Chapter 7
"What's this for?" asked Sabrina, reading the letter. "You are ordered to appear before a court before you can be married, due to a complaint filed under the 'hearing of hesitating three'"
"Did you say the hearing of the hesitating three or the hearing of the haunted trees," asked Hilda. "I wasn't paying attention."
"Could I see that?" asked Zelda, reading the paper. "This is serious, Sabrina. The witches council won't let you get married until after the hearing because of the rules of three."
"But Sabrina isn't even in violation of the rules of three. And who's going to complain?" asked Hilda.
"What rule of three?" asked Sabrina. "Am I always the last one to be told these things?" "Magic's always ruining my life," Sabrina thought bitterly.
"I'll explain it to you in court, Sabrina," said Zelda quickly. "Right now we have to leave, the judge doesn't like to be kept waiting." She zapped all of them, except Bugsy Sharper, out of the room.
"We're back in the penthouse," said Harvey, confused.
"Shh," said Zelda and Hilda, pushing Sabrina and Harvey, and carrying Salem, to Bugsy Sharper's desk.
"Courts about to start," said Zelda.
In the next second, the witch judge appeared with his desk and gravel, the complainant, a tall man hidden in a trench coat, wearing a fedora hat and dark glasses appeared with his lawyer at another desk. The women who delivered the summons reappeared, sitting down at her seat, and typing at an old fashioned typewriter, suspended in midair.
"This hearing, called on account of the rule of the hesitating three, is now in session," said the Judge. He looked at Sabrina. "Do you know why you are here, Sabrina?"
"At the risk of sounding disrespectful your honor," said Sabrina. "I don't, and I don't see why the court wants to interfere with my life."
"Has anyone told you, Sabrina, of the rule of the hesitating three?" asked the Judge.
"I was about to, your honor," said Zelda.
"Me too," said Hilda.
"I was way ahead of them, both, your honor," said Salem.
"Tell her then," said the judge.
"Sabrina, when a witch cancels his or her wedding on three separate occasions, someone can complain to the witches council." Zelda glanced at the figure in the trench coat, "and the witch must then go through a hearing before they are allowed to marry."
"What if I don't?" asked Sabrina.
"Then you won't be able to marry Harvey," said Hilda. "Or if you do, you'll both be made into haunted trees. Or you'll be made into plant food and fed by leprechauns to haunted trees."
"That's not just weird," said Sabrina, "That's wrong."
"A haunted tree?" Harvey asked Salem.
"A tree, that's haunted. What did you think it was?" replied Salem sarcastically.
"Getting back on topic," said Sabrina. "I only cancelled one wedding, with Aaron. Where do you get three?"
"The time Aunt Irma tried to marry you off. You cancelled that wedding," said Hilda.
"That's two," said Zelda. "Do you think they mean the marriage to Bugsy?"
"But I never agreed to marry him," said Sabrina.
"It's not the marriage to Bugsy Sharper," said the witch Judge, zapping a film into the room. The film showed Sabrina signing a contract in her old room, on top of a dwarf's head. Salem laughed.
"ROLAND," yelled Sabrina. "I never wanted to marry Roland."
"Yes, dear," said Zelda, "but you were contractually obligated to."
"You were going to marry your cousin?" asked Harvey.
"He wasn't my cousin and I was never going to marry him," answered Sabrina.
"Yes, she was going to marry him," said the man in the trench coat. He got up and slowly walked across the room. "She would of too. So I launched a complaint to stop her from marrying farm boy."
Sabrina, Hilda and Zelda looked at each other. They zapped the trench coat off, to reveal Roland, standing up on stilts.
"I can't believe your still after me," said Sabrina. "I thought you finally decided to leave me alone."
"Leave my true love?" asked Roland.
"Leave and get lost," replied Sabrina.
"Order," said the judge. He rapped his gavel, and they all magically returned to their seats.
"Now, we'll hear from the complainant," said the Judge.
Roland's lawyer rose and gave his speech. How Sabrina had walked away from so many marriages, the court should stop her from breaking up another engagement by breaking it up for her.
Roland took the stand. "I knew it was love at first sight, so did she."
"I object," said Sabrina, Zelda, Hilda, Harvey and Salem.
"On what grounds?"
"I only wanted to find my biology notes," said Sabrina.
"Overruled," said the judge.
"Even though she was old when I met her," said Roland playing a violin, "I still loved her. And even if she is an old spinster, I still want to marry her. Even when she tried to marry all those other people."
"I object," said Hilda. "If Sabrina's old, I'd be ancient. I'm too young to be ancient. And Zellie is even older than me.
"Objection sustained," said the judge.
Next on the stand was Dr. Jacobs, Aaron's mother. She was under some type of spell because her answers were forced and monotonous. "Sabrina doesn't know what she wants," she said. "She needs years to find out exactly what she wants. I knew she was never good enough for Aaron."
"What are your qualifications?" asked the lawyer.
"I'm the best psychiatrist in Boston," she answered. She stuck to her line on cross-examination. Dr. Jacobs was sent home, and the prosecution rested.
"Looks good for us, Sabrina," said Roland, yelling as he left the court during recess. "How about a kiss," he yelled.
"How about I throw up," Sabrina answered.