To Catch a Witch

by Sharon Booth

  'Easy for you to say,' Father muttered. 'All our kids were magical.'

  'You won't love him any less?' Blaise's voice was urgent, and we all looked at him.

  'What do you mean by that?' Father said indignantly.

  'Your son is still your son,' Blaise said. 'He's no less because he has no magic. You'll still love him just as much, surely?'

  'Well, of course I will,' Aurora said, sniffing into her handkerchief. 'He's our precious son.'

  'Exactly,' said Blaise. 'It will make no difference to you as he grows up. It made no difference to my father and mother that Bevil had no magic.'

  I closed my eyes as there were audible gasps around the room.

  'Excuse me?'

  'What did he say?'

  'What do you mean, Bevil had no magic?'

  'Celeste, did you know about this?'

  I sighed, knowing there was no wriggling out of this conversation now. I'd deliberately kept that piece of information from my family, knowing how it impacted on the St Clair legend. I needed time to think, and I'd wanted Blaise to have time to remember more details. Fat chance of that now.

  'It's not a big deal,' I said.

  Sirius narrowed his eyes. 'You think?'

  'All right, so it is a big deal,' I corrected myself. 'But seriously, can we get back to Aither? That's what we're here to discuss, isn't it?'

  'So, Bevil St Clair had no magic either?' Aurora wiped her eyes and considered the matter. 'At least we know it's come from your side of the family. That should make Father feel a bit better.'

  'That's your opinion. Personally, I think he'll kill me,' Father said gloomily.

  I'd had enough of all this. I gently scooped Aither up and handed him over to Aurora. 'Here's your son,' I said. 'Take a good look at him. He's the same beautiful, adorable little cherub he was ten minutes ago.'

  'I must say,' Mrs Greenwood said, sounding indignant, 'I'm surprised at your attitude towards him. What does it matter whether he's magical?'

  'No one asked you,' Castor snapped.

  'I'm aware of that,' Mrs Greenwood replied, sounding suddenly stronger. In fact, I thought with some surprise, there might even have been a tinge of anger in her tone.

  'Are you okay, Mrs Greenwood?' I asked.

  'Actually, I'm quite appalled at all this,' she said. 'And I'm finding it rather distressing. Perhaps you've forgotten that my dear, darling Benedict was born without magic, which was why his mother and her paternal grandparents turned their backs on him. Because of that, I raised Benedict as my own, and it was my pleasure and my honour to do so. Do you think Benedict is lesser because the magical gene in his mother's family didn't pass to him? Do you?'

  'I'd forgotten about Benedict,' Sirius admitted. 'About his magical heritage, I mean.'

  'Oh, golly!' Aurora had tears rolling down her cheeks. 'I can't believe what I said! I'm Titania, aren't I? I'm my awful, hideous, prejudiced, bigoted old hag of a stepmother? No offence Mrs Greenwood,' she added hastily, remembering Titania and Mrs Greenwood's daughter, Susie, were the same person.

  'None taken,' Mrs Greenwood replied. She drew herself up to her full height — which wasn't very much it has to be said — and declared, somewhat haughtily, 'there's nothing worse than a witch who shuns a person they claim to love, just because that person doesn't have powers. I would say that person should be bitterly ashamed of themselves. It's more about them than the non-magical person. They're worried about what people will think of them. How it reflects on them. Well, any shame belongs to them, if you ask me.'

  My jaw dropped. I'd never heard Mrs Greenwood make such a long speech, and I'd never heard her use that tone of voice before. She was usually a dithery, fluffy sort of person, but her words had a thread of steel running through them. Benedict's treatment at the hands of his mother still upset her, clearly.

  'But what will become of him?'

  I blinked, wondering where the voice had come from. It was a female voice. A tearful female voice. I looked around but no one seemed to have heard it. Maybe I'd imagined it?

  There was an echo in my head and suddenly I was in darkness, as if I'd closed my eyes.

  'He'll be fine, Fern. He has us. He'll always have us.'

  'But to be abandoned by your own mother.' There was a strangled sob. 'How could she do it to him? How could she leave our poor Benedict all alone in the world?'

  'He's not alone. He'll stay here with us, and we'll love him. We'll always love him. It's Susie's loss, not his. He's going to be a wonderful chap, you wait and see. He'll make us proud, Fern. I know it.'

  'I think Fern makes a valid point,' Mother said. 'We have a lot to be grateful for.'

  I shook my head slightly, not sure what had just happened.

  'And there is a solution to your worries about Aither being bullied at school,' Sirius was saying, as I focused on the current conversation, not wanting to dwell on the weird experience I'd just had.

  'What solution?' Castor asked.

  Sirius shrugged. 'Isn't it obvious? Leave Ballydraiocht and move here, to Castle Clair. He can go to the local school and no one will be any the wiser, since none of the local children have magic either, and it wouldn't occur to them it exists.'

  'Gosh,' Aurora said, looking at Father. 'What do you think?'

  'We can't impose ourselves on you,' Father said. 'It wouldn't be fair on your mother, for a start.'

  I couldn't help thinking it wouldn't be fair on Sirius either. He'd got very stressed when they stayed with us for Christmas, swamped by so many people in the house.

  'There's plenty of room,' he said nobly, if rather stupidly. 'You're always welcome.'

  This was his guilt coming into play again, I realised. He felt he owed Father because he'd taken his place in Grandfather's will. No amount of reasoning with him had made any difference. Sirius was still struggling to come to terms with being master of Castle Clair.

  'How about we stay where we are for now, but look for somewhere to live around here?' Father suggested. 'I must say, I'd love to be back in the old hometown again, and to be so close to my family once more. It would be good for Aither, too. He'd love to have his brother and sisters so close every day.'

  'That's settled then,' Sirius said.

  'Yes,' Mother murmured. 'It seems it is.'

  ****

  Castle Lodge was bursting at the seams — or so it seemed to me. I think Blaise felt the same, as he'd taken himself off to his room and was poring over the library books we'd borrowed a few days ago.

  He'd quite taken to Castle Clair's public library and was amazed and delighted to find he could borrow books for free. Apparently, his father used to have a huge library when they lived at Clair Castle, but most of the books had been stolen or destroyed during the wars. Afterwards, when they lived at Castle Lodge, he'd tried to build up a collection of books once more but had never even approached the quantity he'd had before. Blaise couldn't remember the castle library as he'd been very young when the family left, but his father had apparently talked about it with great affection and sadness. Evidently, Rafe St Clair had been an avid reader, and I decided my love of books must have come from him — something I shared with Blaise.

  I'd been astonished and delighted to realise he adored reading. He'd got through the history books Sirius had given him in record time and was eager to learn more. We'd had several trips to the library, and the librarian had been most helpful in her recommendations.

  He was devouring post-colonial, post-colonial feminist and feminist fiction. He'd finished Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie last night and was already a quarter of the way into Zadie Smith's White Teeth, so to speak.

  Star and Sky thought it hilarious he was such a bookworm, declaring that if further proof were needed that we were meant for each other, they couldn't imagine what it was. They'd arrived for dinner, Paypacket, Belle, Benedict and Jethro in tow, and wasted no time asking me how things were going between Blaise and me. Luckily, Blaise was still in his room, and Benedict and J
ethro were in the living room, making small talk with Sirius, Father and Aurora. My sisters had hurried up the stairs to find me, and had burst into my room without even knocking, which I thought was disgraceful of them. Luckily, I was fully dressed and trying to decide whether I could be bothered to wear makeup.

  'It's not like that,' I hissed at them, afraid someone else would hear and take up the baton. 'He's not interested in me in that way. Besides,' I added, because the thought was never far from my mind, 'now he's remembering things about his parents and Bevil, the memory of Jennet's bound to return at any moment, and he'll forget all about me.'

  'I can't believe Bevil wasn't magical,' Sky said, throwing herself on the tub chair in the corner of my room. 'All those legends about the two brothers. They even named the pub The Two Brothers Inn after them, for goodness' sake. And there are the two bridges! It's all rubbish, isn't it? All of it. The stuff about their magical battles over Jennet, I mean. That can't have happened, can it? I wonder what else we've got wrong.'

  I hesitated, not sure I should reveal anything else to them. Aveta's warning about the prophecy still frightened me, and I didn't want Star and Sky worrying unnecessarily. Maybe it was time I shared with them at least some of what I knew. Quietly, I told them how Blaise had remembered he hadn't been pushed at all, and I described what he remembered of that night.

  'But that's what happened to me!' Sky burst out. 'That's exactly how it felt. A pressure in the solar plexus and then flying and falling.'

  'Gosh,' Star said, sprawling on my bed and eyeing me worriedly, 'so someone blasted him over the wall? He didn't jump. Who else knows about this?'

  'I've told no one else,' I said. 'Except Sirius, obviously.'

  'We ought to rename that place,' Sky said. 'We can hardly keep it as Witch's Leap now, can we?'

  'We jolly well can,' Star said, sitting up and fixing Sky with a determined look. 'Have you any idea how much the St Clair story brings to this town? In terms of tourism and income, I mean? We can't afford to disprove the legend.'

  'You sound so mercenary,' I muttered crossly. 'It's not all about money.'

  'Tell that to the people whose livelihoods depend on tourists coming here,' she said. 'Tell that to the people whose cafés and shops are full to bursting with people who come here to lay flowers at the shrine, or visit the castle, or gawp at Castle Lodge or browse the museum. Those people spend money, Celeste, whether you like it or not. They hire boats and row along the famous River Hrafn where Blaise drowned, they buy souvenirs from the local shops, they stuff their faces in the cafés and restaurants and pubs. This isn't about us. You know perfectly well we could survive with no money at all. But to the ordinary townsfolk, the legend matters in ways we can't imagine. We can't just announce it's all rubbish. Anyway,' she added petulantly, 'I'm certain no one would believe it. And where's your proof? Your time-travelling boyfriend? He's hardly a credible witness, is he?'

  'Don't be so rude,' I snapped. 'And Blaise isn't my boyfriend! Stop saying that.'

  I felt my face catch fire as I realised the bedroom door had been pushed open. Blaise stood there, looking uncertain. 'Er, sorry. I heard raised voices and wondered if everything was okay. I'll leave you to it.'

  He closed the door again, and we all stared at each other. I must have looked as horrified as I felt, because Star and Sky both hurried up to me and put their arms around me.

  'Don't worry, I'm sure he heard nothing,' Sky whispered.

  'I'm so sorry, darling. I have such a big mouth sometimes,' Star said, sounding contrite.

  'We'd better go downstairs,' Sky added. 'I think I heard Mother calling us to dinner.'

  'Oh no!' I groaned. 'This will be so embarrassing.'

  ****

  Elvira and Easton had arrived by the time we hurried downstairs. I say hurried. Star and Sky hurried, but they more-or-less dragged me down with them. It mortified me, worrying about what Blaise had heard. Did he hear me deny he was my boyfriend? How had he reacted to that?

  I tried to rationalise it, really I did. He wasn't my boyfriend. Even so, I couldn't help feeling I'd publicly rejected him, and I'd just made it less likely we'd ever get together. Which was stupid, obviously, because we were never likely to get together, anyway. Were we?

  He was sitting in the armchair by the fire and he glanced up at me as I entered the room, but looked quickly away. Great, I'd embarrassed him as well as myself.

  'There you all are!' Elvira hurried over and kissed Star, then hugged Sky and me. 'Hiding away upstairs, up to no good, no doubt. How are you all? Have you seen Aither? Hasn't he grown? Isn't he adorable?'

  'Which question would you like us to answer first?' Star said, laughing. 'It's good to see you again, Elvira. How's the teaching going?'

  'Oh, you know. Ups and downs.' Elvira shrugged. 'Luckily, I love maths so much it makes it all worthwhile.'

  'Freak,' Easton muttered.

  We glanced across at him and Elvira tutted. 'Charming as ever. You remember my dear brother?'

  'Of course,' Star said. 'How are you, Easton?'

  'Fine.' He gave us a rather desperate look. 'I hope you're all going to talk about something besides babies. That's all I've heard since I got here.'

  'But he is sweet,' Benedict said, looking longingly at Aither, who was lying on Father's lap, sucking noisily on his knuckles.

  Sky nudged Star. 'Someone's broody,' she whispered.

  'Tell me about it,' Star said, rolling her eyes. 'It's all he's talked about since Aither arrived.'

  Elvira hooked her arm through Benedict's. 'Is Nan coming?'

  He nodded. 'I'm going to pick her up now.'

  'Well, you'd better hurry,' Mother said. 'Dinner's ready.'

  'I'll fetch her the easy way,' Elvira said, and vanished before Benedict could protest.

  She returned moments later with her flustered grandmother clinging to her arm.

  'I don't think I'll ever get used to that,' Mrs Greenwood gasped. 'Goodness, it makes you quite dizzy, doesn't it?'

  'Just in time, Fern, dear,' Mother said. 'Let's head into the dining room, shall we?'

  'Ooh, yes. Lovely.' Mrs Greenwood caught sight of Blaise and her face lit up. 'Blaise, dear! Look what I've got for you.'

  She reached into her handbag and drew out a little package, which she handed to him. I tried not to look disapproving as he carefully unwrapped it, then beamed at her.

  'Chocolate fudge cake!'

  'I saved it for you especially,' she told him. 'I know how much you like it.'

  Didn't he just! He was going to be bursting out of his clothes at this rate.

  'You're wonderful,' he told her, and promptly kissed her hand.

  She positively fluttered her eyelashes at him! Honestly! I couldn't help but grin, but my amusement died as I noticed the filthy look Castor gave the pair of them. What was his problem? I decided to question him about it when I got him alone.

  'That looks rather yummy,' Star said, looking at the cake in Blaise's hand. 'I might pop up to the café tomorrow and nab a slice of that myself.'

  'What, break with tradition and not have lemon drizzle cake?' I said, laughing.

  'A change is as good as a rest,' she said primly.

  Father tucked Aither back in his carry cot and made Bran and Belasko swear to look after him, then we all headed into the dining room.

  'What are we having?' I enquired.

  'Creamy spinach and tomato tortellini for you and Sirius,' Mother said, 'with added chicken for the rest of us.'

  'Ooh,' Star said. 'That's different. Yum.'

  Blaise eyed the huge dishes in the centre of the table with some suspicion. He'd tasted Sirius's homemade vegetable lasagne and hadn't been overly keen on it. On the other hand, Castor had rustled up spaghetti and meatballs one night and he'd quite enjoyed that. It was anyone's guess how he'd take to spinach and tomato tortellini with chicken. I suspected he'd go easy on the tortellini, ignore the vegetables, and pile his plate with pieces of chicken, and he proved me right,
which made me smile despite still feeling embarrassed around him.

  'How did Father take the news?' Aurora asked Elvira, heaping her already full plate with sundried tomatoes, red and yellow grape tomatoes and asparagus.

  'What news?' Elvira asked, reaching for her glass of wine.

  'About Aither,' Aurora said, sounding amazed Elvira didn't know what she'd been referring to. 'What else?'

  'This is just typical! I knew nothing good could come of my daughter marrying that man.'

  My hand, clutching the fork, stilled over my plate as Zephyr's voice echoed around my head. My heart thumped. Not again!

  'I did warn you. That family are poison. You should have been firmer with her. She should never have married a St Clair, and now look what's happened. Yet more disgrace to our family's name.'

  'Oh, Mother, stop being such a snob.' I recognised Elvira's voice, but I knew instinctively that her words were from the past.

  'How was I supposed to stop her? God knows, I tried to talk her out of it enough times.'

  'You always did spoil her, Zephyr. You should have given me a free hand with her. I told you that enough times. Well, now we must live with the consequences.'

  'A non-magical grandchild.' There was a loud groan. 'What have I done to deserve this?'

  The fork clattered onto my plate and I jumped.

  'Are you all right, darling?' Mother asked and I nodded.

  'Fine. Just slipped out of my hand. Sorry. Do carry on.'

  'Well?' Aurora said impatiently. 'What did Father say?'

  'Oh.' Elvira took a sip of wine and shrugged. 'He wasn't too concerned.'

  'He went bat shit crazy,' Easton said. 'What?' he added, as Elvira gave him a poisonous look. 'No point in keeping it from her, is there? I'm sure she'll find out soon enough when he can bring himself to visit again.'

  'Oh, golly.' Aurora gave Father a worried look.

  'Honestly, I wouldn't worry,' Elvira said reassuringly. 'You know what he's like. It was a shock, that's all. I'm sure he'll calm down and it won't matter at all.'