The Witch in the Woods Read online

  ‘It’s not the witch again, is it? The invisible one? The one that no-one can see, except you?’

  Then she burst out laughing and shoved some more crisps in her mouth. I forced myself to laugh too, and clobbered her with my pillow.

  But as the night went on, I got more and more jumpy. Butterflies were dancing in my stomach. I kept expecting to see Verbena’s green face floating at the window, licking her pointy teeth.

  ‘It’s late,’ I said, at last. ‘We’d better get some sleep.’

  ‘OK,’ said Mary. She snuggled down in her sleeping bag on the floor, yawning. ‘I love sleepovers!’ she said.

  ‘Yeah, they’re great,’ I mumbled.

  Soon Mary was snoring, but I still didn’t slide down into my sleeping bag. Instead I sat bolt upright with my back against a chest of drawers. I was going to stay awake all night and make sure nothing happened to Mary.

  ‘Come on, Charlie,’ I said. ‘You can help me by sitting on my lap and digging your claws into me whenever I yawn, OK?’

  Charlie miaowed and leapt onto my lap.

  The minutes ticked slowly by, and my eyes began to feel heavy. I looked down at Charlie. He was sound asleep.

  ‘Fat lot of help you are!’ I said.

  I lifted him off and got up to open the window. Some fresh air would wake me up. I leant on the windowsill, breathed in the cool, clean smell and gazed at the magical full moon. It was so beautiful …

  My head felt heavy. My eyes kept closing all by themselves. I was determined to stay awake – but surely it wouldn’t hurt if I put my head down on my arm for just a minute?

  I laid my head on my arm and Charlie crept back onto my lap. I felt warm and floaty …

  Suddenly a mad screech ripped through the air near my ears! My head shot up and I forced my eyes open.

  Green fog was streaming through my window. Outside, hovering side-saddle on a broomstick, was Verbena.

  8. VERBENA’S REVENGE

  Verbena threw back her head and laughed so hard that her pointy hat fell off.

  ‘I warned you, Anna Kelly!’ she said. ‘You can’t say I didn’t!’

  ‘Go away!’ I shouted. ‘Get lost or I’ll call my aunties!’

  ‘Too late for that, nitwit!’ she said. She beckoned to something over my shoulder. I turned my head – and my blood ran cold.

  Sitting in the sleeping bag where Mary had been was a little green toad. It started waddling across my bedroom floor.

  ‘Mary?’ I shouted, and made a lunge for it.

  But I was too slow. As if in a trance, the toad climbed onto the windowsill. Verbena snatched it and placed it behind her. It crouched in the bristles of her broomstick and stared at me with sad, blue eyes, just like in my dream.

  I scrambled back to the window and nearly fell out.

  ‘I’ve changed my mind!’ I shouted. ‘I’ll go! I’ll go with you right now! Just change her back!’

  ‘Too late, Anna Kelly!’ shouted Verbena. ‘You need teaching a lesson, my girl, and this is it: When I tell you to do something, you’ll do it the first time and like it!’

  There was a flash like lighting and Verbena zoomed off in the direction of Coldwell Wood, carrying what used to be my best friend with her.

  It took me about a second to realise I had to act – and act fast.

  ‘Quick, Charlie’ I shouted. ‘We can’t lose them!’

  I shoved on my slippers, raced down the stairs – and smacked straight into Aunty Grizz.

  ‘What’s all this?’ she said, picking herself up off the floor. ‘Anna, you promised you’d be quiet, but all I can hear is cackling and screaming!’

  ‘Sorry, Aunty!’ I said, panting. ‘Can’t explain! Gotta go!’

  Charlie shot through the front door and I raced after him. Behind me, I could hear Aunty Grizz’s voice.

  ‘Anna! Come back this minute!’ she shouted. ‘You’re not going out dressed like that!’

  She was right. I raced back inside and grabbed the old witch’s hat that was lying on the stairs. Perhaps it would bring me luck? I slapped it on my head and darted outside again.

  ‘Anna!’ wailed Aunty Grizz. ‘That’s not what I meant!’

  Charlie and I hurtled along Crag Road, slowing down only to cross the main road, and speeding up again toward Coldwell Wood. When we got to the edge of the wood, we staggered to a standstill.

  I slumped against a twisty old tree. My heart felt like it was about to jump out of my throat and my slippers were soaking wet and dirty. I looked up and saw the jagged shapes of trees outlined against the moonlight.

  Somewhere, deep inside the wood, I could hear what sounded like drums beating. Thum, thum, thum.

  Charlie crouched on the path and stared into the wood, swishing his tail.

  ‘No turning back now, boy,’ I said. Charlie’s ears twitched. I took a deep breath and plunged into the trees.

  9. IN COLDWELL WOOD

  Coldwell Wood was dark and chilly. I moved through the twisted trees as silently as I could. Invisible webs brushed across my face and I had to ram my knuckles into my mouth to stifle screams. Once I stepped on something alive and slimy…

  As we crept on, the sound of drums got louder and louder, matching the sound of my own heart. Then I saw it – a faint green glow hanging in mid-air. I dropped down behind a bush and Charlie crouched beside me. I took a deep breath and peeped over the top.

  ‘Hell’s bells!’ I whispered.

  I was at the edge of a small, square clearing. It was decorated for a birthday party – but like no birthday party I’d ever seen.

  Verbena was in one corner, banging a drum and conducting a choir of squawking crows. Above her head, two fat, hairy spiders were sitting in the middle of a web. It was shaped like a banner, and it spelled out the words ‘Happy Birthday’. In another corner, a fat little witch was stirring a large pot that hung over a roaring fire. Nearby, a sad green toad swayed gently to the awful music.

  Around and around the clearing danced a whirlwind of witches – not one or two, but loads! They were all shapes and sizes, but they were witches all right. Fat ones, thin ones, young ones, old ones. They danced wildly, wobbling their heads and flinging their arms around. When they stopped for breath, I could see they all had the same round, black, staring eyes as Verbena.

  ‘Happy birthday to me!’ screeched Verbena.

  Charlie and I looked at each other. He had puffed up his fur and he was growling. As for me, my mouth had gone so dry, I didn’t know if I could even lick my lips, let alone whisper a spell.

  Then it hit me. Spells! I had come without any spells! In my hurry to get here, I’d left Advanced Magic at home, sitting snugly on my bookshelf…

  I closed my eyes. What on earth was I going to do now?

  I racked my brains. All I could remember about spell-casting was that I had to stand inside a magic shape, such as a star or circle. I had to chant a rhyme – and hope for the best. But all that would come to me was Verbena’s tuneless humming:

  Happy birthday to me,

  Happy birthday to me,

  Happy birthday, dear Verbena,

  Happy birthday to me!

  I couldn’t believe it. Here I was, battling the forces of darkness, and that old birthday song was all that was in my head.

  The crow choir stopped squawking and the witches threw themselves on the ground for a rest. They all sat in a circle around the little green toad, and started guzzling from bottles.

  ‘Hurry up with the nosh, can’t you!’ shouted one. ‘I’m starving!’

  ‘Shut your yap!’ shouted Verbena. ‘You’ll get it when I’m good and ready!’

  Another witch wiped her hand across her mouth and picked up a pebble.

  ‘Verbena, how much will you bet me,’ she said, ‘that I can hit your ugly little friend first time?’

  With that, she lobbed the pebble into the air. It bopped the toad squarely on its head, and the witch let out a yowl of delight. The other witches roared with laught
er. It wasn’t long before they were all throwing pebbles, twigs and bits of mud at the toad.

  ‘Ribbit! Ribbit!’ it squealed, as each thing bounced off its head. Every time the poor little toad tried to waddle away, one of the witches would whip her wand out, zap a green ray at it and drag it back to the middle again.

  I gasped. This was going to get ugly if I didn’t think of something fast.

  I bent down and picked up some long, straight twigs. I carefully placed them into a star shape on the ground and I stepped inside. I pointed at the toad with my index finger and quietly made up a rhyme to the tune of Happy Birthday:

  If you want to turn back

  And escape from her pack,

  Aim your toes at her lumpy nose

  And give it a WHACK!

  I waited for the power to surge through my body and for the little toad – Mary – to start fighting back.

  But nothing happened. The toad just sat there like an idiot, letting pebbles and twigs bounce off its skull.

  I groaned and put my head in my hands. Mrs Winkle had been right all along. My magic powers were turning out to be very unreliable. Charlie wound himself around my ankles.

  ‘What next, boy?’ I whispered. ‘I’m running out of ideas here.’

  The light of the full moon broke through the clouds, and lit up the clearing as if it were daytime.

  ‘It’s nearly time!’ shouted Verbena. ‘Nearly time for Full Moon Magic!’

  ‘Full Moon Magic?’ said the fat little witch, stirring the cauldron. ‘Isn’t that the one where we steal most of the life force out of a young girl?’

  ‘Or someone who used to be a young girl,’ said Verbena, pointing at the toad.

  ‘Oooh, Verbena, you are naughty,’ said the fat little witch. ‘But what happens to her afterwards?’

  Verbena shrugged her shoulders.

  ‘Who cares?’ she said. ‘This one’s an ordinary human, so she may not live long after tonight. But I shall live! I shall live for another hundred years!’

  The circle of witches threw back their heads and howled, and my heart skipped a beat. I crouched down and buried my face in Charlie’s fur. I could feel his ears twitching like crazy, as if he could sense something else happening behind us.

  And then I heard a sound over my shoulder. Footsteps were crunching through dried leaves. And they were coming closer.

  Panic-stricken, I whipped around and peered into the dark.

  Out from behind a bush, stepped a large shape with a snow-white perm.

  ‘Stand aside, dear,’ said Mrs Winkle. ‘This is a job for the professionals.’

  10. A GLIMMER OF HOPE

  I was really happy to see Mrs Winkle – but I was also scared, because now she would see exactly how rubbish at witchcraft I was.

  ‘How did you know where to find us, Miss?’ I said.

  Mrs Winkle tapped the side of her nose with her finger.

  ‘I have my methods,’ she said. She frowned as she gazed into the clearing. ‘I made some enquiries about your witch. When I realised it was Verbena Vile, I knew you’d need some help. She’s an extremely nasty piece of work!’

  ‘You don’t have to tell me,’ I said. ‘See that toad? That’s Mary Maxwell!’

  ‘Dear me,’ said Mrs Winkle, peering over her glasses at the sad little animal. ‘There was no need for that.’

  She rummaged in her handbag and took out a polished navy-blue wand with a silver tip. I never use a wand because I keep losing them, but Mrs Winkle always does – and this one looked expensive.

  ‘Ooh,’ I breathed. ‘That’s beautiful.’

  Mrs Winkle smiled.

  ‘I buy them to match my shoes,’ she said. ‘Now. To work!’

  As the moon again slipped behind a cloud and the witches stopped howling, Mrs Winkle pointed her wand toward the clearing. Immediately, Verbena’s head shot up and she sniffed the air. She narrowed her eyes and licked her lips.

  ‘I smell magic, sisters!’ she whispered.

  ‘Hide!’ whispered Mrs Winkle out of the corner of her mouth. I didn’t need telling twice. I hopped behind a tree, dragging Charlie with me.

  ‘Come out, come out, wherever you are!’ sang Verbena.

  ‘Verbena Vile!’ said Mrs Winkle, stepping into the clearing. ‘It is I, Wanda Winkle of the Western Witch-hood – and you should be ashamed of yourself!’

  ‘A gate-crasher!’ said Verbena. ‘How did you get here, Winkle? A little bird told you, no doubt – a nasty little freckly bird, named Anna Kelly!’

  I cuddled Charlie so tight he nipped me on the finger.

  ‘Verbena,’ said Mrs Winkle. ‘You were taught as a child to use your powers for good, not evil. But look!’ She pointed at the toad, crawling miserably around the circle. ‘You break the laws of nature for your own amusement!’

  Verbena laughed, loud and long. I got goose bumps all over my arms.

  ‘What of it?’ she said. ‘My power grows stronger year by year! This is a special birthday – my hundredth! After we cast this night’s spells in the magic moonlight, I will be even more powerful – and you won’t be able to stop me doing anything I like!’

  Verbena whipped out a black wand and pointed it at Mrs Winkle.

  ‘Witches of the Woods!’ she screamed. ‘Attack! Attack the outsider!’

  The witches of the coven turned to Mrs Winkle. One by one, they drew out their wands. They started to march toward her, chanting:

  Winkle, Winkle, in our wood,

  Teaching magic, preaching good,

  Get out of here and go to bed -

  Unless you want to end up dead!

  ‘Mrs Winkle!’ I hissed from behind my tree. ‘You’re outnumbered! Run!’

  But Mrs Winkle wouldn’t budge. She planted her large feet firmly on the ground and lifted her wand.

  ‘Good over evil!’ she shouted. ‘Peace over war!’

  Verbena’s witches raised their wands, which started to crackle and spit sparks of fire. Soon there was sheet after sheet of blue flame spurting out of them. They were going to set fire to Mrs Winkle!

  Mrs Winkle whispered a quick spell under her breath and held her wand higher still. It spouted a pure, clean fountain of water, which quenched the flames into clouds of billowing steam.

  When they realised their plan wasn’t working, all of the witches turned themselves, one by one, into wild animals. There were lions, tigers, huge lizards and hyenas.

  They all rushed at Mrs Winkle, trying to wallop her with their claws and bite her with their massive teeth. But again, Mrs Winkle was too quick for them. She turned her wand into a whip and chair.

  ‘Back!’ she shouted, as she cracked and snapped her whip at them, and held them away with the chair. ‘I haven’t been a teacher for twenty years for nothing! Get back!’

  The animals roared louder still.

  While all this was going on, I could see Verbena edging toward the little green toad. It was time for me to do my bit.

  I swallowed hard and stepped inside my magic star. I closed my eyes and concentrated on a rhyme with all my might. But before I could come up with anything, Verbena’s head shot up and she sniffed the air.

  ‘Come out, come out, wherever you are!’ she sang once again. ‘Anna Kelly, I know you’re there! I can smell you!’

  I gulped.

  ‘Charlie!’ I whispered. ‘Make a run for it! Save yourself!’

  But Charlie just cuddled closer to me.

  Verbena whipped out her wand and waved it over herself. There was a flash of light and a puff of green smoke. When the smoke cleared, a large greenish-grey wolf stood in the clearing.

  It dropped its nose to the ground and sniffed. Then it raised its head and growled. Drool dripped off its pointed teeth as it padded across the clearing – straight at Charlie and me.

  11. ANNA AND CHARLIE FIGHT BACK

  The wolf nosed closer and closer. My mouth was so dry that my lips were stuck to my teeth. I started to shake.

  Within a few secon
ds, this enormous slavering beast would be upon us – and then what? Mrs Winkle couldn’t help us – she had her hands full tackling all those other witch-animals.

  When the wolf’s nose was inches away from my feet, Charlie began to yowl.

  ‘Quick, Charlie!’ I hissed. ‘Climb up a tree!’

  Charlie wasn’t listening. To my horror, I could see he was bending himself into a crouch. Then, before I could put out my hand to stop him, he sprang out of our hiding place straight into the huge wolf’s face.

  ‘Charlie!’ I screamed, throwing myself after him.

  The noise of the fight was deafening. The wolf snarled and howled at Charlie. Charlie yowled and hissed back. Again and again, Charlie stood on his hind legs and swiped the wolf’s snout with his stretched claws. The wolf bared his deadly teeth and snapped at Charlie.

  Bit by bit, the size difference between them began to tell. As the wolf’s large paws battered Charlie around the head for the tenth time, Charlie fell back, exhausted.

  Then, with one vicious lunge, the wolf trapped Charlie in his jaws, shook him around as if he were a rag doll, and dropped him onto the ground.

  Charlie didn’t get up again. I saw blood seeping into his fur.

  ‘No, NO, NO!!!!!!’ I screamed.

  I clenched my fists and launched myself at the wolf. It disappeared into thin air and I landed with a bump on the ground. When I looked up, Verbena was looming over me. She sneered at me and pushed me away with her foot.

  ‘Ha!’ she said. ‘See what happens when little girls don’t do as they’re told?’

  I’m not ashamed to say that I huddled over Charlie and started to cry. But as I felt the tears streaming down my face and dripping off my chin, I also felt something else. Anger.