The two smiled at each other, and Sadie dug into the bowl before her with all the ferocity of a crazed badger. It was filled with the most delicious chicken and dumplings she had ever been witness to and privy to taste. Before Sadie could make it to her fourth spoonful, her head was lying on the table, and she was fast asleep.
Happy Birthday, Sadie, Again
Waking up to the smell of cinnamon buns just coming out of the oven is one of earth’s greatest pleasures, and Sadie’s mouth was watering even before her eyes had fully opened. She felt something on her chest, a vibrating of some sort, and slowly opened one eye to peek. The last twenty four hours had taught her to be careful, if anything, and to expect the unexpected—always.
“GRIMM!” cried Sadie as she maneuvered her hands from under the covers to stroke the purring feline.
“Good morning, or should I say good evening to you, Sadie, pet?”
Through half-opened sleepy eyes only inches away from Sadie’s face, Grimm stretched and yawned.
Sadie was startled for a moment at his speech; she had forgotten he could talk. She stroked his head and scratched behind his ears as she looked around. Someone, most likely Tara, had put her in bed, a very large, very comfy bed covered in thick, down blankets. The window-lined room let the outside in as Sadie saw the forest illuminated in twilight’s pink light. Everything was quiet, peaceful and Sadie felt safe. She remembered she was at Tara’s bigger-than-it-looked-from-the-outside house and smiled at the thought. Her stomach growled, boldly and loudly, causing Grimm to open his eyes again.
“Grimm, get off of me; I am STARVING! Those cinnamon buns smell delicious,” said Sadie as she began to scoot the cat and the covers away.
She slipped out of the warm, snug bed; as she began to head towards the door, she stepped in something that felt grainy on her bare feet. Looking down, she saw she had stepped in salt and that it encircled the entire bed. She looked back towards the sleepy Grimm, who was grooming himself at the foot of the bed, and gave him a questioning gaze.
“For extra protection. Not that you’re not safe here already. No one would dare mess with Tara, but still, you can’t be too safe these days what with the Syndicate having their fingers in lots of pies,” said Grimm right before coughing up a hairball.
“Ew. That’s gross, Grimm,” responded Sadie.
She wrinkled up her nose in disgust and put her hand to her mouth.
“Sorry, these things happen when you’re a cat. Not that I complained about the sounds that came from you as you were sleeping. And the smells that followed, my gosh, you’d think you were part troll,” Grimm stated as he waved his one paw in front of his face while the other went around his throat in a choking gesture.
It was all in mocking, of course, but Sadie felt her usual self-conscious flush rush through her body.
Embarrassed, Sadie turned red almost immediately and changed the subject just as quickly. “Where’s Tara?”
“Oh, about the house somewhere. I’m going back to sleep. You’ll find her, I’m sure,” said Grimm as he quickly resumed cat nap status, but not before covering the hairball with the bottom of the comforter.
Sadie turned and smiled to herself as she headed towards the only door in the room.
I wonder how many other thirteen-year-old girls have ever talked to a cat.
As she turned the crystal knob of the door, she thought to ask about Mrs. Felis and changed her mind at the sight of Grimm all spread out with his legs in the air sound asleep. Most cats slept curled in a ball. This one was as different as they came. Sadie smiled to herself.
Stepping out into the grand room of the house, Sadie saw it much as she remembered from the night before. Without a moment’s hesitation, Tara stepped through the door that led outside, as though she were expecting Sadie at that very instant. Sadie gasped at the sight of her; she was even more beautiful than she remembered.
“Good evening, witchling, how are you feeling?” asked Tara in her sweeter-than-honey voice.
Her beautiful red curls were pulled back from her face with a silver barrette, and she was wearing another green dress. This one buttoned down the front all the way to the floor and had a black cinched waist line. She was still barefoot, and this time three birds circled her as ivy made a crown around her head. Butterflies alighted on her shoulders, and a little white mouse clung to her sleeve. Inside, Sadie hoped to be as beautiful as Tara one day. Tara smiled at the girl and asked her again how she felt.
“I feel okay. My head doesn’t hurt anymore and neither does my chest,” replied Sadie.
“Good, good. ‘Tis complete then and without incident. Oh, how are your fingers?”
Sadie looked at her hands. All seemed well, and she shook her head. “Okay, I guess, but why?” she asked.
“Oh, no reason in particular, love, ‘cept that sometimes witchlings gain an extra finger during the change,” Tara responded matter-of-factly as she lay a basket of gourds on the table.
Sadie looked at her hands again, this time in a hurry and with much worry. She checked thoroughly for any sign of an extra digit. The last thing she needed was an extra finger. That would make her even further from normal than she ever wanted or thought she’d be.
There’s no hiding, or hiding from, an extra finger.
“So, when can I go home?” asked Sadie. “Or should I say back to the Argyles. They must be worried sick about me, or at least concerned enough to call the police. And…with all the commotion last night from the bookstore, they’ve got to be at least a little worried. I really don’t want to be kicked out of another foster home.”
Tara laughed a full-throated and gorgeously amused chuckle. She brushed her spiraling red locks towards her back and studied Sadie with a curious expression.
“So, you really don’t know a thing do you, lass?” asked Tara.
“I know lots!” cried Sadie, hating feeling stupid and in the dark.
Tara laughed again.
“I meant ‘bout what’s goin’ on with ya, lass,” she said as she headed towards the cauldron.
“I know that some crazy things happened last night—things that now seem like a dream, and I wouldn’t believe them save for the fact that I’m talking to you right now. I know people keep telling me I’m a witch and….”
“Witchling,” corrected Tara.
“Witchling, right, whatever,” responded Sadie with hands on her hips, “and I know I have to get home so I don’t get kicked out of that foster home like all the rest!”
“You don’t ever have to go to another foster home as long as you live, Sadie,” replied Tara with a serious stare on her face that made her look like the powerful witch that she really was. She had turned to face Sadie and was holding a book in her hands that wasn’t there a moment ago.
“I thought we’d start with your family history and then go from there. What do you think?” Tara stated more than asked.
Sincerely confused and a bit hungry, Sadie took a seat at the table.
What’s a girl to do? She thought to herself. I’m curious to know what’s going on. I am interested in knowing how it is that I don’t have to live in foster care anymore. I can at least have some of those cinnamon rolls I’ve smelled before I tell her I just want to be a normal girl.
“You will never be just a normal girl, never again, Sadie. As a matter of fact, you’re more than just a girl now,” responded Tara ever so seriously. “And the cinnamon rolls are to your left.”
Sadie turned her head; the rolls were there, steaming and oozing frosting down their sides.
“Stop reading my mind!” Sadie halfway shouted. “It’s rude, don’t you think? Plus, you may hear something you don’t want to hear.”
She then grabbed a bun and shoved half of it in her mouth.
“You really are the clever little daughter of Adrienne MacDougall, and a bit feisty like her as well,” Tara said with a smile as she waved her arms and supplied the table with all sorts of breakfast foods and drink. “I promise I’ll
try my best NOT to read your mind anymore, although it’s my inborn gift, and I have a hard time turning it off. Some people do find it hard to be around me because of it. I understand it bothers you. So I’ll do my best, lass.”
Tara laughed, her voice tinkling like bells. “At least I don’t have the problems of the Lorelei.”
Sadie thought for a minute and decided that Tara really wasn’t all that bad. It was the fact that she was being feisty, as Tara said, or persnickety, as her mother would have said, that made her so quick to argue. She didn’t want to be a bother, especially since this woman had been so nice to her from the start. Sadie did, however, want to know more about Tara and her mother’s friendship. She took a long drink of milk and then looked at Tara.
“Will you tell me about you and my mother?”
“Of course I will child, in due time. We’ve much to go over, much for you to learn, and I feel we’re at the disadvantage as I wasn’t able to guide you through your change,” said Tara, a bit dismayed.
“What’s this change? And why do you people keep calling me 'witchling?' I’m not sure I believe or even want all of this. And I’m really concerned about Mrs. Felis. She was really good to me, cat or old lady or whatever she is. And another thing, I will let you in on a secret about me, Tara, I just want to be a normal kid,” Sadie said with defiance as she stuck out her chin.
“You sound just like your dear mother, lass. She always complained ‘bout wanting to be normal. Always wanted something other than what she had. And when you were born and she took you away to live in the human world, well, that was just unheard of. Upset quite a few in the Guild, I can tell ya that, lass,” Tara stated with a grin before continuing on. “That be one of the reason I loved her so much. She was always one to tip the scales of balance. I do understand why she took you away though, musta been hard for her....”
Tara’s voice trailed off.
Sadie had never thought of her mom this way. Her mother seemed so—uptight. Always watching over her, always right there and quite literally always one to follow the rules. Sadie guessed if she were the witch Tara said she was, she probably didn’t want to draw attention to herself in “the human world,” as Tara called it.
Then it hit her: Mom was a witch!
Her own curiosity grew exponentially, and she could hardly contain herself. What did this mean? She didn’t really die in the car crash? Did she blink or snap her fingers and disappear somewhere?
She really is still alive! I KNEW IT! Could she be…?
“No, Sadie, she’s not still alive,” said Tara softly, gently, as she moved to stroke Sadie’s hair.
Sadie herself softened a little and lost her appetite at the thought of her mother. She pondered what it meant that her mother was a witch.
What good is being a witch if you can’t save yourself?
She contemplated what it would mean if she accepted the fact that she was a witch, as everyone kept saying, and what she could do. She thought about waving her arms and making things happen, and it didn’t seem all that bad. Then, a thought struck her that had so much weight to it that she came alive with excitement.
“If I’m a witch, can’t I bring her back? If I’m not powerful enough, can’t you bring her back? What’s the use of having power if you can’t do something to save someone’s life? Why didn’t she try to save her own life? What if she did and you just can’t find her ‘cause she magikked her way out of the car crash to somewhere else, and she’s still trying to find her way home? Or what if she did all that and hit her head and lost her memory in the process? If she were really dead, she’d be a ghost like the ones I saw in the bookstore. She would come to me; I’m her daughter. We can find her, Tara! It’s possible, I mean, until yesterday I never thought any of this was possible,” said Sadie with excitement and the tiniest hint of sarcasm as she opened her arms to encompass the entire room.
“I’m sorry, Sadie, that’s just not the way things work,” said Tara with a tear in her eye. “If she were alive, I’d know it. Believe me, I tried to find her. Reading minds extends to those minds out of your immediate viewing area.”
Sadie bowed her head and tried not to let Tara see her sadness. She felt somewhat ashamed that she still let her mother’s death rule her world after three years of dealing with it.
Why can’t I get past this? Why can’t I move on with my life? I’ve been to so many counselors you’d think I’d have at least resolved some of the issues with her dying.
“All the counselors in the world couldn’t take away your sadness, Sadie,” said Tara with a soft voice.
“I thought you weren’t going to read my mind anymore?” asked Sadie with a small smirk on her face, trying to lighten the mood she'd created.
“Sorry. Habit,” responded Tara, smirking back.
Just then Sadie passed gas louder than anyone she had ever heard. Tara burst into laughter as Sadie’s face turned five shades of red.
“Well, now, I thought that’d be finished by now,” Tara said through giggles.
“I’m sorry,” said Sadie, “I don’t know what got into me. That just sort of sneaked out.”
“It’s okay, lass. It’s the sleeping potion I gave you yesterday. For some reason it makes people a wee bit full of gas. Sometimes magik, like life, doesn’t go as we plan no matter how good at it we think we are. I’ve been working on it for some time now and can’t seem to fix that one unnecessary aspect of the wonderful brew. Other than that, it does work wonders, doesn’t it? I mean, you’ve been out for quite some time and you feel totally refreshed, do you not?” Tara looked at Sadie with raised eyebrows as she waved her hand in front of her face. “But maybe you should spend some time outdoors until it’s completely over. That’ll give me time to get things ready for your first lesson. And, at the same time, I can air out the room.”
The two laughed and Sadie felt relief instead of embarrassment. For once in her life, it felt okay to just be herself. Tara was a perfectly sweet and wonderful woman that was impossibly beautiful. Sadie felt she could spend the rest of her life with her.
“Now, here’s a scarf, coat, and mittens. It’s a bit brisk out there this evening,” Tara said handing her items that weren’t in her hands a few seconds ago, “I’ll call you when I’m ready for ya.”
And with that, she ushered Sadie out into the crisp fall evening.
The warm sunlight setting behind the trees temporarily blinded her, and she felt the brisk air fill her lungs. She felt renewed by the fresh air in combination with the long sleep she had. Sadie felt good, better than she had in months, or even years, and she smiled wholeheartedly. Her vision adjusted to the light of the setting sun. She decided to follow a path she hadn’t seen the night before that led off towards a field of huge orange pumpkins and gourds of every color. As soon as she took her first step, a booming voice called her name.
“Sadie,” said Alroy as his hulking figure came from around the side of the house.
He’s gotta stop doing that.
Being unsure how to greet a troll, she didn’t want to offend so she smiled and did a curtsy.
“Haven’t seen curtsy since King Arthur was around,” said Alroy. “Your kind still do such things?”
Embarrassed for the third time this morning, Sadie felt sure it wasn’t the last. “No, I…um, I didn’t know how to greet you,” she stammered.
“How ‘bout hello?” Alroy said matter-of-factly. “Seems to work for everyone else these days.”
Sadie chuckled. “Hello, Alroy, how are you today…I mean, this evening?” she asked with a smile.
“Hungry. Want to go walk?” he asked the girl.
Sadie felt so small next to this goliath of a, well, troll. Though he was a troll and her first encounter with a troll had been less than nice, she felt safe with Alroy. Stifling a nervous giggle, Sadie took in the reality of her situation. She was about to have a conversation with a troll before beginning her magikal lessons and, probably the craziest thing of all, she was a witch. She
tried to think about what all of this could mean. She also began to wonder about Cranberry Grove, her foster family, and exactly what was going on back there. She had a quick, fleeing notion about the possibility of getting even with all of those kids at school who tormented her, but tucked that muse away for later. As all these things raced through her mind at breakneck speed, she looked back up at Alroy who was still waiting patiently for her answer.
“Okay,” Sadie replied as he picked her up and put her on his shoulder.
“Travel faster you up here,” said the troll.
“Understood,” said Sadie and the two set off in the direction of the pumpkin and gourd patch which, incidentally, only took a few steps for the massive giant of a beast.
Alroy set Sadie down on a pumpkin the size of a park bench and picked up a slightly smaller one and popped it between his jaws. He began to throw pumpkins, hand over hand, into his large cavern of a mouth with all the ferocity of a determined machine. It reminded Sadie of how fast she could throw miniature marshmallows into her own gob. Bits of orange pumpkin juice dribbled down the sides of his chin and then splashed to the ground. Before long there was the start of a puddle about the size of a bathtub. When Sadie thought he had slowed down enough to talk without choking, she began to speak.
“Alroy, may I ask you a question?” she queried.
Between chomps he garbled, “Yes.”
“Why am I here? I mean, who decides who becomes a witch…and why? I just want to know these things. And what about my mother, she was a witch, too? How? How did all this come about? Can I fly? Will I make magik potions? Do all cats talk? Are there other creatures out there besides the ones I saw? Where do they all live? I mean, I’m so confused, I have a thousand questions, and I just want….” Sadie looked at Alroy who sat motionless.
She realized that though the creature had some limited speech, he was clearly confused by her fast paced ramblings.
“Sorry, Alroy, I’ve just got so many questions. How ‘bout I start with one easy one?”
Alroy nodded, wiping his hands on his juice-stained shirt. He sat down clumsily in the dirt next to Sadie, squashing many, many pumpkins in the process. He crossed his legs and laid his hands on his knees. When he looked to Sadie as if to say I’m ready, he let out such a belch her hair blew back from the gale force winds it produced.
Any Witch Way Page 6