Witch Catcher (19 page)

"Oh, dear, we've come so far. Can't you let us in, just for a little while? We've heard you have a wonderful collection of dolls and such."

Ever alert, Cadoc left the kitchen and followed Moura to the shop.

With shaking hands, I rummaged through Moura's purse, my fingers clumsy with haste, and found the glasses. Holding them behind my back, I went to the kitchen door and looked down the hall to the shop's entrance.

If I hadn't recognized Binna's voice, I wouldn't have recognized her. She was dressed in a stylish denim skirt and a mauve blouse, her hair perfectly set, her makeup expertly applied—the very picture of the sort of woman who shops in expensive stores and enjoys fancy coffee in stylish little cafes. Behind her, Skilda and Gugi were equally transformed.

"Surely you can shop elsewhere," Moura said, making no effort to be polite. "There are at least three fine stores on Third Street that open at ten."

"Oh, but they don't have what you have." Binna pushed past Moura. and Skilda and Gugi followed her into the shop.

"Where do you think you're going?" Moura tried ineffectively to block the aunties' progress. "I told you, I'm not open for business."

When Cadoc growled, Skilda pursed her lips as if she were whistling. I heard nothing, but the hound cowered, ears flattened against his head, and whined in pain.

Binna confronted Moura. "What will you do if we don't leave? Call the police?"

"I think not," Gugi said and giggled in a most unladylike way. Her attention focused on Cadoc, Skilda continued to whistle silently.

Enraged, Moura drew herself up tall and straight. Her long hair flowed over her shoulders and sparkled in the light from the open door. She was majestic, fearsome, powerful. "How dare you speak to me so rudely?" she cried in a clear, ringing voice. "Leave my premises at once!"

Ignoring Moura, Binna reached my side and whispered, "Do ye have the glasses, [en?"

I nodded, afraid to hand them over with Moura so close.

Moura stared at the three aunties and suddenly laughed scornfully "I know who you are," she said. "Demented old fairies, long past your prime, weak, silly, ridiculous. You're no match for me. Begone!"

Terrified, I expected the aunties to vanish and leave me alone with Moura. But Binna shed her disguise and faced the witch. Instead of the eccentric old auntie I expected to see, Binna was as tall and straight as Moura. Long sdver hair swirled around her pale, ageless face. She wore a long, flowing green gown, as dark as an oak's leaves in the summer twilight.

"Ye will send me nowhere, lady!" Binna cried.

Awed, I darted into the kitchen and cowered behind the stove. I had no idea what would happen next, but I knew better than to be caught in the middle of it.

A moment later, I heard something. I peeked out and saw Moura and Binna raise their arms over their heads and begin to hurl strange words at each other. The air between them glowed green, purple, and blue. Fireballs shot back and forth. The shop's walls shook. Antiques toppled to the floor. China figurines fell from shelves and shattered. Glass ornaments exploded.

I closed my eyes, unable to bear the blinding dashes of light, and covered my ears to muffle the loud noises. Gugi and Skilda, in their familiar shapes, scurried into the kitchen, crouched on either side of me and whispered comforting words.

"Binna's got big fierce magic," Skilda told me. "Her be the strongest of us, not to be taken lightsome."

"Its the witch blood flowing in her veins," Gugi added. "It come from her old kinkind, way, way back in olden times afore the First Witch War."

Slowly, Moura began to weaken. Stunned, she lurched into the kitchen, away from Binna, and finally collapsed against the wall. Cadoc lay on the floor near her, unconscious or dead. I didn't know which.

Binna ran to me. "Give me the glasses, Jen!"

Moura watched with horror as Binna put them on and opened the cellar door. Making a huge effort, Moura lunged at the auntie. "Give me those glasses!" she screamed.

At the same moment, Cadoc staggered to his feet. Binna evaded Moura, but the hound knocked her down. The glasses dew from her face and landed a few feet away. While Binna struggled to fend off Cadoc, Moura dung herself at the glasses.

In a dash, Gugi and Skilda became mastiffs even larger than Cadoc. Teeth bared, they attacked the hound and drove him away from Binna.

"Get the glasses, Jen!" Binna yelled.

Caught up in the fury, I forgot my fears and dove for them. Somehow I managed to snatch the glasses right out of Moura's hands.

"No!" Full of hatred, she grabbed for me, but I was too fast. With the witch behind me. I ran for the cellar. Binna slipped through the door after me. She slammed the door in Moura's face and locked it with the holt and a hasty spell.

At the bottom of the cedar steps, Binna settled the glasses firmly on her long nose. "Where be they, Jen?"

"Here." I ran to the trunk. "Moura locked it and put a spell on it."

Her face tight with worry, Binna crouched beside the trunk and chanted strange words. Her voice rose and fed. Sometimes she sang, sometimes she hummed, sometimes she moved her hands the way Moura had. But nothing worked.

"The spell be a strong one," Binna muttered.

Upstairs, the battle continued, shaking dust and cobwebs down on our heads. The mastiffs barked and growled. Something large, probably Cadoc, began hurling itself against the door. How long could Skilda and Gugi keep him and Moura from fodowing us to the cedar?

The tune Moura had hummed in the car came back to me, the way songs often do. Suddenly, I remembered why it had sounded familiar—it was the same tune the witch had hummed as she wove her sealing sped on the trunk. I started to hum.

Binna turned to me. "That's it!" she cried. "Keep humming. I can feel the spell loosening."

At last the lock on the trunk broke and the lid dew open. With her eyes safely shielded by Moura's glasses, Binna lifted out the globes. Deftly she pulled out the corks and out popped Kieryn and Brynn, tiny things one moment, full-size the next.

"Get behind the trunk," Binna told them. "Cover your eyes. Don't look at the globes."

As the two huddled together, the cedar door burst open, and Moura and Cadoc rushed down the stairs toward us. The mastiffs were right behind them, growling and snapping at their heels.

Binna thrust one of the globes behind her. "Turn back!" she shouted at the aunties.

The mastiffs stopped, confused for a moment by Binna's command. One's head swung toward the other. "Traps," Skilda whispered.

Both mastiffs tied, but Moura was too eager for revenge to notice. "Kill them," she cried to Cadoc. "The fairy, the girl. Kill them both!"

The hound leapt at us, huge, full of wickedness, his sharp teeth gleaming. Binna's hand dew up in a strange gesture. "Cadoc," she cried, "take yer true shape!"

Cadoc instantly shrank into a rat. For a second, he stayed where he was, cluttering on his hind legs, his red eyes aglow, his hairless tail twitching as if he still meant to attack. Then he dropped to the door and scurried away.

On her guard, Moura stood at the foot of the steps. She was obviously tired but not ready to surrender. "Surely, Binna dear, you mean me no harm," she said softly. "We share blood kinship, you know"

She paused, gathering confidence from Binna's silence. "That wretched human child has the pendant that can take us home. Seize it from her and claim your rightful place among the witches. We shall honor you, respect you, reward you with riches."

"But what of the fairy girl and boy?" Binna asked. "What of the human child? What will happen to them?"

Moura's silvery laugh chilled my blood. "The fairies will remain sealed in the globes forever, not to be seen again." Then, turning her eyes to me, she added, "This one is mine. To do with as I wish. She has vexed Ciril and me far too long."

Binna seemed to consider Moura's words, her expression unreadable. A chill crept over me like a shadow. Surely the auntie wouldn't accept the offer.

Slowly, Moura began to advance, her body swaying like a snake's as she moved. She extended her hands. "Dear Binna," she murmured, "what companions we will be."

"Truly?" Binna stretched out a hand, and Moura came closer, sure of herself now.

"Truly," Moura echoed.

"Dear, Moura," Binna whispered. "I fear ye be ... mistaken." With that Binna held up the red globe, its pattern swirling in a burst of magic light.

"No!" Moura recoiled, but it was too late. Still screaming, she vanished into the trap, and Binna quickly corked the spout.

"There, Mistress Witch!" Binna cried. "What think ye now?"

The globe buzzed and vibrated, dashing a bile green light so brilliant that it lit the darkest corners of the cellar.

"They say ye can't trust witches," Binna told Moura. "But don't be trusting fairies, neither, 'specially not them with witch blood in their veins."

Winking at me, Binna changed into her familiar self, strange clothes and all. She dropped both globes into their velvet bags. "It's safe for ye now. The traps be in their bags."

Kieryn and Brynn came out from behind the trunk, dancing with delight. Brynn shouted loud enough for Moura to hear. "Ye won't be ruling us'n after all, ye skitzy old hag."

"Ye gets to stay here forever and ever," Kieryn cried. "But not us! We be going home!"

Light flashed out of the bag,still bright enough to make our faces green. She hissed, she buzzed.

"Oh, ye be mad now, Mistress Cicada!" Kieryn laughed. "But there's naught ye can do about it. Us fairies be smarter than ye thought!"

Hearing the commotion, Gugi and Skilda came limping down the steps, their clothing torn, their hats askew, sporting a few cuts and bruises from their struggles.

Skilda moaned and leaned against Gugi, but Gugi grinned and gave her a little shake. "Never mind this 'un. She always were a whinger and a whiner. We give that wicked hound an injury worsen any he give us."

To Skilda, she said, "Ain't nobody feeling sorry for ye. Not now when we got
her
trapped."

Gugi laughed. After a second's hesitation, Skilda gave up her long face and joined in the cackling. There were hugs then, and kisses, dancing, and singing. In the midst of it all, Kieryn held me tight and whispered, "Ye been a true friend, Jen. I'd not forget."

"Don't be celebrating yet," Binna said. "We got
her.
but
him
isstill loose." She handed me the bags. "Do ye know how to operate a vehicle, Jen?"

I clung to the bags, terrified of dropping them. "I'm only twelve," I said. "You have to be sixteen to get a driver's license."

"License be pooked to blazes." Gugi said. "Can ye manage to vehiculate to
his
house?"

"Here's why I be asking," Binna put in. "Us'n can turn crow and fly there, but we canna carry them traps. If ye can operate
her
vehicle, ye can meet us there with the wicked things."

"It canna be so hard," Gugi said. "Whilst I were a crow, I seen great dumblings vehiculating along the highway. If dafties such as they can do it, what's to stop a smart 'un like yerself?"

"But—"

"But me no buts," Binna said. "Take them keys I seen on the table and vehiculate."

With that, all five of them turned into crows and dew up the cellar steps and out the front door. Lugging the bags, I climbed the stairs in the usual way and got the car keys. It was hard to believe Moura wasn't there to stop me. Angry buzzes from the bag told me she would have if she'd been free to do so.

As a precaution, I dumped both cups of tea into the sink and left the shop. I hesitated beside Moura's car, once sleek and shiny but now missing the windshield and a headlight, and badly dented. But I knew it still worked.

Looking to the right and left, I saw the mailman turning the corner at the far end of the block. Fearing he'd ask what I was doing, I got into the car and stuck the key in the ignition. Next, I did what I'd seen my father do hundreds of times-turned the key, shifted from park to drive, and stepped on the gas pedal. The car shot forward and knocked over a trash can left by the curb. Panicked, I turned the wheel and almost hit a tree on the other side of the street. Obviously, there was more to vehiculating than Gugi thought.

The mailman was coming up the sidewalk, dropping letters into door slots. It seemed to me he'd spotted my blunders. Aiming the car straight ahead, I pressed the gas pedal cautiously and shot past him.

I ran through a red light I hadn't noticed and narrowly missed hitting another car. Horns blasted, but I kept going, heading for the open road outside town.

It was then I realized I had no idea where Mr. Ashbourne's house was.

D
RIVING WAS HARD WORK.
For one thing, I had trouble seeing over the steering wheel—which was probably why I hadn't noticed that red light. I was scared to go fast, so cars kept passing me. Some blew their horns. One driver made a nasty gesture as he sped by. Curves made me nervous. Stop signs frightened me. The sun was in my eyes.

Suddenly a crow appeared in the road ahead of me. I braked, swerved, and came close to Wiring another tree. The crow turned into Gugi. She yanked open the passenger door and jumped inside.

"Ye great ninny bob," she cried. "Ye're going the wrong way. Don't ye know where
him
lives?"

Almost too angry to speak, I shook my head. "How could I? I've only been there once, and I was hiding under a blanket, so I couldn't see a thing. It was dark when we left and I was a bat or a squirrel, I can't remember which, but we didn't follow the road home, that's for sure."

Gugi scowled. "Ye're a feisty lip swatter, ain't ye?" Then she laughed, showing a mouthful of crooked yellow teeth, and slapped my leg playfully. "Don't pay me no never mind. human child. I know ye be doing yer best. It's just I gets snarky sometimes and speaks rough."

I guessed she meant it as an apology, so I asked as calmly as I could if she knew the way to Mr. Ashbourne's house.

"Shush!" Gugi raised her hand as if to slap me but thought better of it. "Don't be saying that name out loud for all to hear. It be bad luck."