Witch You Were Here Page 15

  I don’t know whether to answer him or run.

  In a moment he’s mumbling strange words and I find I can’t move.

  “When did you suspect it was me?” Doc asks, his voice no longer sweet and soothing but hard and cold.

  “Well, I was a little slow. I should have picked up on it when you said that Alfie always goes out for duck berry juice every morning. I registered that subconsciously but it didn’t bubble all the way up. The second clue I missed until earlier today was when you told Sheriff Dudley that the horrible smell was coming from Widow Murphy’s dog. You see, I haven’t ever known a dog that doesn’t bark. And I never heard one barking behind the library. Widow Murphy doesn’t have a dog. It’s her decomposing body that Sheriff Dudley smelled when he walked past the house.”

  Doc raises his eyebrows but doesn’t speak. Instead, he looks amused.

  “You killed Widow Murphy so you could use her house to spy on the library and me. From the second story of her house you could see when I flew Broom Hilda. But you made a mistake when you didn’t bury her.”

  “I was going to, but I enjoyed watching her body deteriorate. That meant I wasn’t the ugliest one in the room. And I especially enjoyed seeing Sprout with his oozing sores. You know Sprout and I have history…” Doc shook his head. “That’s another story. Maybe for another time, if you have any time left.”

  “So,” I tell Doc, “you sneaked into the library while Alfie was at Bo’s buying his morning duck berry juice and strangled Rachel. But how did you get the drop on her?”

  “She was in love with me, poor thing. I was the first good-looking man to give her the eye. She would have moved heaven and earth for me. Getting her alone in her office was easy. She was looking for that first kiss from me. Well, I did give her that kiss. Only it was the kiss of death.” Doc laughs.

  The evilness of his laughter causes me to shudder.

  “It was you who put the tree limb in the road the first time I went to the cottage. But how did you get ahead of me?”

  “Suzy, Suzy, what you know about warlocks, witches, and magic could fit on the head of a pin. Do you really think the most powerful warlock in the realm would need a broomstick to fly thought the air? I saw you leaving from Widow Murphy’s upstairs bedroom. It was a snap to get ahead of you and cause the tree limb to fall across the road. The one thing I didn’t realize until it was too late was that your darn broomstick was a Salem broom.”

  “Yeah, she did kick your butt.”

  “I wasn’t prepared.”

  Attack him, Broom Hilda!

  My broomstick responds immediately. Suddenly she’s flying toward us. But Doc moves faster. He points his finger at Broom Hilda, says some mumbo jumbo, and suddenly Broom Hilda’s straw brush is on fire.

  Mentally, I hear Broom Hilda scream.

  Out the window! Fly so fast the wind puts out the flames. Then come back for me!

  Before Doc—Night Shadow—can utter another spell, my broomstick crashes through the window and flies away at blinding speed.

  I see Snowball glancing out the bedroom door.

  “Hide, Snowball! Hide!” I shout.

  Night Shadow laughs. “What do I care about your silly cat,” he says as Snowball darts back into the bedroom.

  I have to stall him.

  “How did you make friends with the wraith and get her to lure me?” I ask.

  “I offered her some of your blood from your grandmother’s cup of life. Since it’s the blood of a white witch, it would have restored her body the same as it will restore mine. Especially when I drink in the light of a full moon,” Night Shadow takes a deep breath. “As much fun as I’m having sitting here and talking to you while you’re completely helpless, I do need to take you to my house and do the deed that will restore my body. And when I’m done with you, I’ll extinguish your grandmother’s spirit, which, of course you know, has taken refuge in her cup of life.” He smiles the most evil smile I’ve ever seen. Or can ever recall. “You know the saying about killing two birds with one stone? Well, that’s how I’m going to kill two witches,” he says and winks.

  “But what about the pack of hellhounds? Where did they come from? Werewoods?”

  “When you sell your soul to a demon, you do get certain privileges. His hellhounds were one of my perks. Not that they did their job. Between you and that wacky broomstick of yours, you did a number on the pack. It was not a pleasant thing to watch, and the demon who owns the hellhounds was not amused!”

  “Why did you try to kill me in the tavern in Hemlock when you need my blood?”

  “Dead or alive, your blood is good. I just have to drink more if you’re dead. All right, now that’s enough questions.”

  I have to stall him!

  “You kidnapped Alfie while he was on his way to Bo’s for duck berry juice.”

  “That little fart is so predictable. You can set your watch by him!”

  “What about…”

  “Enough! I tire of your voice and I can’t have you using those silly word spells. You are a white witch, and you turn weak spells into sticks of dynamite.”

  Night Shadow mumbles several words too low for me to understand.

  I open my mouth to talk but can’t make a sound.

  “My, my. That ends your ability to use your simpleton word spells. You are so disappointing. At least when your grandmother and I fought after I killed your mother and father, our battle lasted two days. And here poor little Suzy can’t even produce a single spell.”

  I try to speak again but suddenly I feel myself hurling though space. It’s like my body is disassembled and then reassembled in another place. When I can see again, I find myself tied to a pole facing what looks like a basement window.

  “Don’t worry. It will be over very shortly, Suzy.”

  17

  I test the ropes binding me; they’re tight and strong. Wasted effort, I think as I see Night Shadow opening a coffin resting on cement blocks. I bet Val sleeps in something like that, I find myself thinking. Forget about bad boy Val. He’s not coming to the rescue this time.

  Nobody knows I’ve been abducted except for Snowball and Broom Hilda.

  Hearing Night Shadow prying open the coffin, I watch intently, eager to finally see the real Night Shadow. I can’t stop the creepy feeling as Doc lifts the lid, exposing the body lying within.

  Handsome—no, not ordinary handsome—but extremely handsome. But then I see the sores and the strange wrinkles, like the body is drying up like a prune.

  “Don’t look so horrified, Suzy.” Doc/Night Shadow says. “When I reenter my body and drink some of your blood from your grandmother’s cup of life, I’ll return to my handsome self. And this withering curse will be history.”

  Maybe on the outside but same old evil self on the inside.

  “I know you’re rattling that pretty little head of yours trying to think how you are going to escape the horrible fate I have in store for you. Don’t bother. No one knows you’re missing. There is not going to be a pack of werewolves rushing to the rescue. Or that dandy vampire, Val, dashing up as a bat to save you.”

  Doc—I can’t help but still think of him as the elven doctor—walks past me to glance out the basement window. “If you’re wondering why I haven’t drawn any of your blood yet, it’s because I’m waiting for the full moon. Once it’s up, I’ll take the silver cup sitting on the shelf near the door, cut the palm of your hand, and let it fill the vessel. Once it’s full, I’ll place it next to my body, reenter the body, and then quickly drink the blood in the light of the moon.”

  He glances outside the window again. “I would say you have less than an hour to live.” He walks back to the coffin and glances down at his body. “Taking over the elf’s body was a battle. Elf magic is ancient. We battled for an entire day before I defeated him and took possession of his body.”

  “Since you don’t know much about magic and spells, I’ll explain what’s going on in the good doctor’s body. He is still here, bu
t pushed back in a corner of his own mind. He knows everything that’s happening but can’t stop me. He’s a mere observer. He was horrified when I made him strangle Rachel. Yes, and he still suffers. He likes you and is begging me not to kill you. He’s so sentimental it sickens me. But I’ll soon be out of his cesspool of a mind and back into my body. I’m going to enjoy ending his miserable life after I’m whole again…”

  Wow, he does love to hear himself talk, I think as I tune out what he’s saying and concentrate on how to save myself. He’s right, Joe isn’t going to be bringing his wolf pack and Val isn’t going to flutter to my rescue.

  Okay, think, Suzy! I tell myself. Use what you have at hand. Nothing! I have nothing at hand. Wait a minute. What about Snowball? Yes, she knows that I’ve been kidnapped. Suddenly it dawns on me. Snowball might have been just another mouser on the other side of the cemetery, but on this side she is my familiar! And? And, silly goose, I tell myself. You are connected to Snowball. Mentally connected! I recall reading about it in one of the books on familiars. Time to try and see if works.

  I close my eyes and envision the inside of Granny Maycomber’s cottage. Where would Snowball be? Hmm…not brave but afraid. Hiding under the bed.

  I don’t really know how I do it but I reach under the bed and touch minds with her.

  “Eeek!” I hear Snowball shout as she sprints out from under the bed. “Who’s there? Who’s under the bed?” Snowball hisses.

  Snowball, it’s me; Suzy!

  “Ghost! Ghost! Broom Hilda! Suzy’s a ghost! Under the bed. Attack! Attack!”

  I’m not under the bed! I’m in your mind!

  “Crazy! Crazy cat! Crazy cat!”

  Snowball, if you and Broom Hilda don’t help me, I’m going to die!

  “You aren’t dead dead?”

  Snowball, I’m not even dead. But I will be if you and Broom Hilda don’t come and rescue me.

  “Night Shadow?”

  Yes.

  “I’m afraid, Suzy. I don’t want to be dead or dead dead.”

  If you don’t come quick, I’ll be dead dead. I have until the moon rises.

  “You promise me all the unicorn milk I can drink?”

  A year’s supply.

  “Broom Hilda! Suzy needs us!” Snowball shouts. “I’ll get help! But who?”

  Get Alfie and his ax. He’ll be at the library! There’s no time to get anyone else!

  “How do I find you?”

  We’re already connected. You feel me in your mind. When Broom Hilda flies toward me, you will feel our connection getting stronger. If she turns the wrong direction, the link will weaken.

  “Yes, I feel the connection. But, I don’t like it…”

  I’ll break the connection as soon as you arrive.

  “Yes, break the connection. It feels strange.”

  Hurry, Snowball! Every second counts!

  In my mind, I see Snowball jumping onto Broom Hilda’s slightly scorched straw brush and both of them go streaking through the air. Snowball is screaming for her to slow down. Even during the race at Hemlock I never saw Broom Hilda fly so fast. In a handful of minutes, she’s at the library.

  “Alfie! Alfie! Suzy needs you!” Snowball is screaming at the library door.

  Suddenly Broom Hilda is banging her brush against the door.

  “Are you crazy?” Alfie says, rubbing his eyes as he opens the door. “It’s almost midnight!”

  “Night Shadow has Suzy! Grab your big ax!”

  “Night Shadow!”

  “Stop shouting! Man up and grab your ax!”

  Through Snowball’s eyes, I see Alfie waddling back into the library. A moment later, he’s back with his double-bladed ax.

  “Where is she?” Alfie asks.

  “No time! Get on Broom Hilda. Suzy promises you lots of duck berry pies.”

  Alfie swings onto Broom Hilda and immediately they are airborne.

  “You have a faraway look in your eyes, Suzy,” Night Shadow is saying. “What is going through that head of yours? Hmm, I would take the spell off and allow you to speak, except that one of your simpleton word spells could disrupt my plans.”

  Suddenly he slaps my face.

  My connection with Snowball is broken by a wave of pain.

  “There, that’s better. You’re back from wherever that silly little mind of yours wandered off to. I’m sure you are totally harmless but I can’t take any chances. If I fail to revive my body, it will soon die.”

  I must make contact with Snowball again! I concentrate harder than I have ever done before in my life.

  “What? Going back to dreamland? I think not!” Night Shadow screams in my face.

  Somehow, I find the strength to push aside the noise and touch Snowball’s mind.

  Tell Alfie! The elf doctor is Night Shadow. I’m at his house!

  The second slap across my face brings tears to my eyes and breaks my link to Snowball. God, I hope I’m right and Night Shadow has me in the basement of Doc’s house.

  “What are you doing? What plan are you forming?” Night Shadow shakes his head. “You should be trembling in fear but you are plotting against me just moments before your death. Have I underestimated you, Suzy?”

  Finally something we can agree on, I think as anger boils up inside of me. Enough helpless damsel in distress. There’s got to be something I can do to help myself. Think, Suzy! Think!

  “I wish you could tell me what you’re thinking, but I’m certainly not going to give you your voice back,” he snarls like a wild beast. “So whatever feeble little surprise you have for me isn’t going to work!”

  Suddenly, what Red Sumac told me burns across my mind. “You are a Spell Master. You create spells!”

  The book she gave me. Granny Maycomber’s book of runes. I focus on the book. I bring the pages to life in my mind. I watch the symbols as they dance around until they make sense. Create a spell, Suzy. I arrange the runes in my mind until they form ‘Unbind’.

  I feel a sharp tug on my arm from Night Shadow. “Stop whatever you are doing!”

  Unbind me! I shout the words in my mind.

  Immediately, I feel the ropes falling away.

  “What?” Night Shadow cries out in shock as he jumps back. “How did you do that? That’s impossible!”

  I quickly move away from him toward the stairs. As I run, I use the runes to form the word voice. The runes in my mind are like a picture. I mentally say the spell.

  Give me my voice!

  “I’m not as helpless as you think, creep!”

  “Your voice!”

  “Yeah, it’s hard to shut a woman up! We love to talk!” I suddenly know—from the first word he speaks—the spell he’s trying to cast.

  Instantly, I reach into my mind for the protection rune.

  “Protect!” I shout, even as flames shoot from his pale fingers. The flames hit an invisible wall, flare bright, and vanish.

  “You are a Spell Master!” Night Shadow shouts in surprise. “That’s impossible. Your grandmother was a Spell Master! You shouldn’t be one. This only happens to one in a million witches!”

  That’s why she was able to fend him off so long before he finally gained control! I think, even as I realize he’s forming another spell.

  Knowing that the same spell will not work against the master wizard, I wait until the last possible moment before I create a spell that slows time. To me it seems I’m moving normally, but faster than the eye for Night Shadow. I look up and snatch Granny Maycomber’s cup of life from the shelf before his spell—which creates a huge spider web—slams against the wall where I stood a moment ago.

  Be careful, Suzy. He’s dangerous, the tiny voice from the cup tells me.

  I know now the voice is Granny’s and I feel a flood of confidence.

  “Give that back!” Night Shadow shouts when he glances around looking for me, only to find me holding the cup he needs to drink my blood from to restore his body. “How can you be better than your grandmother? It’s impossi
ble. You are impossible! An abomination!”

  “No, I’m just Suzy!” I shout as I create a binding spell.

  Ropes coil themselves around the elf’s body.

  “Suzy, you have lots to learn,” Night Shadow says as the rope bursts into blue flames and burns without harming him. “You might be a Spell Master but you know nothing much about creating spells. You have just been lucky so far, but your luck is running out.”

  Night Shadow spins his head to the basement window. I follow his glance and see Snowball and Alfie on Broom Hilda. While I’m distracted watching, I hear Night Shadow shouting strange words of power. My three companions vanish before my eyes! I glance at Night Shadow and my heart sinks. All three are bound in ropes at his feet while he stands over them with a flaming sword in his hand.

  “One touch of the death sword and they are dead dead!” he calls out cheerfully. “How important are the lives of your friends to you, Suzy? Will you sacrifice your life for theirs?”

  “No, Suzy. Save yourself!” Alfie shouts.

  “No more unicorn milk!” Snowball says.

  “Make up your mind. Your life or theirs?”

  I look around for anything to help us when I spot Alfie’s double-bladed ax on the floor of the basement, between me and Night Shadow.

  “Please don’t harm my friends,” I say as I walk toward Night Shadow. “You win. You are the master wizard and I am an ignorant Spell Master witch,” I say as I place my foot alongside the ax.

  “You grovel shamefully,” he sneers. “Your grandmother didn’t grovel; not even when she was dying.”

  “I am not my grandmother,” I say, holding the cup of life out to him.

  The elf’s eyes light up. He reaches for the cup. I drop to my knees, snatch the ax off the floor, and swing at the hand holding the flaming sword. I see disbelief in his eyes. He was expecting another spell, not physical action.

  Night Shadow screams as Alfie’s ax cuts the elf doctor’s hand off at the wrist. The flaming sword vanishes as Night Shadow screams in pain. I’m ready. I point my finger, not at the elf doctor, but at Night Shadow’s body in the coffin.

  “Eamus Hinc!” I shout.

  A blinding light flashes so bright that I have to shield my eyes, along with a crashing sound that I can only describe as similar to thunder, but ten times louder.