To Catch a Witch

by Sharon Booth

  'December 24th, 1669,' he told me.

  Somehow, I'd half known he would say that.

  'It's about to happen, isn't it?' I whispered.

  His hand tightened. 'Over there,' he replied, and I turned my head to peer over at the far wall. Witch's Leap.

  Before I could ask any more questions, we were there, right by the wall, yet I didn't remember walking there at all, and it hadn't felt as if we were zapping.

  Now, my eyes fully adjusted to the night, I could see Blaise and Jennet. He was striding towards us, seeming not to see us, and she was running after him, dragging on his arm.

  'You must not do this!' she begged. 'You swore to me!'

  'So, it was all for nothing? Is that what you wish?'

  'Yes! Yes, that is what I wish.'

  They were nearer now, and I saw she was crying. It was weird seeing her there. My twelve times great grandmother, looking so like me even I was startled.

  'I never thought you would be a coward, Jennet,' Blaise said scornfully.

  'We agreed,' she said desperately. 'You have seen the consequences, just from travelling mere days.'

  'We did nothing, touched nothing,' Blaise snapped. 'What consequences have there been?'

  'For us! With our minds.' Jennet gave a strangled moan. 'Oh, I would give anything for us never to have meddled in time. Why did I listen to you?'

  'As I recall,' Blaise said, 'you were just as eager as I to discover if it were possible.'

  'I did not know then what I now know,' she said. 'Blaise, it does something to the mind, can you not see that? Our thoughts have become muddled, confused. I have forgotten several incidents that took place but days ago. If you persist in this folly, I fear you will lose your mind, and you will become as wretched as the poor fools in Bethlem.'

  'I need to find her,' he insisted. 'You know what Mother Clipson said.'

  'Please, forget what Mother Clipson said,' she pleaded. 'She is old, her mind wanders these days. You cannot put your whole life — and so much more — at risk for some muddled vision that makes no sense.'

  'It was clear,' he said. 'There is a witch of great power waiting for me in the future. Because of her, I will find my way to a time of wonder. You heard her, Jennet! There are creations there that we cannot even dream of. Birds that fly in the sky, carrying people in their bellies. Horseless carriages. Medicines that can cure the sicknesses that plague our people now. Imagine what we can do with that knowledge!'

  'But 'tis not our time!' Jennet cried. 'Those things, wondrous as they are, are not meant for us, Blaise. We must stay here and make do with what we have. Time unfolds as it should. There are things we must never know. If you try to change it—'

  'I will come back, Jennet,' he promised her, gripping her arms fiercely. 'I will come back, and with my new knowledge I will change the world.'

  'And rule it, no doubt,' she said, her voice harsh with grief.

  'Meaning?'

  'You understand my meaning, all too well,' she snapped. 'You have changed. There is something in your face that was not there before we started our experiments in time. You have become greedy, arrogant. You seek power. I no longer know you.'

  'You are being foolish,' he said. 'This is my destiny. I must go forward.'

  'And what if you are lost in time along the way?' she demanded. 'What if you never find the place you seek?'

  'I will. Mother Clipson has foretold it. The witch is waiting for me. She will guide me to her.'

  Jennet was openly sobbing. 'Please, please, listen to me, I beg you. Mother Clipson did not tell you of her vision so you would seek this witch out. She told you of it to warn you. She loves you. Did she not bring you into this world? She told you so you would stop this foolishness and keep the entire world safe. You risk everything, Blaise, and for what? So you may come back here and be lauded as a great visionary? A prophet? You know what they do to people who see into the future.'

  'They cannot touch us,' Blaise said. There was a gleam in his eye that was unnerving. 'When I return, I will bring with me the means to transform the kingdom. Who can stop us, Jennet? Together, you and I, the two ravens ... we are invincible.'

  Jennet stepped back, tears streaming down her face as she shook her head frantically. 'Not I, Blaise. Do not include me in this folly. I want no part of it. I will not help you.'

  'Very well,' he said coldly. 'If you will not help me, I will do this without you.'

  'And Bevil?'

  For a moment, Blaise seemed like the man I'd grown to know. His expression softened. 'Bevil will be well,' he said. 'I will let no one harm my dear brother.'

  'And you think he will approve of this? Bevil, dear gentle Bevil, who believes in you so completely? Bevil, my poor darling Bevil, who cannot see what his own flesh and blood is becoming? Who fears witchcraft and begs you daily to refrain from its use? How much harder would he have begged, I wonder, if he had known what you were really doing in the sallyport?'

  'What we were doing,' Blaise reminded her. 'You were just as involved in our experiments as I.'

  'I was a fool,' she admitted. 'I let my excitement take hold and allowed common sense to flee. I will tell Bevil the truth about my part in this madness. I cannot marry him with this secret between us.'

  Blaise grabbed her arm. 'You will say nothing about this,' he said. 'I will be home before Bevil even realises I am gone. The witch will help me back.'

  'You cannot know that! She may betray you!'

  'She will not betray me. She waits for me in that distant place, and she is already mine. She will do what I bid her.'

  'Then she is another fool,' Jennet cried. She wrenched free from his grasp and I saw the telltale blue light appear in her fingertips.

  Blaise saw it too. He struck her hard across the face, leaving her dazed and breathless on the ground.

  I gasped in shock and tried to run over to help her, but I couldn't move.

  'Don't make me kill you, Jennet,' Blaise said. 'I would not break my brother's heart for the world.'

  He closed his eyes, and I saw a golden glow emanate from him.

  Jennet struggled to her feet and ran at him. 'No! No, you must not do this!'

  Blaise grabbed her by the throat, and I screamed at him, 'Leave her alone!'

  Neither of them could hear me.

  'Help her,' I sobbed. 'Hector, please ...'

  'Shh,' he soothed. 'Watch and you'll see.'

  A familiar sound rode in on the sky above me. The beating of wings on the current of air around us, the furious call of a raven as it swooped on Blaise and tore savagely at his face.

  He yelled and let go of Jennet, and she staggered backwards then straightened, holding her throat. I realised suddenly that a second raven had arrived, and knew it must be Nightwing, Blaise's own raven. I held my breath, terrified she'd fly to his rescue, but to my surprise, she sat, staring at the scene but making no move to intervene and it came to me, as clearly as if someone had whispered the words into my ear, that Nightwing didn't agree with her master's actions. She couldn't bring herself to attack him, but she had no intention of helping him either.

  The raven, Merle, pulled at Blaise's hair and pecked furiously and rapidly at his skin, paying no mind to the golden aura that was now pulsing and throbbing around him.

  Jennet lifted her hands and, as we watched, a ray of blue light shot from her fingertips, blasted through the golden light, and hit Blaise squarely in the solar plexus. He flew up into the air, looking stunned and afraid, then before he could do anything to stop it, he was soaring over the castle wall, into the freezing, dark waters of the River Hrafn; into the twenty-first century; into the arms of the witch who waited for him.

  I closed my eyes to stop the tears splashing down my face, Jennet's own heartbroken sobs mixing with my own. Above me, the raven gave a triumphant cry and flew away.

  'Time to go,' Hector whispered, and I opened my eyes again to find I was in Castle Lodge, kneeling over Blaise's blood-soaked body.

  ***
*

  'What — what happened?'

  At the sound of Benedict's voice, I tore my gaze away from Blaise and gazed up at my brother-in-law through blurry eyes. 'Are you all right?' I asked him, my own voice hoarse with fear and shock.

  'I think so. He was coming right at me but then ...' He shook his head and looked down on Blaise. 'Is he alive?'

  'He's alive, just.' Hector got to his feet. 'Don't worry, I'll do all I can. Help is on its way.'

  'Benedict!'

  Star had appeared in the kitchen. She flung herself at her husband and I watched, amazed, as she sobbed desperately in his arms. 'You're all right. Oh, thank God, you're all right.'

  'I'm fine, my darling, I'm okay, honestly.' Benedict hugged her tightly and tenderly kissed the top of her head. 'What are you doing here?' he asked, clearly as puzzled as I was.

  Star pulled away from him and wiped her eyes. 'I was in the loft — your nan's loft. I was just about to get rid of the witch bottle when, as I reached for it, it exploded! There was an almighty roar of thunder, and glass shattered all over the floor. I knew what that meant. You were under attack. I had to find you.'

  Benedict paled. 'You — you were about to get rid of the witch bottle?'

  'Yes. A few seconds later, and it would have been useless. Can you believe it?'

  Benedict landed in a chair with a thud. 'Oh, my God!'

  'You never thought of that, did you?' Hector said, a wry smile on his lips.

  Star sniffed and stared down at Blaise's body. 'Oh my word, what happened to him?'

  'Well,' I said dully, 'given what you've just told us, what do you think happened to him?'

  'You mean ...?' She stared at me, then at Benedict. 'Are you saying Blaise attacked you?'

  He nodded. 'It's a long story.'

  'And one that can wait for the moment,' Hector said. 'Ah, we have company at last.'

  We all looked round, then suddenly Aveta appeared in the room. She glanced from one to the other of us and seemed to understand what had happened immediately.

  'So, you were right,' she said to Hector.

  'It seems so,' he said. 'Can you see to him, Aveta?'

  How on earth did he know Aveta? Who was he?

  Aveta knelt down beside Blaise and put her hands on his chest. I turned away, too afraid to watch.

  'It's okay, he'll live,' Hector assured me. He looked out of the window. I followed his gaze. The raven had gone, but outside the rain was pouring down. As I watched, a flash of lightning rent the sky in half. 'Storms will rage,' he murmured.

  'Hector,' I said, 'what's going on? How did we get to 1669?'

  'Pardon?' Star put her hands on her hips. 'You've been to 1669?' She swung round and glared at Benedict. 'Did you go, too?'

  'Me?' He held up his hands in a gesture of defence. 'No way. And I don't know what Celeste's talking about. They didn't go anywhere. They were right there, kneeling by Blaise the whole time.'

  'What?' I leaned against the worktop, feeling thoroughly confused. 'But that can't be right. We were in the castle grounds that night in 1669. Weren't we?'

  Had I imagined the whole thing?

  Hector looked at me for a moment, then turned to Aveta. 'How is he?'

  'As well as I can make him for now,' she said.

  He took her arm and helped her to her feet. We looked down, and I felt a surge of relief that all traces of blood had vanished, and Blaise was now lying, still unconscious, but breathing normally.

  Aveta's eyes narrowed, and she grabbed my arm. 'Where did you get this?' she said, staring at the bracelet in shock.

  'Blaise put it on her,' Hector said, his tone grim. 'It seems he gained access to the High Council's property. Any idea how?'

  Aveta shook her head. 'I don't understand. It's not possible…' Her voice trailed off and her eyes narrowed. 'That day at the hotel, when Aurora gave birth. I removed your bracelet before you went home, Celeste, and I – I must have left it lying around.' Her face turned even paler, if that was possible. 'I'm so sorry. Forgive me,' she said to Hector.

  Why on earth did she need Hector's forgiveness?

  'It was manic that day,' I said, in her defence. 'And she was warning Father and me about the prophecy. I expect it just went out of her mind.'

  Aveta patted my arm. 'Thank you, Celeste, but that's no excuse. There must be an inquiry.' She turned to Hector. 'I promise you, we will take steps to tighten security.'

  'I'm sure you will,' he said, smiling at her. 'Lessons learned all round, eh?'

  Aveta looked weak with relief and I stared at Hector, wondering why she was so deferential to him.

  'That was quite a powerful curse you put on that witch bottle,' Aveta said to Star. She patted her on the shoulder. 'Well done.'

  Star beamed. 'Thank you very much.'

  'I can't believe you were going to get rid of it,' Benedict said faintly. 'After all this time of asking, it had to be today you decided to do as I told you.'

  'Excuse me? Told me? I hardly think so,' Star said. 'What does it matter? It served its purpose.'

  'But a moment or two later and I—' He gulped. 'I'd be a frog. Or dead. Or a dead frog. Who knows what he had in mind for me?'

  Star groaned. 'Oh, no. Not the frogs again.'

  'I warned you,' Hector said gravely. 'You wouldn't have it, though, would you?'

  'Because I knew it protected me!' Benedict cried. 'You didn't think I'd have been that stupid if I hadn't believed that, do you?'

  'You were very brave,' I told him.

  'I was terrified,' he confessed.

  'Which makes what you did even braver,' I said. 'There's no courage in acting when you're not scared.'

  Benedict cocked his head and considered what I'd said. 'You're right,' he said. 'I'm quite a hero.'

  'Well, you're my hero,' Star told him, bending down to kiss him on the cheek. She straightened and waved. 'Oh, Mother! You missed all the fun!'

  Mother and Castor stood at the door, their arms weighed down by bags from the garden centre.

  'I leave you for five minutes,' Mother said, shaking her head. 'I hope someone will explain what's been going on.'

  Castor curled his lip and glared at Blaise's unconscious form. 'Reckon we can guess.'

  'Let's get him to bed,' Aveta suggested. 'Then I think a nice cup of tea and a bit of a chat is called for, don't you?'

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Hector took Blaise to his room and left him to sleep.

  'What if he escapes?' Sky asked nervously. She was sitting between Jethro and Father and looked scared stiff. The magical world was still new to her, and this had all come as a terrible shock. Sky was a trusting soul, and it had astounded her to learn of Blaise's true nature.

  'Don't worry about that. I've removed his magic again — and that's how it will stay,' Hector assured her. 'Besides, I doubt he'll be capable of going anywhere for a while. That was quite a blast he took.'

  'Where's Sirius?' Star asked impatiently. 'You did pop and tell him we needed him, Castor?'

  'Said so, didn't I?' Castor said. 'Told you, found him in a restaurant wi' the lass. Looked deep in conversation. When he spotted me by the door he came straight over and I told him summat had happened and he were needed, and he said he'd be over as soon as he could.'

  'What could be more important than this?' Star tutted. 'He's a raven, for goodness' sake. He should be here.'

  There was a knock on the door, and we all looked at each other.

  'This had better not be the window cleaner,' Mother said, getting to her feet.

  'It would be jolly bad timing,' Sky agreed.

  'Never mind that. He didn't do the back windows last time. He thinks I didn't notice. Well, I'm in just the mood to remind him I always notice!'

  Luckily for the window cleaner, it wasn't him. Instead, the remaining four members of the High Council of Witches filed into our living room, following Mother, their expressions subdued.

  'Hello, Father,' Aurora said cheerfully. 'Gosh, this is a f
earful turn of events, isn't it? Who'd have thought it, eh? Blaise St Clair, a rotter!'

  'He's brought shame to the family name,' Star said crossly.

  'To be fair, there was already plenty of shame attached to your name,' Zephyr pointed out.

  'All right,' Father said, 'you don't have to dig at us every time, you know. You could ignore some of them.'

  'But you make it so easy,' Zephyr said. 'First Bevil, then you, now Blaise.' He shook his head. 'What a family my daughter has become entangled with. Divorces are common these days, Aurora. No one would think any the worse of you.'

  'Steady on, Father,' Aurora said indignantly. 'If anyone should contemplate divorce it's you, don't you think?'

  'Meaning what, exactly?'

  'For goodness' sake!' Aveta's voice boomed around the room, surprisingly strong for one who looked so elderly and frail. 'Don't you think we have more important things to discuss than these trivial family feuds?'

  Zephyr looked suitably chastened. 'You're right, Aveta, and honestly, I don't understand half of what's gone on here today. Would someone care to enlighten me?'

  'Perhaps Hector should be the one to explain,' Aveta said, nodding over at Hector who was sitting in an armchair by the fire, watching us all with a bemused expression on his face.

  Zephyr, Amlodd, Bob and Kendrew turned to him and I watched in surprise as their expressions changed. They seemed flustered, exchanging nervous glances. To my amazement, they each bowed their head at him.

  Zephyr stepped forward. 'I'm so sorry. I had no idea ... forgive us, great one.'

  Great one?

  I gaped at Hector as he inclined his head to Zephyr. 'You weren't to know I was here. Don't worry about it, Zephyr. Please sit down, all of you.'

  The entire High Council sat immediately, while the rest of us exchanged bewildered glances.

  'What on earth was that about?' Star asked, staring at Hector with undisguised admiration. 'Who are you?'

  'You don't know?' Zephyr looked appalled. He looked over at Hector with confusion, and I knew he was wondering what he was doing with us if we weren't aware of who he was. Or what he was.