Witched!

by Rebecca McRitchie

  ‘Run!’ Cora cried.

  Without waiting for the fairies, Cora took off, racing across the rock bridge. She leapt from rock to rock, no longer looking at which rocks had cracks on them. It no longer mattered. Cora knew it was only a matter of time before the entire bridge plummeted into the abyss underneath — and her with it.

  She heard the fairies use their wings behind her.

  Cora wasn’t far from the end of the bridge. As she ran towards it, she felt the rocks beneath her start to fall and crumble as she leapt off each of them.

  Cora watched, her eye wide, as the rocky bridge in front of her began to shake and move. Quickly, stones fell and crumbled away from the path ahead and then large rocks dove after them, each of them swallowed up by the misty abyss below.

  Cora’s path ahead was now littered with missing rocks. She leapt over the giant gaps and was about to look behind her to see if the fairies were okay, when the rock beneath her right boot wobbled and fell.

  ‘Argh!’ she cried out.

  Instinctively, Cora clung onto the sluggish vampire magic inside her. She pushed her hands out either side of her and kept herself still. Then, opening her eye, Cora found herself safely afloat in the air, her boots levitating just above the collapsing rock bridge.

  That was close, she thought.

  Then she heard a pair of high-pitched surprised shrieks as Tick and Tock flew into the back of her, sending all three of them spiralling in the air.

  Cora was pushed forward through the air across the rest of the bridge, Tick and Tock clinging to her, before all three of them landed roughly on the rocky ground on the other side of the bridge.

  Cora scraped her back, sides and elbows as she tumbled onto the hard rocks on the ground.

  Tick and Tock toppled into a pile next to her.

  Cora groaned. She turned over and rubbed her neck and stinging elbows. She was about to tell the fairies to watch where they were flying when she saw Tick untangle himself from Tock and say something. Whatever it was, it was instantly lost amongst the loud sound of something else. As it filled Cora’s ears, she realised what it was. It was the thunderous sound of rushing water.

  Chapter Twenty

  Standing up from the ground, Cora found herself gazing up at an enormous waterfall. Between the two rocky mountains, the steady fall of bright blue water cascaded downwards into a pristine pool.

  Tall, amongst the mottled grey and dirt brown rocks, the picturesque waterfall stood out like a giant.

  Cora stared up at the towering water that shimmered in front of them against the harsh, dry landscape. It was beautiful.

  The gushing water was loud and Cora closed her eye as she felt cool droplets spray out from the waterfall and touch her skin.

  ‘I said, that was close,’ said Tick. He brushed dirt from his knees and moved to hover next to Cora.

  ‘And I said someone might need to fix that,’ said Tock, looking over his shoulder.

  Cora turned around and saw what remained of the rock bridge. Large holes now littered the bridge path. It would be impossible to cross back to the other side or for anyone to reach the waterfall from The Oak Wood. Pieces of rock continued to crumble away and fall into the gorge.

  ‘Whoops,’ said Tick.

  And then, as if someone had been listening, the rocks that had fallen away into the abyss, slowly drifted back into view.

  ‘What the . . . ?’ exclaimed Cora.

  The fallen rocks floated back upwards from the bottom of the gorge and returned to their places, filling in the gaps in the bridge. Rock by rock, the bridge magically returned to the way it had been when they had found it. Until it was as though they had never crossed it at all.

  ‘Never mind,’ said Tock.

  Cora glanced around. ‘Who did that?’

  Tock shrugged.

  ‘Probably wood nymphs,’ said Tick. ‘I would like some plum drops please?’ the fairy shouted into the air. He held out a hand expectantly and waited for plum drops to appear in his palm. They did not.

  Cora looked up at the edge of The Oak Wood. She held onto the princess’s magic as she searched for any sign of movement amongst the trees. But the tree line was still. Strange, she thought to herself.

  ‘Time for a bath!’ said Tick. The fairy zoomed past her towards the waterfall and, grabbing onto his knees, he dropped into the pool of water with a splash.

  Tock laughed and shot after him. The fairy dove headfirst into the pool, disappearing below the surface before shooting upwards seconds later, and twirling in leisurely circles.

  ‘Come in, Cora,’ Tock said.

  Cora shook her head. Although she wanted to dive into the water with the fairies, fulfilling her promise to Dot and finding her brother before Kaede did pushed her to keep moving forward. She couldn’t ignore her quest.

  ‘We should keep moving,’ she said to the fairies.

  Tick paddled backwards before diving underwater. With his top half still submerged, Tick kicked his legs gracefully above the surface. Then the fairy burst out from beneath the surface of the pool, spraying Tock with a mouthful of water and splashing a handful of water in Cora’s direction.

  The splash hit Cora in the face.

  The fairies giggled.

  Still holding onto the princess’s magic, Cora pushed some air towards the fairies in the pool. She swirled it round and round until the fairies were spun about in a windy whirlpool.

  ‘Hey, no fair!’ cried Tick as he tried to hold onto the sides of the pool.

  Cora peered up at the sky. If they kept moving, they still might be able to make it to Salty Harbour before nightfall. Cora let go of her magic and the windy whirlpool slowed, and Tick and Tock spun to a gentle stop.

  ‘Alright, alright,’ said Tick. ‘You’ve made your point.’ The fairy jumped up out of the pool and spun quickly in the air, drops of water splashing either side of him as he dried himself.

  Tock did the same.

  ‘Which way to Salty Harbour?’ Cora asked over the sound of the rushing waterfall. She pointed to her left and right. There were a pair of paths that led around each of the sides of the two rocky mountains.

  Tock looked at each path and then said, ‘Neither.’

  Neither? thought Cora.

  ‘It should be here somewhere,’ said Tick. The fairy craned his neck upwards towards the two mountains above him.

  Here? Cora whirled around. There wasn’t anything that looked like a harbour at all. There were rocks, many, many rocks, and a waterfall. Had she missed something? She thought about the abyss, and wondered briefly if Salty Harbour was at the bottom of it.

  Cora looked upwards towards the mountain peaks. ‘Maybe the harbour is on the other side of the mountains?’

  ‘Let’s find out,’ said Tick.

  ‘We’ll be back,’ said Tock.

  The fairies shot up into the air flying upwards towards the tops of the mountains.

  ‘Wait, what—’ Cora tried, but it was too late. Her voice was drowned out by the sound of the waterfall.

  With the fairies already halfway up the mountain, Cora thought about sitting down and putting her legs in the pool until the fairies returned.

  She also thought about taking one of the paths that led around the mountain to the other side. She thought about using the witch’s magic to appear at the top of the mountain, and she thought about slowly levitating her way up the mountainside after Tick and Tock.

  As she stared at the mountain, wondering how long it would take her to levitate to the top, Cora noticed that a collection of rocks jutting out of the side of the mountain on her right were a little bit different from the rest. They were slightly different in colour and shape.

  Walking over to the pool, Cora stepped up onto the edge and peered closer at the rocks that made up the side of the mountain. She ran her hand over the ones that looked different. They weren’t as bumpy or crumbly or as old as the rest.

  Cora thought back to the rocks on the bridge, and how they had magick
ed themselves back into place. Maybe these rocks were the same? Maybe the path to Salty Harbour was hidden somewhere in the mountains? Just like Tynth was hidden below the ground.

  Cora held out her hand and called up the princess’s wind magic. She pushed a ball of swirling air at the unusual rocks on the mountain. Nothing happened.

  Cora then grabbed onto the Jinx magic. Using her hands, she pushed against the rocks that jutted out, a few rocks crumbled, and others shook beneath the strength from her hands. Then she tried pulling the rocks. Nothing happened.

  Hmm, thought Cora. She felt like she was back in Urt, searching for the shoe-polish tin in the damaged and abandoned houses.

  Looking up, Cora tilted her head and noticed that the different rocks stretched upwards in many parts of the mountain. Seeing them all together, Cora noticed that the odd rocks were clumped together sort of like a staircase. A few of the larger rock stairs weaved themselves around the other side of the mountain, but most of them led all the way up to the top of the waterfall.

  Rather than waiting for the fairies to return, Cora had made up her mind. She placed a foot on a bumpy rock of the mountain, and lifted herself up. She paused and waited. And then, thankful that it didn’t crumble or shake like the rock bridge, Cora started to climb.

  Using her hands and legs, she pulled herself up onto the next rock, and the next one after that. Steadily, Cora climbed the unusual rocks towards the top of the waterfall.

  Above her, she could see Tick and Tock getting smaller and smaller as they flew upwards, searching each side of the mountains for any sign of the harbour.

  By the time Cora had reached halfway up the mountain, she was puffing and panting. Pulling herself up the giant rocks was harder than she had expected. She needed to rest.

  Cora pulled herself up the next rock with a groan and found that she had reached a ledge that curved around the mountainside. She sat on the shelf, her boots dangling off the side, and caught her breath.

  Perhaps I should have waited for Tick and Tock after all, Cora thought. She turned and craned her neck upwards to look at how much further she had to go before she reached the mountain peak.

  It was a very long way up.

  Instead of climbing the rest of the way, Cora thought about using the witch’s magic. A simple click of her fingers and she would appear on the top of the mountain. But then Cora imagined herself accidentally appearing on the top-most peak of the mountain and toppling off.

  Maybe not.

  From this high up, Cora could see so much of the magical kingdom as it spread towards the horizon. Blocking out the sound of the rushing waterfall, she stared out at The Oak Wood and beyond, taking in the sight before her. In the soon-to-be-setting sun, the magical world was beautiful. It was like a painting. And Cora wished someone else was with her to also enjoy the view.

  Dot would love this, she thought.

  Cora glanced down at the outcrop she sat on. Nearby, sprouting from the ledge, was a small, yellow flower growing between two rocks. Reaching out a hand, Cora went to touch the soft petals, but as she did so, her eye caught sight of an imprint in the dirt.

  Cora ran her fingers over the bumpy grooves. The shape was unmistakable. It was a shoe print.

  What is a shoe print doing all the way up here? Cora wondered.

  And where is the shoe and the person attached to it heading?

  With her eye, Cora followed the ledge in the direction the shoe print pointed in. The rocky outcrop curved along the side of the mountain, all the way towards . . . the waterfall.

  Excitedly, Cora pushed herself up with her hands and then scooting her feet beneath her, she carefully stood up on the ledge. With one hand against the rough rocks of the mountain, and the other stretched out next to her, Cora balanced along the thin walkway. Then, placing one foot in front of the other, she made her way across the mountainside and towards the waterfall.

  Cora made sure to keep her eye on the ledge, watching her step and looking out for any more signs of shoe prints. The thunderous roaring of water grew louder and the narrow ledge she stepped across became wetter, making the rocks beneath Cora’s boots increasingly more slippery.

  Turning towards the mountain, Cora used both hands to hold onto the rocks that jutted out. Slowly, she shuffled sideways along the edge until the rocks beneath her boots were completely drenched.

  When Cora was as near to the waterfall as possible, she stopped and debated her next move. She watched the waterfall cascade down the rocky mountainside. From this close, Cora could have sworn that one part of the falling water shimmered. Ever so slightly.

  She waited for it to happen again. But it didn’t.

  Cora squinted against the sprays of water that hit her face. Peering around, she searched for any sign of an entrance to Salty Harbour. A door. A cave. A sign. Anything. All that surrounded her was the rocks and water. But there weren’t any more shoe prints to point in another direction.

  What am I doing? she asked herself.

  But there it was again. From where she stood, close to the water, she noticed that for a moment a part of the waterfall shimmered. And then, amongst the sound of the waterfall, Cora heard a humming sound. A familiar humming sound that she had heard before.

  Her heart pounding, Cora held tightly to the mountain with one hand, and reached outwards towards the waterfall with the other. Her fingertips touched the flowing water. And she felt it. Not the cool, wet water, but the feeling that she was looking for. The feeling of a warm, scratchy blanket brushed against her fingertips before disappearing.

  Cora was too far away. She needed to get closer to the waterfall. Cora looked down below her and realised just how high up she was from the ground. Quickly, she returned her gaze back to the waterfall, trying to shake the images of falling from so high up from her mind.

  Through the veil of blue, Cora watched two dark shapes come into view on the other side. They hovered in the air and Cora saw that it was the fairies fluttering up and down the mountain, looking for her.

  Cora watched as Tock spotted her by the waterfall. He pointed towards her and said something, but it was lost to the sound of the waterfall and Cora didn’t hear it.

  Cora shuffled closer to the roaring and the humming. One careful step, followed by another. She was almost there. Then she reached out her hand again. She was so close, the drops of water smattered across her fingers. Cora once again felt the feeling of a warm, scratchy blanket touch her hand. She pushed herself forward, and standing on her tiptoes, Cora stretched out from the mountain . . . but just as she did so, her left foot slipped from the rocky ledge.

  ‘Cora!’ she heard the fairies shout.

  But it was too late.

  Cora fell from the mountain.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Cora fell headfirst into the flowing waterfall. She closed her eye and braced herself for the torrents of cold rushing water to hit her skin and soak her clothes. She braced herself for the impact of the sharp rocks or the deep pool below to catch her.

  But it never came. None of it did.

  Cora opened her eye. She found herself lying on a well-worn and very sandy path. She could hear the crashing of waves somewhere in the distance.

  Cora sat up. Peering around her, she saw that she wasn’t anywhere near the rocky mountain or the waterfall. She looked behind her. The worn sandy path continued up and over a collection of green hills towards the horizon.

  Cora paused. Where was she? She remembered falling from the ledge of the mountain but instead of falling into the waterfall, it looked like she had fallen somewhere else. The warm, scratchy blanket, she thought. She knew she recognised the feeling.

  Cora had been transported to a beach. Ahead of her, the path of sand grew outwards until it covered the entire ground in every direction. Other than the sound of rolling waves, wherever the beach was, it was oddly quiet.

  Cora breathed in the cool, salty air that floated around her.

  Sitting nearby, atop the sand and facin
g the sea, were a collection of worn shacks. The greying wood structures looked like they had been empty for some time. Next to one of the shacks, a crooked sign hung from two rusted hooks on a post in the ground. It swung back and forth with a squeak.

  The sign read: Salty Harbour.

  Cora smiled where she sat. She had found it. Accidentally, of course, but that didn’t matter.

  The waterfall was the entryway, she thought to herself. But why was Salty Harbour hidden behind a waterfall? Cora wondered if Tick and Tock had seen her fall into the waterfall.

  She glanced up above her at the blue sky cobbled with clouds.

  And then guessing what she thought might happen next, Cora stood up from the ground and took a few sidesteps to the right, and one step backwards, just to be safe. And then she waited.

  Cora heard the shouts before she saw the fairies.

  ‘Argh!’ the fairies cried out.

  And from above, the blue sky opened up like a pocket, and Tick and Tock fell out, plummeting towards the ground.

  With a splat and two squeaks, the fairies landed right where Cora had been sitting on the sandy path.

  The fairies looked up at her, their faces completely covered in sand.

  ‘Hello Cora,’ said Tick, spitting out sand.

  ‘About time you two showed up,’ she replied. She crossed her arms, a smile on her face.

  Tock pushed Tick off him and flew up into the air, roughly shaking the sand from the small amount of hair he had.

  ‘We thought you were done for,’ said Tock.

  ‘How did you see through the witch’s charm?’ asked Tick, sitting up.

  ‘It was just like what happened when the council found us in the woods of the northern towns. The waterfall shimmered and then when I was close enough to it, I heard a humming noise and the feeling of a scratchy, warm blanket,’ Cora explained. ‘And then I appeared here.’

  Cora paused. For a fleeting moment, her heart dropped. She hoped she hadn’t stumbled upon another trap set by the council. Quickly, Cora looked over her shoulder just to make sure there was no sign of the six members of the council sitting somewhere on the beach.