She nodded. 'And if that doesn't work?'
'Something else ,Abby, we'll try something else.'
'And what if-'
'Don't say it, don't think that way. There'll be something we can do, stop writing the end of the story before we've got there.'
She pressed her lips together and looked down at the bracelet in her hands. The truth was… she'd already fixed it… but nothing had happened.
How was she supposed to tell him that it hadn't worked?
She looked up, trying to keep the defeat from misting over her eyes. 'Are you sure?'
'Abby, yes, just fix the bracelet.'
She moved it around in her hands. What had she really thought it would do? Had she actually entertained the idea that this would work?
What part of her had wanted to believe in this… fairytale ending? Really, how can fixing a silly bracelet actually transport two people through time?
'Abby, what's wrong? Abby?'
Keys to Time, broken destinies….
'Abby?'
What did she know?
'Abby?'
What could she be sure of?
'Abby?'
Nothing….
'Abby?'
'It's fixed, Pembrake… nothing happened.'
'Well is it just supposed to work like that?'
She blinked hard. 'How else would it work?'
'Well you could say a spell or something? Is there some kind of word that might make it work?'
'No, Pembrake… it's fixed. If it was to anchor us to the future, then fixing it would re-establish that connection. But we aren't back in the future, are we… so it didn't work.' She moved closer to the bars till she could release her weight onto them. 'I don't know why I believed it would.'
He reached through the bars and placed a hand on her back. 'Because it seemed like the kind of thing that would. Because you deserve a happy ending,' he spoke into her hair, 'and… it seemed fitting.'
'But it didn't work,' she leant further back into the bars, twisting her head to the side until she could see him staring at her from the other side.
He leaned down.
She leaned up.
Through the bars they kissed and the world moved for them. It tipped to the side, then tipped to the other side.
There was a rushing sound, like a strong wind trapped in a tunnel.
Then the world turned the right way up and became silent again.
They broke apart.
'Did the world just move?' Abby stared out at the world, daring it to move again now that she was paying attention.
Pembrake chocked back a laugh. 'Good response.'
'Pembrake, seriously,' she jumped up. 'Seriously!'
'Oh I was serious.'
Chapter 20
There's an old witches tale. It tells of two travellers lost in time. But how did it end? Finding an end fit for a witch is a hard thing indeed….
Witches don't believe in fairytales, even though most people find fairytale endings so appealing. Fairytale endings are usually considered to be the most fantastic, after all. But that doesn't mean that witches don't support happy endings, they just frown on pumpkins turning into carriages and men using lost shoes to find their apparent true loves. No, witches don't like fairytales because witches are never represented well in them. Witches are lurking in the background cursing people or shoving children in ovens. A fairytale does not offer a fair ending for a witch.
So witches have to look elsewhere for a happy ending. But if you cannot look to folk lore or legend, where can you look? Where can there be found an ending fit for a witch?
Wherever there is magic, mystery, philosophy, and a great cup of tea.
~~~
'Pembrake, I'm being serious,' Abby stared wildly around the cell. Things looked different, right? It wasn't just her. 'Things look different in here!' She swivelled her head to look at Pembrake.
Pembrake was leaning down and looking at the bars of his cell. There was a curious look on his face. He ran his over one of the bars. The metal was shiny and he almost looked surprised when nothing came off on his hands. 'These bars were rusted through a moment ago.'
'A moment ago?'
'Or 28 years ago maybe,' he admitted quietly.
She walked over to him, more excited than she'd ever been. 'You don't think… do you?'
He nodded mutely. 'Unless someone sneaked in and changed the bars while we were… busy.'
'Oh my god, Pembrake!' she wanted to jump through the bars and hug him.
But that was the problem wasn't it…. They were still technically behind bars. Abby stared at the bars then across at the locked door.
There was still a problem here.
'Oh, you've noticed, have you?' a voice said from a dark recess near the door.
Abby jumped. She knew that voice, she knew that voice.
The figure stepped closer. 'And what have you been doing flying around time and ruining perfectly rotten timelines?' Mrs Crowthy stepped closer. 'Saving princes and princesses. Trying to kill Colonels and failing,' she shot a pointed glare at Pembrake, 'and worst of all – you went and fell in love, Abby.'
Abby looked down at her hands.
'I mean really,' Ms Crowthy strolled all the way up to Abby's cell. 'Do you call yourself a witch, Abby? Would a witch have done what you did? Would a witch have gone back in time and tried to change things? Would a witch have taken on the most powerful force in the universe? Would a witch have gone head-to-head with time?'
Abby sniffed.
'You're damn right she would. Congratulations, Witch of Bridgestock.'
Abby shared a startled look with Pembrake before looking back at Mrs Crowthy. 'What?'
'You did good.'
Ms Crowthy let them out of prison and filled them in on what their messing about in time had achieved.
'Things will be different out there,' she warned, 'you'll be a bit shocked by what you did. It'll take some time to readjust it will, so you'll both have to rely on each other, I thinks.'
'So we changed the timeline then?' Abby screwed up her hands. 'For the better?'
Ms Crowthy shrugged her shoulders. 'Why don't you go and find out?'
Abby suddenly remembered something important. 'But where's Charlie?'
'Scratching at the door,' Ms Crowthy nodded towards the large door to that separated the prison from the rest of the palace. Now that Ms Crowthy had mentioned it, Abby could hear a scratching sound.
'You're in so much trouble, Abby,' Charlie called from the other side.
'Ignore the little bugger,' Ms Crowthy sniffed, 'and go out and see the world.'
'But how did you get here?'
Ms Crowthy paused with her hand on the door, ready to push it open to the new world that awaited beyond. 'Oh I'm a witch, Abby. We're meant to do mysterious things. Now come along, a new world is waiting.'
Ms Crowthy opened the door.
Abby put her hand in Pembrake's and walked out.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
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Abby the Witch Page 28