Evelyn: An Owl House Story

Becoming Witch Hunters

One of the benefits of living in the forest just outside of a town was that it was rather peaceful in the mornings.

The cabin was just far enough away from Gravesfield that the treeline blocked the sound of the early morning work done there. All that could be heard was the peaceful chirping of the birds, and the sound of the leaves rusting from the soft morning breeze.

Caleb sat on a chair he had dragged from the kitchen as he enjoyed the early hours of the day. Yesterday had been a surge of good luck for the Wittebane Brothers, and now Caleb was hoping that surge would continue this morning.

He was planning on taking Phillip with him to town in order to get the papers necessary to be paid as an official Witch Hunting group.

To say Caleb was nervous would be an understatement. If the papers required Phillip to be older than 12 years old, he didn't know what else he could do that would be able to get him an easy weekly pay.

His stomach rumbled as he sat on the porch, but he ignored it.

There was only enough leftover stew for one bowl, and that bowl was going to his younger brother when he woke up. Caleb reasoned he would be able to suck it up, and wait until he's paid again to eat again.

But that still left the problem of what Phillip would eat for lunch, as there would be no stew left. Caleb would consider hunting... If he only had a bow, arrows, or even a sharp rock to use to hunt with.

The ash-blond boy sighed in annoyance, he couldn't just run off into the forest and stamp the life out of a starving or weakened animal, he wasn't a psychopath.

He leaned back in his chair, expecting it to touch the wall of the cabin... But it turned out he miscalculated, and the chair fell over with him in it.

"Agh... God, fucking dammit..." Caleb groaned as he slowly got up. If he wasn't awake before, he at least certainly was now.

He propped the chair back up, before hearing the front door creak open.

"Caleb? Are you okay out here?" Phillip asked, peering out from the inside of the cabin doorway.

"Yes, yes... I'm fine. Just sometimes stupid is all." Caleb remarked at his expense, "Did you sleep well?".

Phillip nodded, "I did, beds are rather soft for ones that clearly haven't been slept on in years." he replied.

Caleb agreed with Phillip, the beds were pretty comfy, especially for the amount of years they've been left to rot.

"Have you eaten breakfast yet? There's still stew left over." Caleb asked, and Phillip gave him a look.

"Have YOU eaten breakfast yet Caleb?" Phillip asked back.

"No, I haven't... Look, I'll just skip breakfast, you need the nutrients more than I do." Caleb said, as Phillip frowned slightly.

"And what will you eat later if not breakfast?" Phillip inquired, making Caleb sigh.

"Just go eat, there's not enough for the both of us... I'll figure it out." Caleb told Phillip, who sighed but backed down.

"Fine... But you're still not allowed to cook again." Phillip said as he walked back inside, making Caleb chuckle slightly.

Yes, he remembered the disaster that was yesterday's attempt at cooking stew was. They did manage to put out the fire, but Phillip clearly was adamant on Caleb staying far away from the stovetop... Which made planning meals a bit harder, but it was not a big deal.

What WAS a big deal, was getting the papers signed today with Phillip; the thought of which returned to Caleb's mind.

He knew there was a good chance this wouldn't work, but it had to be done if they wanted to start living comfortably again... Even if it did work, he wouldn't know how to even begin to hunt for Witches.