The Witch (11 page)

“But she’s winning him over. I can feel it. He is protecting us.”

“But now we’re stuck under a pile of tarp,” said a big bird
.

“Still, he’ll come back. He won’t leave us here forever. At least I don’t think so,” said the dwarf
.

“We should find our own way to break free.”

“The black snake is free.”

“And imprisoned inside the box.”

“He can move about.”

“He goes from one end of the box to the other. Hardly much in the way of freedom.”

“The gargoyle says the black snake is growing.”

“How would he know?”

“Sometimes the snake bangs against the lid. The last time he raised the lid ever so slightly,” said the gargoyle
.

“He needs blood. He needs flesh. There’s none inside the box. The boy didn’t share.”

“We’ll grapple the boy, pin him down, and take his blood and rip apart his flesh,” shrieked the bird
.

“She wouldn’t like that,” whispered the dwarf
.

“The witch is caught within the bonds of death. She is as limited as we are. Without the boy we are all shades in this world.”

All the figures on the wooden box agreed. The boy had to live because the witch hadn’t given them any other conjuror
.

“She brought us here with promises. Enticed us with the smell of fresh blood and the soft squishy taste of human flesh. Her flesh. Her blood. Promised more if we did her bidding. And we wait.”

“The boy is small. Too small perhaps to satisfy all of us.”

“All we need are a few drops. Once we have tasted of him we can attach ourselves to larger prey.”

“A fat, juicy, chubby baby,” dreamed the gargoyle
.

“Time for another adventure of Brandy and the witch,” said Jacob walking into Stephen’s bedroom. “What’s this, your wolf costume laying in wait for me?” Jacob patted the furry costume Stephen had carefully laid out on his dresser.

The boy nodded.

“You look unhappy.” Jacob brushed his hand over the top of his son’s head. “I think you need to be cheered up with stories of snot, frogs’ feet, and bats’ legs.”

Stephen sighed.

“Frogs’ legs and bats’ feet, Dad.”

“Whatever suits your taste.” Jacob smacked his lips. He almost caught sight of a smile, but Stephen turned it into a heavy frown. “Serious, are we, tonight?”

The boy lay back on his pillow and resigned himself to another bedtime story.

“Usually you love the Brandy and witch episodes. Why’s tonight different?”

Stephen shrugged.

“Remember the lady?”

Stephen nodded.

“It so happens that Brandy and the lady grew to like each other. They played checkers, chess, and poker together.”

“Did Brandy cheat?”

“Of course not. The lady did.”

“Dad, Mom won’t like this story.”

“Okay, neither cheated and they were fairly matched. Is that better?”

“Yes.”

“I wonder where the witch went this afternoon,” said the lady crowning her own king
.

“Brandy scratched his head and meditated on his next move until he heard the witch clomping down the basement stairs. She was wearing the shoes the lady had come in, but they were too big for her, and the heels were much too high
.

“Good news,” the witch said
.

“You never bring good news,” said Brandy
.

“Maybe she’s going to pitch herself into the furnace,” suggested the lady
.

“Hardly,” said the witch. “That’s what I should have done with you when you first arrived. Now all you two do is plot against me. I see it in both sets of eyes. Plot. Plot. Plot.”

“Tell us your news so we can get on with our game of checkers.”

“Ruin the game, I will.” The witch cackled. “I’m selling the lady to a troll.”

“A troll? Dad, what’s the troll going to do with the lady? He brought her there, didn’t he? Now he wants her back?”

“He fell in love.”

“But she’s not in love with the troll.”

“Wait a second. It so happens that the troll is really a prince.”

Stephen groaned.

“A black prince with evil intentions.”

“What’s intentions?”

“Let’s just say the troll repents and wants to take the lady back to her home.”

“What about Brandy?”

“The troll doesn’t care about him. Anyway, the witch would never give Brandy up because she’s grown fond of him. And truthfully Brandy is a bit fond of her too.”

“Really?”

Jacob nodded.

“They’ve spent months and months together. Frequently she comes down to the basement just to chat with Brandy. She’s still sorry about using the giant spider. Turns out the spider’s legs weren’t at all useful to Brandy.”

“Is the witch jealous of the lady?”

“Shh! She’d never admit it.”

“Does she hate the lady?” Stephen said very seriously.

“The witch would rather be rid of the competition. I don’t think the witch cares about the lady at all.”

“Then why did she capture her?”

“Because she was bored that day and had nothing else to do.”

Jacob saw his son make a face.

“Don’t you sometimes do things just to take up time, Stephen?”

The boy thought about what his father had said.

“No, Dad.”

“Oh! Good boy.” Jacob patted his son’s head.

“She must leave now before I change my mind,” said the witch
.

“But we haven’t finished our game,” said Brandy
.

“I’ll take over her pieces,” offered the witch. “Who is winning? I do like to win, you know.”

“I’m losing,” stated the lady, brushing the pieces onto the floor
.

“Really the lady was winning, but she didn’t want to give the witch the advantage.

“The witch magically brought the lady out of the cage.”

“You mean she flattened her out the same way as when she put the lady into the cage.”

“Exactly. This, of course, made Brandy very sad.”

“Dad.”

“Yes, Stephen?”

“I know why Molly has to leave. She let me hurt myself and you don’t want to have her around anymore.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“It’s okay. Momma doesn’t want her around either.”

Jacob searched his son’s eyes for traces of tears but there were none.

“I’m sorry, Stephen. I know she and you got along well.”

“I still like her, Dad. But if you and Momma would be happier with her gone, then it’s all right. Can I go to sleep now?”

Jacob turned off the light and kissed his son.

“Did Momma ever tell you she didn’t like having Molly around?”

“I’m tired, Dad.”

Jacob would have to wait for his son’s answer.

“This is Molly’s last day as Stephen’s babysitter. He’s taking it better than I thought he would.” Jacob eased up on the gas when he saw traffic ahead.

“He’s a good boy. Never gave Cathy any problems. I don’t know why I’m so harsh with him at times,” said Mabel.

“Rosemary seems to think it’s because he reminds you of Cathy.”

“Did she say that?”

“I’m not making it up. He does look a lot like his mother.”

“So what if he does remind me of Cathy? There has to be some Cathy in him.”

“But Rosemary said you could be hard on Cathy when she was a child. And from what Cathy told me …”

Jacob let the thought linger in the air.

“I exercised a great deal of patience with Cathy. Far more than anyone can believe. She did the opposite of what I wanted her to do.”

“From what I hear, Cathy didn’t always know what you expected.”

“It’s true. I wouldn’t tell her what I wanted her to do. I felt like I needed to write a manual for her, because she always did what I didn’t want her to do, even when I was sure she had to know enough to do the right thing.”

“Like when she got pregnant?” Jacob wondered whether he might be pushing this too far.

“When Cathy was pregnant with Stephen I was delighted.”

“I’m not talking about Stephen. You forced her to have an abortion before I met her.”

“She told you about that?”

“Why be surprised? Did you think she’d keep it a secret from her own husband?”

“I was hoping once the baby was gone she’d …”

“Forget?” Jacob glanced at his mother-in-law.

“At least keep it a secret. What good did it do to tell you?”

“I didn’t think less of her, if that’s what you’re saying.”

“You thought less of me, though, didn’t you?”

Jacob planned on letting the conversation drop there.

“Why bring this up now, Jacob? The baby and Cathy are both gone. You and Rosemary don’t gain anything by pointing fingers at me.”

“More like talking behind your back. Maybe that’s what made me uncomfortable.”

“Bullshit!”

The car veered slightly when Jacob turned to look at Mabel.

“What, you don’t think I know how to curse?”

“Ah, but can you spell it?”

“Listen, Cathy hadn’t even finished high school, and I certainly didn’t want to be responsible for raising her bastard child.”

“Two curse words within five minutes. Is this a record?”

“Hypocrite. That’s what you think I am.”

“Now that you brought up the subject. You were the one lecturing me about church. I don’t believe the church approves of abortion.”

“I teach young children. What do you think the parents of those children would feel about a woman who couldn’t even teach her own children right from wrong?”

“You pushed Cathy into getting an abortion so you could keep your job?”

“You have no idea how complicated the situation was.”

“Yes, I do. You didn’t want to face the embarrassment of having a grandchild out of wedlock.”

“Jacob, if you’re going to continue like this, I’d rather you didn’t drive me to the school in the morning.”

“You’re not perfect, Mabel. You didn’t bring up perfect children, and your grandchildren aren’t perfect. Robin has a disease that keeps her in a wheelchair, and Stephen gets into mischief. We all have failings. Live with your own, Mabel, and don’t worry about changing other people.”

“What did Molly do that was so wrong you couldn’t forgive her, Jacob?”

“Like I told you, Mabel, you have to stop worrying about everyone else’s sins.”

“Stephen loves Molly.”

“I told you he took it surprisingly well.”

“Did she do something to him?”

“He hurt his forehead. Not much. Doesn’t even need a Band-Aid.”

“What was he doing?”

“Not clear to me, but I know he was under Molly’s supervision at the time.”

“You should have told me, Jacob.”

“Why?” Self-satisfied, Jacob pulled over in front of the elementary school.

“You think I’m intruding again.” “Nah, I know you are.”

Molly picked up Stephen from school, and both remained silent during the ride home. Stephen spent the entire time staring out the side window, and Molly kept her radio going, even raised the sound level.

At the front door of the house Molly had a sick feeling she shouldn’t go inside. She wanted to run away, but Stephen couldn’t be trusted to stay by himself. Inside Molly noticed how cold the house felt. Unusually cold. Perhaps the furnace had gone out. Should she go into the basement to check? she wondered. No, she decided they could both keep their jackets on instead. But Stephen didn’t notice the cold; he pulled off his jacket immediately and dropped it on a hall chair.

“Do you want something to eat?” she asked.

“No, I’m on a diet.”

“What for?”

“I eat only food prepared by Dad now.” He crossed in front of her to enter the living room.

“You used to always be hungry.”

“You can’t tell me what to do anymore,” he reminded her as he sat down on the carpet in front of the television.

“Excuse me, Stephen. I’m not about to force food down your throat, but I am still in charge until your father gets home this evening.”

Stephen sat in silence for a few minutes.

“Why do my father and mother not like you?”

“I never had any problems with your mother. She hired me.”

“But she doesn’t like you anymore.”

“Let’s not talk about your mother.”

“Are you afraid of her?”

Molly walked past the living room to the kitchen. The counter had cereal boxes and breakfast dishes sprawled across the tiles. She spotted a container of milk that had been left out on the table. She lifted the container, and despite the coldness of the house the container felt warm. She popped open the container and smelled the contents. Since the milk didn’t smell sour she returned it to the refrigerator.

“You didn’t answer my question, Molly.”

Startled, Molly almost dropped the container. She placed the milk on a wire shelf and searched for something to eat.

“You can have the leftover chili if you want,” Stephen said.

“It’s from your favorite restaurant. Is this a parting gift from you to me?”

Stephen walked over to Molly and pushed her aside to reach inside the refrigerator. He lifted out the brown bag containing the chili and carried it off to the waste can where he disposed of it.

“Don’t eat it. It’s not good for you,” he said.

Molly slammed the refrigerator shut and declared she could wait until she got home.

He left the kitchen. She heard his feet swiftly climb the stairs. When he returned he carried the wolf mask and costume.

“I can’t wear this,” he said presenting the items to Molly.

“I don’t want them back. What am I going to do with them? Toss them in with the chili if you like.”

Molly walked past him and plopped herself down on the living room sofa. Fifteen minutes later Stephen entered the living room, still carrying the mask and costume.

“Please take them away, Molly. I can’t wear them and I can’t throw them out. Momma won’t let me. She says you have to take them. She’ll be angry with me if you don’t.” Tears brimmed his eyes.