Chapter 10 is up, and just in time too. Enjoy.


The ride back to the farm was an unpleasant one for Aggie. The girls kept arguing with each other about silly, nonsensical things, and complained to her about the most random things:

"This road is too bumpy!"

"Why is it so hot?"

"Isn't there anything to eat?"

Eventually, Aggie pulled a pair of earplugs out of her purse and put them on. While it didn't stop the nagging, it did make the trip a little bit more tolerable.


As they came up to the farm, Hattie and Olive took no notice of the picturesque landscape. The wagon made its way up the driveway, and came to a halt in the shed.

"Alright, girls," Aggie said, taking out her earplugs, "Everybody out." As they climbed out of the wagon, Olive couldn't help, but make a comment.

"It smells in here!" she exclaimed.

"It's supposed to smells, Olive," replied Aggie, "It's a shed."

"Still, she has a point," said Hattie, "Would it kill you to use some air freshener in here?"

As Hattie strutted past, Aggie muttered to herself, "If you think this is bad, you should smell the pasture on a hot day after it's been fertilized."

As they exited the shed, they were met by an elf.

"Mrs. Mac," stated Elric, "You're back early. Is everything alright?"

"I'm afraid not, Elric," sighed Aggie, "Could you gather everyone in front of the farmhouse. I have some bad news."

Elric sighed, but nodded understandingly. Then, he noticed the girls.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Who do we have here?"

Aggie smiled, but rolled her eyes. "This is Hattie and Olive of Lamia. They'll be spending the night. Girls, this is Elric of Evergreen. He runs the farm while I'm not here."

"How do you do, girls?" he said. The girls nodded, unenthusiastically. Elric frowned. "Well, if you'll excuse me," he said, and hurried off.

"You have elves working on your farm?" Hattie asked. "What do they do all day, sing and dance?"

Aggie scowled. "Contrary to what you may think girls, elves can do more than just sing and dance. But that's all the Edgar regime will permit them to do. I hired them because many of them wanted to find real work outside of entertainment."

"But they're so small. Wouldn't giants be more efficient?"

"Yes, but the giants are overworked as it is. I hire workers, not slaves, and that's how I think the giants are treated."

"Well, it works, right?"

Aggie just shook her head. "Oh, before we continue on, girls, I have a favor to ask." The girls listened, intently.

"I have some rather unusual animals on my farm. Some of them can be a little bit sensitive, so I must ask that you not laugh at them."

"Whatever you say, Mrs. McPhiney," Hattie replied. Olive nodded in agreement.


Aggie sighed and shook her head. Hattie and Olive were rolling around on the ground, laughing hysterically at her animals. Honestly, a part of her had expected this, but she had tried to think better of them. Clearly, that had been a mistake.

"Girls!" shouted Aggie. Hattie caught her breath and got to her feet. Olive continued to laugh idiotically, until Aggie swatted her with her walking stick.

"Sorry," said Hattie, still chuckling, "but you didn't say you had a bunch of freaks on your farm."

"Freaks! Hahaha!" added Olive.

As Hattie said 'freaks', all the animals went into an uproar. Aggie calmed them down and glared at Hattie.

"They're not freaks!" stated Aggie. "They're all just different."

"Whatever," argued Hattie, "They're still weird." Just then, she looked down and saw one of Maddie's puppies, tugging on her dress. She kicked the puppy away.

"Get away!" she shouted. The frightened puppy ran and hid behind Maddie, who growled, angrily, at Hattie.

"Sit!" she shouted back, "Bad dog!" Maddie continued barking.

"Maddie, heel!" stated Aggie. Maddie sat down, but still glared at Hattie.

Aggie looked back at Hattie.

"Don't kick the puppies! They're only a few days old, and they don't know any better."

"Well, there's no better time to learn is there?" Hattie scoffed. Aggie fumed.


A short while later, Elric had gathered the elves around Aggie's front step to hear what she had to say.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news," she announced. "On the way to the market, I was attacked by highwaymen." A wave of shock swept through the elves.

"Are you alright?" one of the elves called out.

"I'm alright, but they took everything in the wagon." A commotion ran through the crowd. "That's the bad news. The worse news is that everyone will have to take a paycut this week. I'm sorry." As the commotion grew, Elric spoke up.

"It's alright. Everyone, it's alright. We'll manage. The important thing is that Mrs. Mac is okay, isn't that right?" Several of the elves spoke up in agreement.

"Thank you," Aggie replied, "And thank you for understanding-,"

"But what Mrs. McPhiney doesn't seem to understand," Hattie, rudely, interrupted, "Is that she's a witch, and with just a wave of her hands, she can fix everything.

That was a moment of silence as the elves stared, blankly, at Hattie and Olive.

Olive stepped up next to Aggie. "Everybody sing and dance!" she exclaimed.

"Who are these loonies?" shouted a voice from the back of the crowd. It was Bob.

Angrily, Hattie stormed up to the teenage elf and grabbed him by his collar.

"Hattie of Lamia!" stated Hattie, then added as an afterthought, "And my sister, Olive. And you'd do well to show us some respect!"

"Hattie!" Aggie shouted at Hattie and motioned to her to let go of Bob. She let him go and stepped back, but continued to glare at him.

"They'll be spending the night. But they don't speak for me in any way.

"Now, I'm going to make up your paychecks. Valeria will be handing them out when I'm done. And again, I'm sorry for how everything's turned out."

Aggie turned and headed into the farmhouse. Hattie and Olive followed.


Hattie and Olive didn't think that Aggie lived in a palace or a mansion, but for a woman who gave Ella and Areida such extravagant gifts, they thought she would live better than this. The house had a rustic feel, and everything smelled old. Several pictures on the wall looked as if they were staring right at them. It creeped them out! Odd objects, books and trinkets littered the kitchen. Many of them were so dull and uninteresting, that even Olive didn't see the point in swiping them.

"I apologize for the mess, girls," said Aggie. "I wasn't expecting company."

"Oh, forget the mess," Hattie nagged, "How do you live like this? I mean, seriously, a hermit would call this dull."

Just then, Olive chuckled and pointed to the owl on the nearby wall.

"She's even got a fake owl," she giggled.

"Fake?" shouted the owl, "Fake? Who are you calling fake?"

The girls jumped back in shock. Then, Hattie sighed. "Great, another freak."

Aggie tapped Hattie with the end of her walking stick.

"Hattie, I would appreciate it if you would stop calling my friends freaks."

"Hey, I call it as I see it," Hattie retorted. Aggie ignored her.

"Girls, this is my good friend, Socrates, an educated owl."

Socrates bowed. "Pleasure to meet you both."

"So, wait," chimed Olive, "The fake owl can talk and move?"

Socrates glared at Olive. "I take it you didn't meet these girls at a library, did you?"

Aggie shook her head. "I met them in the woods, after I was attacked by highwaymen. Oh, don't worry, I'm fine."

Then, Aggie turned and headed for her study. "Girls, I have to go and write out paychecks. If you wouldn't mind, I would like you girls to the garden and barn and gather up a few things for supper."

Hattie and Olive burst out laughing. Aggie turned back and glared at them, and the laughter died down.
"Are you serious?" asked Hattie. Aggie nodded. "Uh, hello, we're nobles, we don't work."

"Really, then what do you do?"

"We relax in luxury, while servants work for us."

"Yeah, eat, drink and be merry!" piped Olive.

"Exactly," agreed Hattie.

Aggie sighed. "Well, unfortunately girls, we don't have any servants on this farm."

"You have a whole yard full of elves outside, ready to work."

Aggie chuckled. "Uh, once again, I think you're confusing workers with slaves. The people out front are honest, hardworking individuals, but I don't order them to do something, because I'm too lazy to do it myself."

"But we're both allergic to hard work," complained Olive.

"Wow," muttered Aggie, "That must really stink."

Hattie glared at Aggie. "Give us one good reason why we should do your stupid chores."

Aggie smirked. "I think someone doesn't want her present."

Hattie groaned. "Fine."

"Socrates will show you what you need to do. If you follow his directions to the letter, they shouldn't take as long as you'd think."

"And thanks for choosing me," Socrates muttered.

"C'mon, Olive," muttered Hattie. Olive followed her sister as she stormed out the door in a huff.

Socrates flew over to Aggie. "What did I do?" he pleaded. "Do you hate me this much?"

"Consider yourself lucky you didn't have to ride home with them," Aggie replied.

"Point taken, but I annoyed right now."

Aggie sighed. "We all are."