Seven Pets for Seven Witches

by Annabel Chase

  “Caitlyn? Caitlyn, are you there?”

  It was Viktor. Caitlyn peered past the troll’s body; she could just see the old vampire shuffling slowly up the tunnel. In a minute, he would step into the cavern and walk straight into the troll.

  “Stop, Viktor! Don’t come any closer! There’s a troll in here!” Caitlyn shouted.

  The troll swung around at the sound of her voice and put out a groping hand in her direction. “UNGHH,” it grunted.

  Caitlyn backed away, clutching Nibs to her chest. Behind the troll, she saw Viktor suddenly emerge from the tunnel and step into the cavern.

  “Aha! A troll.” The old vampire rubbed his hands, his wrinkled old face lighting up with delight. “Fear not, Caitlyn! I will dispatch it in no time.”

  “Wait, Viktor…! What if… what if it crushes you?”

  Viktor drew himself up indignantly. “Young lady, have you forgotten that I am a battle veteran with centuries of experience? When I was a young vampire, I used to fight trolls for fun!”

  “Yes, but you’re old now—I mean… maybe you’re out of practice, since you haven’t been doing it for a while.”

  “Nonsense!” Viktor waved a dismissive hand. “Watch as I subdue the creature with the power of vampire hypnosis!”

  He marched over to the troll, who was looking very confused now, swinging its head backwards and forwards as it followed each of their voices. Viktor reached up and poked the creature’s protruding belly.

  “AAGRRHH!” the troll growled. It bent down to peer at Viktor, its fleshy lips jutting out angrily.

  “Behold, troll!” cried the old vampire. Then, pointing at his own eyes with two fingers, Viktor began swaying left and right, left and right, like a giant pendulum.

  “Look into my eyes… LOOK INTO MY EYES…”

  “UNGHH?”

  “You will begin to feel sleepy… sleeeeeepy…” Viktor intoned, still swaying left and right, left and right.

  Caitlyn watched with bated breath. Maybe she had underestimated Viktor; maybe he really could hypnotise the troll and put it to sleep, then they could simply stroll out of the cave…

  A loud snoring broke the silence, but Caitlyn wasn’t looking at a sleeping troll. Instead, the troll was still standing, staring quizzically at the skinny old man in front of him, who was swaying right and left, with his eyes shut and his mouth open, snoring loudly.

  Great. So much for the power of vampire hypnosis. Viktor has put himself to sleep!

  Caitlyn sighed and wondered what to do now. She eyed the distance to the tunnel again. Could she make it before the troll caught her? By herself, probably. The creature didn’t seem to have the quickest reflexes, and she was sure she could dart past its legs and run to the tunnel entrance before it turned around. But clutching Nibs and towing a sleeping Viktor behind her? She swallowed. There was only one way to find out.

  Taking a deep breath, Caitlyn clutched Nibs tighter against her chest, causing the kitten to give an indignant “Mew!”, and then she started running. She rushed first towards Viktor, who was still swaying in front of the troll. Grabbing his arm, Caitlyn turned and started for the tunnel. But she hadn’t realised how difficult it was to drag a sleeping person. Viktor slumped against her, pulling her down like a dead weight and bringing her to a complete stop.

  “Viktor! Viktor, wake up!” Caitlyn shook him desperately.

  The old vampire responded with a loud snore.

  “UNNGHH!”

  Caitlyn looked up, then screamed as the troll lunged. It was a lot faster than she’d expected, but a lot clumsier too. It had obviously meant to grab her but it missed. Instead, she felt its huge, meaty hand smack into her body, throwing her against the far wall of the cave.

  Her head hit something hard… and then everything went black.

  Chapter 4

  When Caitlyn opened her eyes again, she found herself lying in a huddle on the floor of the cave. Viktor was sleeping peacefully next to her, still snoring loudly, and Nibs was curled up against her, his yellow eyes wide and scared.

  “Mew?” The little kitten’s ears perked up as he saw her open her eyes. He climbed onto her lap and nuzzled her. “Mew…”

  “Hi Nibs…” Caitlyn whispered, patting him weakly.

  Her head was sore and her mouth felt terribly dry. She wondered how long she had been out. Looking around, she saw that the interior of the cave now seemed to be lit by faint sunlight.

  Sunlight? Caitlyn looked around again and saw a wide beam of daylight at the far end of the cave, slanting down from the ceiling. There must have been a large crack or chasm overhead, with a shaft that led up through the rocks to the ground above. From the strength of the light pouring down the shaft, she guessed that it must have been the next morning. She had been out for several hours.

  Rolling over, she tried to stand up but found that she couldn’t move her legs. Her feet had been bound together by rope. The knots were primitive but tight and no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t loosen them. Next to her, she could see that Viktor’s feet had been similarly bound.

  Before she could figure out what to do, a noise made her look up again. Over by the shaft of light, she saw something that she hadn’t noticed earlier: a stack of wooden sticks piled on the ground. A moment later, the troll loomed out of the shadows, carrying something in its huge hands: a gigantic cast iron cauldron. The troll set this on top of the stack of wood, then bent down and began to do something to the pile. A few minutes later, Caitlyn saw yellow and orange flames licking through the wooden heap.

  A fire. The troll was making a fire. And the chasm in the rocky ceiling provided a makeshift chimney for the smoke to leave the cave—that was why the stack of wood had been positioned next to the shaft of light. And maybe the beam made it easier to see things too, although the troll itself didn’t seem to like the light much. In fact, it avoided stepping into the beam and sat with its back to the light. Now it was busily adding things to the cauldron… whole carrots and turnips and even potatoes, with bits of soil still clinging to their skins. Caitlyn could hear soft splashes as the root vegetables were dropped into the water. They were followed by a few sticks of kanel—the red magical cinnamon—that the troll had obviously salvaged from the fallen jars. And then it picked up an old wooden tree stake and began stirring the cauldron, grunting to itself as it did so.

  “Mew?” said Nibs.

  At the sound of the cry, the troll looked up, then slowly ambled over to her and Viktor. Caitlyn saw its piggy eyes gleam as it looked at their bodies and made happy grunting noises. Then the troll ambled to the pile of jars and retrieved more sticks of kanel, which it brought back and crushed in its massive hands, sprinkling the pieces on Caitlyn and Viktor. The warm, spicy sell of cinnamon was almost overwhelming. And with a sinking heart, Caitlyn realised suddenly what the troll was doing—it was seasoning them for the pot.

  Wonderful. Viktor and I are going to be the star ingredients in “troll soup”.

  She had to figure out a way to get them out of the mess. Caitlyn racked her brains. I’m supposed to be a witch, she thought desperately. Shouldn’t I be able to use magic to help us escape? But the only spells she had learnt were all mostly to do with chocolate. How could that help them now? She could hardly turn the troll into chocolate!

  Then Caitlyn paused. No, not the troll, perhaps. But she could try turning something else into chocolate. She looked doubtfully down at the rope binding her feet. Could she do it? So far, she had only attempted to transform small things in the chocolate shop—and not succeeded very well either. She had no idea if she could manage such a large item. But working chocolate was in her blood, Caitlyn reminded herself. She was descended from a long line of witches who could tap into the ancient magic of cacao. She just had to trust her instincts.

  Taking a deep breath, she placed her hands on the rope that bound her feet and closed her eyes, concentrating hard. She imagined the rope changing, starting from the ends and moving along its length, gradua
lly transforming into smooth milk chocolate. Then she opened her eyes and looked down.

  Yes! She’d done it! Instead of rough twine, the surface of the coils around her feet were a smooth, gleaming brown, and when she tried to stretch her legs, the rope snapped crisply, shattering into chocolate fragments on the ground around her feet. She scrambled to stand up.

  “UNGRRHH!” The troll scowled as it looked down at her. Even slow and stupid as it was, it was beginning to work out what had happened. It reached out a hand to grab her. Caitlyn ducked and picked up one of the large pieces of broken chocolate, shoving it into the troll’s grip instead.

  “HUNGH?”

  The troll stopped and stared at the piece of chocolate in its hand. Slowly, it raised the chocolate to its mouth. There was a loud munching sound. Then a sigh. Caitlyn watched as a smile spread across its vapid face. The troll had just had its first taste of chocolate… and liked it! It reached down greedily for another piece. Then another. And another.

  As Caitlyn saw the troll reach for the last piece of chocolate, she had an idea. Quickly, she grabbed the chocolate before the troll could and backed away.

  “UNNGGRRRHH!” The troll waved its arms angrily and stomped its feet, like a giant toddler having a tantrum. “UNNGGRRRHH!”

  Caitlyn continued to back slowly away, waving the last piece of chocolate in front of her. The troll lumbered after her, swinging its arms to try and grab the chocolate, but Caitlyn kept it just out of reach. She kept backing and backing until she’d led the troll over to the fire and the cauldron, which was now bubbling merrily. She held the chocolate up just above the cauldron and the hot steam made the chocolate melt slightly. A rich, sweet aroma filled the air. The troll began drooling.

  “AARRGGHH…” it growled, lunging forwards to try and grab the chocolate again.

  Caitlyn jerked it just out of its reach, making the troll step even closer to the fire. She waved the melting chocolate again, making sure that the mouth-watering, rich cocoa aroma wafted upwards, then braced herself. When the troll lunged towards her again, she fought the urge to jerk back. Instead, she waited until the very last moment, when its fingers had almost touched hers, then she turned and flung the piece of chocolate as far as she could, through the shaft of light and across to the other side of the chimney shaft.

  The troll turned instinctively to follow the chocolate, then made a panicked grunting noise as it began backpedalling frantically. But it was too late. The momentum from the weight of its body meant that it stumbled straight into the shaft of sunlight. There was a bellow of fury.

  Then the next moment, the cave was silent.

  Caitlyn stared up at the stone statue silhouetted in the shaft of sunlight, perfectly carved in the shape of a troll. It had been a wild punt but it had worked. She had faintly remembered Evie’s ramblings about Norwegian folktales and how trolls only came out of their caves after dark… because the sun turned them to stone. She eyed the stone statue. It looked like the Norwegians had got it right.

  The folktales didn’t say how long trolls remained stone, though, she thought with sudden unease. They probably returned to their normal selves once darkness fell, but what if this troll changed back early? Deciding that she didn’t want to hang around to find out, Caitlyn ran back to where Viktor was still peacefully snoring. Nibs had been huddled against the old vampire, but now he scurried over to her, mewing plaintively.

  “Oh Nibs!” cried Caitlyn, cuddling him close. She buried her face in the kitten’s soft fur for a moment. He smelled sweetly of cinnamon and Caitlyn realised that there was still a faint dusting of cinnamon sugar on his coat. She wondered if that was what had led the troll to find Nibs and capture him last night. Cinnamon was obviously one of the troll’s favourite spices and a little furry kitten smelling sweetly of cinnamon must have seemed like a very nice snack!

  Putting Nibs back down, Caitlyn turned her attention to Viktor. Quickly, she used the chocolate trick to free his legs, then hauled him to his feet. He slumped against her, still snoring.

  “Wake up, Viktor! Wake up!”

  More snoring.

  Caitlyn exhaled in frustration. For goodness’ sake, how long did vampire hypnosis last? She hoisted Viktor’s arm over her neck, so that she was supporting his body, and began dragging him down the tunnel. Nibs trotted ahead, looking back every so often to see if she was following. It was very slow going and Caitlyn kept throwing fearful glances over her shoulder, wondering if the troll might suddenly “unpetrify” and come after them.

  Finally, after what seemed like an age, she found herself back in the hollow underneath the bridge. Dragging Viktor behind her, she crawled out into the morning sunshine and collapsed on the grassy bank, panting and exhausted. Who would have thought that a skinny old vampire could weigh so much!

  “Caitlyn?”

  Caitlyn jumped in surprise, then whirled to find herself looking up at a tall, dark-haired man in a classic polo shirt, riding breeches, and long black boots. He was standing by the bridge, looking down at her in bewilderment.

  “J-James!” she stammered.

  Chapter 5

  Lord James Fitzroy hurried down the bank, followed by his English mastiff, Bran. The huge dog wagged his tail as he saw Nibs, whilst the kitten gave a delighted mew and scampered up to meet his big canine friend.

  “Caitlyn… what are you doing here?” asked James as he stopped beside her. He looked at her with concern, taking in the bump on her forehead, the dishevelled state of her clothes, and the wild tangle of red hair surrounding her pale, dirt-smudged face.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, putting a gentle hand on her arm. “What happened? Why are you out here…?” His gaze flicked to her clothes—he was too much of a gentleman to say “… in your pyjamas”, but it was obvious what he was thinking.

  Caitlyn flushed as she realised that she was still wearing the baggy T-shirt and faded yoga pants she normally wore for sleeping. Great. So much for meeting James looking graceful and sophisticated.

  She cleared her throat. The best lies are a variation of the truth, she reminded herself. “Um… I’m fine… Nibs ran off into the forest, so I came out to search for him. I… er… sort of rushed out without getting dressed properly.”

  “Oh… did you have a fall?” James indicated the bump on her forehead.

  Caitlyn hesitated. She hated lying to James but she could just imagine his face if she told him the truth. In fact, now that she was standing in the bright light of day, she was having a hard time herself believing that she had spent the night in a troll’s cave. It all just seemed like a bad dream now.

  “Yes… um…. Nibs was stuck and I was trying to get him down… and I took a bit of a tumble. Parts of the forest are quite… er… rocky. But don’t worry,” she assured him. “I’m fine. Just a couple of bruises.”

  Then she remembered Viktor and wondered how she was going to explain that to James. But when she cast a surreptitious glance at the grassy bank next to her, she was startled to find that there was no longer a skinny old man lying there, snoring peacefully. Instead, a fuzzy brown fruit bat lay curled up on the grass, making cute wheezing noises in its sleep. Viktor must have somehow shifted into his bat form while he was sleeping.

  Caitlyn breathed a silent sigh of relief and hoped that James wouldn’t notice the little creature. Fruit bats weren’t native to English forests and he would wonder how it had ended up there. She was glad when Nibs scampered up to them, followed by Bran, and James turned away to pat them. Quickly, Caitlyn used her foot to nudge some nearby bracken over the sleeping fruit bat, hiding him from view. Hopefully, Viktor would simply wake up later, refreshed from his long sleep.

  James had crouched down to stroke Nibs. Now he looked up and met Caitlyn’s eyes. He smiled. “The little rascal has grown so much since the day we rescued him together.”

  Together. Caitlyn savoured the word. She gave James a shy smile. “Have you been out walking Bran?”

  James gestured to the stone
bridge next to them. “No, actually, I’ve come out to meet a constable from the local police. A group of teenagers left a hysterical report at the police station, claiming that when they were here in the woods recently, they were attacked by a ‘Bigfoot’ creature near the bridge.”

  “Bigfoot?”

  He gave her a wry look. “Well, on closer questioning, it turns out that they weren’t so much ‘attacked’ as startled by a dark shape looming out of the undergrowth. It never actually touched them. And they were also… er… partaking of certain substances that they shouldn’t have.” James grinned. “So it’s debatable whether the whole thing was just a hallucination. Still, since this is Fitzroy land, I feel a certain responsibility in maintaining public safety. And the police do have to investigate every report. So I’ve arranged to meet an officer here to go over the area together.”

  Caitlyn turned back to look at the bridge. In the bright sunshine, it looked very ordinary—just a crumbling stone structure standing forgotten in an ancient forest. Nothing to hint that a mythical creature could be living in a cavern beneath.

  “I’m sure it’s nothing,” continued James. “You know Tillyhenge has a certain reputation—the village has always had a long association with magic and witchcraft. I’m sure these boys probably heard the rumours and it fed into their over-active imaginations. Then they come into the woods late at night and the next thing you know, they’re seeing witches and goblins. It’s all nonsense, really.”

  Caitlyn cleared her throat and said casually, “So… you don’t believe in witches, then?”

  James laughed. “Oh, I’m careful not to be too dismissive in public. The rumours are good for tourism—it helps us stand out from all the other villages in the Cotswolds and brings in curious visitors from far and wide. So I do my bit to maintain the aura of mystique around Tillyhenge.” He picked up Nibs, holding the kitten up to the light. “Of course, this little one—with his jet-black fur and big yellow eyes—could be the classic witch’s cat…”