Chapter 8: The Witch
A/N Now the fun begins… This chapter is a bit longer, but we're getting to the real story and I couldn't stop…
When they'd fought their way to the back of the bus Beth explained that since both her parents worked, the three of them would get off at a different bus stop and stay with one of the neighbors until Carrie came home. Alice enjoyed her second bus ride far more than her first, having a slightly better idea of how to keep her seat. By the end of the week she could sense the larger bumps and turns in the road in enough time to decide whether to brace herself or attempt flight. There was one particularly large bump that almost caused the whole bus to lift off the ground if they could convince the driver to go fast enough.
By the time that Friday came, Alice was eager for the weekend break and charged off the bus with Beth and Jake the moment it stopped on their street. The three of them raced to the baby-sitter's house, called hello to Mrs. Rice as they passed through the kitchen, and barreled through to the back yard. The kids usually spent all of their time in the yard until Carrie came by to pick them up after work. Mrs. Rice was nice enough, Alice supposed, but seemed a bit odd. She looked much younger than most of the adults that Alice knew, but her voice rasped as if she were perpetually fighting a cold. She wore similar clothes to Mrs. Treble, flowing skirts and baggy blouses. In fact she seemed no taller than the music teacher, but she was much thinner, almost getting lost in the fabric when she knelt down. She seemed to spend most of her time in her kitchen, surrounded by colorful plants. They were never allowed to see what she was cooking, but there was always a large pot on the metal counter top. The "stove," Alice remembered. Muggles used those odd hot metal rings to do their cooking. She'd narrowly missed a nasty burn at Carrie's once, leaning over the stove to reach the pepper Carrie wanted. Mrs. Rice's cooking had a much stronger smell than anything Carrie ever made though, and not always a good smell. Neither Beth, nor Jake, had any ideas about what she was making either, but told Alice they tried to stay out of her way. There were vague rumors about her at school. No one explained why, but everyone kept away from her. Alice assumed that it had something to do with the absent Mr. Rice, about whom the other kids where equally quiet. She could have accepted the idea that she'd never really know what Mrs. Rice was doing, if not for something she saw on their second day there, and again every day afterwards. Mrs. Rice's back yard was rather small, and fenced in, but it held the best climbing trees Alice had ever come across. Although someone had thoughtfully hung a tire swing from one of the trees, the children ignored it in favor of exploring the branches. From her perch that second afternoon, Alice could see directly into one of the upstairs windows. The room was dark and at first all she saw was her own reflection. Alice giggled and made a face. "Come on!" she called down to Beth, who was struggling to join her.
"I am…. just a minute… there's an… owww!"
"Are you alright?" Alice looked down anxiously.
"I'm… fine. I'm fine," Beth laughed. "Hit my head on this branch. Hold on… be up in a sec…"
"Well hurry! I've had nearly enough of this one. If you don't get here soon, I'll pass you on the way back down!"
"Ohhhh… chill! I'm coming! Isn't there anything interesting up there?"
Alice smiled at her reflection again. "Just me." She watched Beth's progress for a bit. She loved being better than her cousin at something. It almost made up for following her around so much to keep from getting lost. She glanced back up the window, pulling a face. Pale eyes stared back at her.
"Oh!" Alice nearly lost her balance in her surprise.
"What's going on? You nearly kicked me!" Beth cried from just below her.
"There's someone there!"
"Where?" Beth eased herself onto the branch beside Alice.
"Right… there. Well, she was there. Just a moment ago. I thought I saw…" There was no one there now.
Beth looked at Alice quizzically, "You saw someone?"
"Yes, err, I thought I did. At that window, there were eyes."
"I only see our eyes," Beth stared at the dark window, squinting to make out what Alice had seen.
Alice stared too, but then laughed at Beth's reflection. "What are you doing?"
"Looking for your mysterious eyes!" Beth responded indignantly.
"Well, they're gone now."
"I see that."
Alice couldn't help sneaking glances up at that window each afternoon. She saw the eyes every day, but by the time she had either Beth's or Jake's attention, the window had gone blank again. Friday she resolved not to tell them if she saw it again. They were starting to look at her the way they looked at Mrs. Rice. She glanced up surreptitiously for the fourth time that afternoon. Still empty. She needed to stop looking. Today Beth and Jake were teaching her to play Freeze Tag, which seemed similar to the game of Statues that she'd occasionally placed at home. Jake was getting a little annoyed by how easy it was to catch her.
"Alice! You aren't supposed to freeze until I tag you!" he yelled in exasperation.
"Whateroo ookinat?" Beth asked, trying not to move her lips. She'd been tagged by Jake a moment before and wasn't allowed to move unless Alice tagged her and "unfroze" her.
"What?" asked Alice, shaking herself out of her reverie. "Nothing. I'm not looking at anything." She dodged Jake at the last minute. She sprinted across the yard to rescue Beth. She succeeded, but slipped on a wet leaf, fell and was tagged as Beth escaped. It was probably the most comfortable position to be frozen in, she reckoned. At least she didn't have to worry about holding her foot up in mid-dash. She watched Jake chase Beth three times around the same tree. Finally Beth called a time out and bent over, catching her breath. "Is-is it raining?" she panted.
Jake held out his hands, "Ummmm nope. Wait… yes I think that was a drop."
"We should… should probably go in then," Beth suggested.
"You just want to quit because I'm winning!" Jake argued.
"You are not!"
"Am too!"
Alice recognized the beginning of another epic sibling battle. The sky was growing darker and she definitely felt a drop on her shoulder. "Err, guys?" she tried to interrupt.
"Are not!"
"Am too!"
"Are not!"
"Am too times a hundred!"
"Guys? I'm getting a little wet here…"
"What?"
"What?"
Alice grinned. "I said I'm getting a bit wet here. You reckon we could pick this up later?"
"Yeah, ok," agreed Beth.
"Beat you inside!" challenged Jake. He took off for the door.
"Not if I get there first!" called Beth, charging after him.
Alice smiled and joined the race, making it to the back door just ahead of Beth.
"Ha!" Jake cheered from the threshold, his hands gripping either side of the doorway. "Beat you both!"
"Great, Jake. Now get out of the way," grumbled Beth through gritted teeth.
"What's the password?"
"What?"
Jake grinned from his position in the dry doorway. "Tell me the password and you can come in."
"Please, Jake?" Alice tried.
"Nope, not it!" Jake slammed the door shut and grinned again, safe behind the window.
Beth hammered on the door with her fists. "Let us in, jerk!"
He stuck out his tongue.
"Jake, come on. Open up, it's starting to rain harder," Alice pleaded.
Jake seemed to consider it for a moment, then grinned cheekily and shook his head. Alice sighed and stepped back from the door, looking for another entrance. She backed under an overhanging tree branch as the drizzle became a downpour. Beth pressed herself into the doorway, still banging on the door and yelling at her brother through the window. There was a crash beside Alice and she jumped. A large branch had barely missed her. She peered up through the tree and caught a flash of white at the upstairs window.
"Alice!" Beth called. Somehow she'd convinced her brother to let her in, and she was waving from the open doorway. With a last glance at the window, Alice shook herself and ran inside. She and Beth shook out their hair and brushed the droplets from their arms and faces.
"Where did Jake go?" Alice asked, ringing out the bottom of her shirt at the sink.
Beth's eyebrows lowered. "Hiding. Nevermind, I'll get him later."
"Girls! What's happened to you?" Mrs. Rice stopped short in the kitchen's entrance.
"We're fine, Mrs. Rice," Beth answered quickly.
"You are not fine! Wait right here!" she disappeared.
"Where did she go?" asked Alice.
"Let's not wait to find out," Beth said. She grabbed Alice's sleeve and started to pull her through the doorway Mrs. Rice had come in through. Unfortunately, Mrs. Rice chose that moment for her return. The wet girls ran into her and nearly knocked her down.
"Whoa, girls! What's the rush? Here, take these towels and go straight upstairs to the bathroom and dry off. Lyness is in her room. Ask her to lend you something dry to wear."
"Thank you Mrs. Rice," whispered Alice, wrapping a large green towel around herself. Beth grabbed her hand and dragged her up the stairs.
"What are you talking to her for?" she hissed.
"She was… she… well… err… don't you think that was nice of her, getting us towels?"
"Yes, but why?"
"Why?"
Beth whirled on her at the top of the stairs. "Why did she do that for us?"
"Because we were cold and wet?"
"What does she care? She isn't cold!"
Alice raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"She's just… weird."
"Maybe she didn't want us dripping all over her floor."
"You don't think she's creepy? You don't think this… whole place is creepy?"
A door slammed shut down the hall. "What was that?" Alice asked.
"See?" implored Beth, her eyes shining, "Creepy!"
"It must be Lyness. She told us someone was up here, remember? Said we should get her to lend us something to wear."
"Well, I'm not going down there. Who knows what she keeps in there?" Beth turned and marched into the bathroom. "Coming?"
"Don't you think we should go talk to her?"
"No!"
"What good is going to do us to dry off if we're meant to put our wet clothes back on?" Alice argued.
"Then you go, but I do not want to meet creepy Mrs. Rice's creepy daughter." Beth crossed her arms. Her mouth and her mind were set. Alice had to accept that her cousin was not going to change she mind.
"Oy! Fine then. Stay here if you're frightened. I'll go down, meet Lyness, and get us something to wear." She headed down the dark hallway.
"Nothing pink!" Beth called.
Alice rolled her eyes. There was nothing to be scared of here. It was just a hallway, with bad lights, a weird smell, and was that smoke? She hurried down to the door that had slammed shut. "Hello? Hello, is anyone there? Are you alright?" She knocked quietly. The door seemed warm and that was definitely smoke curling out from underneath. "Hello?" she called, a bit louder. "There's smoke out here… is something burning?" The door opened for a split second and someone pulled Alice inside. She was assaulted by incense. As her eyes adjusted she made out a small table beside the door where the smoke was floating off of several incense sticks. Lyness's bedroom was small and crowded with dark wooden furniture. The walls were draped with cloth hangings, each with a different pattern or image - mostly Celtic symbols. The bed covers and hangings were all in dark earthy tones, hues of green and brown and deep red. In one corner sat a large wooden chest, partly draped in green fabric and covered with small wooden figures, flowers, and a curved silver knife. The room's owner kneeled by the trunk. She seemed a few years older than Alice, maybe thirteen. Her long dark hair curled loosely down her back, blending with her brown skirt. She was dressed similarly to her mother, in a skirt that pooled around her and an embroidered blouse. She looked up at Alice with enormous brown eyes. Alice took a deep breath and immediately regretted it.
"Lock the door."
Choking on the smoke and rubbing her eyes, Alice did as she was asked. She took a step towards the other girl.
"Lyness?"
The other girl nodded and signaled for Alice to sit down beside her. When Alice had taken her seat next to her, the older girl gently took her hand and held it tightly. She stared intently into Alice's eyes. Breaking their connection for the briefest moment, she glanced at the door, saw that the lock was turned, and nodded again.
"I'll tell you a secret," whispered Lyness. "But you can't tell anyone. Do you swear?"
"I swear," Alice breathed.
"Alright," said Lyness. She checked the door one last time and faced Alice with a dreadfully serious expression. "Remember, you can't tell anyone. Not even Beth."
"I won't! What is it?"
The older girl smiled. "I'm a witch."