Bad Holiday in Witch Town

by Mark Hockley

exhausted that it was just as well.

  Everything was so extreme, if she didn't keep a clear head things could get even worse than they already were. She almost chuckled at this idea and her mind turned to Luke, who presumably was somewhere tucked up in bed.

  Unless of course he had bolted during the night.

  Which when all was said and done, didn't sound like such a bad idea at all.

  Luke was sitting upright in a padded chair inside a relatively small room on the top floor of the house. He hadn't slept at all.

  His eyes were like dark hollows, his complexion pasty and he had a queasy feeling moving around in his stomach. He decided he was in shock and had even pinched himself hard at one point during the long night just to make sure it was all really happening. It was.

  I'm a married man, he told himself with a tinge of hysteria.

  It occurred to him that he could just stay in this room, in this chair for the foreseeable future. That way, he wouldn't have to deal with the acute awkwardness of talking to Ellie, or even worse, having to look at her.

  It wasn't that he didn't like her. Far from it. It wasn't that he didn't think she was pretty. He did. It was simply that he was in love with Beth.

  He had been for quite some time and it was the kind of feeling that went very deep. A longing that he kept inside, causing him pain and joy in equal measures. He wasn't a complete fool, he knew she only had eyes for Zack, but he couldn't help himself. .

  He rationalised the situation and knew that this so-called marriage wouldn't stand up in any court of law that he recognised. Problem was, at the moment and he had no idea how long it might continue for, he was subject to the laws of Witch Town. While he was here, its citizens considered him to be Mr. Ellie of the Black Coven. And let's face it, men didn't really get too much respect. How did it go again, he was going to be governed and dictated to. By his good friend Ellie.

  No, this chair seemed all the more attractive and he snuggled down into it a bit more.

  There was a light knock on the door and he tensed. "What!?" he snapped, afraid it might be Ellie come to give him a few orders to start the day. But when the door opened it was the boy called John he had met briefly the evening before.

  "You are expected in the fields," John said without ceremony.

  Luke just gave him a blank stare. "What are you talking about?" he asked, "why?"

  With a frown, John spoke slowly, as if speaking to a child, which he wasn't that far from being himself. "All the men have to work. You're already late."

  "But," argued Luke, feeling immediately very stupid, "I just got married!"

  John did not appear very impressed by this observation. "Allana of the Blue Coven is waiting for you."

  "Maybe I should have married her," Luke mumbled, getting out of his chair reluctantly.

  "I will tell her that you're coming then," the boy said as he turned to go.

  "Oh please do."

  Luke's words may have been full of scorn but he felt just like a fish on the end of a very sharp hook.

  Beth was learning how to be a maid. And her teachers were all boys.

  It might have been funny if they didn't drive her so hard, treating her for the most part with cautious contempt.

  Her main instructor in the ways of domestic service was a boy of about thirteen named Joshua. He was efficient and hard working, would indulge in no chit-chat and took his role very seriously indeed. In fact, pretty much every one of these boy servants were professional and diligent to the point that Beth began to wonder if they were robotic facsimiles, created by the witches to do their dirty work. She wouldn't put it past them. But that got her wondering why they couldn't just use their magical words to get things done. There were a lot of questions and far less answers.

  She did a lot of scrubbing, carrying, polishing, mopping and dusting. She had even been given a chance to do some cooking, but she had burnt the pastry she was in charge of and was now on her knees cleaning a toilet, obviously as punishment.

  She had absolutely no idea where the others were and no-one was inclined to answer her questions about them. The witches themselves treated her as if she were invisible and the one time she had caught sight of Abigail and tried to speak to her, she had been rebuked with a terse, "get back to work, girl."

  Beth wasn't sure how long she could carry on doing this before she went crazy. Always at the back her mind was the knowledge that these people could hurt her if she didn't do as she were told. And she had no doubt that they would if they needed to. She had no friends other than those she had come here with and in the depths of her heart she had begun to fear that she was fast losing them too.

  Isolated and vulnerable, Beth had very little optimism left that she was ever going to get back to the world outside Witch Town. And even if she did, who would she be then? Never again her old self. She might not be a witch like Ellie, but she was someone different now. Someone who looked like her, but felt worn down and altered inside.

  She continued with her work. What else was there for her to do.

  Luke saw his friend ahead in the fields and paused. Now what?

  Hi, mate did you hear about last night when I married your sister?

  It might sound just about okay if he said it fast enough. He wished he believed there was even a chance that could be true.

  Zack had spotted him and was looking over with a questioning gaze.

  Luke momentarily considered feigning injury and slumping to the ground. Anything to avoid having to talk to the other boy.

  But Allana was only a few paces behind and he was certain she would see through his play acting. He had never been any good at amateur dramatics anyway. He could probably write an effective poem or produce a vivid painting depicting his inner struggle of being faced with severe humiliation, rejection and quite possibly a good beating from his friend. But that wasn't much use at that moment.

  Almost dragging his feet, he continued on towards Zack.

  Leonie stood off to one side, apparently relaxed but ever vigilant. She nodded at the other witch, but ignored Luke. This suited him just fine. He wished that everyone would just leave him alone.

  But now Zack was facing him and the boy obviously had questions he wanted to ask. It didn't take him very long to get to point. "What did Ellie do!?" he hissed, "do you know? Where have you been!?"

  Luke just gawped dumbly at him. "Eh..." he muttered, "well.."

  "So do you know what happened!?" his friend demanded to know.

  The expression on Luke's face, which was growing paler by the second, was one of painful discomfort. "I was there," he managed to get out.

  "So how did Ellie get out of it?" Zack asked, confident that his sister would have found a way to avoid the unthinkable. Luke opened his mouth several times, but no words came out. "Come on Luke, just tell me what happened!?"

  "There is work to be done," came the voice of Allana.

  Zack waved a hand at her and tried his best to smile, despite the anxiety he was feeling. He knew something was up. He just didn't know how bad it was. "Okay, just a minute." He returned his attention to the other boy and waited.

  Luke averted his eyes, staring at the ground. "Ellie had to choose someone," he said softly, "or they would have chosen for her. She had to do something." He hesitated, wishing he was somewhere else a long way from there. "So...she chose me."

  His friend gaped and his eyes widened. "You?"

  For a brief second Luke looked up, saw the look on Zack's face and swiftly returned his attention to his feet again. "I think she thought it was the best thing in the circumstances," he said sheepishly.

  Zack seemed to consider this for a few moments, piecing together the details of what he had been told. Then his face flushed and his body went rigid. "And where have you been all night!?"

  The smaller boy took an involuntary step backwards. "No..what?..wait...what!?" he gibbered.

  With a stunned expression Zack stared at him. "You and Ellie?" he said incr
edulously.

  "No!" Luke cried out, "It doesn't mean anything. We're not together." he tried to think more quickly, but his mind was sluggish. "I didn't get any sleep at all last night!"

  "You what!?" boomed Zack.

  "I was in a chair," his friend rushed to explain. "Ellie wasn't with me. I was on my own."

  Try as he might, Zack could not get his head around any of it. It was nuts. "Where is Ellie?"

  Luke shook his head. "I don't know. I haven't seen her since...you know. I don't know what she's doing."

  "You really do need to get to work now." It was Leonie. She stood only a few feet away. They hadn't noticed her approach.

  "Do you know?" Zack asked her, trying his best to keep his voice under control.

  The dark haired girl seemed to consider her reply. Then she spoke kindly. "Your sister will learn her place in her Coven. As we all must do. She will be well, don't worry."

  "I don't get any of it," Zack stated to no one in particular.

  Luke kept silent. Whatever came out of his mouth at the moment seemed to only make things worse.

  Now Allana had come to stand beside Leonie. They made a striking pair, but neither boy was in the mood to notice. "There are many tasks delegated to you today," the blonde girl told them, "you are already behind. Please go about your work. Do not make this unpleasant for us all."

  Luke sighed a little, but knew there was nothing more he could say or do. Zack, on the other hand, had the look of a man who has seen the impossible. Witches he could come to terms with. A hidden town in the middle of a forest he could just