Witch out of Time

by Elle Adams

  “Why not conjure up something more comfortable?” Alissa said delicately.

  “I’m not having people trampling through the room at all hours of the morning. I need my beauty sleep.” She glared around at all of us. “Will you deny the Head Witch a suitable room?”

  “I think Nina might have a free bed upstairs,” Alissa said. “We can ask her. I’m sure she won’t mind.”

  “No, I must stay on the ground floor. My hip won’t stand to climb stairs.”

  Oh, no. I could see where this was going.

  Sure enough, she turned to me next. “Does your room have a view of the garden?”

  “Well, yes,” I said. “But it’s small and cramped, like a cupboard.” And occupied by a cat, when he wasn’t hiding under the sofa.

  “I suppose that will have to do,” she said. “Let me see it.”

  “It’s just I have a cat.” Sky could sleep anywhere, but he was in a grumpy enough mood already. “He’s very territorial.”

  “I’ve dealt with a dozen familiars in my day,” she said, waving the sceptre as though to sweep me aside. “They can be disciplined.”

  Uh… I’m not sure you’ve ever met a fairy cat before.

  Vanessa approached me, and in a lowered voice, she said, “We can compensate you. Trust me, it’s best to let her have her way.”

  “There are herbs outside my window as well.” I addressed the Head Witch. “You might be allergic to those, too.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that.” She marched across the room, forcing me to back out into the corridor or else get mowed down by the sceptre.

  Vanessa followed her mother into our flat, nodding her head apologetically. Sky hissed from underneath the sofa, but the elderly witch didn’t give him a second’s glance. Another few steps and she stood in the entryway to my room. “Hmm. A little small, but better than the others.”

  “It’s the same size as the other rooms.” I indicated the window. “And as I said—we grow herbs for spells in the back garden.”

  She waved the sceptre and the window sprang open. “No lavender here. Perfect.”

  My heart sank. Oh, no.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to see my room?” Alissa said from behind her. “It’s the same as Blair’s.”

  “Don’t you start bargaining with me, witchling, I’m too old for that nonsense.” She glared at Vanessa. “Well? Are you going to fetch my suitcase or not?”

  “May I please grab some of my things first?” If Aveline was a late sleeper, I’d rather have my work clothes to hand instead of having to creep past her while she was sleeping. If she cast spells in her sleep, we’d all wake up as frogs the way things were going.

  “Would Sky lie on her chest in her sleep out of spite?” Alissa whispered, standing in the doorway as I dragged my suitcase out from under the bed and set about piling clothes into it.

  “Wouldn’t put it past him,” I muttered. “Roald might, too. He only stopped licking my face during the night when Sky laid claim to me.”

  Maybe the two cats would team up to drive the old witch out of our flat. An entertaining idea, but one that would also bring more trouble to Madame Grey and Fairy Falls as a whole. It’s only for a week, I told myself, hauling my suitcase into the living room. The sofa was comfy enough to sleep on. That part didn’t bother me.

  “What if the pixie taps on the window in the middle of the night?” I whispered to Alissa.

  “It’ll be fine,” she said. “Most people can’t see through glamour, right?”

  “Good point.” Besides, Aveline scared me a lot more than any potential fairy intruder did. I crouched beside the sofa and peered at Sky’s eyes, the only part of him I could see. “Sky, I’m afraid Aveline, the Head Witch, is going to be sleeping in my room. We’ll camp on the sofa for the next week. It’ll be fun.”

  I’d rate being anywhere near the Head Witch about as fun as a root canal, but it couldn’t be helped.

  “Miaow,” Sky huffed.

  I reached under the sofa to stroke him, and he swiped at my fingers. “Believe me, none of us has a choice in the matter. Play nice and I’ll make it up to you.”

  “Who are you talking to?” Aveline stampeded back into the living room.

  I straightened upright then ducked again to avoid being hit by a flying suitcase. It soared across the room and landed beside my bedroom door. “My familiar. He’s wary of strangers.”

  “Then he’s not much of a familiar, is he?” she said. “In my day, they were independent creatures. These modern familiars have grown soft.”

  Sky made an audible hissing noise.

  “What’s that?” Adeline said sharply.

  “Nothing.” I climbed to my feet. “Uh, is there anything I can help you with?”

  She waved her sceptre in answer, and the mattress rose off my bed, tipping the covers onto the floor. “I prefer to face the window as I sleep.”

  Considering she held one of the most powerful magical objects in the region in her hand, I was better off not starting an argument. Instead, I backed out of the way as she rearranged my bed, scattering pillows everywhere.

  “So, what can you do?” she asked. “You must have a powerful talent for Madame Grey to show an interest in you.”

  I grabbed some of the discarded pillows before one of us tripped over them. “I can tell whether someone’s telling the truth or lying. And I can sense what type of paranormal anyone I see is, even if it isn’t obvious.”

  I’d also blocked a vampire from reading my mind and had seen through illusion spells few other people could, but some of that was down to my fairy magic. If Madame Grey hadn’t told the newcomers I was half fairy, I wasn’t about to enlighten them on the subject. Even my lie-sensing ability was a combination of the mind-magic I’d inherited from my witch mother and my fairy heritage, since fairies were unable to lie.

  She grunted. “I’ve known a few people with that sort of power. None of them turned out well.”

  I piled the pillows onto the armchair. “What do you mean?”

  “The truth is never easy to face, Blair,” she said. “And witches whose abilities enable them to control others always end up abusing that power in the end.”

  “Not me.” It was true that other witches with similar abilities had caused me no end of difficulties since my arrival in the magical world. Blythe, my former co-worker, had used her mind-reading powers to humiliate me, while her mother had used a similar skill to attempt to unseat Madame Grey from her position as leader of the town’s council. But that didn’t mean I’d ever use my own abilities in the same way.

  Aveline gave another grunt. “Time will tell. Do unpack my suitcase for me, Blair, will you?”

  I couldn’t sleep. Not because the sofa was uncomfortable, but because Sky had decided the next best thing to sleeping on my bed was to sprawl across my chest. Whenever I tried to move to a more comfortable position, he Sky twitched and flailed in his sleep and speared me with his claws. My back and neck ached, while the sound of Aveline snoring drifted through my open bedroom door, accompanied by the patter of rain on the windowsill.

  Aveline had spent the entire evening giving orders to Vanessa and complaining at full volume. She’d resisted all my attempts to steer the conversation onto the topic of my mother, not out of deliberate avoidance of the subject but because she preferred to dictate the conversation and everyone else to shut up and listen to her. By now, I had a headache and a strong desire to find somewhere else to sleep. Like a tent on the lawn, for instance.

  Sky jerked awake, swatting at something above my head. I winced when his claws dug into my skin through my pyjamas and sat up, looking for the intruder. A small winged shape flitted about overhead—the pixie.

  I made shooing motions with my hand, but Sky kept batting at the pixie with his paws. I lifted him off me and stood, stretching my aching limbs. Tilting my head, I mouthed at the pixie, please don’t wake anyone up. At least he hadn’t come in via Aveline’s room. But I’d left my slippers
under my bed, and I didn’t dare risk waking her.

  I grabbed my shoes instead, following the pixie outside the flat. I tried to make as little noise as possible, but Aveline’s resonant snoring followed me all the way down the corridor. She’d also left the back window open, so I moved deeper into the garden to speak to the pixie without waking her. When tall rows of flowering plants blocked the house from view, I stopped, shivering.

  “What are you here for?” I whispered to the pixie. “It might have escaped your attention, but we have visitors. Important ones.”

  The pixie dropped a scrap of paper onto my head in answer. I unfolded the note to read my dad’s latest message.

  Samhain is the one day of the year when the barriers between worlds are the thinnest. They say you can see fairies on that night. They also say the dead often come back to talk to the living.

  I read the note again, then once more. What was he implying? That I’d be able to see the fairies? Or speak to the dead…

  Like my mother?

  I folded the note in my hand. “Does he mean I can talk to my mum? Or is he implying more fairies are coming?”

  The pixie flew in a circle, then vanished.

  “Hey!” I moved, then realised the sound of snoring from the house had quietened. Uh-oh.

  Bracing myself, I walked back towards the house. Sure enough, Aveline watched me through my bedroom window, a scowl on her face.

  “What in the goddess’s name are you doing?” she said loudly.

  “Uh, taking a midnight walk to gather herbs.” I grabbed a few stems at random. “Don’t worry, I’m coming back inside now.”

  I entered the house through the back door, regretting my midnight jaunt already. As I tiptoed through the dark corridor, a furious shout came from inside my flat. So much for not waking everyone.

  I pushed open the door and found Aveline standing in the centre of the room, an expression of livid fury on her face.

  “It’s gone,” she announced.

  “What’s gone?” I let the door close behind me, wishing I’d just stayed put. I should have known she’d be a light sleeper.

  Alissa’s bedroom door opened, and she walked out, yawning. “What is it?”

  “The sceptre’s missing,” said Aveline.

  What?

  “It is?” I said. “Are you sure it didn’t roll under the bed?”

  “Of course not,” she snapped. “It was right there. But now it’s gone.”

  Oh, no. Tired though I was, I’d have to find the sceptre if we wanted to get any peace. I walked into my bedroom to look around. She’d moved all my furniture, but the sceptre wasn’t exactly difficult to spot. I crouched to look under the bed. Nothing. Not in the wardrobe either.

  It seemed she was right. Someone had broken into our flat… and stolen the sceptre.

  3

  Aveline hobbled around with such ferocity, I braced myself in case she tripped and hurt herself. “Where is it?”

  “Where did you leave it last night?” I gave the room another scan, making a mental list of all the possible places it could have disappeared to. I was certain I’d seen her take it into my bedroom when she’d retired to bed, but I searched the bathroom, then the kitchen.

  Alissa came out of her own room. “It’s not in here.”

  “Search the living room, then,” Aveline snapped. “I’m not going back to bed until we find it.”

  While she herded Alissa into the living room, I re-entered my bedroom and searched under the bed once again. Then I checked in the wardrobe, in the drawers, under the mattress. I even checked outside the open window, and behind the curtains. No sign of it.

  “Are you positive you didn’t move it during the night?” I exited the room, finding Alissa dutifully searching under the armchairs.

  “What do you take me for? I was asleep until someone woke me up by wandering around in the garden.”

  I wasn’t even near the house. But she’d been snoring right up until I’d left, so unless the thief had sneaked in while I’d still been awake, there was only one time they could have done it: while I’d been outside.

  Oh, no. I’d left the flat door unlocked. The house was in the safest part of the neighbourhood and with a fairy cat on guard duty, I’d become accustomed to leaving the flat door open whenever I went outside to see the pixie during the night. Yet the back door had been closed and the front door locked.

  So… had someone inside the building stolen the sceptre?

  Aveline reached into the pocket of her flowery dressing gown and withdrew a long, thin wand, giving it a wave. The sofa lifted into the air, rousing Sky with a yowl of dismay. The bookshelves shook themselves, sending books toppling onto the floor.

  “Hey—what’re you doing?” I stumbled backwards as the carpet yanked itself out from under my feet, and an armchair skidded into my kneecaps.

  “What else? Turning the place upside-down.”

  I scooped Sky up in my arms and he clawed at my face, drawing blood. Wincing, I backed away from the levitating armchairs into the doorway. “Can’t you search when we’re outside?”

  In answer, she tipped my suitcase upside-down, scattering my clothes all over the floor. Sky jumped out of my arms and ran, hiding underneath them. Great. Now my work clothes were covered in cat hair.

  “Head Witch,” said Alissa pleadingly. “You’re knocking over my things—”

  “Don’t you dare order me around, you young whippersnapper,” she said. “That sceptre is worth more than your lives.”

  “Mother!” Vanessa shouted from the corridor outside. “What are you doing?”

  I opened the flat door to let her in. “The sceptre’s missing, so she’s turning the place upside-down—literally.”

  Vanessa entered and tripped over the rumpled carpet, grabbing the doorway for balance. “Mother, please stop. We’re guests here!”

  Aveline whirled on her daughter. “Someone stole the sceptre from beside me while I slept.”

  “I heard voices outside,” said Vanessa hesitantly.

  “Ah, that was me,” I said. “I didn’t see anyone else out there, though.”

  “Then who were you talking to?” Aveline’s eyes narrowed. “Your accomplice in crime, perhaps?”

  “Of course not,” I said, insulted. “You’d have heard me if I’d come into your room. I’m guessing the thief sneaked in while I was outside, but the front door was locked, and I didn’t see anyone around the back.”

  “So the thief came from in the house, did they?” she said. “I should have known one of the Rosemary witches would try an underhanded trick like that.”

  “Mother!” said Vanessa. “Please don’t make unfounded accusations.”

  “The door was locked, she says,” Aveline said.

  “The thief could have used an unlocking charm,” Alissa put in. “Unless you’re certain the other witches might have had reason to steal it?”

  “It’s no big secret that they all want my position,” said Aveline. “They’ve been doing nothing but talking about unseating me for weeks. I won’t have any of it.”

  “What’s going on?” Nina walked downstairs, wearing a bright pink dressing gown. Her strawberry blond hair stuck out at all angles, but she looked as though she’d had a more restful night than I had.

  “There was a break-in,” Aveline informed her. “Someone saw fit to steal the sceptre. Unless you had designs on it yourself? Thought you’d steal a bit of power, did you?”

  “No.” Nina looked alarmed. “I don’t even know what the sceptre does. I didn’t know you had it in the flat, either.” True. Not that I thought Nina would have taken it. She didn’t have a reason to. The other Head Witch-wannabes, on the other hand…

  “She’s telling the truth,” I said.

  “And you’re the expert, are you?” said Aveline.

  “Mother!” said Vanessa. “Blair’s trying to help.”

  “Also, she really can tell if people are lying,” Alissa added. “If the thief is in th
e building, it should be easy to prove who they are.”

  “Is that so?” She peered at me. “And can anyone tell when you’re lying? Convenient.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said irritably. I hadn’t slept, our flat was a tip and I had another week of this cranky old witch to endure without losing my mind. Poor Sky let out a meow of despair from underneath my clothes.

  “Did your familiar take it?” asked Aveline.

  “Sky wouldn’t know how to use it.” But he had been in the room when the thief had come in. Had he seen the intruder?

  I walked over to the pile of clothes. “Sky, did you see anyone come into the flat?”

  “Miaow.”

  “What does he mean?” asked Aveline. “Can you understand him?”

  I shook my head. “He can understand everything we say, but it doesn’t go both ways.”

  Yet he’d been in the flat during the break-in, and unless they came through the window, the thief must have walked through the living room to get in. Right?

  “Then we’ll make him talk.” Aveline pulled out her wand and gave it a wave. Sky floated upwards, dislodging clothes in the process. His claws lashed out, shredding everything they could reach.

  “Hey!” I hurried over to him, but he flew higher into the air. “Stop that.”

  “Cat got your tongue?” Aveline looked up at Sky. “Bit small for a familiar, isn’t he?”

  Sky made a faint growling noise. Uh-oh. The last thing I needed was for Sky to transform into a giant monster in front of the Head Witch. “Sky, calm down. She doesn’t mean it.”

  Aveline made a derisive snorting noise. “Do you normally speak to your familiar like that? No wonder he has no respect.”

  “Mother!” said Vanessa, hurrying to her side. “Blair, I’m sorry—Mother, please put him down.”

  “MIAOW.” Sky let out a growl as he landed in my arms in a flurry of claws. He leapt to the floor, then sprinted from the room in a streak of black fur.

  “Ah—Sky, come back!” The last time Sky had vanished, he’d taken days to return. Admittedly, if I were him, I wouldn’t want to come back until Aveline had departed, but if he’d seen who’d broken into the flat and there were no other witnesses, finding the thief would be a lot harder. Thanks for that, Aveline.