Time of the Witch

by Mary Downing Hahn

  "Mrs. Linton is here for the girls," she said.

  "Tell her we'll be right out." Twyla squeezed my hand. "Now try not to worry. Be at the tree tonight, storm or no storm."

  As we passed through the curtain, Annabelle smiled at us. "Well, what did you all do, go and get your fortunes told?" She winked at Twyla. "I hope you tell better ones than Maude does," she said.

  "The future's the future, no matter who sees it," Twyla said, "but I always try to see the best in what's revealed to me." She smiled.

  "Well, it's nice to see you, Twyla. Hope these two didn't take up too much of your time. They'll talk your ears off if you let them." Annabelle poked a Sister of the Moon and watched her spin. "Ain't you a darling," she said to the doll and then reached out for Wanda and me. "Come on you two. Got to get on home and get some supper started. It's getting on to six already."

  We followed her out the door, listening to the bell chime behind us.

  On the way home, Wanda asked Annabelle if I could spend the night with her.

  "Well, sure, it's fine with me. Let's just stop by Laura's house again and make sure it's all right with her aunt."

  As we drove up, I saw Aunt Grace sitting on the front steps. Jumping out of the car, I ran across the grass.

  "Is everything all right?" I asked, stricken with worry that Jason might have gotten worse while I was gone.

  Aunt Grace squeezed my hand. "Your mother called a few minutes ago. They've put Jason in Intensive Care. His fever's way up and he's in terrible pain." Her eyes filled with tears and she let them spill over and run down her cheeks without bothering to brush them away. "I just don't understand why the hospital can't do more for him."

  "He'll get well, I know he will." Holding her hand as tightly as I could, I wanted to tell her about Maude and how I was going to take care of everything, but I knew I couldn't. She would never let me go to Maude's house, she would never believe that Maude had anything to do with Jason's being in the hospital.

  "How's the little boy?" Annabelle walked across the lawn, her big face full of worry. "He's not worse, is he?"

  "He's a little worse." Aunt Grace stood up and put her arm around me, holding me close.

  "Oh, I'm so sorry, Grace. Is there anything I can do to help?" Annabelle patted Aunt Grace's shoulder.

  "It's kind of you to offer." Aunt Grace smiled and shook her head.

  "Well, how about letting me take this one home with me for the night? Give you one less thing to worry about." Annabelle ruffled my hair.

  Aunt Grace looked at me. "Would you like to go over to Annabelle's?"

  "If it's all right with you." I hoped she didn't think I just wanted to forget about Jason and have fun.

  Aunt Grace looked a little puzzled, but she smiled at me. "Go on up and get a change of clothes. If your mother or father wants to talk to you about anything, I'll send them over to Annabelle's.

  Leaving her and Annabelle talking softly, I ran up to my room and grabbed a few things. On my way out, I stole a quick look at the drawing table. Everything was in perfect order, but there was no picture pinned to its surface. I'd never seen Aunt Grace let a day go by without at least starting a painting, and I frowned at Thomas lying peacefully in the middle of her drawing board.

  "Get off!" I shoved the cat and he got up slowly, looking haughtier than usual, and leapt to the floor, landing with a solid, ungraceful thud.

  "Have a good time," Aunt Grace said as I got into the car, "and be sure to thank Annabelle."

  I waved to her as the car pulled away, leaving her small and alone, standing in front of the house.

  Neither Wanda nor I could eat much dinner, but, luckily for us, Annabelle blamed it on the weather. "When it's this hot, nothing tastes good," she said, taking our plates out to the kitchen. "Come on out here, girls, and help me wash up."

  We finished the dishes around eight o'clock and Annabelle went to the back door and stared out into the gathering darkness.

  "Looks like a storm's coming for sure," she said. In the distance thunder muttered and lightning flickered low on the horizon. A gust of wind blew through the door, plastering Annabelle's dress against her stomach and thighs. "Maybe it'll clear things off a bit and get rid of all this heat and humidity. We sure could use some rain and a change in the weather." She smiled at us. "You all going to watch some TV with me?"

  Wanda and I followed her into the living room. "What's on?" Wanda asked.

  "Oh, I was thinking I'd watch that special, the one with all the country singers." Annabelle flicked on the television set and sat down on the couch. "It's got Willie Nelson and Loretta Lynn and Johnny Cash and I don't know who all," she said as Wanda and I sat down next to her.

  After an hour of sad songs about men cheating on their wives and wives cheating on their husbands, Wanda and I were ready for bed. Annabelle looked up at us as we left the living room. "Now don't stay up too late talking and laughing, you two," she said. "And, Wanda, I don't want you smoking. I'll smell it for sure, so don't think you can fool me. This house might not look like much, but it's all I got and I sure don't want to see it burned to the ground 'cause some foolish kid didn't know how to put out a cigarette."

  "Don't worry, I don't have any cigarettes," Wanda said. "And neither does Laura. But if I did, I got enough sense not to burn the house down. You're the one who's always falling asleep with a cigarette in your hand, not „„›› me.

  "Now go on to bed, girl. You know that's a downright lie!" Annabelle gave Wanda a playful swat with the TV Guide and laughed, showing all her fillings. "Ain't she something?" she asked me.

  We both laughed and ran down the hall to Charlene's old room. Wanda had lined all the dolls and animals up against one wall, so they looked as if they were waiting for a firing squad, but she'd left all of Charlene's posters up. Rock stars, movie stars and fuzzy baby animals stared down at us, all crowded together and billowing a little in the breeze blowing through the window.

  "Well, here we are, planning how to sneak out again," Wanda said, flopping down on the bed.

  "It's a little after ten. Do you think Annabelle's going to bed before eleven?" I sat down next to Wanda and folded my arms across my chest.

  "I don't think so. She usually stays up pretty late."

  "Then how are we going to get out?"

  "Through the window, the way Charlene always did when she wanted to sneak off with Eddie."

  "Won't Annabelle hear us?"

  "Not with the TV on and all that thunder. All we got to do is turn off the light and stick some of these animals under the sheet. The most she ever does is stick her head in, and most of the time she doesn't even do that." Wanda scratched her leg. "What's the matter? You cold?"

  I shook my head. "No, I'm scared."

  "Me too. There's no telling what that old woman'd do if she caught us in her house."

  "You don't have to go with me, Wanda," I whispered, afraid to look at her. "I'm the one who started all this mess, not you, so I'll understand if you want to change your mind about going."

  "Well, I don't want to go and that's the truth, but I'm not letting you do it all by yourself, so don't say no more about it."

  I leaned back against the wall. The wind was blowing louder and the thunder sounded a lot closer. A flash of lightning lit the sky and I heard the patter of raindrops on the leaves outside the window. "It's raining," I said.

  "It figures," Wanda said gloomily.

  As the rain fell harder, we heard Annabelle moving around the house, shutting windows and closing doors.

  "You girls got any windows open in there?" she called.

  "No, ma'am," Wanda answered, watching Charlene's lacy curtains billow in the wind.

  "Well, I'm going to bed. Makes me nervous to watch TV with all that thunder and lightning. You two get to sleep at a decent hour, you hear?"

  We heard Annabelle go into her room and shut the door. The bedsprings creaked and then all was silent except for the wind and the thunder.

  "It's
time to go," Wanda said after a while. Grabbing a baseball jacket, she turned out the light and slid the screen up. "Be real quiet, cause she might not be asleep yet."

  I nodded and followed Wanda out the window, pulling up the hood of my windbreaker as soon as the rain hit me. By the time we got to the grove, we were soaked to the skin and shivering.

  "Well, where is she?" Wanda swept the trees with her flashlight, but we saw no sign of Twyla.

  "She'll be here, she promised," I whispered.

  "A car's coming!" Wanda pushed me off the road and we huddled behind a tree, not wanting to be seen. As the car slowed to a stop, I recognized the daisies painted on its sides. Before Twyla had a chance to open the door, Wanda and I were at the window, telling her how glad we were to see her.

  "Did you think I wasn't coming?" Twyla gave us each a hug. "A little rain never stopped me. Come on." She led us up the path, twisting and turning through the trees. When we were near Maude's cabin, Twyla drew us under the shelter of a tall, tilted boulder. "I telephoned Maude a few hours ago and convinced her that I need her help. We'll be away from the cabin for about an hour. Do you think you'll be able to find the box?"

  I nodded. "I saw her put it under a loose stone on the hearth, I'm not sure which one, but I know it was on the left side."

  "Good. As soon as you find it, take it back to the grove and wait for me. I'll help you destroy it." Reaching into the pocket of her skirt, she pulled out a couple of small bags on red strings. Slipping them over our heads, she said, "Keep these on. They'll protect you against harm."

  "It smells funny." Wanda sniffed hers suspiciously. "What is it?"

  Twyla smiled. "Don't worry about the smell. Just don't take it off." She darted out into the rain again and we followed her, trying not to slip on the muddy path.

  Huddling behind a tree, we watched Twyla run across the clearing. As she knocked at Maude's door, a flash of lightning illuminated the scene, burning it into my brain. The cabin, every board visible; Twyla's small form, her black hair flying loose in the wind, her fist raised to knock; the trees around the cabin tossing against the sky; the door opening and Maude's bent figure silhouetted against the firelight behind her.

  As Twyla stepped inside, the lightning died away and we stared at the cabin barely visible in the darkness.

  Chapter 15

  "Suppose Maude won't go with Twyla because of the rain?" Wanda whispered, her eyes fixed on the cabin door.

  I tried to toss the hair out of my face, but it clung to my lips, my nose, my cheeks, plastered there by the rain. "She has to, she told Twyla she would," I answered, praying for the cabin door to open.

  Wanda shoved her hands deeper into the pockets of her basball jacket and hunched her shoulders against the rain. Peering around the trunk of the tree, she drew back suddenly. "They're coming!"

  Sure enough, there was Twyla running ahead and Maude shuffling along behind her, swathed in shawls and leaning heavily on her walking stick. They passed so close to us that I could have reached out and tweaked the edge of Maude's shawl, but the storm hid us, making it impossible to see anything clearly.

  When I was sure they were far enough away, I motioned to Wanda and we ran across the muddy clearing, slipping and sliding on the rain-washed ground. At the bottom of the steps, I stopped so suddenly that Wanda rem into me.

  "What's the matter?" she whispered, her voice shaking.

  I looked at her, my mouth dry with fright.

  "You scared?"

  "Aren't you?" This close to the house, I could smell wood smoke from the chimney, mingling with the strange fragrances of herbs and incense and underneath them, the unpleasant scent of worse things, decay and mold and rot and death.

  "You want to save Jason, don't you?" Stepping ahead of me, Wanda tiptoed up the sagging steps and pushed the door open with a trembling hand. "Come on, Laura, we ain't got much time," she whispered.

  Hesitating on the threshold, I could feel the warmth of the fire burning low on the hearth, but the flickering shadows and strange smells, the very atmosphere of the room, suggested that Maude was hiding somewhere, ready to pounce upon us. Behind us a gust of wind struck our shoulders, shaking the cabin and rattling the windows, breathing new life into the flames, almost propelling us into the cabin. Cautiously we crept to the fireplace, aware of the stuffed owl on the mantel regarding us with glassy eyes.

  "Which stone did she pull out?" Wanda knelt at the hearth, examining the pattern of the stones.

  "This one, I think." As I reached for the stone, something above my head moved suddenly and I sprang back, finding myself staring into the eyes of Maude's crow.

  Like an explosion of darkness, Soot flew at me, his wings beating against the sides of my head. Fending him off with my hands, I ducked aside and Soot flew past me, cawing loudly. Too late, I saw that we'd left the door open, permitting him to fly out into the storm.

  "He'll go to Maude!" I began pulling frantically at stones, trying to find the box before Maude came back. "Help me, Wanda!"

  Wanda crouched next to me, her fingers scrabbling at the stones, poking, prying, pulling. "This one feels loose," she panted. "Help me with it!"

  As I grabbed the stone, I heard someone on the steps. Terrified, I whirled around and saw Maude, the crow perched on her shoulder.

  "So!" Maude rushed toward us, her dark clothes fluttering around her like a crow's feathers, her face twisted with rage. Before I could do more than stand up, she seized me, her nails biting into my arm as she shook me. "What are you doing here?"

  "Maude!" Twyla rushed into the room, pale and wet. "Let them go!"

  Maude stared at Twyla without relaxing her grip on either one of us. "What are they to you? Did you come here with this in mind, Twyla? Wasn't one betrayal enough?"

  Twyla stepped closer to Maude, tiny and thin and brave, her eyes black with anger. "You know how I feel about you and your spells. Let these girls go now and forget about the past."

  "You are still the ignorant young fool you used to be, Twyla Dawkins!" Maude's voice rose and she herself seemed to grow taller, to swell with rage till her shadow blackened the ceiling. "If I could I would strip you of all the knowledge I gave you. I would send you out into the night as helpless as a newborn kitten, blind and deaf, too feeble to survive the storm. I would curse you and loose the hounds of the Master against you!"

  Maude sank down, but her grip on Wanda and me never slackened. "But I'm not what I was and you know it." Her voice was low now, almost a whisper, but so full of malice that I shivered.

  "Let the girls go, Maude." Twyla's voice was calm. She stood still, unmoved by Maude's fury.

  Maude shook her head and pulled me closer to her. "Perhaps I'll let one go." She smiled at Wanda. "But not this one, not Margaret Randall's granddaughter. She is mine now, mine, and she will stay with me. Won't you, my dear?" Thrusting her face close to mine, she whispered, "You liked me well enough when you wanted my help, didn't you, Laura Adams? And you can't say I didn't grant your wish, can you?"

  I tried to turn my head away, but Maude released Wanda and gripped my chin, forcing me to look at her. This close, Maude's face was pocked with pores, dark hairs sprouted above her lip and lined her nostrils, deep furrows creased her cheeks and forehead, and hundreds of tiny lines crisscrossed the skin around her eyes. The fingers gripping my chin were cold and rough, and her nails gouged my skin. Tears filled my eyes, blurring her face, and my knees felt too weak to support me.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Wanda run to Twyla's side and cower there. Embracing Wanda, Twyla stared coldly at Maude. "Let Laura go too, Maude."

  "She is mine, I tell you, mine!" Maude's voice rose again and she shook me roughly. "Look at me, girl, look at me! Do you doubt my power over you?"

  As I stared at her, terrified, Maude seemed to tower above me, a creature of malice dressed in black, full of power and hatred, and I felt totally helpless. There ■was nothing I could do against her. She was right. I was hers, hers. If she hadn'
t been holding me so tightly, I would have fallen to the floor.

  "You're wasting your time, Maude Blackthorne." Twyla stared calmly at the old woman. "Look at her neck. She has the amulet's protection. As long as she's wearing that, you cannot harm her."

  Maude drew in her breath sharply as she looked at the little pouch hanging on its red ribbon. Gripping me even tighter, she turned to Twyla. "Take that one with you." She pointed at Wanda. "But give this one to me. You owe me something in return for all I've taught you." Maude's voice was wheedling now, but she still held me tightly.

  Twyla shook her head. "Let her go, Maude."

  Maude stared hard at Twyla and Twyla stared back, neither blinking nor looking away. While they stared at each other, I saw Wanda slip away and return to the hearth. Taking advantage of Twyla's and Maude's silent battle, she struggled to loosen the stone. As I watched, I saw her pull the stone noiselessly up and reach into the hole.

  When she removed the small metal box, Soot cawed loudly, but no one paid any attention to him. The eyes of the two women seemed locked together and the tension between them silenced every sound.

  With one arm upraised to protect herself against Soot, who was beating her head with his wings, Wanda ran back to Twyla's side, hiding the box behind her.

  At that moment, Twyla shouted something in a strange language, a curse, an order, something harsh and terrible to hear, and Maude, momentarily startled, loosened her grip on me. Breathless with fear, I ran to Twyla's side.

  "Go!" Twyla shouted to me and Wanda. "Meet me where I told you to!" With her arms outstretched she began chanting, never taking her eyes from Maude, and Maude seemed to freeze, unable to follow me.

  "Traitor!" she screamed at Twyla. "To use against me what I myself taught you!"

  Without looking back, Wanda and I ran from the cabin. Heedless of the branches slapping us and tangling in our hair, we dashed through the woods, ducking, dodging, tripping, hearts pounding, lungs bursting. Finally we reached the grove and ran to Twyla's car. Clinging to each other, shivering with fear and cold, we stared up the path, hoping to see Twyla come running toward us. The rain had almost stopped and the thunder had died away to a distant rumble.