"Once Alvin Matheson arrived, the entire town went witch-crazy," Dolly related
to Alan, Mr. Winslow, and the Prufrocks, who listened with interest. "One by
one, he accused the women in my family of witchcraft, and one by one, they were
tried and hanged."
"That's awful!" Rubella remarked. "And you were only a child when all of this happened."
"In the middle of it all, my father abandoned us," Dolly went on. "In the end, all the women in the family were dead, except for my mother and aunt Charity. My mother knew they would come after her, so she devised a plan to protect me."
"And what plan was that?" Winslow inquired.
"My mother spent three years preparing a spell that would send me into the future," Dolly replied. "She enchanted the locket so that when it was touched by a child who was free of superstition, I would appear in that time and place. Thou art...er, you are that child, Alan."
"Uh, I don't know about that," said Alan. "I don't believe in lucky charms or Friday the 13th or any of that stuff, but I don't know if that makes me free of superstition. I believe in God and I go to church, and some people think that's superstition."
"Not if all you do is go to church," Prunella chimed in.
"But I don't believe in witches, either," Alan added. "And you just told us that your mother was a witch."
"My mother was a splendid witch," said Dolly proudly. "She was the first witch ever to perform a successful temporal spell. All the women in my family were witches. I'm a witch, too. Or I will be, when I grow up."
"So when Reverend Matheson accused you all of being witches," Alan marveled, "he was right."
"We only wanted to do good." Dolly's tone became plaintive. "But he told the townspeople that we were evil, and should be destroyed. He said all the time that he wanted to destroy all the evil in the world."
"Maybe he should have started with himself," said Prunella indignantly.
Alan turned to her. "You don't believe her, do you?"
"I believed you when you said you traveled through time," Prunella responded.
"I believe her," said Mrs. Prufrock. "She looks just like the picture in the locket, and her story agrees with our family history. You may think I'm crazy for believing someone can travel into the future, but I've seen stranger things."
"As for me," said Mr. Winslow as he rose (and rose and rose), "I try to keep an open mind, but I'm not willing to believe things without some kind of evidence. I'll be in town until Sunday. That's how long you have to convince me, Dolly."
"I have no interest in convincing thee...er, you, Mr. Winslow," Dolly said in reply.
As Winslow departed the house, Prunella led Alan to her bedroom and the two consulted in private. "I don't know if she's crazy or not," Alan opinionated, "but her story sure is."
"What's so crazy about time travel?" asked Prunella. "You've done it before."
"Time travel isn't the problem," Alan replied slowly and thoughtfully. "If you get close enough to the speed of light, you can go as far into the future as you want. But you'd need a spaceship and a whole lot of fuel to do that. A bunch of witches living in 17th-century New Hampsire wouldn't be able to pull it off."
"Unless they had a really big, really fast broom," Prunella joked.
Alan chuckled, and his mood lightened. "At least one good thing will come of this. We're off the hook for what happened to your great-aunt Hannah's locket."
----
When Muffy appeared in the doorway of Prunella's house clutching a black satchel, she was out of breath and panting. "I had to walk all the way here from my house," she said to Alan and Prunella as they welcomed her inside. "My dad still hasn't hired me a new chauffeur. Oh, the pain...the pain..."
"Thanks for letting Dolly borrow some of your dresses," said Prunella. "That's very considerate of you."
"When I heard what happened, I just had to help," said Muffy as she followed the others up the stairway. "That poor girl. If I had to choose between being blasted with a fire extinguisher and dying in the fire..."
They arrived in the attic and looked around. "She's not here," Alan noted.
"Well, where is she?" whined Muffy. "Hurry up and find her. This bag is getting heavy."
Then her ears picked up something. "Hey, did I just hear the toilet flush for, like, the third time?"
The three kids hurried back down the stairway and into the bathroom, where they found the gleeful Dolly, who was still wearing one of Prunella's dresses. She was gazing into the toilet bowl as the water spiraled counter-clockwise and was sucked into the pipes. Turning to Muffy, Alan, and Prunella, she smiled and said, "What a splendid invention! A water bowl that makes things vanish!"
"I see you've discovered the toilet," said Prunella facetiously.
Upon seeing Muffy, Dolly curtsied again. "My name's Dolores, but you can call me Dolly."
"I'm Mary Alice Crosswire," said Muffy as she set down her satchel and shook the girl's hand, "but you can call me Muffy." She could feel her heart breaking at the sight of the girl's discolored hair.
"I asked Muffy to lend you some dresses that are your size," Prunella informed Dolly.
Rather than thank Muffy, Dolly began to examine the hair ribbons tied to the ends of the girl's braids. "These are lovely," she commented. "May I borrow one of them?"
"Uh, sure you can," said Muffy, looking a bit confused. Untying the ribbon on her left braid, she handed it to Dolly...who promptly dropped it into the toilet and pushed the handle.
"Hey!" cried the alarmed Muffy. She watched in horror as the hair ribbon spun around and around, closer and closer to the black hole of no return. The only way to save it was to insert her hand into the toilet bowl. It was hopeless.
Once the ribbon had disappeared into the void, Muffy turned to Dolly in anger. "You flushed my hair ribbon! Why did you do that?"
Dolly smirked, stuck out her clenched right hand, opened her fingers...and there was the ribbon, perfectly dry. Muffy's jaw dropped in disbelief.
"How...how did you..." Prunella stammered.
"An illusion my mother taught me," Dolly explained. "Here, Muffy, take the ribbon."
A bit hesitant, Muffy plucked the ribbon from Dolly's hand and began to tie it onto the end of her left braid. When she was done, she grinned at Dolly. "That was a cool trick. Do you do parties?"
"Look in the mirror," said Dolly.
Muffy turned and discovered, to her chagrin, that the ribbon was missing from her left braid. "Huh?" she blurted out. Thinking it might have fallen off, she began to glance around the floor.
Once again Dolly held out her hand, opening her fingers to reveal the presence of the hair ribbon. Muffy slapped her forehead in frustration. Reaching for the ribbon again, she said, "This isn't another trick, is it?"
"Not this time," Dolly reassured her. Muffy grabbed the ribbon, tied it onto her left braid, looked in the mirror, and found to her relief that the ribbon was in its proper place.
"That was impressive," Alan said to Dolly, "but I still don't believe you're a witch."
"And for your disbelief I am most grateful," Dolly responded.
Prunella turned and stepped out of the bathroom. "Let's go, guys," she called. "Dolly needs to change."
Alan and Muffy followed her and closed the door. Dolly glanced down at the satchel that Muffy had left behind, but the dresses contained therein didn't interest her, as she had secretly obtained a fascinating new toy. Lifting her hands, she began to playfully punch the buttons on Muffy's cell phone.
TBC
"That's awful!" Rubella remarked. "And you were only a child when all of this happened."
"In the middle of it all, my father abandoned us," Dolly went on. "In the end, all the women in the family were dead, except for my mother and aunt Charity. My mother knew they would come after her, so she devised a plan to protect me."
"And what plan was that?" Winslow inquired.
"My mother spent three years preparing a spell that would send me into the future," Dolly replied. "She enchanted the locket so that when it was touched by a child who was free of superstition, I would appear in that time and place. Thou art...er, you are that child, Alan."
"Uh, I don't know about that," said Alan. "I don't believe in lucky charms or Friday the 13th or any of that stuff, but I don't know if that makes me free of superstition. I believe in God and I go to church, and some people think that's superstition."
"Not if all you do is go to church," Prunella chimed in.
"But I don't believe in witches, either," Alan added. "And you just told us that your mother was a witch."
"My mother was a splendid witch," said Dolly proudly. "She was the first witch ever to perform a successful temporal spell. All the women in my family were witches. I'm a witch, too. Or I will be, when I grow up."
"So when Reverend Matheson accused you all of being witches," Alan marveled, "he was right."
"We only wanted to do good." Dolly's tone became plaintive. "But he told the townspeople that we were evil, and should be destroyed. He said all the time that he wanted to destroy all the evil in the world."
"Maybe he should have started with himself," said Prunella indignantly.
Alan turned to her. "You don't believe her, do you?"
"I believed you when you said you traveled through time," Prunella responded.
"I believe her," said Mrs. Prufrock. "She looks just like the picture in the locket, and her story agrees with our family history. You may think I'm crazy for believing someone can travel into the future, but I've seen stranger things."
"As for me," said Mr. Winslow as he rose (and rose and rose), "I try to keep an open mind, but I'm not willing to believe things without some kind of evidence. I'll be in town until Sunday. That's how long you have to convince me, Dolly."
"I have no interest in convincing thee...er, you, Mr. Winslow," Dolly said in reply.
As Winslow departed the house, Prunella led Alan to her bedroom and the two consulted in private. "I don't know if she's crazy or not," Alan opinionated, "but her story sure is."
"What's so crazy about time travel?" asked Prunella. "You've done it before."
"Time travel isn't the problem," Alan replied slowly and thoughtfully. "If you get close enough to the speed of light, you can go as far into the future as you want. But you'd need a spaceship and a whole lot of fuel to do that. A bunch of witches living in 17th-century New Hampsire wouldn't be able to pull it off."
"Unless they had a really big, really fast broom," Prunella joked.
Alan chuckled, and his mood lightened. "At least one good thing will come of this. We're off the hook for what happened to your great-aunt Hannah's locket."
----
When Muffy appeared in the doorway of Prunella's house clutching a black satchel, she was out of breath and panting. "I had to walk all the way here from my house," she said to Alan and Prunella as they welcomed her inside. "My dad still hasn't hired me a new chauffeur. Oh, the pain...the pain..."
"Thanks for letting Dolly borrow some of your dresses," said Prunella. "That's very considerate of you."
"When I heard what happened, I just had to help," said Muffy as she followed the others up the stairway. "That poor girl. If I had to choose between being blasted with a fire extinguisher and dying in the fire..."
They arrived in the attic and looked around. "She's not here," Alan noted.
"Well, where is she?" whined Muffy. "Hurry up and find her. This bag is getting heavy."
Then her ears picked up something. "Hey, did I just hear the toilet flush for, like, the third time?"
The three kids hurried back down the stairway and into the bathroom, where they found the gleeful Dolly, who was still wearing one of Prunella's dresses. She was gazing into the toilet bowl as the water spiraled counter-clockwise and was sucked into the pipes. Turning to Muffy, Alan, and Prunella, she smiled and said, "What a splendid invention! A water bowl that makes things vanish!"
"I see you've discovered the toilet," said Prunella facetiously.
Upon seeing Muffy, Dolly curtsied again. "My name's Dolores, but you can call me Dolly."
"I'm Mary Alice Crosswire," said Muffy as she set down her satchel and shook the girl's hand, "but you can call me Muffy." She could feel her heart breaking at the sight of the girl's discolored hair.
"I asked Muffy to lend you some dresses that are your size," Prunella informed Dolly.
Rather than thank Muffy, Dolly began to examine the hair ribbons tied to the ends of the girl's braids. "These are lovely," she commented. "May I borrow one of them?"
"Uh, sure you can," said Muffy, looking a bit confused. Untying the ribbon on her left braid, she handed it to Dolly...who promptly dropped it into the toilet and pushed the handle.
"Hey!" cried the alarmed Muffy. She watched in horror as the hair ribbon spun around and around, closer and closer to the black hole of no return. The only way to save it was to insert her hand into the toilet bowl. It was hopeless.
Once the ribbon had disappeared into the void, Muffy turned to Dolly in anger. "You flushed my hair ribbon! Why did you do that?"
Dolly smirked, stuck out her clenched right hand, opened her fingers...and there was the ribbon, perfectly dry. Muffy's jaw dropped in disbelief.
"How...how did you..." Prunella stammered.
"An illusion my mother taught me," Dolly explained. "Here, Muffy, take the ribbon."
A bit hesitant, Muffy plucked the ribbon from Dolly's hand and began to tie it onto the end of her left braid. When she was done, she grinned at Dolly. "That was a cool trick. Do you do parties?"
"Look in the mirror," said Dolly.
Muffy turned and discovered, to her chagrin, that the ribbon was missing from her left braid. "Huh?" she blurted out. Thinking it might have fallen off, she began to glance around the floor.
Once again Dolly held out her hand, opening her fingers to reveal the presence of the hair ribbon. Muffy slapped her forehead in frustration. Reaching for the ribbon again, she said, "This isn't another trick, is it?"
"Not this time," Dolly reassured her. Muffy grabbed the ribbon, tied it onto her left braid, looked in the mirror, and found to her relief that the ribbon was in its proper place.
"That was impressive," Alan said to Dolly, "but I still don't believe you're a witch."
"And for your disbelief I am most grateful," Dolly responded.
Prunella turned and stepped out of the bathroom. "Let's go, guys," she called. "Dolly needs to change."
Alan and Muffy followed her and closed the door. Dolly glanced down at the satchel that Muffy had left behind, but the dresses contained therein didn't interest her, as she had secretly obtained a fascinating new toy. Lifting her hands, she began to playfully punch the buttons on Muffy's cell phone.
TBC
