Witched!

by Rebecca McRitchie

  ‘But,’ said Tock.

  ‘That would mean they . . .’ said Tick.

  Geraldine nodded.

  ‘They knew that by helping me, they would be revealing themselves to be syphons, and it would put them in danger. I could have been a hunter. I could have been anybody. But they did it anyway.’

  Geraldine stopped, a sadness in her eyes.

  Cora was proud of her parents. They had used their syphon magic to help save a stranger.

  ‘I went back to the beach a few times after that, each time hoping to see your parents again,’ Geraldine said. ‘To somehow thank them. But years went by, and they never came back. I presumed they had gone on with their lives. At least, that was until they found me in Urt, injured . . .’

  Geraldine glanced down at the table. ‘The protection spell that I used on you has its repercussions,’ she said. ‘Anything from a sudden dust allergy to memory loss was a possible side effect.’

  The room filled with silence once more. At last, Cora had some of the answers to the questions she had carried with her for so long. She thought about everything Geraldine had told her. She replayed the scene she saw of her parents over in her mind. She was thankful to Geraldine for giving her more parts of them to hold onto. And for making sure that she was safe from Kaede. Geraldine had helped Cora and her parents. Just like her parents had done for her.

  Cora met the sea witch’s gaze.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said. She felt like her parents would have wanted her to say that.

  Geraldine smiled at Cora. ‘You must know that I didn’t choose your eye,’ she said. ‘The magic took what it wanted. It always does.’

  Cora nodded.

  ‘Now, can I ask you a question?’ Geraldine added.

  Cora was unsure of what else she could tell the sea witch that she didn’t already know.

  ‘Is Dot alright?’ Geraldine asked, her face creased with worry. ‘You’re here without her and . . .’ she paused.

  Cora wasn’t sure how much she should say to Geraldine. Should she tell her about Kaede? About what had happened in Tynth? About how she was cursed by a Jinx? Or that she had syphoned warlock magic? What would Geraldine say? Would she be disappointed? Upset?

  ‘Dot is injured,’ Cora said. ‘But she is on the mend and safe with a hobgoblin friend.’

  ‘Belle is the best healer of all the hobgoblins,’ Tock added.

  ‘Even better than Horace the Healer,’ said Tick.

  The sea witch nodded, relieved. ‘Dot is a strong one,’ she said. ‘I knew that she would do what she could to protect you’.

  Cora nodded.

  ‘That night,’ Geraldine said, ‘when your parents found me, I opened the door to my room and they collapsed in my arms. Bruises, broken bones and deep, bleeding cuts lined their skin. Your mother could barely keep her eyes open and your father struggled to stay upright as he carried you.

  ‘Martha told me that one of their own had killed all of their kind. Almost the entire existence of syphons. Gone. They said they had only barely escaped him, and they didn’t have long until he would find them again. Ivan wanted me to cast a protection spell on you but I got to work trying to heal them both instead.

  ‘When nothing worked, your parents pleaded for the protection spell to stop the evil syphon from finding you. But I knew it had repercussions. Martha and Ivan said it was more important than anything. More important than saving their lives. They could sense the syphon who was after them was close by.

  I agreed to it and performed the spell. When it was done, your parents’ injuries worsened. I tried everything. Every poultice and healing magic I could think of. I felt my magic and strength weaken. I had forgotten all about Dot and the Eye of the Sea until she arrived at the door.

  ‘She was shocked of course. Dot wasn’t a magical being and didn’t live in the magical world, but your parents and I thought that you would be the safest with her. Even with the protection spell, a one-eyed girl in the magical world would still draw attention. When your parents succumbed to their injuries, lightning ricocheted outside the window . . . and I felt it. The pull of a strong magical presence had arrived in Urt.’

  Cora swallowed.

  ‘I had to make a decision. So before Dot could even agree to it, I gave you to her and sent you both away. And then I disappeared from Urt before—’

  ‘Kaede could find you,’ Cora said. And then she winced. She hadn’t meant to say his name, but it had just slipped out.

  The sea witch stopped. She stared at Cora, taken aback. Her eyes searched Cora’s. ‘How do you know that name?’

  Cora glanced at the fairies, unsure of how to answer. Where should she begin? From the moment she lost Dot? When she met Archibald Drake? Or from when she first saw Kaede in Tynth? As she faltered in her chair, Geraldine reached out a hand and gently held onto Cora’s wrist. She turned it over in her hand.

  ‘Where’s your bracelet?’ she asked, worriedly. ‘The ice-stone bracelet helps keep your syphoned magic bearable. If you don’t have it, and you syphon too much magic, or volatile dark magic, you will become—’

  ‘A Havoc,’ Cora finished.

  ‘Been there, done that, lady,’ said Tick with a wave of his hand.

  ‘That was so a few days ago,’ said Tock, munching on a dried sea slug.

  ‘What?’ exclaimed Geraldine. Stunned, she turned to Cora. ‘You were a Havoc?’

  ‘Almost,’ said Tick.

  ‘A warlock broke my ice-stone bracelet,’ Cora said. ‘And then my syphoned magic was . . . difficult to control.’

  Geraldine’s eyes widened.

  ‘It’s okay,’ Cora said. ‘A troll named Dann made me a new necklace made from ice stone and I feel much better.’ She pulled out the sparkling ice-stone necklace from beneath her clothes and showed it to the sea witch.

  But Geraldine looked more alarmed than ever.

  ‘No, no, no,’ the sea witch said, a faraway look in her eyes. ‘That can’t be possible.’

  Abruptly, Geraldine stood up from the table.

  ‘We thought it was impossible too,’ said Tick.

  ‘But then we found the dark-magic spell Drake used,’ said Tock. The fairy looked over at Cora, and Cora then remembered that she still had the spell they had found in Archibald’s study in her pocket. She pulled out the piece of paper and handed it to Geraldine.

  As she watched a wide-eyed Geraldine’s mouth open and close as she read through the spell in her hands, a feeling of dread rose in Cora’s stomach. She thought back to when her ice-stone bracelet was melted from her wrist by Archibald Drake in Jade City. Why was Geraldine still worried? Cora swallowed. There must be something else. Something Geraldine hadn’t told them. Cora glanced over at Tick and Tock. They shrugged.

  ‘What is it?’ Cora asked.

  Geraldine closed her eyes. ‘The powerful protection spell that I used that night, I imbued it into your ice-stone bracelet,’ she said. ‘It was supposed to be unbreakable and with you always.’

  ‘What does that mean?’ Cora asked.

  ‘Ice stone protects you from your syphoned magic, but the protection spell hid you from others of your kind,’ said the witch. ‘It hid you from Kaede.’

  Cora remembered the fluttering feeling that she felt in Tynth, when Kaede was near. The feeling that magical beings feel when they are near their own kind and Cora realised what the sea witch was saying, why she was so panicked.

  ‘And that means that . . .’ Geraldine began, dismay colouring her face.

  ‘Kaede can find me now,’ Cora finished, her stomach twisting into knots.

  The sea witch nodded and the air in the room suddenly became heavy with Cora’s words.

  ‘That’s why Archibald broke my ice-stone bracelet,’ Cora said, now understanding. ‘Kaede told him to . . . so that he could find me.’

  A crack of thunder barrelled through the night sky outside and Cora nearly jumped out of her skin.

  Geraldine ignored the noise. Instead, she star
ted collecting their cups from the table. ‘You must go,’ she said.

  ‘But we only just got here,’ Tock said.

  ‘And I haven’t had any sea slugs yet,’ said Tick.

  ‘It isn’t safe,’ Geraldine said, her voice dropping to a low and serious tone. She looked over at Cora. ‘You’re no longer safe. We are no longer safe.’

  Then with a flourish of her fingers, everything flew from Geraldine’s hands and into the kitchen sink. Water poured out from the tap, washing the cups and bowls before stretching outwards and placing them away on shelves.

  ‘We’re on a bewitched beach,’ said Tock. ‘He won’t be able to find us.’

  ‘Yeah, we haven’t seen him in days,’ said Tick.

  Geraldine paused and so did her magic. A few cups still dangled in the air. She stared at Tick.

  The fairy pursed his lips together, immediately regretting his choice of words.

  ‘You’ve already met him, haven’t you?’ Geraldine asked.

  ‘Met who?’ replied Tick, feigning ignorance.

  Cora wasn’t paying attention to what the fairies were saying. Her mind had become stuck on what Geraldine had said moments ago. We. Cora thought to herself. Could that mean . . . ?

  Another boom of thunder clattered in the sky outside and just as it did so, Cora felt a feeling she had only felt once before. She stood very still and immediately she recognised it as the feeling she felt in Tynth. The tickling sensation. The one that let her know when she was near one of her own kind. Dread filled her up like rain in a cup. Her stomach dropped.

  Kaede.

  He was here. She felt it.

  ‘The storm is here,’ said a voice by the doorway.

  Magic at the ready, Cora, Tick and Tock swivelled around to protect themselves from whoever it was that stood by the doorway.

  But it wasn’t Kaede.

  It was a boy.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The boy stood staring at them from the doorway. He wore blue pyjamas and an expression that revealed he had just been woken from sleep. He was half her age. No more than six or seven years old. His reddish hair stuck out at odd ends atop his head. His hair was just like hers. And then Cora noticed that his eyes, although he had two of them . . . were just like hers, too.

  The tickling Cora felt fluttered about like a butterfly, stronger than ever. And realisation hit Cora like a punch in the gut. She knew who the boy was without him saying a word. There was no mistaking it. She glanced over at Geraldine, the question she needed answered in her eye. Is he . . . Are we . . . ?

  With a smile, Geraldine tilted her head in a nod, her stern expression softening.

  Cora’s heart thudded in her chest. Slowly, she stood up from her chair at the table. She wanted to say something but she couldn’t find her voice even if she knew what to say. She continued to stare at the boy who looked just like her.

  The fairies eyed the boy.

  ‘Have we met before?’ Tock asked him.

  ‘You look very familiar,’ said Tick, squinting at the child.

  ‘I’ve never met pixies before,’ said the boy.

  ‘Pixies?’ echoed Tock, aghast.

  ‘We’re fairies,’ said Tick. ‘Who has been teaching you your magical beings?’

  Geraldine brushed off the fairies and turned to the boy. ‘Henry,’ she said. ‘There’s someone I’d like you to meet.’

  Henry, Cora repeated.

  Cora suddenly felt nervous. She instantly forgot how her legs worked. In seconds, her palms were clammy with sweat. She opened and closed them by her sides. Crud. What do I say? she wondered. She had thought about this moment ever since she’d learnt that she had a brother but never the words that went with it. Everything she had been searching for. Her syphon family. Someone like her. Both of which now stood staring back at her through a pair of tired six- or seven-year-old eyes.

  Cora’s mouth felt dry like she had just eaten a bowl of sand. She cleared her throat and was about to walk over to the boy and introduce herself, when Geraldine stepped in front of her.

  Suddenly, a giant clap of thunder boomed above them.

  Geraldine looked up at the ceiling, her eyes wide.

  ‘What is it?’ Cora asked as another loud smack of thunder barrelled across the night sky.

  ‘Go and grab the bag under your bed,’ Geraldine said to the boy. ‘Quickly.’

  Henry nodded and turning on his heel, ran out of the doorway and further into the darkness of the abandoned ride.

  ‘What?’ Cora spluttered. She stretched up on her tippy toes to try to see the boy over Geraldine’s shoulder.

  ‘We must go right now,’ Geraldine said. Like a current, the sea witch’s calm demeanour had swiftly changed. She now seemed agitated. Panicked, even.

  ‘Where are you going?’ Cora asked, tearing her eye from the empty doorway.

  In three long strides, Geraldine had moved over to a blue velvet chair that sat in the corner of the room. Using her staff, she lifted up the cushion seat and then reached down inside the chair, pulling out a lumpy green backpack. And then backpack and staff in hand, Geraldine strode over to a painting on the wall. Cora hadn’t noticed it before. The long watercolour painting that stretched down to the floor was of a very tall, wiry clown who had three eyes. With a finger, Geraldine poked the painting of the clown right in the clown’s third eye. And then the painting shuddered and began to melt. Cora watched as the watercolour paints melted from the frame into a sloppy wet mess on the floor . . . revealing a staircase that stretched all the way up to the beach.

  So that’s the entrance, Cora thought to herself.

  Henry came running into the room. He had swapped his pyjamas for pants and a shirt, and he now wore a green backpack that matched Geraldine’s. It was clearly two sizes too big for him.

  ‘Hello,’ he said to Cora, stopping to stand next to her. His eyes were no longer tired and were instead alight with excitement as they peered up at her. That’s when Cora noticed it. Although the sides of his face were half-covered by his messy hair . . . Henry was missing his left ear. She looked down and saw an ice-stone bracelet similar to the one that she used to have dangling from his wrist.

  Cora wanted to tell him who she was then and there. That she was a syphon just like him. That they were family. But a soft ‘Hello,’ was all she managed to squeak back.

  ‘Let’s go,’ said Geraldine, moving to step through the empty frame on the wall. Henry ran over to the sea witch, his oversized backpack jostling from side to side.

  Geraldine couldn’t introduce her to her long-lost brother and then leave? Could she?

  Cora squared her shoulders and stepped forward. ‘Wherever you’re going, we’re coming with you,’ she said.

  Tick and Tock flew over to Cora’s side, folding their hairy arms across their chests.

  ‘Unless of course you’re going to Screaming Swamp,’ said Tick.

  ‘Then you’re on your own,’ said Tock.

  Geraldine paused. She looked at the fairies and then to Cora. ‘Of course you’re coming,’ she said simply. ‘I promised your parents I would protect you both.’

  Cora glanced at the fairies.

  ‘Oh,’ she said.

  ‘Where are your things?’ Geraldine asked.

  ‘On the beach,’ said Tock.

  ‘We hope,’ added Tick.

  Then the fairies flew past Geraldine, into the framed hole in the wall, and up the stairwell towards the beach.

  ‘Well, come on,’ said Geraldine impatiently.

  Cora ran forward, and then stopping by the frame, she motioned for Henry to go first. The boy ran past her and up the stairs, and Cora followed, her mind on ways she could tell Henry who she was. How much had Geraldine told him? Did he know about her at all?

  When she stepped out onto the dark beach, small droplets of rain hit her skin. Tick and Tock were waiting nearby with the packs by their feet, and Cora could see the waves behind them had doubled in size as they crashed into each ot
her and onto the beach.

  Geraldine strode out of the hidden staircase and marched past them across the sand, unbothered by the beginnings of the storm. Henry did the same, marching with much smaller steps behind her. Tick, Tock and Cora moved quickly to keep up with them.

  ‘Don’t you need to un-bewitch this place?’ Cora asked, remembering what Tick and Tock had said. ‘So that we can leave?’

  Geraldine stopped marching. ‘Oh yes,’ she said. ‘You three aren’t sea witches.’ She handed her staff to Henry, who took it carefully in his two hands. Then Geraldine stood with her feet apart. ‘Brace yourselves,’ she said to them.

  The fairies and Cora stood back. Cora wasn’t sure what to expect. Would the beach move? Would the ground beneath their feet shake like an earthquake? Cora quickly looked for something to hold onto.

  Geraldine closed her eyes. She rubbed her hands together and then smacked them together in a giant clap. The sea witch opened her eyes and Henry handed Geraldine back the staff.

  Cora glanced at the fairies.

  ‘That’s it?’ she asked Geraldine.

  ‘Yep,’ the sea witch said.

  ‘I just thought there would be a bit more to it,’ Cora said.

  ‘Nope. This way,’ the sea witch said, striding up the sandy hill.

  Cora and the fairies trailed after the sea witch and Henry.

  ‘So where are we going?’ Tock asked.

  ‘We should probably tell you that we need to avoid some towns,’ said Tick.

  ‘On account of the council ordering us to be removed from the magical world,’ explained Tock.

  ‘Do the council know you are a syphon?’ Geraldine asked Cora.

  Cora nodded. ‘A lot has happened,’ she said.

  ‘You can say that again,’ said Geraldine.

  ‘A lot has happened,’ said Tick and Tock at the same time.

  ‘Well, we must get as far away from this place as we can,’ Geraldine said. ‘And quickly. Henry has his protection spell intact but sensing you would be like a fire in the night to Kaede.’