Chapter 1

"Emma, Columbus, what do you think? Doesn't it look nice?"

Emma blinked, curled up and continued her nap; Columbus just wandered off.

"Well," thought Kora, "that's what you get with cats; absolutely no interest in anything but their own comfort."

She looked at her work again. The big fir next to the house looked wonderful, decorated with small, bright red apples and strings of nuts and berries but her masterpiece was the house. The door was a giant slab of chocolate, the windows were made of candyfloss, and the roof tiles were pancakes. The walls were gingerbread, of course. The steps, slabs of nougat, had a banister of sugar canes. The door and window frames were decorated with cream filled chocolates. Liquorice ivy and marzipan roses clambered all over the house. Nobody, neither child nor grown-up, would be able to resist it.

She went inside, followed by the cats who jumped on a windowsill and looked out at the snow-covered area in front of the cottage. Emma sat in the dining area to the left of the door. On a sideboard stood plates, cutlery and glasses ready to set the dinner table for a party of nine. Columbus preferred the kitchen, to the right of the door. He hoped to pick up a few titbits while Kora was cooking. At the far end of the kitchen-dining area was the comfortable lounge with an open fire. Logs were crackling spreading a scent of pine. Kitchen, dining room and lounge were decorated for Christmas with wreaths, garlands and candles. A large Christmas tree, decorated like the one outside, stood next to the spiral staircase to the upper floor between the kitchen-dining area and the sitting area. Kora went upstairs and inspected the three double bedrooms and the special bedroom for the children. Here was the only edible furniture. The matrasses and pillows on the four little beds were made of marshmallow and warm square waffles were the covers.

Everything was in order. She had nothing left to do but wait for the guests. She was sure they would come; the bait had been cleverly laid.

ooOOoo

Kora was a witch, her whole family were witches. They had always been in the top ten of witching families in Wicclan, the realm of witches, and had never dropped below five until Kora's mother had married; something that had never happened before. No witch of the Blackwart family had ever done that. Yes, they mated; yes, they got pregnant but marrying was just not done. They didn't even keep male babies. At best they dropped them off with the father, at worst … who knew.

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When Kora's mother decided to become Mrs Weiss, the family disowned her. They could not believe she had dropped the Blackwart name. Then Kora and her twin brother were born. Mrs Weiss kept the birth of Corina and Carsten secret. The family Weiss had even moved to another country. Unfortunately the Blackwarts found out when the twins were eight years old. They claimed Mrs Weiss was no fit mother for a young witch and she didn't have the courage to stand up to them. The witches' high court declared that the female child had to be raised within the Blackwart family and Mr and Mrs Weiss had to give up their little girl or risk curses and worse.

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Little Corina Weiss became Kora Blackwart and lived with her aunt and cousin Grimmelda who was Kora's age. Although Kora had never seen or performed a spell, she quickly learned and was allowed to go with her cousin to the Screecherella Academy for Gifted Witches. The family nodded in approval but on the first day Kora rebelled. To take on the Blackwart family at the age of twelve was brave, if not foolhardy, but she did it. Kora kept her first name because she preferred it to Corina, but when asked she said her name was Kora Weiss. No threat helped, no curse worked. The Blackwarts had to accept the name Kora Weiss. From then on she became the white sheep of the Blackwart family.

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After that Grimmelda's mother refused to have Kora in her house, claiming she would be a bad influence on her daughter. The most powerful of the great-aunts though recognised the potential for greatness in a young witch who took on a whole coven and won. They wanted to nurture her, bring her back to the fold of the family and get her to change her name back to Blackwart. Each holiday she was to move in with a different great-aunt.

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The first break she was supposed to spend with great-aunt Virulla who lived in a cottage deep in the woods on the border of Wicclan, near the tiny village of Greenwood on the Vee. When she arrived at the cottage she found the door open and her great-aunt Virulla stuck in her oven. Kora pulled her out of the fire and gave her first aid. Then she sent one of her aunt's message-bats to get an ambulance. The winged conveyance landed silently and unnoticed in front of the gingerbread cottage. Kora helped her great-aunt inside and both were taken to the Screecherella Magic Hospital. Virulla completely recovered but didn't want to go back to her cottage; instead she went to the Screecherella Old Age Witches Home. Kora often visited her there and they would talk for hours on end.

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At the age of eighteen Kora and Grimmelda both graduated from the Screecherella Academy for Gifted Witches. Grimmelda's mother threw a big party for her daughter's graduation. That Grimmelda had graduated only just was of no importance. That Kora had graduated with flying colours was not mentioned.

Grimmelda and Kora were now official witches and allowed to have their own cat. Grimmelda proudly showed of a sleek, pitch-black, panther-like cat the size of a big lion's cub. It came from an expensive magic pet shop and had a pedigree the size of a novel. Kora's Emma looked pathetic by comparison - the size of an ordinary cat, obviously pregnant and definitely not black.

"Not even white," the great-aunts said, "that would have been acceptable, a sort of negative black cat."

Kora thought her Emma was much better than any cat. She had an unusual pattern, tabby stripes over a tortoiseshell background. They had taken to each other at first sight and the Witch-Cat Rescue Centre had been only too pleased to get rid of a small-sized, pregnant, non-black cat.

"She's a lovely cat, and very clever," Kora defended her cat.

"Your cat should be big and black, not small and common. You're a member of the premier witches' family of the land, remember that."

They had started to wonder if Kora would ever be a worthy member of the Blackwart family. "Good thing the girl had decided to use her father's name," they whispered to each other. "It might have harmed the reputation of the Blackwart name if she had used it."

Then the aunts turned back to Kora and added, "If the kitten is black, you can keep that and get rid of this one."

Emma's kitten was black … nearly. He, for it was a tom, was smoky-black with …hm … negative black on his face, belly and paws. Kora named him Columbus because he loved exploring. When she showed him to the family they nearly disowned Kora. Columbus saved her by starting a fight with Grimmelda's black giant. He sent it scurrying up the curtains where he didn't deign to follow it.

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Kora was allowed to stay in the family. She had no real home but spent a few days with this aunt, a week with that one; most of the time she stayed with her great-aunt Virulla at the OAW Home, even if she only had a sofa to sleep on.

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Towards the end of the summer holidays, Kora received a letter telling her she had been given a cottage in Woodbridge, a large town outside witches' country, quite a distance away from the residences of the Blackwart family. Kora decided to take it even if she didn't know who had arranged it. She'd wanted to get away from the constant scrutiny of her family. She wanted to be independent from them. She very much wanted a place of her own. When she told the great-aunts she wouldn't need to stay with them anymore they were surprised. When she mentioned the name of Woodbridge they were furious.

A family council was called together and Kora was ordered to attend. Kora's great-aunts, aunts, cousins and family members even further removed were there; every witch of the Blackwart family except Kora's mother and great-aunt Virulla, who'd been written of the moment she entered a Home. They were all sitting together like a court of justice, accusing her of failing the family, just like her mother had done.

"No Blackwart would ever deign to live in so ordinary a place," they said. "If you accept this offer we will disown you. We will forever strike you from the family. Your name will not be mentioned anymore."

"I don't see how it's got anything to do with the Blackwart family anyway," said Kora. "I'm not a Blackwart but a Weiss. It's none of your business where I live or what I do. I strike you lot from MY family. And one more thing: should I ever have female children I advise you not to try with me what you did to my mother. No matter how many councils you call together, no matter if you go to the witches' high court, no matter if you go to the highest witches' authority, Screecherella herself, you won't get my daughters. Is that clear? You! Will! Never! Get! My! Daughters!"

For a moment all was silent. As if Death Himself had walked into the room. Then the most powerful Blackwart witch stood up.

"How dare you challenge us? You're barely a grown-up witch. You need to be punished."

She flicked her hand but all her power was not enough. Kora not only blocked the spell, but reversed it and turned the great-aunt into a puppy. Immediately the rest tried to undo the spell but in the end they had to ask Kora.

"Please, Kora, undo the spell. We don't seem to be able," they begged, not at all as high and mighty as they had been.

"It'll wear off in a week," said Kora. "Take it as a warning to leave me alone."

Then she left the room, leaving the Blackwart coven in complete disarray. They now knew better than to interfere in Kora's life. For years she had nothing to do with the Blackwart witches. The only one she still visited was great-aunt Virulla at the home.

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When Kora was twenty-nine Virulla died. It came as a shock to Kora and the rest of the family when Virulla's will was read. She had left everything she owned, including her enchanted house in the forest of Greenwood on the Vee, to Kora.

The Blackwarts protested loudly, contested the will and declared that Virulla had been in no fit state to manage her affairs. The result was that the will was upheld and the Blackwart family dropped out of the top fifty of witching families. That was the last time Kora saw any member of the Blackwart family again.

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As soon as the will was declared legal and was no longer contested, Kora started on fulfilling great-aunt Virulla's last wishes. First of all she looked for the treasure Virulla had hidden in her house but Kora couldn't find it. She turned the house inside out, lifted it up, shook it violently, but nothing fell out, least of all a treasure. It was as Virulla and Kora had thought. The children, Hansel and Gretel, had found it and taken it.

Next she repaired the house and made it into the most irresistible gingerbread house she could imagine. When it was all ready, she laid a trail of sweets, enchanted so only the right person could see them, that led from the clearing in front of the gingerbread house to the edge of the wood. This was not so far from Greenwood now. A small village no longer, it was growing to become a town. When all was ready Kora sat down with a cup of tea and waited for the beginning of the evening that was to be Great-Aunt Virulla's Christmas Eve.

ooOOoo

Author's Note:

I know that in the sentence "She went inside, followed by the cats who jumped on a windowsill" there is a grammatical mistake. I should have written "followed by the cats that jumped". The cats didn't let me.