Chapter 4
It was the unexpected smell of coffee, eggs, and bacon that woke Rowan up. Slowly she uncurled herself and poked her head out of the blankets. There was no need to remember where she was or what had happened. The return of the dead was hard to forget. Stumbling out of bed, hair mussed and cloths askew, the older sister shut the door quietly behind her, letting Ash sleep.
The smell grew stronger as she went down the stairs, making her mouth water. Rowan couldn't remember the last time she had had a decent meal. Walking into the kitchen however, she ran into someone she didn't recognize, busily hurrying about the kitchen making coffee, scrambling eggs, and fretting about the state of the house.
"I'm gone for one evening and they manage to wreck the place. I swear they do this on purpose. That's what you get, Bilbo, for letting guilt and sympathy get the best of you."
Hesitantly, Rowan cleared her throat. "Um, excuse me."
"Oh, my," the small man squeaked and almost dropped the coffee carafe. "Where did you come from?"
"I'm, well… I'm a…. Uh…." Rowan, sleepy and disoriented, stumbled for an explanation when a hand fell on her shoulder and she looked up to see Fili there, smiling cheerfully.
"She's an old friend, Bilbo. The girl I was telling you about. Rowan, this is Bilbo, an army buddy who agreed to help us out while we hid."
Bilbo smiled and nodded. "Right, right. The young lady you left behind. But why is she here?"
Fili's face fell as he answered, "She and her sister are being targeted too."
"Oh, poor dears!" Bilbo bustled over and took Rowan's hand, leading her to a chair and pouring her a cup of coffee. "Don't worry we'll take care of you. The house is a wreck and there's never enough food but we do our best."
"Don't listen to him," Fili said laughing and sitting in the seat next to her. "He won't let the house be a wreck and only he thinks there's not enough food 'cause he's used to seven meals a day."
Rowan smiled and thanked Bilbo for the coffee before taking a small sip. Grimacing a little at the taste, she put the cup down on the table and looked up at this new acquaintance. "How did they manage to rope you in to cleaning up their mess?"
Bilbo sighed and sat down across from her with his own mug. "Gandalf asked and I said 'yes' before I thought about what it meant. Goodness," he exclaimed after taking a sip of the coffee. "Cooking I have no problem with but when it comes to making a decent pot of coffee…" He trailed off shaking his head.
"Here," Fili offered, taking the mug and promptly passing it to Rowan. "You know how to fix it, right?"
She snorted but stood and took both mugs to the sink before starting another pot of coffee. Busying herself with the preparations, she smiled to herself as she listened to Bilbo chastise the other about the state of the house upon his return.
"I just went to the store two days ago! How did you three manage to go through an entire three weeks' worth of groceries in a night?"
"Well Kee wanted to have pancakes but Uncle wanted steak and eggs and I'd made spaghetti earlier…"
"Mercy! Can you not all eat one thing?"
Fili laughed nervously and held up his hands to try and placate the irate man. "It's hard when you're not here to make your wonderful food for us."
"Oh don't patronize me. I know perfectly well that you and your brother enjoy tormenting me. Now I'll have to make yet another trip to that filthy store to get more food, which is exactly what you had planned."
"Now Bilbo, you know we'd go ourselves if we could but, well, we can't."
"Don't you 'now Bilbo' me, Fili Durin. We all know that you two sneak out whenever you can. How else did this girl end up here? Not that I'm mad at you, dear," Bilbo said, looking over to Rowan. "But these boys seem determined to drive me out of my mind. They know I can't stand disorder or filth."
Choosing to try to remain neutral, Rowan simply nodded, offered a smile, and gave each a fresh mug of coffee. Each took a sip and Bilbo let out a muffled cry of delight while Fili hummed with pleasure and memory.
"My dear, this is simply fantastic," Bilbo praised. "How did you manage that with that old coffee maker?"
Rowan smiled and sat with her own mug. "I can't cook worth a damn but I can make a decent cup of coffee."
Fili laughed. "It's true. They had a shop and it was their brother who did the cooking while she and her sister ran the register."
Bilbo laughed with him but Rowan winced and ducked her head trying to conceal her grief. The pair did notice however and Fili instantly regretted his words. "Crap, Ro, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought up your brother."
"No, no, don't worry about it," she said with a sad chuckle. "It was a while ago. I need to get over it."
"How can we," said a tired, dry voice from the door. "With your migraines and my panic attacks, we'll never forget."
"Ash." Rowan's voice was tired and weak. "Please. Let's not do this here."
"Good morning Ash," Fili said in a more cheerful voice. "This is Bilbo. He's the help."
"Ah! Don't you dare," Bilbo shrieked and hit him with a towel. "Don't you girls listen to him or his brother. They're trying to upset me all the time. Make a point to play with my OCD."
Rowan saw the flicker of mischief in her sister's eyes and spoke against it immediately. "Don't even think about it Ash."
"Think about what," the younger sister replied innocently enough, pushing a picture slightly off kilter. The older just rolled her eyes and went back to her coffee.
"Hmmmm, good morning. Is that coffee?" Kili stumbled into the kitchen and went straight to the coffee pot. "Oh man, you have no idea how good this is after all that military grit."
Ash chuckled and nudged him with her elbow. "Been awhile since you had some of our coffee hasn't it."
"You have no idea how much I missed it."
"It's too early for your flirtations," Thorin said coming in. "Go elsewhere if you must do that." The two youngest grinned at each other and exited to the living room to sit and catch up.
"Well," Bilbo said standing and straightening the picture. "I apparently need to go into town. Rowan, would you want to come along? You can tell me about yourself and what you girls like to eat while we're gone."
The brunette looked up at him with a grateful smile. "I would like that."
An hour after they were gone, Ash screamed.
