For those not in the know, Hetty Feather is the protagonist of several books by British author Jacqueline Wilson : Hetty Feather, Sapphire Battersea, Emerald Star and Little Stars. I used to be a big fan. She is also a major character in the spin-off Diamond, and makes chapter-long appearances in Clover Moon and Rose Rivers, two other spinoffs. A TV series has also been loosely adapted from the books. Book 1 is set from 1876 to 1887, and chronicles her birth, early childhood at a wet nurse in the countryside, and her life at the Foundling Hospital. The Foundling Hospital was a institution from the 1730s for the babies of unmarried mothers (something which was deeply, DEEPLY stigmatised at the time) and was one of the more humane establishments of that time, which meant they investigated when one of the women they sent their female foundlings to as servant apprentices once they turned 14-16 beat one of them to death. A lot of the foundlings died in the hospital itself, usually of disease. JW toned down this aspect a great deal, as well as the frequent beatings. It's a book for kids, after all. It still was way, way better a place than the streets or the workhouse. As for Hetty herself, her personality is that of a fiery, imaginative, tomboyish, slightly insolent, book-loving girl who wants to do amazing things (so she's like most JW protagonists). At the end of book one, after running away using the Queen's Jubilee and being found by a writer who brings her back to the hospital, she meets her biological mother, who found a position as a kitchen maid at the Foundling Hospital. And at the beginning of book two, her mother gets sacked from her job. And then, after Hetty gets kicked out from her first ever job, she discovers her mother is half dead from consumption (TB). She finds a job dressing up as a mermaid in a freakshow.(Not kidding here). And her mother keeps getting sicker…
-« No. Mama... »
I, Hetty Feather, although I'd rather be called Sapphire Battersea, held my mother, dying of phtisis and hemorrhaging to death, in my arms, and prayed that she'd be able to spend just an hour or two more alive. We'd only been able to spend such a short time together…
The nurse who had been there when I burst in had left, and all the other patients were lying wan and pale in bed. Just then I saw a strange animal, almost like a cross between a rabbit and a cat, with gold loops around its long ears, hop onto the foot of the bed and I heard a voice in my head : Greetings, Sapphire Battersea ! My name is Kyubey, the Messenger of Magic and I want you to make a contract with me and become a magical girl. You'll get a wish granted in exchange : any impossible thing you could want can be given. So tell me : what is the wish that will make your soul gem shine ?
I stared at it bemusedly for a few seconds before stammering out :
-« I wish for Mama to be healed and well again. I wish that we could have a happy future together. »
Given some more time, I'm sure I'd have thought of a far more exciting wish.
Its eyes shone golden, its ears twitched, and then a blinding blue light forced itself out of my chest. Your wish has successfully reduced entropy.
-« Arrrrrgh ! « I screamed. It felt as though all the organs in my body were being wrenched out. It was an agonising sensation. I grasped at the blue light in front of me, and the pain was then replaced by an incredible strength of the kind I had never felt before. But I was focused on the fact that Mama had stopped bleeding from the mouth, and sat up on the bed. She opened her eyes and they shone blue in a way they hadn't in a long time. I gave her a brief hug, tears of joy in my eyes, then grasped Kyubey into another hug. It was soft and cuddly.
-« Thank you, thank you, thank you ! »
-« Hetty », said Mama weakly, « What's happening ? »
She can't see or hear me. Only magical girls or those with the potential to become them can. She must also be surprised by your transformation
-« My transformation ? » I looked down and saw I was wearing the most beautiful dress, fit for a princess : blue silk edged with minuscule pearls making up patterns on the bodice. It was perfectly fitted, with soft underthings. It was even finer than the best dresses I used to picture myself wearing when I was still clad in my ugly brown frock back at the Foundling Hospital. I lightly poked the polearm that was strapped to my back ( I knew what it was thanks to an illustration in one of the books from when I used to sneak into the never-used Foundling Hospital library).
« Oh, THANK you », I repeated to Kyubey, who accepted another hug.
We must go outside to avoid scrutiny. There are many things I still have to tell you.
I kissed a bewildered Mama goodbye, and jumped out of the ground floor window right before the nurse came back. Once outside, Kyubey told me In exchange for your wish, you now have a Soul Gem : it's that small crystal on a band on your arm, and it contains your magic. As you use your magic, the Soul Gem darkens and your powers diminish, and you will eventually cease to exist, but by holding a grief seed near it, you can replenish your magic and make it bright again.
-« Magic. » I breathed. It was just like in a fairy tale, except instead of being given a castle and princesshood by a fairy, I'd turned into the fairy. I was so stupid back then.
-« Wait, how do I get these Grief Seeds ? » I suddenly realised I really didn't want to cease and quickly scrambled for a solution.
As a magical girl, it is your duty to fight witches. By defeating them, you can get Grief Seeds.
-« Witches ? »
If magical girls can be said to be born from wishes, then witches are born from curses. Where magical girls bring hope to the world, they bring despair. And because they're invisible to humans, they're that much more insidious. They are the harbingers of anxiety, mistrust, rage and hatred, sowing seeds of disaster all over the world. Unexplained suicides,and murders without motives are most likely the result of a witch's curse, festering within a person and growing until it consumes them
-« I have to fight these things ? » I said, my confidence waning. « Will I have some help, at the very least ? »
Witches are careful about not letting humans see them. They hide deep within the labyrinth they create, strange places filled with peril. And only a magical girl can go penetrate a witch's barrier.
-« Alright » I resolved not to be so wishy-washy. After all, it couldn't be that bad, fighting witches, and I'd always longed for adventure.
-« Cubes, I need to go back to work. I'm going to be late. »
I'll visit you if you have any more questions or need any more help. And I have good news : there's another magical girl in town. I'll contact her and see if she can show you the ropes
-« Thanks ! I said as I ran back to Mr Clarendon's Seaside Curiosities. I transformed into my outfit, my soul gem turning into a ring on my right hand. I was quite pleased to see that, because I only had another real piece of jewelry in my life, the bangle Rose gave me a few Christmases ago. I smiled and nodded throughout the evening at the many people who came to gape at the various oddnesses present. I, clad in my sequined green mermaid costume, made from what used to be my Sunday dress, was especially popular and got quite a few coppers in my tip jar. But I couldn't stay at this job. I'd miss my friend Freda the Female Giantess, but I needed to find another, more respectable job before Mama came out of the hospital (I'd told her I was employed as a nursemaid)
-« Freda, how should I go around finding a new job ? » Freda probably wasn't the best person to ask about these things, but my experience trying to find work had been a dismal one (I'd been turned down nearly everywhere) and I didn't have anyone else to ask.
-« I guess that if you has a reference, you could find an agency for maids. Or ask that Miss Smith of yours. But you get lots and lots of tips here and it's hard to find new jobs so it….wouldn't be a good idea to leave ? » she said hopefully.
-« I'm sorry. But Mama can't know I work here. I told her I was employed as a nursemaid, and she's coming out of the infirmary quite soon. »
-« Really ? Didn't the doctor tell you to give up hope ? »
-« Let's just say, a miracle has happened. »
The next day, as I was lying on my fake beach and smiling beamingly at everyone who passed by, I hear a voice in my head saying « Here, over here » I saw Kyubey sitting on a girl of about nineteen's head. She waved and smiled at me.
-« I'm Marnie. You must be Hetty. I'm very pleased to meet you. At what time do you finish your...work, so I can show you the basics of witch hunting.
-« Midnight »
-« Really ? Well I finish at ten. I'll fetch you right outside here.
A little while later
« So, I fought a witch yesterday near the docks, but it got away, so we'll go scouting around there. Your soul gem will glow brighter as it approaches the witch »
After ten or so minutes, we finally found the witch's location.
-« Watch out », Marnie said as we were engulfed into what looked like a deranged clockworker's shop. We both transformed, Marnie donning a rather frilly maid's uniform. Familiars resembling cuckoo clocks with mechanical legs crowded around us. Time to fight my first witch.