A Witch in Love
Authors: Ruth Warburton
Other books by Ruth Warburton
A Witch in Winter
Author’s Note
Many texts helped in the writing of
A Witch in Love
but I’d like to mention a few in particular which I mined for direct quotes.
The first is the
Malleus Maleficarum
by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger, which is quoted by Anna’s guards in chapter nineteen. The dedication in the front of the John Donne collection – which Seth gives to Anna – contains lines taken from Donne’s poem
The Good Morrow
. And finally, the poem quoted in Anna’s mother’s letter is a condensed extract from a sermon by Canon Henry Scott Holland, part of the passage sometimes called ‘Death is nothing at all’. I’ve abridged it, and added one line not in the original to suit my own purposes. The Bible quotations are all taken from the King James version.
Copyright © 2012 Ruth Warburton
First published in Great Britain in 2012
by Hodder Children’s Books
This ebook edition published in 2012
The right of Ruth Warburton to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
All rights reserved. Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form, or by any means with prior permission in writing from the publishers or in the case of reprographic production in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency and may not be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A Catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 444 90474 3
Hodder Children’s Books
A division of Hachette Children’s Books
338 Euston Road
London NW1 3BH
An Hachette UK company
For my dad.
And for Meg, Kate and Eleanor.
CHAPTER ONE
‘
M
erry Christmas,’ I said, and leant forward to kiss him. As our lips met I felt a small flurry of snowflakes swirl around our heads.
‘Damn.’ I pulled back, feeling my cheeks flush scarlet with a mixture of anger and embarrassment. The snow fell on Seth’s dark curls and melted on the restaurant table-top. None of the other diners had noticed and Seth only smiled his wide, devastating smile. I didn’t smile back. Instead I shook my head at him, my cheeks still hot.
‘Don’t smile – I’ve got to get this under control, Seth.’
‘Sorry. It was just so beautiful.’
Beautiful was hardly the point. My slips could get us both into serious trouble – perhaps even killed, if I didn’t get a grip. Seth saw my expression and took my hand under the tablecloth.
‘It’s getting stronger, isn’t it?’
I nodded.
It was rarely the same reaction – sometimes the plants nearby would burst into bud, sometimes the sun would come out in spite of the pouring rain, sometimes all the lights would dip, just for a second, as if there’d been a fault in the power supply.
‘Don’t worry,’ Seth said. ‘No one noticed.’
I looked around the dimly lit restaurant. It was true, all the other tables were full of chatting couples and families reunited for the Christmas holidays, far too preoccupied to notice two out-of-towners, still less the little swirl of snow at their table. I’d been lucky. This time.
I turned back to Seth. He was watching me quietly, the candles reflected in his slate-grey eyes. He’d dressed up for the night, discarding the usual worn jeans and ripped T-shirt that he wore out sailing for a crisp white shirt – ironed, no less – open at the neck, revealing the line of his throat and a triangle of skin, deeply tanned from day after day spent out on the water. He was distractingly beautiful and I still couldn’t quite believe that we were a couple, even six months on – but I tore my mind back to the important issue.
‘Someone will notice one day. What about the time I scorched all the grass under our feet? If it hadn’t been a rainy day that could have been a forest fire there and then.’
‘But it
was
a rainy day,’ Seth pointed out. ‘So no harm done. You’ve got it under control, more or less.’
More or less. It was the
less
that was the problem. I put my head in my hands.
‘This doesn’t happen to Emmaline.’
‘Emmaline’s had seventeen years to get used to being a witch. You’ve had six months and your power’s building all the time. It’s not surprising you’re taking a bit of time to get used to it. You’d have to be superhuman to handle all this straight away.’
‘And I’m not superhuman. Depressingly average in fact.’
‘There’s nothing average about you, Anna,’ Seth said fiercely. ‘And you
can
handle this. I know you can.’
‘I hope so.’ I swallowed against the weight in my chest and tried to smile. ‘Whatever made you think it would be a good idea to have a witch for a girlfriend, hey?’
‘I
love
having a witch for a girlfriend. Snowfalls, electrical disturbances and all. I wouldn’t swap any of it.’
‘Oh really? Not even in the constant worry over whether you really love me or our relationship is just a very long side-effect from an accidental spell?’
‘Anna …’ Seth said, and there was a warning note in his voice, ‘Not this again. For the last time, I
don’t
have any worries on that score. If you do, you’ve got to get over them. End of.’
I bit my lip, sorry I’d raised the subject and soured the happy atmosphere. Seth was right. I’d made my peace with those fears, I’d
had
to. I’d broken that spell every way I could think of – and as far as Seth was concerned it was over and done with, its magic snapped.
I couldn’t go on inflicting my doubts on both of us, punishing us both for one long-ago mistake. And anyway, for six months I’d been living the life of an ordinary seventeen-year-old girl, albeit one with an extraordinarily lovely and good-looking boyfriend. No spells. No magic. Well, I corrected myself, thinking of that swirl of snow,
almost
no magic.
And it was working. We were fine. Everything was fine. As long as I could hold myself in check, everything would be fine.
Oil and water
, whispered a treacherous voice in my head as I lifted the last forkful of dinner to my lips.
I pushed the plate away, suddenly full to nausea.
As if on cue, the waiter bustled up and began clearing.
‘Dessert, mademoiselle, monsieur?’ He began brushing crumbs with a little silver knife. ‘Coffee? Tea?’
‘Not for me, thanks.’ I looked at Seth. ‘Do you want anything?’
He shook his head. ‘Just the bill, please,’
The waiter gave a little half-bow and disappeared.
‘So what’re your plans for tomorrow?’ Seth asked as we waited for the bill. ‘Want to come out for a sail? I’m trying out the new rudder.’
I shuddered at the thought of the icy grey water and biting December sea wind, but only said, ‘I can’t; I’m taking Emmaline up to London for some Christmas shopping.’
‘Are you mad?’ Seth looked horrified. ‘Only, what, three shopping days until Christmas and you’re going to brave the London shops? It’s as much as I can do to cope with Winter on a Saturday.’
‘We’ll cope. You’re all right anyway; you’re the only person I’ve already bought something for.’
‘I don’t mind.’ Seth took my hand and kissed the soft skin inside my wrist. ‘I don’t need anything else, as long as I’ve got you and my boat.’
It was true; I had never met anyone less attached to material possessions than Seth. At the look in his eyes my breath caught in my throat and I gave a shaky laugh.
‘Well, you have to put up a good show on Christmas Day. I’ll be mighty peeved if you forget to open your presents and go sailing instead.’
Seth grinned and was about to reply when there was a tap on his shoulder from behind.
‘Excuse me …’ It was a gorgeous flame-haired girl from the table behind us, where she was sitting with a group of friends. ‘Don’t I know you?’
‘I don’t think so.’ He smiled pleasantly but shook his head.
‘No, I do,’ she insisted. ‘Aren’t you the barman at that pub in Winter – what’s it called, the Crown and Anchor?’
‘Oh, yes.’ Ever since he’d turned eighteen a couple of months ago, Seth had been helping his mum out behind the bar on nights when they were short-staffed. ‘Yes, I am. You might have seen me there.’
‘Do you remember me?’ She smiled at him flirtatiously, completely ignoring my presence. I would have been annoyed, except that Seth was so transparently uninterested.
‘Sorry, no.’ Seth shook his head again. The girl looked a little piqued and then tossed her hair.
‘Oh well, you will next time. It’s Zoe, by the way. See you next time I’m in Winter!’
Seth only shook his head and laughed, and at that moment the waiter turned up with the bill. We paid and turned up the collars of our coats and then plunged into the cold night air waiting outside the restaurant door.
We’d had to park quite a way away, but I was so full that I didn’t mind the walk, and we strolled slowly through the back streets of Brighthaven, hand in hand, looking at the lighted windows of the shops. They all had their Christmas displays out, twinkling lights and fake snow frosting, and it gave me a warm inner glow. All my life I’d loved Christmas, every moment of it, from the first feel of the lumpy misshapen stocking in the darkness of Christmas morning, through to the last turkey sandwich, stuffed with leftovers, on Boxing Day night. This year would be our first at Wicker House. Dad was putting up the tree tonight, and I could already imagine how beautiful it would look against the dark Tudor beams of the living room, decked with our old-fashioned decorations, the firelight glinting off the coloured glass. It would also be my first with Seth. In fact, everything was pretty close to perfect. Oh, I could moan about A levels and revision, but at bottom I was so happy it almost hurt. Sometimes I wondered what I’d done to deserve all this – it almost felt too good to last.