Three Witch Tales

by Ruth Chew

  The witch leaned over the box. She poked one of the plants with a bony finger. “If you’re what I think you are,” she said, “you won’t want too much sun.” She looked around the garden.

  Susan looked around too. The sunflowers against the back fence looked just like any other sunflowers.

  “Josh,” Susan whispered, “we forgot to take the rope off the apple tree.”

  “Apple tree?” The witch looked at it. She didn’t seem to notice the rope. “The very place,” she said. “There’s nothing growing under that branch. We could plant the seedlings there.”

  Josh set to work with the fork. He dug a round flower bed in the shade of the tree. Susan used her trowel to pick the stones out of the soil. She chopped up the big clods of earth.

  Mrs. Muldoon got down on her hands and knees and planted the seedlings. She was very careful with all of them. And she seemed to have something to say to each one. It took her a long time. But at last she was finished. She stood up.

  “There now,” she said, “I’m ready for a snack. And I’m sure you are too.” The witch walked over to her kitchen door. She went into the house and came out again with the chocolate cake. She set it down on the stone step outside the door.

  Mrs. Muldoon looked at the cake and rubbed her chin. “Now, what else do I need? Oh, yes, plates. And forks.” She rubbed her long chin again. Then she smiled. “And my knife.” She turned to go back into the house. “Just wait here, children.”

  “For a witch she’s mighty forgetful,” Josh said.

  Susan was looking at the new flower bed. Some of the tiny plants were drooping. “Mrs. Muldoon worked so hard to plant them,” Susan said. “But she’s forgotten to water them.”

  Josh went to get the watering can. He came running back with it. The big garden fork was lying across the cement walk. Josh tripped over it and the watering can flew out of his hand. Both Josh and Susan were splashed.

  “Take it easy, Josh!” Susan said. “You’ve got me wet all over.”

  “I’m soaked,” Josh said. “I didn’t think the watering can had so much in it.”

  Susan grabbed hold of Josh’s arm. “Look at your feet!”

  Josh looked down. Now he saw that both he and Susan were standing up to their ankles in a deep puddle.

  Everything around them was different. They were in the middle of a wide concrete road. On each side of the road was a thick jungle of strange trees.

  Josh looked around. “Sue, where are we?”

  “I don’t know,” Susan said. “But let’s get out of this puddle.”

  There were puddles all across the road. Susan and Josh walked around them. The concrete was split into deep ditches. Thin, tall plants were growing in the ditches. A huge log blocked their way. At first Susan and Josh tried to climb over the log. But there were no toe-holds in the wood, and they kept slipping off.

  “We’d better go around it,” Susan said.

  They walked in the shadow of the log until they came to the end.

  “It seems to be some sort of telephone pole that has fallen down. But it’s much bigger than any telephone pole I ever saw.” Josh pointed to four flat metal prongs that curved off the end of the log. “It looks just like the garden fork, Sue.”

  Susan stared at the prongs. Then she looked up. For a minute she didn’t say anything. Then she whispered, “Josh, it is the garden fork!”

  “How did it get so big?” Josh asked.

  “It didn’t,” Susan told him. She pointed overhead.

  High above them were thick leafy branches. The smallest leaf was as big as a bedspread. A huge rope hung down from a great branch.

  Josh saw something else too.

  There was no time to lose. He grabbed Susan and pulled her under a tangle of green stems.

  A second later a swirl of rusty black feathers dived after them.

  Susan and Josh crawled deep into the underbrush. They peered between the leaves.

  A giant starling was standing on the concrete road. He cocked his head and tried to see into the jungle where the children were hiding. His yellow beak looked very sharp.

  Josh lay on his stomach. It took him a little while to get his breath back. Then he said, “I see what you mean, Sue. The fork didn’t get big. We got small!”

  Susan nodded. She had been thinking. “Josh,” she said, “it must have been the stuff in the watering can that did it. Mrs. Muldoon took it from the pot on her stove.”

  “The witch’s brew!” Josh said. “Those puddles were just drops from the watering can.” He peeked out at the concrete road. “The drops are almost dried up by the sun already. That concrete road is really the witch’s garden path.” Josh felt the green tree trunk beside him. “This is a weed.”

  The starling hopped back and forth. He pecked at a beetle. But the beetle wiggled under a stone. The bird got tired of waiting for Josh and Susan to come out of their hiding place. He flapped his wings and flew away.

  The children stayed very still in the weeds. “What are we going to do, Josh?” Susan asked at last.

  “I don’t know.” Josh stood up and stretched. He shinnied up a green stem. “Hey, this is fun.” Josh chinned himself on a smooth branch.

  Susan saw a shiny yellow flower. She stood on tiptoe to get a better look at it. “Mother pulls these out of our garden. But when weeds are as big as this they’re beautiful.”

  Josh was hanging by his knees now. Susan decided to climb one of the bigger plants. She stayed close to the main stem and stepped where the leaves branched off it.

  Up and up she went. At the top of the stem she came to a fringed red and white flower. Susan climbed onto it and sat down.

  All around her was the smell of cloves. A bee landed on the flower beside her. Susan didn’t move. The bee poked her velvety head into the center of the flower. Susan watched her until she flew away.

  Suddenly the flower began to shake. Susan held onto it so as not to fall off. She looked over the edge.

  Josh was climbing up. He was in a hurry. “There’s an ant chasing me, Sue.”

  “An ant?” Susan laughed. “Josh, you’re bigger than an ant.”

  “This guy looked mean. You should have seen his jaws.” Josh climbed up onto the flower and sat next to Susan.

  Something leaped over their heads. Susan and Josh ducked.

  A grasshopper had landed on a leaf near where they were sitting.

  “I wish I could jump like that,” Josh said.

  Susan watched a blue butterfly. “Wouldn’t it be fun to ride on him?”

  Josh shaded his eyes and looked across the garden. “Hey, Sue, look what’s growing over there.” He pointed.

  “Raspberries,” Susan said. “And they’re bigger than we are!”

  Josh was already climbing down from the flower. He had forgotten all about the ant.

  Susan waited until Josh reached the ground before she started down. Some of the leaves of the plant had been kicked off. It was harder to go down than it had been to climb up.

  Josh looked out at the wide concrete road. “I’d rather walk on that than through this jungle.”

  “The birds will go for us if we come out from under the weeds,” Susan reminded him.

  “We don’t have to come out from under the weeds.” Josh pulled a penknife from his pocket. He cut through the stem of a leafy weed. Then he handed the weed to Susan. “Use this like an umbrella.” Josh began to cut another stem.

  Josh and Susan held the weeds over their heads. They stepped out onto the road. Susan wondered what the birds would think about walking weeds. She was ready to dive back into the jungle at any minute. But the huge birds went on twittering in the branches of the apple tree high overhead. They didn’t seem to notice the children.

  Josh and Susan marched along what seemed to be a road. It was really the cement path. And it led them to the witch’s back door.

  Josh took a look at the chocolate cake. “Wow!” He climbed onto the stone step.

  Susan looked at
him. “Wait a minute, Josh. Don’t you think you ought to take your sneakers off before you step on the plate?”

  Josh leaned over to help Susan climb up. Then they both pulled off their sneakers and walked barefoot onto the cake plate.

  They had to be careful not to step in the patches of gooey icing. The cake looked like a wall of chocolate crumbs. Josh and Susan sat next to it. They held their weed umbrellas over their heads with one hand. With the other hand they dug into the wall.

  Neither of them had ever eaten so much cake. But no matter how much they ate it didn’t make a dent in the wall.

  At last Josh wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I’ve had enough cake to last me the rest of my life.”

  “So have I,” Susan said. “And I’m thirsty. I wonder what we can drink.”

  “How about raspberry juice?” Josh suggested.

  Susan stood up. “That bush is halfway across the garden. We can walk off some of the cake. Put your sneakers on, Josh.”

  Now that they had the weed umbrellas Josh and Susan felt much safer. They walked along the path in the warm sun. Susan watched the shadow of her leafy umbrella on the concrete. The raspberry bush stuck up out of the weeds.

  Suddenly something leaped off the high board fence between the yards. “Look out, Josh!” Susan dived into the weeds at the side of the path.

  Josh wasn’t quick enough. A monster cat pounced on him.

  “Patchwork!” Susan screamed.

  The cat didn’t seem to hear.

  Josh lay on the ground between the cat’s front paws. One of her sharp claws dug into the sleeve of his polo shirt. He couldn’t get away.

  “Don’t move, Josh.” Susan tried to sound calm. But her heart was thumping like a hammer.

  She grabbed the nearest weed and began to shinny up. It was only a thin stem of grass. And it bent under her weight.

  Susan climbed all the way to the top of the stem where the grass turned to tassels of seeds. The seeds kept falling off. It was hard to get a grip.

  The cat put her face down near Josh. She opened her mouth. Susan saw the sharp white teeth coming closer and closer to Josh. She let go of the tassels and made a flying leap.

  Susan landed right between the cat’s ears. Patchwork raised her head and shook it. Susan almost fell to the ground. But she grabbed hold of the cat’s fur and hung on tight.

  Still holding on, she crawled over to one of Patchwork’s ears. It was like a tent with a curtain of long hairs over the doorway.

  Susan stood up and pushed her way through the curtain. She put her hands to her mouth and yelled as loud as she could down into the cat’s ear. “Patchwork! Don’t you know Josh?”

  The cat seemed to think she had a flea in her ear. She shook her head so hard that Susan fell down. She rolled out of the cat’s ear and grabbed one of the whiskers over Patchwork’s left eye.

  The cat was staring at Josh. Again she put her face down next to him. Her pink nose twitched.

  Susan couldn’t bear to look. She shut her eyes. Then she heard a sound like a motor boat. What was it? Suddenly Susan knew.

  Patchwork was purring!

  Josh screamed. “Take it easy, cat!”

  Susan opened her eyes. Patchwork was licking Josh’s face with her huge tongue.

  “Help!” Josh yelled. “Susan, do something!”

  Susan let go of the whisker. She started to slide down the cat’s nose. Halfway down she used her feet as brakes. Susan stopped sliding and stood up. She waved her arms.

  Patchwork stared at her with crossed eyes. The cat reached up a paw to brush Susan off her nose.

  Susan jumped. She landed in a patch of weeds and hid under a clump of grass.

  While the cat was looking at Susan, Josh wiggled out of his polo shirt. He rolled away from Patchwork’s paw. Then he got to his feet and dived after Susan.

  The cat sniffed the little shirt that was still caught on one of her claws. She shook her paw until the shirt fell off. Patchwork stood up and stretched. She yawned and walked away down the path.

  Susan heard her mother calling. “Patchwork! Chow time!”

  The cat jumped onto the fence and down on the other side.

  For a few minutes neither Josh nor Susan said anything. Susan waited until her heart stopped thumping. “Are you all right, Josh?” she asked.

  “I seem to be,” he said. “But that cat’s tongue is just like sandpaper. My face is sore all over.”

  “I’m still thirsty,” Susan said. “And I don’t feel like going out into the open—even with a weed umbrella.”

  “I don’t either,” Josh said. “But I’d better get my shirt.” He peered out from between two stems of grass. A fuzzy caterpillar was crawling across the cement walk toward the shirt. Josh jumped out of the weeds. He grabbed his shirt and ran back to where Susan was waiting. “That’s the kind of caterpillar that gives me hives.”

  Susan laughed. She looked at Josh. “Three hives would cover all of you.”

  “It’s not funny, Sue.” Josh put on his shirt.

  “If we walk through the weeds we ought to come to the raspberry bush.” Susan began to push her way between the green stems.

  It was rough going. Sometimes Josh had to use his pen knife to cut a path between the plants. At last they saw the raspberry bush sticking up out of the jungle ahead. The berries looked like bunches of round juicy red balloons. Susan could almost taste them. Her mouth began to water.

  “Last one to the raspberry bush is a rotten potato!” Josh began to race. He ran around big weeds and jumped over small ones.

  Susan tore after him. She had almost caught up when Josh tripped over a root. Susan was running too fast to stop. She fell right on top of him.

  Both of them tried to get up to start the race again. They rolled over each other and into a patch of soft green leaves.

  “What’s that smell?” Susan sat up and looked around. The jungle was gone! She was sitting in the sunlight in the witch’s garden. Josh was next to her.

  “Chewing gum.” Josh picked a leaf from the plant they were sitting on. He held it under her nose.

  Susan stood up. The raspberry bush was only a step away. She picked two little ripe berries and handed one of them to Josh.

  “I can’t help wishing,” Susan said, “that we’d rolled into the magic mint leaves after we’d eaten the raspberries.”

  The back door banged. Mrs. Muldoon had come out into her garden. She looked at Susan and Josh. “I see you like raspberries,” she said. “I never cared for them myself. I was wondering if I should dig up that bush.”

  The witch held a tray with plates and forks and glasses on it. There was a pitcher on the tray too.

  Susan and Josh ran over to help. Mrs. Muldoon gave Josh the pitcher. He was careful not to spill what was in it.

  “Would you like to cut the cake, Susan?” Mrs. Muldoon handed her the dagger knife. “Don’t bother to give me a piece.” The witch set the tray on the stone step. “You can pour the milk, Josh.”

  “Milk?” Josh almost dropped the pitcher.

  “Oh, dear, don’t you like milk? That’s too bad! I made a special trip to the store to buy it for you. That’s what took me so long. I never keep milk in the house. But I was sure you’d want some with your cake.” The witch thought for a minute. Suddenly she smiled. “Maybe you’d like something else to drink?”

  “We love milk!” Susan started to cut the cake. She made the pieces as small as she could.

  Josh poured two glasses of milk. He and Susan sat down on the stone step to drink it.

  Mrs. Muldoon saw the watering can lying on the path. She picked it up and looked inside. “Empty. That’s funny. I was sure I’d filled it.” She carried the watering can to the back door.

  Josh and Susan stood up to let her go into the house. As soon as the back door closed behind the witch, Josh scraped the cake off his plate into a patch of weeds. “I can’t eat any more cake today,” he said.

  “Neither can I.” Susan
dumped her cake into the dirt. She dug it in with the trowel.

  They both finished drinking their milk.

  Mrs. Muldoon came out of the house with the watering can. She looked at the empty plates. “How about a second helping?”

  “No, thank you,” Susan said.

  Josh put his glass on the tray. “We’ve had plenty, Mrs. Muldoon.”

  The witch walked slowly along the garden path looking at the plants. “I’m not at all sure I should water them with this mixture. It’s something new. I don’t know what it will do.” She turned to Susan and Josh. “I try to be careful. But sometimes things go wrong. My aunt Martha was always making mistakes. She had a lot of trouble with this garden. She moved away a long time ago. I never found out why.” Mrs. Muldoon put down the watering can and picked up the garden fork.

  “I’ll help you with that,” Josh said.

  The witch handed him the fork. “Do you see that bush over in the corner?”

  “You mean the one with the long trailing branches?” Josh asked.

  “Yes. It looks sad. I think it might be happier in a sunny spot,” Mrs. Muldoon said.

  “That’s the bush you were trying to dig up this morning,” Susan said. “Mother and I saw you from my window.”

  “I couldn’t get anywhere with my old spade,” the witch told her. “Maybe you and Josh can do better.”

  Josh and Susan took turns with the fork. It was like trying to dig into a rock. The ground around the weeping bush was packed hard.

  Mrs. Muldoon stroked one of the long trailing branches. “Got you trapped in there, dearie, have they?” she said to the bush. “We’ll get you out.”

  Susan thought the bush perked up a little. A breeze caught the branches and set them dancing.

  “Sue,” Josh said, “there are a lot of stones around this bush. If we pull them out it will be easier to dig.”