The Night Sorceresses

by Erica Griswold

  The mockingbird’s eyes widened. “Really? No one has seen them in these woods in five hundred years!” Astor gasped.

  “They became mortal when they moved to my world, and died in a country called Norway in 1730. Which was 290 years ago,” Angelina said. “What do you know about her?”

  Astor replied, “Not much, only that she was the queen of all the woods.”

  Which matches up exactly with the family stories about her that I grew up hearing, Angelina thought.

  They came to a dirt road. “Humans travel down this path several times a day. The flock lives this way,” Astor said. Angelina followed him. She estimated that they must have walked at least an hour before they came to a small town. There was a sign on the road that read, “Town of Hallowdorn. Population 5,796.”

  “This is where we must part ways. If the human government catches someone talking to animals or working any magic, the police will arrest them.”

  Great, they probably burn witches here too, Angelina thought.

  “Good luck, descendant of Queen Zadelia and King Jasper,” Astor said.

  “Thank you, Astor,” Angelina said. Astor flew away through the forest. Angelina walked into the town and was amazed at how rustic the place was. It resembled a medieval village, with its stone houses and horse-drawn carts. The women wore long, flowing dresses.

  Gosh, I hope people take baths here, Angelina thought. She wondered if she had also been sent back in time.

  Angelina walked around, reading the signs that hung above the shops. People stared and pointed at her. She assumed it was because they probably had never seen a person wearing a tank top and jeans before. She saw a sign that said “A World of Books” hanging over one of the shop doors.

  Maybe they have a map or an atlas of this place.

  She walked inside. Angelina didn’t want to make a fool of herself by asking what country she was in, but decided that she would have to ask someone for the name of the country sooner or later. She walked up to the cash register in the front of the store. “Excuse me, what country am I in?”

  The cashier looked at her as if she had ten heads. “You are in Ethermoor. To be more specific, you are in the state of Kalnoreth in the country of Ethermoor.”

  A chill ran down Angelina’s spine. Ethermoor! It’s real! she thought.

  “Are you all right?” the cashier asked. Angelina leaned in and whispered, “Have you heard of the United States of America?”

  “No,” the woman replied.

  “Do you have atlases or maps?”

  The woman pointed to the back of the store. “The atlases are on the last aisle.”

  “Thank you,” Angelina said.

  She walked to the aisle in the back of the store. She scanned the books and saw one that had the words “World Atlas” written on the spine. She pulled it off the shelf and flipped through its pages.

  Angelina was surprised to find that none of the world’s continents looked anything like the ones she had seen on maps back in the United States. After several minutes, she found a map of the state of Kalnoreth, and saw the word Hallowdorn written next to a small dot.

  She then looked up and saw a rack of fold-out maps. Angelina saw one for the state of Kalnoreth, pulled it off the shelf, opened it up, and saw that it was a much more detailed map than the one in the atlas. Streets and landmarks were drawn on it. Angelina found another map that was of the entire country of Ethermoor. She folded up the map of Kalnoreth and took the two maps up to the counter.

  The cashier said, “That will be one Galladorn.”

  Angelina rummaged round in her purse and pulled out two American twenty-dollar bills.

  “I only have this money,” she said as she put the money on the desk.

  “Paper?” The clerk laughed. Apparently they did not use paper currency in Ethermoor. Angelina turned pink and suddenly really hoped that there were some pennies in the bottom of her purse. Perhaps those would work for money in Ethermoor. She grabbed about twenty pennies and put them on the desk. The clerk’s eyes grew as wide as saucers.

  “Is that real copper?”

  “Um, yes,” Angelina said, stunned by the woman’s reaction.

  The cashier leaned in and hissed, “What are you doing, piling it up like that for everyone to see?”

  “Uh,” Angelina uttered, shocked. She leaned in and whispered, “I am not from around here. Is copper worth a lot of money?”

  “Worth a lot? It’s the most expensive substance in the world!” She then smiled and said, “You know what? I don’t want you to give up your copper to have these maps! They’re yours!” She handed the maps to Angelina.

  Angelina didn’t know what to say. “Well, thank you!” she said.

  The clerk replied, “I can’t help you, but perhaps someone in the capital of Ethermoor, Ethermoor City, can. It’s a huge city. Here, open that map up.” Angelina did as instructed and opened the map of Ethermoor on the counter. The clerk placed her finger on the Hallowdorn dot.

  “See, we are here. It’s about a two-day walk to the capital.” She traced her finger from Hallowdorn to Ethermoor City. “If you go down this road, the Centrarius Way, you should get there in two days.”

  Angelina dug a pen out of her purse and drew a line from Hallowdorn to Ethermoor City. She was thankful the pen did not get damaged by the river water. “Thank you so much for helping me!” Angelina said to the clerk.

  She picked up her map and walked out the door. Angelina giggled at the idea of pennies being priceless in Ethermoor.

  She did not realize that someone had followed her out of the bookshop . . .

  As Angelina was walking down the street, someone suddenly wrapped their arms around her. She felt a cold blade pressing up against her throat. Angelina saw the sun reflect off a knife under her chin.

  “Give me your copper, woman!” a man’s voice screamed into her ear. Angelina felt her heart leap into her throat, and she heard the horrified screams of several bystanders.

  “Let me go!” Angelina screamed with every ounce of her being.

  Suddenly, she felt a strange surge of energy shoot out of her body. A large vine shot through the cobblestone street and wrapped itself around her attacker. Then, it shot high into the air. Angelina suddenly became aware that she was in total control of the strange vine. The man screamed as the vine held him around thirty feet in the air, but Angelina felt no pity for him. People ran out of the shops to see what was happening on the street.

  Slam him on the ground! Angelina thought.

  The vine slammed the man on the ground with a tremendous force that shattered nearly every bone in his body. The man went limp, and Angelina made the vine retreat into the ground. Applause erupted from the crowd of onlookers.

  The stamping of horses’ hooves echoed through the street. People screamed and ran into the shops. Angelina saw men wearing uniforms turn down the street and ride their horses toward them. She remembered what Astor had told her about magic being illegal. Two waitresses from one of the restaurants ran up to her, grabbed her shoulders, and whispered, “Come with us. We know of somewhere that you will be safe.”

  Angelina and the waitresses ran through a restaurant and into the kitchen. The waitresses locked Angelina inside a supply closet where there was a mop, a bucket full of filthy water, and a broom. Angelina stared at the door. I wonder if I can make a vine that will grow across this door and give me more protection from the police, she thought. Vines began sprouting around the door frame and made a wooden wall.

  The man who had attacked her slowly began regaining consciousness. “We heard all kinds of commotion down here. What happened?” one police officer asked him.

  The man mumbled, “A sorceress attacked me! She went inside The Broken Wagon.”

  Four of the officers ran inside the restaurant. Angelina held her breath as she heard two women screaming outside the door. Then, she heard footsteps in the kitchen. She heard the sound of someone chopping wood. Her heart throbbed with terror as she
realized that someone was chopping down the door.

  “What’s this?” a man’s voice asked when he saw the strange vine that had grown across the doorway.

  I wish I could easily get out of here! Angelina thought. She felt herself shrink down very, very small, which she thought was odd. As she did, she saw an axe blade chop through the vine wall she had made.

  When she moved her arms, she felt her body lift off the ground! The man chopping through the vine pulled his axe out of the hole he’d made just long enough for her to fly through the hole. She flew through the small hole and out into the restaurant. “Get that bird! It could be the sorceress!” a policeman screamed. Angelina saw black powder raining down all around her. She felt herself suddenly transform back into a human.

  Angelina felt herself go limp and fall to the ground. She could not move and was vaguely aware of someone putting handcuffs around her wrists. The metal in the handcuffs made her feel even weaker.

  What’s happening to me? Angelina wondered.

  “Let her go! She was only acting in self-defense!” Angelina heard one of the waitresses scream.

  “Ma’am, she is being arrested for battery and using magic,” one of the soldiers said.

  Angelina felt a needle pierce her skin. Then, suddenly, she felt as if her newfound magical abilities were draining from her. She tried to shoot a vine out of her hand and discovered she could not. Angelina felt someone stick a needle in her right arm, and everything went dark.

  Two days later, Willow arrived at Hallowdorn. She pulled her hood down over her face as she walked into the city, only lifting it up to see where she was going every once in a while. As she walked through the streets, she saw posters that said:

  WANTED!

  WILLOW NIGHTSHADE

  ASSASSINATED KING BANDERON

  REWARD!!!

  1,000,000 GALDORIANS

  WANTED ALIVE!

  A drawing of her was under the writing. Great. There are pictures of me on wanted posters all over this town. she thought. She pulled her hood even further down over her face and prayed that no one recognized her eyes. The first thing she did was go to the police station. She walked through the door and walked up to the person sitting at the front desk. “Excuse me, is there a Riordan Firedorn who works here?” Willow asked the woman.

  “He will arrive in town this evening,” the woman replied.

  “Could you tell him that his friend from Fernhollow is here and she wants to speak with him? Tell him to meet me at The Broken Wagon.” The Broken Wagon was the restaurant nearest to the police station.

  “I will tell him that. What is your name, dear?” the woman asked.

  “Sheila Smith,” Willow lied. She knew that if she gave away her first name, the police would arrest her immediately. “Tell him that I was visiting his grandparents. They told me that he was coming here. I was just walking through town on my way back home, and I want to see him.”

  Willow hoped that Riordan would realize that it was her coming to see him since he knew she had been staying with his grandparents.

  “All right,” the woman said.

  Willow walked out of the building and went to the restaurant. She sat on a bench outside and waited for Riordan, hoping he would come find her.

  Riordan walked into the police station. He flashed his badge at the woman at the front desk. “I’m Riordan Firedorn, and I’m here to question the woman accused of sorcery,” he said.

  “A guard told me that she is just now waking up from the iron drug they gave her. Oh, and I am supposed to tell you that a friend from Fernhollow is here to see you, and she wants you to meet her at The Broken Wagon,” the woman said.

  That’s strange. Who do I know who lives in Fernhollow? Riordan thought. He was acquainted with men in the police force, but no women served in it. He had only been to Fernhollow twice in his life.

  “Did she say what her name was?” Riordan asked.

  “Sheila Smith. The hood of her cloak covered her face, so I can’t tell you what she looked like. She said that she was visiting your grandparents and wanted to see you while she was traveling home,” the woman replied.

  Someone from Fernhollow was visiting my grandparents. Willow! Riordan thought. His heart leapt in his chest when he realized who Sheila really was. Plus, going to see Willow would give the sleeping potion he planned to drug the guards with plenty of time to work.

  He walked into the mess hall. He had mixed the sleeping potion in a fluffy white cream so that no one would suspect him of poisoning anyone when he put it into the food.

  He took out the potion and put a spoonful of it in the tomato soup. Then he put it in the applesauce, and then the pudding.

  “What are you doing?” a voice behind him asked. Riordan was startled. He turned and saw one of the jail guards standing behind him, smiling.

  After all, perhaps it did look rather strange to put the same white substance that could be either sour cream or whipped cream in both the tomato soup and the pudding.

  “It’s . . . uh.” His truth-sensing abilities began to make him feel sick. “It’s a cream I made from a special recipe!” he said, which was true.

  “A special recipe? A whipped cream that tastes good in tomato soup and pudding?” The man laughed.

  “You will . . . LOVE it!” Riordan forced out of his mouth. After all, everyone loves to sleep, right?

  “Excuse me,” Riordan said. He knew he needed to get out of the mess hall as soon as possible. He ducked past the officer and walked out the door.

  Willow had sat on the bench for several hours. “Are you Sheila Smith?” a man’s voice asked.

  Willow lifted her hood just enough for her to see out from under it. A wave of relief washed over her when she saw Riordan standing in front of her, smiling. “Yes.”

  “What are you doing here?” Riordan asked.

  “I saw the letter you sent to your grandmother, and I wanted to help you out.” She handed him a small, folded-up piece of paper. He unfolded it.

  The note read,

  There is another warrant for my arrest, and my name was in the Ethermoor City Times. Call me Sheila to keep my real identity a secret.

  Riordan folded up the paper and put it in his pocket. He smiled and said, “All right, Sheila.”

  “I want to go with you to the jail,” Willow said.

  Riordan put his hands in front of him and said, “No, you stay here. I need to go there by myself. Wait here for us.” He jumped as if he suddenly remembered something important. “I take that back. Come with me. There is something you can do.”

  They walked inside The Broken Wagon. Riordan walked up to the hostess and asked, “Excuse me, can I have a cup of water?”

  The hostess asked, “Why don’t you sit down, and I will get a waitress to take your order?”

  “May we have an outdoor table?”

  “Sure. Follow me,” the hostess said as she took them outside. They sat down at a table. A waitress walked up and placed menus in front of them. “I’ll be back to take your drink order.”

  “Oh, we just want two glasses of water,” Riordan said.

  “Water? Okay,” the waitress said as she walked away.

  Riordan whispered to Willow, “Now you be on the lookout for a Blue Morpho butterfly. I’m going to make sugar water to attract it to you,” he said.

  The waitress appeared moments later, carrying two glasses of water. Riordan took the lid off the sugar bowl and scooped the sugar into the glasses. He mixed the water and sugar and handed the glasses to Willow.

  “Are we going to eat here?” Willow asked.

  “I have to get back to the city jail. We will eat on the way out of Hallowdorn.” Riordan said. “Would you be willing to watch two horses for me? I stopped at my father’s parents’ house on my way here, and they lent me one of their horses for the other woman.”

  “Yes,” Willow replied.

  Willow smiled at him as he turned and walked away. Riordan returned moments later, holding
the reins of two brown horses. He tied them to the post next to her table.

  Riordan walked back to the jail and walked inside. There was a large man with a thick black mustache standing in the entryway. The woman who worked behind the front desk stood next to him. “Riordan Firedorn, this is Chief Bollinger of the Hallowdorn Police Force,” the woman said, gesturing to the large man.

  “Pleasure to meet you!” Chief Bollinger said, smiling.

  I did not plan for this! Riordan thought.

  “Come with me. I want to show you some of the things we found with the young sorceress yesterday,” the police chief said. Riordan followed him down a hallway.

  “We here in Hallowdorn saw a cylindrical-shaped object fall from the sky yesterday right before she was discovered! I don’t believe she’s from around here! Just wait until you see the strange things she brought with her!” Riordan followed him into an office. A large bag and a smaller bag were sitting on a desk. “The small bag had even stranger things in it than the big bag. I have sent a letter to King Halvor regarding its contents, but he has not responded to me yet.” The chief reached inside the small bag and pulled out a wrinkled, folded-up piece of paper.

  A picture of a cylindrical-shaped object with wings flying through the sky was on it. The words “Thank you for flying with Manatee Airlines!” were written on it.

  “This is the thing we saw in the sky yesterday!” the chief said, pointing to the winged object. He handed the paper to Riordan. Riordan knew that there were records in the Pyraxia Library of such objects appearing in Ethermoor. The fairy Tristan, who guarded the vault, had said that he arrived in Ethermoor in such a craft.

  Then, the chief pulled out an odd, small, sleek, cylindrical-shaped object. “Look at this!” the chief said as he pressed a button on one end of it.

  A small pointed thing shot through a small hole on the other end of it. Chief Bollinger took a piece of parchment out of his pocket and placed it on the desk. He put the tip of the object on the parchment. As he waved it around on the parchment, a black ink scribble appeared on it. “Look! A pen that you don’t have to dip in an inkwell!” He pulled out a small leather pouch. He opened the pouch, put his fingers inside, and pulled out a card with a woman’s picture on it.