by Sam Short
“Thanks, Mum,” I said. It was the nicest thing she’d said about any boy I’d ever dated. “We’re taking it slowly, but I feel good about him. He’s the same as me in so many ways.”
“The way he acted the last time he was here sent him sky rocketing in your grandmothers estimation,” said Mum. “There’s not many mortals who would be so calm when confronted with magic. He was more concerned about you than the fact that your Uncle Brian had just magicked up a portal, and that we were talking about casting a spell on him. When you passed out, he was beside himself with worry.”
I smiled. “I’m glad he knows we’re all witches,” I said. “It would have been hard to get close to him otherwise. It’s not the sort of secret that’s easy to hide from someone you’re close to.”
“Very true, Penny, and it’s obvious you care for each other,” said Mum. “That’s the reason you got given your haven entry spell.”
“The fact that I like Barney is responsible for me getting my spell?” I asked. “How does that work?”
Mum smiled. “No, the fact that you stuck up for him is the reason. That spell you cast to stop me hexing Barney was powerful magic. It was completely pure and was cast from a place of love. You put yourself at risk for the sake of Barney and proved that you’re a good witch. That’s why you got your spell.”
Mum moved towards me, and I let her hug me. It was rare that she showed me any physical affection, and I settled into her arms with a sigh, enjoying her smell and each moment of closeness she allowed us.
“Are you ready to go to the haven?” she said, pulling herself from me. She turned away briefly, but I saw her wipe a tear from the corner of her eye.
“I’m ready, Mum,” I said. “And I’m so proud and happy to be going with you on my first trip. It means a lot to me.”
“Me too, sweetheart,” said Mum. “I remember the day I first went to the haven. Your grandmother knitted me a lovely red pullover and bought me a new pair of shoes for the trip. It was the proudest day of my life. Until today of course — being able to accompany her own daughter to the haven for the first time is every mother’s wish. Well, every witch mother’s wish, I should say. Today is the proudest day of my life so far, and I’m sure I’ll feel the same when Willow gets her spell too.”
Barney arrived at my side and Boris trailed behind him. “Such exciting stories,” said the goat. “You really have had a marvellous life, Barney.”
“Thanks, Boris,” said Barney. “I’ll save the rest of them for another time. Remind me to tell you about the time I took Mavis Henshaw down in the greengrocers shop. She was stealing lychees. Slipping them into her bag when Mr Jarvis wasn’t watching. He saw her from out of the corner of his eye and called the police. They sent me, and it was quite the struggle, I can tell you.”
I swallowed my laughter. I knew full well what had happened on that day. Eighty year old Mavis Henshaw had almost broken Barney’s finger with her walking stick, forcing Barney to call for backup. I wouldn’t make Barney look stupid in front of his new friend though.
“Barney’s quite the hero,” I said, drawing an approving nod from Boris.
The loud sound of smashing glass grabbed everyone’s attention, making Mum spin on the spot and Boris jump with fright.
“What have you done?” said Mum. “That’s one of my best crystal whisky glasses!”
Granny stared at the shattered glass at her feet, and put the spoon she was holding down on the table. “Sorry, Maggie. I was trying to get everyone’s attention, like they do in the films. I only tapped it gently — either these glasses are not real crystal and you got seen coming a mile away, or I don’t know my own strength! I’m sorry though, I suppose.”
“It was an accident,” said Mum, unusually diplomatically for her. “Don’t worry about it. What did you want to say?”
Granny cleared her throat, and looked around the room, her gaze finally settling on me. I returned the gentle smile she gave me and let her speak.
“I wanted to say that I always knew Penny would grow into a wonderful young woman,” she said, “and that I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. It’s a wonderful moment when a loved one steps through a portal into the haven for the first time. Today is a truly wonderful day.”
“Hear! Hear!” said Boris, stamping his front hooves on the slate floor. “Well said, that woman!”
“Don’t interrupt!” snapped Granny. “I haven’t finished!” Granny put her arm around Brian’s shoulder and pulled him close to her. “I’d also like to take this moment to congratulate my eldest child… my first born… my little gay angel… my beautiful Brian. A big round of applause for Brian please, everybody!”
“Stop it, Barney,” hissed Mum.
Barney managed one more clap, and looked at me. “Don’t clap,” I urged, putting my hand on his.
Mum scowled at Granny. “What exactly are we congratulating Brian for, Mother?” she said. “This is Penny’s special day!”
“Well,” said Granny, “it’s all very exciting! My big boy has decided that he’s going to move from London back to Wickford, and start a business as a hypnotist, here in town! Isn’t that wonderful!”
“But he’s not a hypnotist,” said Willow. “He can’t just practice as one. It’s probably illegal. Isn’t it, Barney?”
Barney shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, no doubt refereeing a fight between his policeman’s mind and the part of his brain that knew he should be terrified of confronting Granny. Luckily for Barney the sensible part won, and he kept quiet. He offered Willow an apologetic shrug.
Granny fixed her gaze on Willow. “Don’t you dare tell Brian what he can and can’t do, young lady,” she said. “He’s fought hammer and tongs to get where he is today. Do you think it’s been easy for him to live in Soho as a gay man? Of course not, he’s been oppressed at every turn, but here he is today, standing before us… loud and proud and more queer than ever!”
“It’s not particularly hard living in Soho as a gay man, Mother,” said Uncle Brian. “It’s quite fun actually, and I can’t recall being oppressed by anybody if I’m being perfectly honest with you. In fact, I’ve only ever been treated with respect.”
“You’ve internalised the oppression, dear,” said Granny, patting her son’s hand. “It’s quite normal. You’ve been oppressed so often that you’ve come to accept it as the norm, but it isn’t, and you’re a survivor, Brian!” Granny put her hands together. “A round of applause for my son please, everybody!”
“Stop clapping, Barney. I won’t tell you again,” snapped Mum. “That’s enough of that for today, Mother. It’s Penelope’s day, and we’ve already wasted enough time. It’s time for Penny to enter the haven!”
This time Mum allowed Barney to clap, and everybody else joined in too, including Granny.
“Just one thing,” said Brian, “before the main event. What did you mean, Mother… when you said I was more queer than ever?”
“The suit, son,” said Granny looking Brian up and down. “It’s very, very camp. Crushed velvet should really only be seen on furniture, my darling.”
“Really?” said Brian. “Is it camp?”
“A little,” said Susie from her seat at the table. “But you do wear it well, Brian.”
Mum slammed her glass down on a kitchen counter. “That’s enough! It’s time for Penny to open her portal.” She put a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Go on, darling. Open your portal.”
“I’m a little nervous,” I said, standing closer to Barney. “I don’t know why.”
“I was the first time I stepped through my portal,” said Mum. “But there’s no need to be, honestly. You use the lounge doorway and I’ll use the hallway doorway. You step through your portal first and then I’ll step through mine. We’ll appear close by one another in the haven, there’s nothing to be scared of. I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
Barney held my hand. “It is safe, isn’t it?”
Mum touched his shoulder t
o reassure him. “Barney, I know you don’t know us very well yet, but you can be assured that nobody in this room would allow Penny to come to harm. We wouldn’t let anyone in this room come to harm, and that includes you, young man. She’s perfectly safe.”
Susie got up from the table and stood next to Barney. “I’ve seen Maggie and Gladys open hundreds of portals,” she said. “And I’ve never seen anything dangerous happen. She’ll be fine, Barney.”
I slipped my hand from Barney’s, and stood on tiptoes to kiss him on his cheek. “I’ll be okay.” I promised. “Don’t wait here for me though, I don’t know how long I’ll be away. I’ll phone you when I’m back.”
I stood before the lounge doorway, and Mum crossed the kitchen to the doorway which led into the hallway. Taking a final look around the room at the smiling faces, and Boris’s yellow toothed grimace, I cast my spell.
The doorway creaked and quivered and filled with a bright shimmering light.
“Whoa!” said Barney. “That’s amazing. It’s beautiful. I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”
“I’ve seen it before,” said Boris. “On Penny’s boat. It’s no better the second time.”
“Very gold,” said Uncle Brian. “Very you, Penelope.”
“So, so,” said Granny. “I’ve seen prettier portals.”
“That’s my girl,” said Mum, opening her own portal.
“Go on, Penny, step through it,” said Willow. “I want to hear all about it when you get back.”
Taking a deep breath, I placed a foot over the threshold, shuddering as hairs stood on end and a breeze ran up my leg. I took one last glance at Barney, smiled at him, closed my eyes, and stepped into the light.
Chapter Sixteen
Every muscle in my body tensed, and a loud whistling sound in my ears made me wince. A scary sensation of falling passed within a second, and I stumbled forward with my eyes closed and my arms held out to break my fall.
Somebody caught me almost immediately. “I’ve got you!”
“Mum,” I said, opening my eyes and blinking. I shook my head a couple of times to rid my ears of the whistling, and stepped back from my mother. “Wow. You look… different!”
Mum looked at least twenty years younger, and the black of her hair was obviously not from a bottle. She was still overweight, but nowhere near as heavy as she’d been in her kitchen a couple of minutes before. She was younger than I was, I needed to remind myself. Mum had acquired her entry spell when she was twenty-one, and I was twenty three. It was unsettling having a mother who was younger than me, and it must have shown on my face.
“Oops, sorry!” said Mum. “I forgot to change.”
In less time than it took to blink, Mum had transformed into the woman I knew, complete with recently dyed hair and a few extra pounds around her thighs and midriff.
“How?” I said. “I thought you always remained the age you were when you got your entry spell, when you’re in the haven? That’s what you’ve always told me and Willow.”
“This is the haven, Penny,” said Mum. “Anything’s possible. We tell youngsters they’ll always be the age they are when they get their spell so they’ll work harder to acquire it. It worked for you didn’t it? Every time you enter the haven, you’ll be the age you were when you got your spell, but you can transform into any age you like when you’re here, as long as it’s between the age you were when you got your spell, and the age you are in the mortal world. There are plenty of witches here who don’t want to look young again, they’re happy in the body they have, but they’ll never age if they stay in the haven, and if they want to be young again, even if it’s just for a day, they can be. I prefer looking this age if I’m honest. I hated my body when I was younger, I was far too thin. I think I looked sickly. Your grandmother didn’t feed me enough — I was a hungry girl.”
I stumbled and Mum grabbed me. “Are you okay?” she said.
I shook my head. “Not really. Coming through the portal wasn’t as easy as I thought it was going to be,” I said.
“You must have closed your eyes when you stepped through,” said Mum. “I’m sorry. I forgot to tell you to keep them open, Penelope. Your brain can’t cope with what’s happening if your eyes are closed. Next time keep them open and it’ll be a lot simpler.”
I blinked again, and looked left and right.
“Close your portal,” said Mum. “It’s still open.”
Sure enough, the familiar hum of an open portal throbbed behind me. I allowed the portal spell to slip from my mind and the sound stopped. “Where are we?” I said. “It smells damp.”
Mum and I stood together in a stone archway. The moss covered stone walls were a few feet apart and the curve of the ceiling seemed low enough to touch if I jumped. It was like standing in a dark and dank soldier’s sentry box.
“This is an entry arch,” said Mum. “You use it to leave and enter the haven. Every town and village has a few of them, and the big cities have thousands.”
“Cities?” I said. “There are cities here? In the haven?”
“Not cities as you know them,” explained Mum. “There’s no skyscrapers or busy roads, but thousands of people live in them, and there’s lots to do. They’re fun places to visit, but I wouldn’t like to live in one. I prefer the peace and quiet of the countryside.”
I’d regained my bearings, and couldn’t wait to leave the damp arch I was standing in. “I want to see,” I said, looking past Mum’s shoulder at the light behind her.
Mum smiled. “Come on, I’ll show you,” she said. She took me by the hand and pulled me from the arch.
I squinted as Mum guided me into the bright light, and turned to look at the arch I’d come through. Five stone arches were built side by side in a row, and dim light still flickered in the two arches through which Mum and I had arrived.
I turned on the spot slowly as the sun warmed my face, and gasped as I took my first look at the haven. Mum slipped her arm through mine and squeezed my hand. “It’s nice isn’t it?”
“It’s amazing,” I said.
We stood on the peak of a grassy hill, and stretching before us in all directions, as far as the eye could see, was scenery so beautiful I wished I could climb inside it and wrap it around myself like a blanket — just looking at it wasn’t enough. I wanted to be enveloped by it.
Butterflies danced in my stomach, and my ears and nose worked overtime to distinguish between smells and sounds as my eyes flitted from snow capped mountain top, to sparkling lake. The soft peach colour which lightly tinged the sky, painted the scenery in a gentle glow which brought the vivid green of the vegetation to life and gave the scenery a warmth which made me happy to be alive.
‘“It’s huge,” I said.
“They say it’s as big as the world we just left behind,” said Mum. “But I wouldn’t know how true that is. I tend to stay here in this area, where my friends and family live, but your grandmother has travelled extensively — and has probably caused trouble in every corner of the haven.”
What about getting home?” I said. “How do I get back to the door in your kitchen?”
Mum pulled me closer to her. It was the longest that Mum had held me for as long as I could remember. “Whichever arch you use will open a portal to the last doorway you used to enter the haven through,” she said, “unless you specifically think of somewhere else you want to go to, like Uncle Brian did when he appeared in my kitchen, but that’s definitely not advisable. Wherever you go in the haven, Penny, even if you stay here for years and find yourself thousands of miles away from this spot — any of the archways you use will take you back to exactly where you came from. It’s that simple.”
I remained silent, appreciating the view, and enjoying feeling so emotionally attached to my mother. Birds soared high in the sky and a sheep bleated somewhere in the distance. The fragrant scent of wildflowers and grass was underlaid with the salty aroma of an ocean, but the only water I could see was in rivers and lakes. The haven was a welcom
e assault on my senses, and I smiled as a warm breeze blew a strand of hair from my eyes.
“Can you feel it?” said Mum. “I could when I first came here.”
“Feel what?”
“The prickles,” said Mum. “Like pins and needles on your skin.”
I nodded. I could. “I thought it was a residual effect from the portal.”
“The sensation will pass in minute or two, but what you’re feeling is magic, Penny. Real magic, not like in the world we just left behind. When Maeve created the haven, she used almost all of the magic in the mortal world to create this dimension. The haven is how our world used to be before most of the magic was sucked from it. You’ll find it a whole lot easier to cast spells here than it is in Wickford.”
I shielded my eyes from the sun and studied the valley below us. Smoke rose from chimneys on thatched roof cottages in a quaint village to our left, and a sprawling urban development was visible in the far distance.
“Look at the size of that forest.” I said, squinting. “On the horizon. It’s huge.”
“It’s a rainforest,” said Mum, “like the Amazon Jungle.”
“A jungle? In the haven?”
“Yes,” said Mum with a smile. “This place is like the mortal world, Penny, but without the same rules. Here there might be a rainforest next to a desert, or a glacier next to a tropical beach. The haven creates the environments where witches lived in the mortal world, but not in the same geographic locations. Somewhere in the haven there’s an ice cap where Inuit witches live.”
