I don't own Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
The Night After.
While she was making herself a cup of tea while the children had gone to bed - she was beginning to wish now she hadn't been so dismissive of them, but at the time, Miss Price had known if she'd had children, it would only be a matter of time before she was discovered as a witch - Miss Price wondered if she should have expected anything different, really following the letter from Professor Browne; it was frustrating for her to be denied the Substitutiary locomotion spell when she had been looking forward to receiving it for some time now. When she had first discovered for herself the existence of magic when she had moved objects with her mind and discovered that course run by Professor Browne, she had seen an opportunity to provide help for the country.
The Substitutiary Locomotion spell would definitely be a major help in the struggle against the Nazis and the war. Miss Price's father had fought the Imperial German Army during the Great War. She remembered vividly the way he told her the Treaty of Versailles was the biggest mistake Europe and the world had ever made, and future generations would pay for it. He was absolutely right; Charlie, Carrie, and Paul were three of a large number of children evacuated because the Germans were taking revenge for the Treaty which had bled their country dry.
Her father was convinced one day Europe would be at war again with Germany. While her father hadn't been present during the signing of the Treaty, everyone quickly discovered what it had said and while many people had been delighted by what they would be receiving after the devastation of the war, the treaty demanded too much from the German people. The people had very little money and their resources were being stolen from them, the government there was unable to do anything to help feed the people. On and on and on, and political parties promising reforms and restoring Germany to their 'rightful' place in the world. Hitler had thrived in that environment, he had given the German people a scapegoat for their anger, resentment.
Under his leadership, Germany had become a major power again and they were once more building an empire across the world, an empire based on beliefs that were so narrow and cruel she wondered if the madman's claims the Third Reich would last for a thousand years or so.
But when she had come to see magic as a way of stopping the Germans since the Luftwaffe had begun bombing the country to pieces to soften Britain up for the inevitable invasion and she knew Winston Churchill was desperate to find a way, some new weapon, some new means of ending the war that would likely blur the lines of what was the best way to end the war that the future generations would judge them on their actions, Miss Price had decided to find a way to help.
Alright, she remembered her scepticism about the course run by Professor Browne, believing it too good to be true, but when she had checked the course for herself and she discovered several of the spells worked for her, she immediately began to practice the craft. In her office, she had written a number of ideas that could be used to help the country, but the most powerful spell that would have formed the base of so many of her plans for ending the war… was not here when she had been looking forwards to it for a while. When she had received the broomstick from the post office before picking up Carrie and the boys, she had been so sure the spell was on its way. But it wasn't and now she was wondering what to do next; she had used another spell to transform the bed to make it travel, and they would travel to London in the morning while she and the children rested to prepare themselves for the trip.
Finding Professor Browne wouldn't be hard. All Paul had to say as he was the only one of them who would cast the spell was to ask the bed to take them to the professor, and it would take them to a part of the city where he was close by. But she was worried about her trip to London. It had been a long time since her last visit to the capital, but she knew after the war had begun the place had become a shadow of its former self.
Suddenly Miss Price heard the sound of footsteps behind her on the stairs, and she walked out and she saw Carrie coming down. The teenager was wearing a dressing gown over a nightdress and a pair of slippers.
"Carrie, what are you doing up?" She asked.
"Aw, I couldn't sleep," the girl replied.
Miss Price searched the girl's features but she seemed to be telling the truth. "Why, what's wrong?"
Carrie suddenly fixed her with a pointed look. "When you're living in London during the bombings and hearing all that noise, wondering if you're gonna live or die…well you suddenly learn not to have too much sleep."
Miss Price winced. While she was annoyed by Carrie's manner, she could see why the girl had said that. Suddenly she could see how much of a toll the war had taken on Carrie. Hitler could justify the war by saying the war was to expand the Nazi empire and give the Reich breeding room, but levelling cities and driving children out of them who were left of the ones who were killed and calling it expansion for breeding room was no justification. To her, and likely for everyone, it was just an excuse for madness. Her desire to find a way to help the war effort just rose even more.
"Right, I'm sorry, Carrie. I never thought of it like that….," the witch replied, uncertain of what to say to make amends for her faux pas.
Carrie's expression softened. "I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have snapped; I've just been so scared for so long. When the bombings started, Paul was so scared and I was furious with the Germans for what they were doing. Many of our friends were forced to leave home, and I don't know where they've gone. I started sleeping less than I should. I only came out of the bedroom to walk around the house, hope you don't mind?"
"No, I don't mind," Miss Price replied now feeling true regret for the way she had dismissed the children after all they had been through. She looked at the tea speculatively and then she turned back to Carrie. "Would you like some tea, Carrie? It might help," she suggested.
Carrie's face lit up. "Really, Miss? That's lovely of you, thank you."
Miss Price smiled at the gushing and she tilted her head to gesture to the chair. When the two were sitting at the table, drinking their tea solemnly, Carrie decided to speak.
"Do you mind if I ask something personal, Miss Price?" Carrie asked.
Miss Price nodded, wondering what it was for a moment before she realised there could be only one thing the girl could be wanting to speak about. In any case, she could see it in Carrie's face. The children weren't aware of it, but Miss Price had learnt how to read body language from a very early age and she knew when people had something on their minds. Good or bad. Or somewhere in between.
"Go on, Carrie."
Carrie paused for a second to compose her thoughts to find the best way to pose her question. "How did you become a witch, was it just the course?"
Miss Price had been wondering when someone asked her that. "When I was younger, my parents told me the lights would dim, but when I became about…oh, about your age, I lost my temper when my bicycle got a puncture in the tyres and in my anger, a nearby tree was splintered."
"Oh my god!" Carrie whispered, her eyes wide.
"I didn't realise what it was at first, but I began to practice and eventually I could move things through the power of the mind," Miss Price went on, and to showcase her words she looked pointedly at a nearby milk jug. Before Carrie's astonished gaze, the jug lifted into the air ever so gently. With a slight gesture, a very slight one Carrie noted, the jug tipped up slightly and gently poured some milk into the cup.
It was then lowered back down.
"Amazing!" Carrie gushed.
"It may be amazing to you, but it took me a long time to master lifting things with my mind and even moving things."
"I guess it puts things into perspective like the legends of sorcerers and witches, like King Arthur and Merlin," Carrie observed.
Miss Price smiled at the thought. "I've no doubt they existed. Every legend has a basis in fact, but I think Merlin had to start from scratch or learn from someone older and wiser before he mastered things on his own. That's more or less what I can do. I can do more than that, but when I heard of Professor Browne's school…I'll admit I did find it convenient and it seemed a bit too good to be true, but I decided to give it a try. And when I began using some of the basic spells, I began to see an opportunity to find a way to bring the war to a successful conclusion."
"How do you plan to do that?" Carrie couldn't help but ask; she had been enthralled by the words from Miss Price, and while they were just that - words - she could see the bonus of having a witch help against the battle with the Nazis.
Miss Price rubbed her face, "I have some basic plans, such as transforming German soldiers into toads, or rather," she looked ruefully embarrassed at Carrie, who had placed a hand to her mouth, snickering at the memory of Charlie being turned into a rabbit when he had taken his blackmail plan a bit too far.
"Rabbits!" Carrie smirked.
Miss Price's lips quirked but she didn't smile. Inwardly she was happy to see the girl laugh. She wasn't a woman who saw much humour. "It doesn't really matter what the Germans are transformed into, but it doesn't last as you saw. But… there was a spell Professor Browne was going to send me, but it didn't arrive because of the war. I saw some really good uses of the spell Carrie. It's a spell that can animate objects and make them move without them being used by people. Imagine what it could be used for against the Germans. Guns that are levitating and opening fire without fear of British soldiers, tanks and aircraft firing in battle without loss of life. I'd be saving lives and giving soldiers time to regroup."
Carrie's eyes widened as she pictured a scene where the Germans were locked in a battle against floating guns and being fired upon by unmanned tanks. "That's the spell you want from Professor Browne?"
"That's right," Miss Price explained, "I'm hoping to see him tomorrow and find the spell."
Suddenly Carrie wondered if Browne even had it. She decided to ask her that question, "Do you think he even has it?"
"He must. He's been promising it for a while with every spell he's sent off, and I believed it because I didn't have anything else to believe in. I know what you're thinking Carrie, and believe me there were times when I have questioned it. But I can see these spells helping us, this country. I hate the Nazi's, Carrie. My father recently died when he went to Dunkirk."
Carrie gaped. She remembered only too well the evacuation of British soldiers in Europe because of the German advance. But hearing this woman had lost family…
She knew it made sense the Germans would have opened fire on whatever boats were called upon to rescue the soldiers, but she hadn't known Mr Price was one of the victims!
"I told him not to go," she had to focus to hear the woman speak. "He was ill, far too sick to join up again and he was a member of the Home Guard but he was a part-time member due to his illness. But he wanted to do his part, and he died saving 14 soldiers. A shell destroyed the boat!"
Carrie got up and hesitantly hugged the woman. "That's why you're so driven to fight off the Germans, to stop them from killing anybody else?"
"Yes. Father told me the Treaty of Versailles that was forced on the Germans was a mistake. And he was right. We plundered their country, and now we're paying the price. But hopefully, with magic, we can bring the war to an end."
Carrie wasn't sure if her ideas would work, but it was a good one.
But Miss Price was not finished. "We must succeed Carrie, or our way of life will be decimated, and children like Paul and yourself will be brainwashed by the Nazi doctrine."
Carrie shuddered at the thought.