Witch Doctors Inc: SEASON ONE (Completed!)

Part 4.12

PRESENT TIME
LILY

Tyfyr House is a lot more quaint than I expected. I was imagining some gothic monstrosity of the kind celebrities take up residence in these days. It was big, several stories high, made of stone and punctuated with barred windows, but where people had moved out, nature had moved in. Vines lap at the open windows, their buds glistening in the sunlight. Lavender and white blossoms dot their spines.

Hugging the bottom floor is a multitude of wildflowers. I see buttercups, yarrow, foxglove, daisies and harebells. They sprout through cracks in the stone, even at the higher levels, waving their petals with abandon.

The wind is a little warm here, and there are a few too many bees, but it's not the worst part of the Republic of Kadrea, let me tell you that. That honour goes to the Forest of Sorrows.

Addy tugs at my sleeve. People have gathered around the tour guide, a sturdy woman with a wide-brimmed hat and an impatiently enthusiastic face. I make my way over to them, keeping out of the way of bees attempting to buzz around my ankles. Addy skips ahead, waving at the guide.

"Alright," the guide bellows. "Here we are: Tyfyr House. Old, haunted, cursed. Does anyone know who lived here?"

No one answers her. I'd rather eat frog soup than play along, so I don't answer either.

"The noble family of Tyfyr," the guide answers herself, beaming smugly. "They were one of the most respected families in the Kingdom of Kadrea. That's right - Kadrea used to be a kingdom. But we got rid of the feudal system. We're a republic now. Can anyone tell me what that means?"

That we're governed by a set of elected officials. Blah blah. Cut to the chase so I can get on with my business.

"It means we get bossed around by a bunch of fat cats in Zilitron," someone says.

Everyone laughs.

The guide reddens.

"Why is it haunted?" a man with his face shadowed by sunglasses asks.

"Good question!" The guide, drawing herself up to her full height, pauses. "The Tyfyr family had everything. Money, prestige, all the fire quartz - which was in short supply back then - they wanted. The duchess never wore the same dress twice, and the three daughters - Lady Alicia, Lady Maude and Lady Annie - decked themselves with opals and diamonds. None of this magnamite stuff for them, oh no. Magnamite was for peasants. But one day they simply...disappeared."

"I thought they were killed by the Dark Witch," someone at the back pipes up.

"Ah." The guide raises her eyebrows conspiratorially. "This was during the Dark Ages, and witnesses swear they saw the village alight, and a figure at the centre of the blaze, untouched by the fire. Long red hair. Black robes. She stalked the village, watching it burn, laughing.

But Tyfyr House was left intact. Not a scratch on it. When Lord Hallan, who owned the next village down, entered the house it was empty. No staff, no family. Even the dogs were gone.

The official story is that they were burned along with the villagers, outside the house. The official story is that the fire was an accident, and the witnesses had imagined a witch stalking the flames. But that's Lord Hallan's story.

When he went into the attic there were five odd dolls lined up on the floor, one for each family member. The similarities to their portraits was uncanny. The father doll had spectacles, just like the Duke of Tyfyr. The mother doll had raven hair, just like the duchess."

The crowd is quiet. A warm breeze ruffles the hair at the nape of my neck. My skin tingles with goosebumps.

"You think those dolls were the Tyfyr family?" It's Addy, her amber eyes fixed on the guide.

The guide shrugs. "Sure," she replies. "The Dark Witch turned them into dolls."

"Why would she do that?"

The guide shrugs again. "Why did the Dark Witch do anything? Who knows."

I exchange an uncomfortable look with Addy. The thought that those monstrous dolls had once been people...I brush the thought aside. The guide was probably wrong. She seemed like the kind of person who was knee-deep in conspiracy theories.

But then why was Tyfyr House spared?

Why did I see those dolls in my memory?