Diary of Anna the Girl Witch 2: Wandering Witch

by Max Candee

  Then another thought came to me. Take that, Granny! You keep going on about materialism and useless gadgets, yet not only did you invent the first GPS navigator but you made it out of gold. Hypocrite!

  At that, I actually did laugh aloud. It was like when she made fun of supermodels for being nothing but bones while she had a bone leg herself.

  Luckily, since the apple had to be able to roll, it was taking a rather smooth path, so I didn’t have to worry about tripping over things very much. Still, after a while, it did get tiring. I had no idea how far we were going.

  “Apple,” I asked, “is it much farther?”

  It stopped, whirled around as if it were looking back at me and paused as if it were considering matters. Then it made a movement that could only be described as a nod.

  “Oh… Would you mind very much if I got into my bucket, then? Will this still work if I’m flying behind you?”

  I could have sworn the apple sighed, but it nodded again.

  “Thanks!” I said. Knight and Squire handed me the bucket and mop, and I lifted myself into the air. This was much better.

  The apple took off again, and this time it speeded up. “All right, mop,” I muttered, “just follow that apple.” Instantly my bucket began to zoom along.

  If I hadn’t needed to concentrate on flying, I probably would have laughed so hard I’d have fallen out of the bucket.

  I’m not sure how long I was flying, but the sun was going down when I realized we were reaching the edge of the woods. I could see a sunset ahead of us. Not knowing if there might be people there, I landed the bucket and crept forward on foot. The apple was waiting just at the end of the trees as if it knew what I was doing.

  It was actually harder walking here than flying had been. In the bucket, I’d flown above most of the bushes but below the branches. Now I had to keep pushing branches out of my face. Squire and Knight helped, but I told them not to go beyond the edge.

  So I was completely taken aback when I was finally able to see what lay beyond the wood. We had reached a lake — a vast lake whose edges I could just about make out, shining purple and orange and pink and gold in the sunset.

  And at its edge, a big white building, a dock with lots of little boats, and a sign that I could read even from where I was: Hotel.

  I started trembling without even knowing why. If there was a hotel, there had to be people. And I wasn’t used to people anymore. To their noise, to their presence. Why did we have to go where there were people? Even from behind the branches, I could see some people milling about on the deck by the swimming pool, which I could just barely see. (Why have a swimming pool when there was that huge lake right there?) I heard a car engine for the first time in forever, if you didn’t count Granny’s TV programs.

  I almost wanted to turn and run.

  “Apple,” I said, “why are we here? Surely the heart can’t be in that hotel?”

  I must have sounded as weird as I felt because Squire came up and squeezed my shoulder reassuringly.

  The apple shook a little from side to side like it was saying no. Then it rolled a little bit to one side. Looking in that direction, I saw that there was an island in the lake, straight ahead.

  “Is it on the island?” I asked.

  The apple made its nodding movement.

  “Well,” I said, “I suppose we’d better fly out.” But when I said that, two things happened.

  First, the apple began desperately shaking from side to side in its “no” pattern.

  Second, I almost fell over.

  I probably would have, if Squire hadn’t held me up. That was when I realized I was starving. Well, not starving; Granny wouldn’t have liked to hear me say that. But really, really hungry. I hadn’t had a bite to eat since morning, I’d been running through the woods, talking with Vodyanoy, and flying, which took up a lot of energy. I was completely exhausted. There was no way I could risk flying to the island — especially not with the apple’s panicked motion, which seemed to suggest there might be some danger there.

  “All right,” I said to the apple, “all right, I won’t go tonight. Is that what you’re worried about?”

  It nodded.

  “Okay. That’s fine. I’ll go tomorrow. That way I can eat and get some sleep…”

  I sat down. The apple rolled to my side and became quite inanimate.

  I wouldn’t need it till the following morning. I opened up my backpack, put the apple inside, and started looking inside for some food. Of course, there wasn’t much. I pulled out a pack of the sandwiches I’d made back in Baba Yaga’s hut, but they didn’t seem very appetizing. And did I even know what was in them? I’d just used the supplies I’d found in her kitchen, and given her habit of eating people…

  I rummaged around. I knew I’d put some dried fruit in there too. But where had it gotten to?

  My hands closed on something that definitely wasn’t dried fruit. What was it? It was thin and hard, and its edges were quite sharp. Curious, I pulled it out.

  I almost gasped.

  The emergency credit card Monsieur Nolan had given me all that time ago! I’d completely forgotten about it.

  My eyes found the hotel, and without even thinking about it, I knew something: I was going to spend the night there. I was going to sleep in a comfy bed and have a real, hot meal that I knew didn’t have any human flesh in it and…

  And just remember for a while what it felt like to be human.

  I threw the sandwiches into the forest. Let the animals eat them if they want.

  As I did so, I noticed just how grimy my hands were. I’d almost forgotten about being dragged into that slimy marsh. And then I’d been flying for hours. I must look an absolute mess, I thought. I looked down. My clothes were all muddy and still damp in parts. I couldn’t walk into a hotel, looking like that.

  The lake was quite far and there wasn’t any water nearby, so I couldn’t do much more than rub my face and hope it didn’t look too awful. Luckily, I’d packed all my clothes into my backpack when I’d left my grandmother’s, not knowing how long I’d be gone.

  “All right, boys,” I said to the hands as I got some clothes out, “into the bag with you. I need to change.”

  Both of them flew straight into the bag, and I made sure it was tightly shut. They might be just hands, but they were male, and I wasn’t going to have them hanging around for this. I could have sent them to sleep, but I still had some work for them, and I was afraid I was too exhausted to wake them up again.

  When I had finished changing and had wiped my face some more with the cleanest part of my old shirt, I let them out of the bag.

  “Okay,” I said, “I’m going to the hotel. I’m going to spend the night there. I need you to hide the mop and bucket somewhere in the forest. Then I need one of you to guard them all night, and the other one to come with me in case I need help or I need to send a message. Okay?”

  They both nodded, and Squire proprietarily settled on my shoulder.

  I laughed. “Okay,” I said. “You can be the one to come with me, Squire. Knight, thank you. Hide them and guard them well, won’t you?”

  Knight straightened up and, as far as it’s possible for a stone hand to do, saluted me.

  “Thank you! I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said. “And as for you,” I said to Squire, “back into the bag with you. We can’t have people seeing you.”

  Squire hopped back into the bag. I closed it again, slung it over my shoulders, made sure I had the credit card in my pocket, and set off toward the hotel.

  I was still feeling nervous, but I mastered that with the thought of a comfy bed. After all, I wouldn’t have to interact with too many people if I didn’t want to. Besides, it had to be around dinnertime; most people would be in the dining room, not milling about.

  Luckily, that was true. There were only a few people outside as I walked inside, and though I noticed a couple of odd looks, most of them ignored me. They were just the sort of people Granny hated: men with op
en shirts and gold chains, wearing sunglasses and talking loudly on cell phones, and women with too much jewelry, talking to each other about fashions and prices. I tried not to listen to them too closely; I kept expecting to hear Baba Yaga yelling at them from over my shoulder.

  I walked up to the reception desk, where a young woman with glasses and hair pulled into a very tight bun stood up to greet me.

  “Yes?” she asked. “Can I help you?”

  “Yes,” I said. “I’d like a room, please.”

  She was clearly taken aback. “A room? You mean you’re not already a guest? Where are your parents?”

  “It’s just me,” I said, pulling out the credit card. “I’ve been camping in the woods with a friend. She wanted to stay another night and I didn’t, so we agreed I could come here.”

  The woman took the credit card and peered at it suspiciously.

  “I can’t really let you pay with a credit card that isn’t yours…” she began.

  I interrupted her. “Oh, don’t worry, it’s mine.”

  She looked shocked again. She put her hand over the card so I couldn’t see it. “What’s your name?” she asked.

  “Anna Sophia Medvedeva,” I said.

  She checked the name on the card. “And you happen to have this credit card? At your age?”

  “My guardian gave it to me for my friend and me to use,” I said. “It’s linked to my trust account in Switzerland.” I wasn’t even lying.

  The woman — her name tag said she was called Natalia — still looked quite suspicious.

  “I’ll need to see your passport,” she said. She did not add “please.”

  “Oh. Yes. Of course,” I said, opening my bag and rummaging around. I hadn’t even thought of that! Please, please let my passport be in there; I couldn’t have forgotten it anywhere… But then I felt it pressed into my hand. Clever Squire had been listening! Thank heavens I hadn’t put him to sleep.

  I handed my passport over, and Natalia scrutinized it for a long time. But it and my credit card definitely matched.

  She huffed. “I’m afraid we’re almost fully booked,” she said. “There aren’t many one-person rooms left.”

  “What’s available?” I asked.

  “Well, it’s likely to be a bit beyond your range, and much bigger than you need…”

  “Please, Natasha,” I said, ignoring her displeased look at my use of the friendly version of her name. “It’s a very big trust fund. And I’m very tired, and I’d like a shower. Can you please just find me a room?”

  She frowned. “I can give you one of our suites,” she said, “but they are rather big…”

  “I’ll take a suite, then.”

  Her frown grew even deeper. Clearly she didn’t like being treated like this by me, but I was past caring. I even wondered if I might have enough energy left to use some magic to hurry things along.

  Still, she started clicking away at her computer keyboard and eventually swiped my credit card. I had a moment’s worry that it might be declined, but much to Natalia’s annoyance, it worked perfectly.

  She handed me the keycard. “Here you are,” she said. “It’s on the eighth floor. Lovely view of the lake.”

  “Thank you,” I said. “Is there room service?”

  “Of course,” she responded in a clipped tone. “You’ll find a menu on the desk, and you can use the phone to order. Breakfast is available from six to nine in the dining room, or you can order room service as well.”

  “Thank you,” I said, almost sickeningly sweetly.

  She looked keen to snap at me, but she didn’t dare. I tried not to laugh as I watched her force herself to stay in control. Then I walked to the elevators and went up to the suite.

  It was huge. Not only did it have two beds, each bigger than Granny’s, but there were a full kitchen, a living room, and a wide balcony overlooking the lake. The sun was almost completely below the horizon. I could still just make out the little island I needed to get to. I wondered why I wasn’t supposed to go in the evening.

  Then I was struck by three conflicting wishes: for sleep, for food, and for a shower. I couldn’t choose between them. In the end, I decided food was the most important. I looked through the menu, picked up the phone, placed my order, and asked them how long it would take. They said twenty minutes, so I went into the massive marble bathroom with taps that shone almost as brightly as the golden apple and took a quick shower, enough to get clean. I’ll take a longer one in the morning, I told myself.

  When my food arrived, I ate it out on the balcony, looking at Lake Baikal as it grew dark and then as the moon began to be reflected in it. I knew that the locals called this lake a sea because it was so vast. Now that I had looked at it for the first time in my life, I understood why they did so.

  As I looked, I couldn’t help but think about the story Vodyanoy had told me about my grandmother. Had she really been so deeply in love? It seemed impossible to imagine. It was such a sad story. Surely somebody who’d been hurt that much should have tried not to hurt other people? How bad the pain must have been for her to prefer to cut out her own heart than to continue feeling it!

  Still reflecting on this, I chose one of the beds and climbed into it. It was the most comfortable thing I had ever lain on.

  I don’t care if it’s materialistic of me, Granny, I thought drowsily. This is wonderful…

  I collapsed into a deep, dreamless sleep.

  Chapter 22

  Dear Diary,

  That does it. I am never going to let myself feel sorry for my grandmother again. I don’t care if she suffered thousands of years ago. I refuse to forget all the suffering she has caused now. I’ve just been reminded, and it’s enough. This madness ends now. I’m going to end it.

  She abuses everything she’s been given, all her power, and for nothing. I don’t even know if it counts as selfishness or if she just does it out of habit. And who knows what she actually means to do if she gets her hands on Koschey’s heart? Save the world? What does that even mean? She’s so deranged it could be anything.

  She is not going to get that heart. I am going to give her back her own. And if it destroys her — well, I’ll look at her as she’s dying and I’ll laugh at her, for the sake of everyone she’s ever hurt.

  * * *

  I was awakened by a loud banging on the door at a time that felt way too early.

  “Wha… Jus’ a moment, Granny, I’ll be up soon…” I muttered sleepily. Then I jolted awake. I wasn’t at Baba Yaga’s; I was in a hotel, surrounded by normal people, and someone was hammering at the door.

  “Just a moment!” I shouted. Who on earth could be here? Nobody knew where I was. Unless… What if Monsieur Nolan had been getting worried about not hearing from me and had decided to track the credit card? They could do that, couldn’t they? Then he’d know I was here, and he could send people to get ahold of me.

  I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t risk the delay.

  I threw on one of the dressing gowns the hotel had provided and went to the door. Standing on tiptoe, I peered out the peephole. Three police officers were standing there.

  I gulped. I was right, I thought. Monsieur Nolan was worried, and now I’m about to be put on a plane back to Switzerland. Somehow, I have to get out of this. But how?

  One of the officers knocked again. There was no way out of it. If I didn’t at least talk to them, they’d knock the door down.

  Taking a deep breath, I unlocked and opened the door.

  Two of the officers walked right in, looking around the room to see if there was anyone else there. The third put a hand on my shoulder to keep me from going anywhere. Behind him, I could see Natalia. She had a weird look on her face, almost as if she were hoping I was in trouble.

  The police officer holding me closed the door while the other two came back.

  “No one,” one of them said.

  “And that’s not her,” said the other.

  The cop holding me cursed. “You su
re?”

  “Absolutely. Hair’s all wrong. You could cut someone’s hair off, but growing it like that? Nah.”

  The cop let me go.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, “but can I ask what’s going on?”

  “What’s your name?” asked one of the cops, a blond with a round face.

  I told him.

  “All right, Anna Sophia,” he said. “Now, we’d just like to have a chat. We’ll explain what it’s about, but it’s important that we hear what you have to say before you know, okay?”

  I was feeling very not okay at this point, but it sounded like they weren’t looking for me. What was happening?

  I nodded.

  The second cop looked at me with narrowed eyes. “Have you ever met a girl named Olya Sumarokova?”

  “No,” I answered, quite honestly.

  “Or heard the name?”

  “No.” Now I was even more confused.

  “Okay. So you say you’ve been camping?”

  What? Oh, right, the story I told Natalia yesterday evening. “That’s right,” I said. “That’s not illegal, is it?”

  “No, it isn’t. But we were wondering if you might have seen anyone in the woods. Or anything that seemed … unusual.”

  I stared at him and struggled not to burst out laughing. I knew I couldn’t laugh because that would just make them more suspicious that I had something to do with whatever they were investigating.

  But honestly, what hadn’t seemed unusual in the woods yesterday? Starting with me flying in a bucket!

  “No,” I said, hoping my magic energy would make the lie convincing. “I mean it all just seemed like forest to me. My friend and I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.”

  “Ah, yes, this friend of yours,” said the third cop. “Any chance we could talk to her?”

  “I doubt it,” I said. “It’s not that she wouldn’t talk to you; it’s just that she said she was going to move around a bit in the woods before coming here. I’m not actually sure where she is now.” Looking at their concerned expressions, I added, “She’s eighteen. And my legal guardian has allowed us to come here. It’s all under control.” Oh, how I wished it was true. “She’ll join me later today.”