Witched!

by Rebecca McRitchie

The creature happily took another bite of bread.

  ‘I knew my idea to bring him with us was a good one,’ said Tick.

  Cora shook her head at the fairy. She stood up from the floor and handed the ring to Belle.

  ‘One obsidian stone,’ she said, a grin lighting up her face.

  Belle smiled at her. ‘Excellent. We now have everything she needs.’

  Belle walked over to the bed.

  ‘She got very tired and fell asleep,’ Cora said. ‘Is she okay?’

  With a worried look on her face, Belle placed a hand on Dot’s chest. ‘I must start,’ she said. ‘The sooner the better.’

  Belle moved past them and grabbed a handful of the yellow beetle-worm mucus from the bucket. She plonked the goo into the wooden bowl with the werewolf hair. The hobgoblin then went into the garden room and came back with a jar filled with red, bubbling liquid, pliers and a familiar-looking candle. Cora recognised the candle as the one they had seen in Archibald’s study, the one with the green flame in the hidden bookcase room. Only Belle’s was much smaller.

  Next, using the pliers and the nails on her fingers, Belle prised the stone from the gold band of Archibald’s ring. She waved a hand over the candle and a green flame appeared. She grabbed the stone with the pliers and pushed them both into the green flame of the candle.

  Belle then dropped the hot stone into the bowl with the mucus and werewolf hair. She then poured a spoonful of the red, bubbling liquid into the bowl too. She waved a hand over the bowl and muttered a few words. The contents of the bowl began to stir themselves. Swirling at first, and then folding into one mixture to eventually form a thick red and black paste.

  The group watched as a tendril of red smoke wove its way up from the bowl. Cora wondered if the sea witch Geraldine had done something similar to try to save her parents.

  ‘Now you must leave us,’ said Belle.

  ‘What?’ Cora asked, surprised. ‘Leave? But we just came back.’

  ‘The next part will take a lot of my energy,’ the hobgoblin said. She looked up at Cora earnestly. ‘But even more of hers.’

  ‘For how long?’ Cora asked.

  ‘I can’t say,’ the hobgoblin replied.

  Belle began ushering Cora and the fairies out of the room. Cora saw the tendril of smoke from the bowl had now become a thick, choking, billowing smoke. ‘It could be days or even weeks,’ said Belle.

  Cora swallowed. ‘And then she will be healed?’ she asked, her eye on Dot as she stepped backwards towards the door.

  ‘I can’t say,’ the hobgoblin replied.

  With a meow, Scratch jumped down from Dot’s bed and ran out of the room. The golem stood up too and followed the cat through the doorway past Cora’s feet, as the room steadily filled with smoke.

  Cora looked at Dot one last time. And then the smoke from the bowl blanketed her view.

  Her face firm, Belle stayed inside the room with Dot, and closed the door on Cora.

  In the garden room, Tick and Tock hovered next to her.

  Cora put a hand on the door. She thought about everything that Dot had told her of the night they had met. Even though Kaede had destroyed all the other syphons, her parents had escaped him and given her to Dot. They hadn’t survived . . . but she could still have a brother. If Kaede was searching for her, then that could also mean that he was searching for her brother, too. A determination flew through Cora like a wild breeze. If her brother was out there, they needed to find him before Kaede did. She only hoped that they weren’t too late. She turned away from the door.

  Tick and Tock stared at her.

  ‘What now?’ Tick asked.

  Tick was right. Where should they even start? She thought about what Dot had made her promise. The only person who could know where her brother would be was . . . Geraldine.

  Cora stared at Tick and Tock, resolute.

  ‘We need to find a sea witch.’

  Chapter Eighteen

  ‘I don’t think we’ve packed enough food,’ said Tick, scrummaging through his pack.

  Cora and the fairies were walking through The Oak Wood. They had quickly gathered some supplies from Belle’s kitchen before saying goodbye to Dot, Belle, Scratch and the golem. Tick had said she wouldn’t mind. Then the three of them had set off, heading to the edge of the wood, to a place the fairies had said was nearby. A place called Salty Harbour.

  ‘Hopefully we won’t be gone too long,’ Cora said, looking back over her shoulder at the hobgoblin’s home. It felt strange leaving Dot again. Even though Belle had the werewolf hair, beetle worms and obsidian stone, Cora still didn’t feel entirely at ease leaving the two of them. Especially not while Kaede was still out there . . . somewhere.

  Cora followed Tick and Tock as they led the way through The Oak Wood. Pushing stray branches out of their path, moving through bushes and stepping over bracken, the three of them made their way north of Belle’s home.

  The fairies whistled as they flew. Well, at least, they tried to. The noise that came from the fairies’ mouths sounded more like a gargle and a splutter than a whistle.

  As she walked, Cora pursed her lips together and a beautiful lilting whistle danced in the air. The song was a tune Dot had always whistled. When she was finished, Tick clapped a round of applause and Tock smiled at her.

  ‘How did you do that?’ asked Tick. He pulled out his tongue with his fingers and examined it.

  ‘I’ve got the hang of it now,’ said Tock. ‘It’s all in the lips.’ Then the fairy let out another loud, spluttering, gargle noise.

  ‘That’s not even close,’ said Tick. ‘It’s more like this.’ Tick stuck out his tongue and let out a noise that sounded more like a hissing cat than a whistle.

  Cora smiled at the pair. Dot had taught her how to whistle. When she was younger, she remembered spending days trying to perfect the sound until it was as good as Dot’s. Cora whistled another song and it bounced along with them as they trudged through The Oak Wood.

  It wasn’t long until they came to a stop somewhere deep within the woods. Tick and Tock flew near a tree and looked around, squinting into the distance.

  ‘Hmm,’ said Tick, rubbing his chin.

  ‘Hmm indeed,’ said Tock, scratching his head.

  Cora had a feeling the fairies weren’t as sure of where they were going as they had made out. But she didn’t want to say the L word out loud just yet, in case they actually were lost.

  ‘Are you sure you know the way?’ Cora asked instead.

  ‘Sort of,’ said Tock.

  ‘We know some of part of the way,’ said Tick.

  The fairy licked his finger and then held it out in front of him. Then he glanced left and right, before pointing straight ahead and flying in that direction. Cora followed.

  Soon, the three of them found themselves right back at a tree with a hole in the middle of its wide trunk that they had passed earlier.

  They walked down a hill.

  And then they walked back up the hill. They slid down a small ravine. And then they climbed back up it. They walked in a straight line. And then in a circle. They walked in a diagonal. And somehow they also walked in a triangle. Cora had hoped that they would reach Salty Harbour before nightfall, but at their current pace, she wasn’t too sure.

  When they reached a part of The Oak Wood Cora was certain they had already walked through at least twice, she stopped.

  ‘We’re lost, aren’t we?’ Cora exclaimed, her hands on her hips.

  ‘Define lost,’ said Tock.

  The fairies turned to their left in the air and flew through the gap between a pair of trees that bent towards one another in an arch.

  ‘Unable to find the end of The Oak Wood,’ Cora said, stepping quickly between the bent trees after them.

  ‘Patience is a vacuum,’ said Tick over his shoulder.

  ‘Virtue,’ Tock corrected.

  ‘You never told us why we’re searching for a sea witch, anyway,’ said Tick. He looked to his right and then gra
bbed his brother by the shoulder and steered him in that direction.

  Cora paused.

  No. She hadn’t. She hadn’t told the fairies anything that she had spoken about with Dot. And still the fairies had been more than happy to go wherever she needed them to, without any questions asked. Suddenly Cora felt bad for being annoyed that they were lost. Tick and Tock were doing their best to help. Even if they did somehow manage to get them completely and utterly lost in the woods.

  The fairies stopped in the air, assessing which direction to head in.

  ‘Dot said a sea witch was there the night that . . . my parents died,’ Cora muttered. The words sort of tumbled from her mouth unexpectedly. A silence hung in the air as she realised the weight of her words.

  Tick swivelled around sharply and looked at her. ‘They’re gone?’

  Cora glanced down, nodding.

  The next thing she felt was Tock flying into her, grabbing her in a hug. She held onto the fairy.

  ‘Dot said they’d escaped Kaede,’ Cora found herself explaining. ‘A sea witch named Geraldine tried to help them but . . .’

  Cora brushed away the tear that blurred her vision. ‘She might be able to help us,’ she said. ‘She might know something about Kaede.’ Cora felt the bubble of anger inside her grow bigger. ‘Or . . . my brother.’

  ‘But Cora,’ said Tick. ‘If you and your brother are the only syphons left . . . then Kaede . . .’

  Cora knew what Tick was hinting at. It had sprung up in the back of her mind like an unwanted thought when Kaede had told her in Tynth that she had a brother.

  ‘Kaede won’t stop until he’s the only syphon left,’ Cora finished. ‘Which is why we have to find my brother as soon as we can. And then put a stop to Kaede’s plan.’

  Cora left out the part about being unsure of how they were going to stop Kaede. The last time she had fought him with her magic, he had overpowered her.

  The fairies squared their shoulders and nodded at her, determined.

  Cora, Tick and Tock continued their winding journey within the woods. This time the fairies remained close to Cora as they navigated their way more urgently through the large expanse of oak trees.

  To take her mind off Kaede and her parents, and being lost in The Oak Wood, Cora kept her eye firmly ahead, and turned her thoughts to Geraldine. Who was she? How did she know my parents?

  ‘What do you know about sea witches?’ Cora asked the fairies. ‘Are they like other witches?’

  ‘No,’ said Tick. ‘Unlike other witches, sea witches draw their strength from the sea.’

  ‘Father told us a story about a powerful sea witch once,’ said Tock.

  ‘She had lightning-blue hair and crystal eyes,’ added Tick. He flew downwards and picked up a pair of stones, holding them in front of his eyes.

  ‘Father said she was seven feet tall,’ said Tock, flying up high to what Cora assumed was seven feet tall.

  ‘And she had saved an entire village from zombie pirates,’ said Tick.

  ‘What? Zombie pirates?’ Cora repeated.

  The fairies nodded.

  ‘Pirates who had been raised from the dead,’ explained Tick. The fairy held his hands out in front of him and pretended to walk in the air like a zombie.

  ‘Raised from the dead by a necromancer,’ added Tock.

  Cora remembered that one of the magical beings on the council was a necromancer. Forn Lockwood. He had worn a necklace with a row of teeth strung on it.

  ‘There aren’t many sea witches left,’ said Tock.

  Cora wondered if they had been hunted and killed like syphons. ‘What happened to them?’

  ‘The power of the sea makes them go . . . a bit . . .’ Tick made a face and twirled his finger in a circle next to his head, ‘choo-choo.’

  ‘Cuckoo,’ corrected Tock. ‘But it is said that the sea witch in father’s story lived in Salty Harbour.’

  ‘Is that why we’re going to Salty Harbour? Because of King Clang’s story about the sea witch?’ Cora asked.

  The fairies nodded. ‘But how do you know the story is true?’ Cora asked. ‘How do you know that it isn’t . . . just a story?’

  ‘We don’t,’ said Tock.

  Cora let out a sigh as she trailed behind the fairies. If there weren’t many sea witches left and they were going to a place from one of King Clang’s stories from many years ago, Cora realised just how difficult it could be to find Geraldine. She looked back over her shoulder, even more certain that they might not be returning to Belle and Dot anytime soon.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Cora and the fairies continued through The Oak Wood well into the late afternoon. After walking for hours, Cora’s feet began to ache. Tick’s and Tock’s wings had grown tired, and the fairies no longer flew in the air ahead. Instead, they walked beside her.

  ‘Are you sure we can’t just POP! to Salty Harbour?’ Cora asked, referring to the fairies’ magic travel.

  ‘I think we’re almost there,’ said Tock.

  The ground slanted upwards into a hill. When they reached the top, each of them was puffing with hands on their knees. Cora was about to suggest that they stop for a rest when she saw the dense rows of oak trees in front of them stop. More of the afternoon sun could be seen ahead. At last. Cora let out a sigh of relief. They had finally reached the edge of the wood.

  ‘See?’ added Tick. ‘Easy peasy, lobster squeezy.’

  Together the three friends ran down the other side of the hill, sidestepping the sparse oak trees in their path. Laughing, Cora raced Tick and Tock to the last row of oak trees. When she reached them first, Cora stopped at the sight that lay on the other side, a laugh no longer on her lips. The edge of The Oak Wood was actually that — an edge. The ground of dirt, sticks and leaves beneath her boots abruptly ended. Looking out, Cora could see that she was now standing on the edge of a cliff. In front of her yawned a huge expanse of air. She was standing on the edge of a giant gorge.

  Hesitantly, Cora peered down at what lay below.

  A mist filled the abyss.

  And on the other side of the misty abyss sat the rest of the magical kingdom. Cora was relieved to see that the other side didn’t have any oak trees on it. Instead, piles of rocks and boulders formed two tall and rocky mountains.

  Cora swallowed. How were they going to get across? She could try to use the witch’s magic that she had syphoned. But she wasn’t sure how far across the magic would take her. Visions of her clicking her fingers and appearing in the middle of the abyss filled Cora’s thoughts, and she quickly threw that idea away.

  ‘Easy peasy, not so lobster squeezy,’ she said.

  Tick and Tock finally caught up to her.

  Puffing from their race down the hill, the fairies looked out at the air before them.

  ‘Whoa,’ said Tick.

  ‘Maybe there’s a bridge?’ Cora suggested.

  Carefully, Cora and the fairies made their way along the edge of the woodland cliff, their eyes peeled for something that stretched across the abyss.

  ‘There,’ said Tick, pointing to a rocky outcrop below them.

  Not far from them, a collection of large rock beds stretched out from the side of the cliff forming a narrow bridge across the abyss to the other side.

  The cliff sloped steadily downwards. Sitting down on their backsides, Cora and the fairies warily shuffled down the cliff, making their way to the rock bridge. Pebbles and dust fell from the cliff and dropped down into the abyss, disappearing in the mist like stones in a lake.

  Approaching the bridge, Cora began to feel unsure. The bridge was made up of a hodgepodge collection of different-sized rocks that were cobbled together into a path. It didn’t look very safe at all.

  A cool wind swept out through the gorge.

  Standing up, Cora adjusted the pack on her back. She paused. And then remembering where they were going, Cora placed one foot in front of the other, onto the lumpy, sloping bridge.

  Tick and Tock walked behind her.
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  As Cora walked along the bridge, she examined the path of rocks that jutted out ahead of her. Large cracks, similar to the ones that ran through the city of Urt, splintered some of the rocks on the bridge. Cora made sure to skip the cracked rocks, only stepping on the ones that were large and sturdy enough to hold her.

  ‘Follow my steps,’ Cora said over her shoulder to the fairies.

  Tick and Tock stayed close.

  Carefully, the three of them made their way over the pointy beds of sloping rock. Cora kept her eye on where she was placing her boots on the rocks beneath her.

  Another gust of cool wind barrelled through the gorge. Cora stopped, waiting for it to pass. Cora glanced down into the misty abyss. She wondered what lay at the bottom of it. How far down did it actually go?

  ‘Why can’t we magic to Salty Harbour again?’ Cora asked.

  ‘Well, we can,’ said Tick.

  ‘But if Salty Harbour is protected by sea witches,’ said Tock.

  ‘It’s best that we arrive the normal way,’ said Tick.

  Cora remembered the trap they had walked into when she had appeared unexpectedly in Belle’s home using her magic. Perhaps travelling to Salty Harbour the normal way was best.

  Cora continued across the rocks. But with each step, she noticed more and more cracks appear in the rocks of the bridge. Like spiderwebs, they covered some of the rocks entirely. Cora jumped over one rock onto another to avoid the cracks.

  Tick and Tock did the same.

  Soon she realised that the cracks in the rocks were steadily becoming bigger in size and depth. Until she could no longer avoid stepping on them.

  ‘I think we should fly the rest of the way,’ Cora said.

  The fairies jumped onto the same rock Cora was standing on.

  ‘But our wings are tir—’ said Tick, then he stopped as the rock beneath them shuddered.

  Cora looked down and watched in horror as a crack grew across the rock underneath their feet, splitting it in half.

  Crud.

  ‘Should bridges shake?’ Tock asked.

  ‘Maybe it’s cold,’ said Tick.

  The rock bridge rumbled and groaned beneath them.