by I.D. Blind
12. A Cure for the Neighbor
After they returned from the McCormacks, Riona called Eric into the kitchen.
“My dear, I want to ask you something,” she said. “But I don’t want you to tell Albert about it.” Riona looked at the door to see if anyone had returned, and laying her hands on Eric’s shoulders, pushed him deeper into the kitchen. “I need to go somewhere, after a medication. And I need you to come with me. Can you promise me you won’t tell Albert if he asks about this?”
“Sure, Aunt Riona. Shall I harness the carriage?”
“No, we shall take a tram, then a boat, and I’m afraid we shall have to go on foot some distance. We must hurry so we can be back before Albert and the children return.”
Eric didn’t know where they were going. Riona led him to a road he hadn’t taken yet. She was wearing a scarf around her head, and avoided looking around, as if hiding from someone.
After another quarter of an hour, crenellations appeared in sight. Taking a few more steps, Eric saw one of the towers. The rest was still hidden behind the trees. Only upon coming closer was Eric finally able to see the blue quadrangular castle surrounded by a high fence. Small in its size, it was still an impressively sublime building, though the blue color gave it a fragile and delicate look. The castle, topped with crenellations, had circular towers at each of the four corners, with arched windows and balconies, one of which was open, and a white embroidered curtain was waving outside. Rose bushes were blooming near the castle, with clusters big and distinguishable even from a distance.
Eric asked Riona who lived in the blue castle, but she only said that she needed medication that could be found there. Riona stopped under a willow, and handing Eric a note, asked him to give it to the hosts. From the other side of the fence, sounds of female voices and tittering were coming, but the fence was too high to let him see anything. Walking around, Eric reached the open gate and peeped inside. He saw the three witches in the courtyard, chasing and dousing each other with water from a hose. They looked so funny that Eric couldn’t help chuckling. The dark-haired girl grabbed the hose from the hands of one of her sisters and began spraying them, while the redheads tried to hide from the jet of water. One of the girls slipped on the wet ground and tumbled into the mud, and snatching a handful of dirt, flung it at her sister. The other girl also clutched dirt from the ground and tossed it at the black-haired girl. She screamed and sprayed a new stream of water at her sister. Using the moment, the other girl grabbed the bucket full of water near the well, ran to her sister, and poured the entire contents over her head. Eric chuckled louder. The girls were now being so loud that a dog scurried into the yard and stared at them with his tongue hanging out. While two of them were trying to grab the hose from one another, the third one took another full bucket and ran to her sisters.
Eric wanted to shout something, to warn the other girls, but he was too late. The water splashed over their heads, and the girl began laughing hysterically.
“Ahh!” the wet witch screamed, swaying her hand. A bit of dirty water rose into the air and plopped upon the culprit’s head. She sobered and gaped at her sister.
“Resorting to witchcraft?” She made a similar gesture. The first time Eric didn’t believe what he saw, but he couldn’t be wrong twice. The water rose in the air and slapped the girls. The coiling hose on the ground was forgotten; the witches levitated the water and tossed it at each other. When the red-haired girl smacked the black-haired witch’s bottom with water, Eric cracked up. Spotting the stranger, the dog darted to him. The girls saw him too, and their game ended in an instant.
“Orion, stop!” one of the witches commanded. The dog stopped before Eric’s feet. He leaned over and patted him on the snout.
“To me, boy,” a fellow called him, coming out of the stables. The Irish setter ran back to his master. “Do you need anything?” he asked Eric.
Eric handed him the note. He opened it and nodded. “Wait behind the fence. I’ll get it for you,” he said, and paced to the front door.
The girls grouped together and whispered something, but Eric couldn’t hear them.
“Hi,” he cried out, when they looked back at him.
The girls smiled stiffly and waved their hands. The fellow stopped by the door and turned back. His grim face was expressive enough, and Eric walked out the gates. After a minute, he peeped over the fence, but the yard was empty. After another ten minutes, the fellow came out and gave him a flask with a cork. He left so quickly Eric didn’t have time to say anything. He glanced into the yard one last time. The witches hadn’t returned.
When Eric asked Riona what was in that flask, she said it was a medication for Caitlin McCormack, and once again reminded Eric of his promise not to say anything to Albert.