to the den, we all took a seat, and the small girls tried to find their older sister. Finally, the red haired girl came out of the hallway with her sisters. She had bloodshot eyes and was still carrying the crying infant. She smiled weakly and began to speak. "I am sorry I did not introduce myself. I am Rosel and this is Raina." She motioned to the baby. "Unfortunately, because I only have one hand I cannot get the blankets right now but—"
"I can hold her," I volunteered.
Rosel looked surprised at my offer. "She bites," Rosel warned, and handed me Raina. I smiled as she ran down another hallway.
"It's true. I have a scar from were Raina bit me. She is mean!" Amoniel said. Everyone laughed. Bellasiel told a similar story, when Rosel came back with some blankets. She set the blankets down on the low table and held her arms out for Raina.
"Its fine, I can hold her longer, she has not bit me," I said.
"Yet," she said bluntly. "Its fine, I can hold her." I smiled and handed Raina to her. "So where are you travelling to?" she asked.
"Mor—" Aragorn put his hand over Pippin's mouth.
"Gondor! It really is a beautiful place!" Aragorn exclaimed.
Rosel gave us a strange look. "Have you been there before?" she asked.
"Some of us have," Aragorn stated simply.
Rosel nodded and smiled. "Tell me about it!" she exclaimed, excited.
"Yes!" Amoniel exclaimed as well, sitting next to Bellasiel. All three pairs of blue eyes stared at us excited. I saw Rosel had some energy left in her eyes. Aragorn began to describe Minas Tirith, when whom I assumed to be the girls' mother, walked through the door with some food and other things.
She stared at us strangely. "Who are—?"
"Mother! Please feed Raina she has not stopped crying! I believe she is hungry." Rosel interrupted her mother. Her mother set down the bags with food in them and took Raina from Rosel's hands.
Rosel's Point of View
I felt relieved as my mother took Raina from my arms. She took Raina into the nursery, muttering something about me being crazy. I got up, walked into the kitchen and looked inside the bags. I pulled out several fruits, some bread, and put it into a separate bag. "Here you are. It may not get you far," I said, handing them the bag.
"Nevertheless, we are grateful. Thank you for your time and thank you for the provisions," the Wizard said.
I smiled. "You are welcome. Are you leaving now or would you like to stay?"
"I am afraid we must go. Thank you for your hospitality."
"Goodbye then. I hope you enjoy Gondor!" I escorted them out the door. As soon as they left, my mother came out of the nursery no longer holding Raina. "Who were they?" she asked.
"Just some travellers. They wished for some provisions, if we could spare them and we could. I gave them some food and blankets." She nodded and went back into the nursery with my sisters following. I took my chance to get some sleep and went into the room, which my sisters and I shared. I laid down on the bed and shut my eyes for a few moments of peace.
Two hours later, I heard screaming around the house. "Rosel! Rosel! Where are you?" I heard my mother scream in fear. I sat up on my bed and stretched. My mother swung my door open looking terrified. All three of my sisters were at her side crying. "We must leave the village now!" my mother exclaimed.
"What is happening?" I asked, alarmed.
"Orcs have attacked the village! We must leave now!" my mother exclaimed, holding Raina. I grabbed a small dagger, strapped it to my belt and picked up Bellasiel. Amoniel held my hand and we all sprinted into the stable.
"How are we to take Raina?" I inquired, terrified that my newest sister may not have a way to escape.
"Take her to Edoawien's! His family has a hideout and we shall come back for her."
I nodded quickly. I took Raina and held her close to my chest. I ran through the streets to Edoawien's house. I saw people running and screaming through the street as I sprinted. As soon as I arrived, I burst through the door and found Edoawien gathering her family. "Edoawien, we must escape but cannot take Raina. Can you please care for her until we return?" I asked out of breath from my sprint.
"Yes child. Now go! Take our horse, Adraorien. You must leave this place!" she ordered, taking Raina from my arms.
I sprinted to their stable and quickly saddled Adraorien. I mounted the horse and rode back to my house to pick up my sisters. My mother handed me Bellasiel; I placed her in front of me and I put Amoniel behind me. "Mother, where are you going?" I asked, worried.
"I will meet you back here. I have decided to go to Edoawien's as well. Come back soon!" she said. Her blue eyes looked sad.
I nodded. "We will be back in two days time."
"I shall see you then." She handed me a small bag of food, then smacked Adraorien's rump and the horse took off sprinting. We rode out of the village and into the woods, with my sisters crying the whole way.
After we rode for two hours, we came to a halt. I helped Amoniel down and handed Bellasiel to her before I dismounted. "Okay, we should make a fire. See if you can find some small sticks and make a pile." I instructed my siblings. They were still crying, but they did as I said. I found some larger sticks, and broke some off the dead trees. As soon as I made the woodpile, I began striking two rocks together. Once the fire started, I passed out our food to my sisters. They ate it gratefully in silence.
Suddenly we heard voices ahead of us. "Who goes there?" I heard a familiar voice call.
I grabbed my small dagger and got in front of my sisters. "I live in the village near by. It was raided by Orcs. We ran to the forest for refuge. We mean no harm." I replied, shaking as I clutched the dagger in case these people were not so kind.
Finally, they made their appearance. It was the company from earlier today. They looked shocked. "What happened?" the wizard asked.
"Orcs are raiding the village. We had to escape. My mother and Raina are at our neighbor's home. They are safe, I believe. I had to take Amoniel and Bellasiel and escape though."
They all looked horrified. "You must move. They are after us."
"What? What is happening?" I asked, confused.
"Those Orcs knew we were in the village, and they will follow us here. We must move with haste."
I was too shocked to say anything. Instead, I put Bellasiel and Amoniel on top of Adraorien, and stamped out the small fire.
The elderly man nodded. "Very well, we must move." I lead Adraorien and followed them.
The man who had held Raina earlier walked beside me. I felt nervous being near him, but I talked to him. "So you never told me your names. In fact, no one did. All I know is that you are heading to Gondor."
He nodded. "You have proven that we can trust you. I am Boromir. The Wizard is Gandalf. The Elf is Legolas and the Dwarf is Gimli. The other man is Aragorn. The hobbits names are Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin."
"I see. I have never even heard of a hobbit." I smiled.
"Sister what is a hobbit?" Amoniel asked.
I turned to Boromir. "Care to tell her?"
Boromir smiled and pointed to one. "That is a hobbit, child."
Amoniel and Bellasiel looked intrigued even though they had already met. I giggled at their expressions.
"Now tell me something about you. Why are your names Elvish if you are human?"
"Our father was an Elf. He is dead though. He died just after Raina was born. Killed by Orcs. My mother has just started recovering. I do not even know if Bellasiel remembers him. I know Amoniel does, but we don't speak of him much." Boromir nodded. I was glad that my sisters did not hear the question though. It would upset them further.
We stayed quiet the rest of the trek. When Gandalf announced we could stop, I picked up Bellasiel and set her on the ground, same with Amoniel. Bellasiel looked up at me. "When are we going to see mother again?" she asked sadly.
The question almost brought tears to my eyes. "I don't know Bells. I do not know. I do know that we are safe with these people, though." I squatted down to her eye level. "I love you," I told her.
Bellasiel threw her arms around me. "I love you too sister!" she exclaimed.
