Even though it had been over two weeks since Tom had been missing, Ben woke up several times at night and checked whether his brother was still there. Sometimes he even found their mother sitting on a chair at the end of one of their beds, sleeping. She had been far more protective after the incident, which was quite understandable. Neither Tom nor Ben were allowed to leave the town, not even when they were accompanied by other children, and they always had to be back before dark.
Tom, however, did not even want to go outside anyway; since that night, of which he still claims to remember nothing, he was not himself anymore, as Ben would put it. He had watched his brother closely for every day, tried to talk to him and play with him, but Tom never said very much and just blankly stared out of the window for the whole day, except for mealtimes, but even there he did not eat with as much appetite as before. Their mother let a doctor come to examine Tom, but he could not help very much either, he only reassured her that Tom would be alright, once the shock had worn off. Even a month later there was not much improvement, though, and Ben wondered, whether he would ever really get his brother back.
Then, one day, another child went missing, a 7 year old girl this time. She had been sent to bring food to her father and brother, who were helping on a field outside of town, but she did not return home after that. The search went on for two weeks until it was declared that she would probably be dead by now, killed by a wolf, a bear or another wild creature that lurked in the forest. The whole town felt sorry for the family and they and the little girl were included in every prayer during church.
Ben, however, did not think that the little girl had become the victim of an animal. Although he did not dare to voice his thoughts, he was pretty sure that she had been kidnapped by witches and that his brother had been attacked by one, too. He theorized that the witch must have put a curse on Tom, which would explain the lack of improvement in his recovery. On the other hand, he was not sure how his brother, or anyone for that matter, could ever escape a witch. He had never met one before and was not fond of ever meeting one, but he had heard tales that they were very powerful and that no one, no matter how strong that person was, could survive an encounter with a witch, if she did not have a reason for letting them. But what reason would a witch have to let his brother live? This was the only thing about his theory that Ben could not make sense of.