A Witch Come True

by James Nicol

  Salle’s hand flew to her mouth as she listened. ‘I’ll go and fetch Colin,’ she said, hurrying from the room.

  ‘And I’ll—’ Arianwyn tried to sit up but was pushed firmly back down.

  ‘Miss Gribble, you need to rest,’ Dr Cadbury said. ‘No more excitement.’

  ‘I’ll keep an eye on her,’ her father said.

  ‘I’m fine,’ Arianwyn protested, but she knew neither of them were listening. She scratched Bob’s ears and the moon hare nudged up against her, flattening itself against the eiderdowns.

  ‘I have other calls to make, several bumps and bruises and cuts from the ice and snow. Next it will be the cold keeping me busy, no doubt, and it takes so long to get about in this weather,’ Dr Cadbury said as he started to pull on his coat and scarf and two pairs of mittens. ‘Rest!’ he said, pointing a woolly hand at Arianwyn. ‘I’ll be back later.’Then he turned and left, Aunt Grace following him out.

  ‘We can’t just sit here and do nothing, Dad,’ Arianwyn pleaded with her father.

  ‘I know,’ he said firmly. Rising from the bed and pacing to the window and back, he stroked his chin as he walked. ‘Let me think.’

  The bedroom door flung wide and Colin and Salle rushed in. Sergeant Gribble spun and gave them both a sharp look. Colin stumbled to a halt at the foot of the bed. ‘Oh, Wyn – Salle told me everything . . . Are you OK?’

  She nodded. ‘I’m just worried about Grandma.’

  ‘You gave us all a fright,’ Colin added. ‘We didn’t know what had happened when we found you on the bridge.’

  Arianwyn explained about her encounter with Gimma, the warning about the High Elder and the strange charm contraption that had encircled Gimma’s wrists.

  ‘Well, what do you think it is?’ Salle asked.

  ‘They were my charms but . . . twisted. It was definitely controlling the hex and Gimma at the same time.’

  ‘She took your charms and turned them into something else,’ Colin said quietly.

  The room fell silent as they all looked at each other. Beyond the window the snow carried on tumbling down. Arianwyn pulled one of the eiderdowns about herself. It felt chilly despite the fire.

  ‘We have to do something, and soon,’ Arianwyn said, looking at her father. ‘This isn’t just about Grandma: everyone is in danger – don’t you see? The High Elder wants the quiet glyphs, which basically means she wants me. It won’t be long before she starts making demands. And anyone in her way will be in danger.’

  Her father sighed and sat beside her. ‘But I thought the High Elder was the head of the witches, one of the good guys?’

  ‘I think . . .’Arianwyn took a deep breath, the half-formed idea unfurling in her mind as everything fell into place. ‘I think the High Elder was the one who released the hex into the Great Wood, the one who manipulated Gimma in the first place, trying to get her to steal the book before – so she could have control of the quiet glyphs. She sent us to find the book from the feylings’ library. I think she even visited you in hospital, to find out about that Urisian witch. She’s been using glamour charms to disguise herself. Maybe whatever she found out from you helped her figure out how to control Gimma?’

  Salle and Colin’s stony faces confirmed that they had come to the same conclusion.

  Arianwyn’s father looked a little surprised, but then he smiled. ‘You took the photo? I wondered where it had gone.’

  Arianwyn blushed, but her father didn’t seem cross, for once.

  ‘And now she wants you to tell her about the quiet glyphs,’ Colin said quietly.

  Arianwyn nodded.

  ‘I won’t let anyone hurt you,’ Sergeant Gribble said quickly, coming back to the side of the bed and looking down at Arianwyn.

  She knew he meant it. But didn’t her father see that he couldn’t protect her any more? She was the strong one. It was she who would have to protect him, and everyone else.

  ‘I’ll go and speak to the mayor now,’ Sergeant Gribble said and turned to head out of the room. ‘You really should get some rest,’ he said to his daughter, glancing pointedly at Colin and Salle.

  The pair smiled at her. ‘See you later, Wyn,’ Salle and Colin said as they followed her father out of the room.

  Estar remained in his seat, his eyes focused on Arianwyn and unblinking.

  ‘What?’ she asked.

  ‘Another glyph?’ he said. ‘You saw it in your dreams, I think.’

  ‘What? How did you—’

  ‘Show me please?’

  She reached over and grabbed her notebook and a pencil and quickly sketched what she could remember of the new glyph that had presented itself to her in the dark of her dreams. Then she handed the notebook back to Estar. He studied the page carefully.

  Estar peered closer. ‘It’s a very ancient word,’ he said. He glanced across the bed covers at Arianwyn, his lips pursed as he tried to recall it. ‘It is known as Ðraxen. Some say it is the name for destruction.’

  Arianwyn shifted uneasily under the covers.

  ‘There is great power in this glyph. You must use it cautiously for it is like the shadow glyph and may have its own purpose and intentions that could sway a spell. Best keep it tucked away for now,’ Estar said gently.

  Arianwyn put her notebook away and slid down under her covers, but sleep wouldn’t come. Her mind was too full of worries about her grandmother and the new glyph.

  Mo’lkø – The Glyph of Abundance

  Mo’lkø: The closest feyling word that matches this glyph means abundance, exuberance, glut – according to Estar. The glyph appeared when I encountered tree spirits in the Great Wood during the Yule log cutting ceremony.

  I summoned the glyph in haste . . . and it added to the magic the frost phoenixes had brought to Lull, extending the storm’s power by loads.

  I haven’t dared to try and summon it again – though it was so easy to summon. I’m sure it could be really useful in the future as it adds so much to the original spell, even if the seam of available magic isn’t great.

  THE NEW BOOK OF QUIET GLYPHS BY ARIANWYN GRIBBLE

  Chapter 25

  AFTER THE STORM

  t was another two days before the snow eventually stopped falling. ‘It’s not snowing, look!’ Salle said excitedly. She was standing beside the window, the curtains pulled back and they could see that the sky over Lull was bright blue.

  Arianwyn scrambled out of bed and hurried to get washed and dressed, pulling on an extra two jumpers. Her mind was focused only on finding her grandmother.

  ‘Wait for me!’ Salle shouted as Arianwyn raced from the room and downstairs. ‘I’ll get Colin!’

  Downstairs in the Blue Ox, Arianwyn was pulling on her boots beside the crackling fire when her father appeared in the archway. ‘Where are you off to in such a hurry?’ he asked, setting his mug down on a nearby table.

  ‘To look for Grandma, of course,’ Arianwyn said, tying an extra knot in her bootlace. She didn’t look up at her father, even when Salle and Colin bounded in carrying bundles of food from Aunt Grace. ‘We need to check again where I last saw her – out by the kiln. The High Elder must’ve taken her from there.’

  ‘Hold on there,’ Sergeant Gribble said, crossing to her. ‘I think I’d better come with you.’

  ‘It’s fine, Dad. There’s no need,’ Arianwyn said.

  ‘Just wait, young lady,’ he said gruffly and stomped off to find his coat.

  Estar came shuffling into the room, wrapped in his blanket and sporting a knitted hat that Aunt Grace had made for him as a Yule gift. He carried a small bundle of food.

  ‘Where are you going?’ Arianwyn asked.

  ‘I should return to Edda now the storm has passed. Deep in the woods we rarely had snow. They will need me at home.’

  Arianwyn sighed. She didn’t want Estar to leave, but she knew he was worried about the other feylings.

  ‘I’m sorry. I wish I could stay here and help you but I’ll come back with help as soon as I can.’<
br />
  ‘I know you will.’ Arianwyn smiled. ‘Do you want to walk with us to the wood?’

  Estar nodded.

  The large doors of the Blue Ox had been frozen closed for three days so it took all four of them (and then some help from Uncle Mat and Aunt Grace) before they managed to pull the doors open.

  Suddenly they were faced with the full consequences of the winter storm. All around the town square they could see other people shovelling the snow to make paths from their houses to the shops. Voices sang out and hands raised in greeting as people called across to neighbours and friends after being stuck inside for the last three days. Children were busy building snowmen or were engaged in fierce snowball battles. The snow reached as high as Arianwyn’s hips and some tumbled inside the Blue Ox as they pulled the doors fully open.

  ‘We might need a shovel or two,’ Sergeant Gribble said, looking at Uncle Mat and Aunt Grace.

  But Bob had no need. The moon hare leapt forward, straight into the snowdrift, disappearing with a soft phlump and a spray of snow, only to appear seconds later a few metres away. A brilliant white head, sparkling in the light, looked back at them, huge blue eyes blinking as though to say: Well, what are you waiting for?

  Arianwyn was pulled outside and into the snow by Salle and Colin, their laughter ringing out across the town square. For a few blissful moments Arianwyn forgot all about her worries as they ploughed on, chasing after Bob and dodging a volley of snowballs thrown by a group of children from over near the grocer’s on the corner.

  They waded through the snow until they came to one of the already dug paths across the town square. It made it much easier to carry on their way towards Wood Lane and the East Gate. Estar and Sergeant Gribble joined them, a shovel leaning against his shoulder and a rucksack on his back. ‘Extra supplies – just in case we get hungry on our way!’ He smiled at Arianwyn.

  And suddenly, even amidst the worry and terror of what might have happened to her grandmother, she was looking forward to this expedition with her father. He seemed more like his old self. It had always been like this in the past when he was on leave. He would take her on all sorts of exciting trips and excursions.

  Each time they crossed paths with someone else they stopped to talk to them and heard their stories of the last few days:

  ‘Snow up to the windows nearly!’

  ‘We thought we might run out of food.’

  ‘So good to be out and see everyone at last!’

  ‘Our nitherings are all gone, Miss Gribble!’

  ‘Haven’t seen snow like this in fifty years, sixty maybe!’

  As they made their way along Wood Lane, they could see the snow-covered land and the Great Wood through the partly open gate. They all paused for a moment to take in the sight of the never-ending white world. It was strange and new and beautifully terrifying.

  Crossing the bridge, Arianwyn glanced at the spot where she had found her grandmother’s scarf, where she had spoken to Gimma. The kiln was now lost under a drift of sparkling snow.

  ‘It’s OK, Wyn,’ Colin said gently. ‘I’m sure she’s all right.’

  ‘I hope so,’ Arianwyn said.

  At the edge of the Great Wood the group said farewell to Estar as he headed back to Edda and the other feylings and they went off in search of Grandma.

  Arianwyn hung back a little, waving as her feyling friend made his way through the deep snow. It felt as though it was one goodbye after another at the moment. She swiped at frosty tears that fell as Estar was swallowed by the treeline. Then she turned and hurried to catch up with everyone else.

  They had walked for only half an hour along the edge of the river, past the spot where the calvaria had laid its eggs and nearly eaten Gimma and Arianwyn, all those months ago. It seemed like a hundred years had passed, to Arianwyn. But there was no sign of anyone else here, now. And in some ways, Arianwyn was relieved: she had no idea what she was going to do once she found the High Elder. She couldn’t exactly fight her, could she? Even with the quiet glyphs on her side, Arianwyn couldn’t best the High Elder; she was too powerful and dangerous. And now wasn’t she getting more people in trouble? Perhaps she’d made the wrong descison about going to find the High Elder.

  ‘Are you OK, Wyn?’ Salle asked, walking beside her and taking Arianwyn’s mittened hand in her own gloved one. Arianwyn nodded. ‘I’m hoping it might be time to break into Aunt Grace’s supplies, soon!’

  But then, up ahead, Colin and Sergeant Gribble froze in their tracks, Colin letting out a gasp of surprise. ‘Arianwyn!’ her father hissed. ‘Arianwyn – what is that?’ He pointed to the treeline before them.

  Something hung in the air – something like a large, flat, mushroom-shaped balloon. But it was translucent, filled with swirls of colour and pulsating lights. Beneath the mushroom cap dangled tentacles of various lengths. It was like a gigantic floating jellyfish. Arianwyn stopped dead. She thought she had seen a drawing of one of these creatures once before but she wasn’t sure where. Perhaps in her handbook . . . her handbook that was on the bookshelf back in the Spellorium! ‘Snotlings.’

  ‘It’s a maudant,’ Colin said, calmly but firmly. The moon hare had flattened itself against the snow and gave a low growl.

  ‘A what?’ Salle and Sergeant Gribble asked at the same time.

  Arianwyn tilted her head to one side. Yes, it was a maudant. They were dark spirits, more common in the winter from what Arianwyn could remember. She’d never seen one before, and judging from the looks on everyone else’s faces neither had they. The tentacles waved about, moved by the smallest breeze. The whole creature seemed to be moving forwards slowly. Very slowly. But certainly towards them.

  ‘We should head back, I think. It’s not safe to be here,’ Colin said.

  ‘But . . . Grandma,’ Arianwyn said.

  ‘Wyn, you know the maudant’s tentacles are dangerous. If one of them touches us it could really hurt us . . . even kill us. And they rarely travel alone.’

  ‘Right, that’s decided then. Let’s go,’ Sergeant Gribble said, turning round and starting to move back towards Lull.

  ‘Wait! But what about Grandma?’ Arianwyn asked. ‘We can’t just give up! Isn’t there a way round?’ She looked at Salle who started to stare off into the wood.

  ‘There might be a way around – perhaps,’ said Salle. She pointed off to where the trees parted slightly. ‘Could that be a pathway?’

  Sergeant Gribble sighed and looked at Arianwyn. ‘Please, Dad,’ she said.

  He looked back and forth between the path and the maudant. ‘OK, but if that thing gets too close, we head straight back, understand?’

  Arianwyn nodded in agreement and they moved from the path to the relative cover of the Great Wood.

  They could still hear the rustle of the maudant’s tentacles several minutes later, but they were faster than the creature, gradually leaving it behind.

  Sergeant Gribble continued to lead the way, with Arianwyn and Colin just behind him. Salle followed last, still glancing back every now and then. Despite the cover of the trees, the snow grew deeper, nearly up to their waists in some places. ‘I think we should have a rest soon,’ Sergeant Gribble called over his shoulder.

  ‘Good idea, ready for a break, Salle?’ Arianwyn glanced back at her friend. But she found Salle rooted to the spot, staring back the way they had just come. Standing on the path now were two figures wrapped in long dark coats and hoods.

  For a second, Arianwyn thought it might be Gimma returned with her grandmother. And yet she knew that was not true. One of the figures was Gimma. But the other figure was shorter, stockier than her grandmother.

  It was Constance Braithwaite. The High Elder.

  Chapter 26

  DEMANDS

  here’s my grandmother?’ Arianwyn demanded, moving back towards the pair as quickly as the snow would allow until she could just see the High Elder’s eyes under her dark hood.

  ‘Hello, Miss Gribble,’ the High Elder said calmly, as though t
hey had just bumped into each other in the corridors of the C.W.A.

  ‘Where is she?’ Arianwyn asked again, her voice entirely calm, though inside she felt a storm was raging, a storm even more powerful than the one that had engulfed Lull.

  ‘Somewhere . . . safe,’ the High Elder replied. Before she knew exactly what she was doing, Arianwyn had a crackling spell orb in her cupped hand. ‘I wouldn’t suggest you do that now, Arianwyn,’ the High Elder said, taking a step forwards. ‘What might become of your grandmother if we didn’t return?’

  ‘Don’t do it, Wyn,’ Salle hissed behind her.

  She let the spell orb fizzle away, bright sparks sizzling in the snow.

  The High Elder smiled. ‘Well, shall we talk now?’ she said.

  Arianwyn nodded once.

  ‘Then you’ll have to follow me. Alone.’The High Elder turned and started to walk away, gesturing for Arianwyn to follow. She started to, but Salle grabbed her arm, pulling her back.

  ‘No, Wyn. You can’t trust her – you know that.’

  Arianwyn tugged away, glaring at Salle fiercely as she continued to follow the High Elder. She passed Gimma, who was still hidden by her hood and didn’t speak or move. She just stood and watched.

  The two of them carried on, walking the beaten path through the snow, the woods quiet around them except for the occasional far-off swishing noise of the maudant’s tentacles.

  ‘Well, this is better, isn’t it?’ the High Elder said as Arianwyn came alongside her on the path, moving ever further away from the others.

  ‘I’m not sure anything about this is better.’

  ‘Now don’t be disagreeable, Arianwyn. I’m here to offer you something.’

  ‘I don’t want anything from you, except for my grandmother,’ Arianwyn said.

  The High Elder paused and turned to face her. ‘Exactly. And she is quite safe, you have my word. But there is something I will need from you in exchange.’