1.
I stared blankly at the moving van, my eyes brimming with tears. My brother was glaring at me and I hated that the move was my fault. If it was my brother, Michael’s, fault I could be angry at him but noooooooooo it was my fault so I had to be mad at myself. That was just the worst. Mom and Dad don’t blame me of course. I hadn’t done anything on purpose after all. But I could see they were unhappy leaving our house- even though it was only temporary and even though we were going to stay at our vacation house with my cousin. I was unhappy too but the tears didn’t start to fall until my friends swung by the house, to give me a going-away present. Megan Conway, Jackie Screene, Kirsten McGarvey and Emily Heider all jumped out of Mrs. Conway’s blue van. Michael glared at them too as if daring them to come any nearer but of course they paid no attention. Megan merely sidestepped him on her way to embrace me, although Kirsten said “Hello,” kindly and got a “hmmph” in response. “Catherine, make your good-byes snappy!” Dad called slamming the trunk down and jumping in the front seat of the stuffy car. I hugged each girl leaving Megan for last (my closet friend) who handed me a lumpy package. “Open it in the car or when you get to the farm,” she whispered. “Catherine!” “Coming!” I didn’t need telling twice- one more minute of this and I would burst into hysterical sobs. I ran towards the car and didn’t look back till I had buckled myself which was when I saw the tears rolling down Megan’s face. “It was nice of them to give you a present,” “I guess,” I grumbled, only ripping open a tiny bit of the wrapping paper and saving opening the present until I got to the farm where I could show Mary-Kate how great my friends were- unless of course it was something awful like a dead snake. The MP3 player in my pocket did not provide a good enough distraction. “I still don’t see why we have to move,” grunted Michael who had asked this question ever since he had first discovered they were moving. Then he shot me one of his extra special death glares. “Honey, you know why. What with Catherine’s situation- death glare- and the chance of someone being on to it- death glare- we just stand a better chance of her being safe way out in the country instead of being close like we were in the suburbs,” Another thousand death glares. Please, kill me now. But I wasn’t sure if that was possible. Actually, there were a lot of things I didn’t know about myself due to my er, situation (as Mom so tactfully put it). A new start where no one knew us. Mom seemed to think that that would make everything all better. But the gnawing ache of homesickness inside me told me she was wrong. The highway grew dark and the side of the road was littered with road lights and signs. McDonals Next Exit! See the Premieres of Chocolate Tonight at Seven! Help us round up the creatures that pose a threat to society: witches. My stomach backflipped and I scooted down in my seat. Michael saw the sign flash by and suddenly he didn’t look so mean anymore. I don’t know if anyone can tell I’m a witch. Because that’s what I am: a witch- one of those ‘creatures’ that was hunted by the government. But seriously the media gives us a bad break. Witches are just like people, except for special abilities, and most of us would never want to hurt the innocent. Mom and Dad know that. And I don’t think Michael cares. My cousins certainly don’t. And neither do my friends. But I guess the government does. I don’t think it’s any of their business. Some of their closest friends might be witches or wizards! But at once we were labeled as freaks without even being a chance! Special agents were now bursting into homes, invading privacy and being a pain. Children were now very careful about who their friends were in case they were called a monster by association. Parents wouldn’t let their kids wonder around after dark. And yet my friends had pulled together for me such a tight shield I doubted a government agent could ever get in. “Only a few more hours to go!” Mom called cheerfully as if this was a good thing. “Mom! Can’t I………..you know speed things up” Dad almost crashed the car and when he turned around he bellowed right in my face “Absolutely not!” Honestly, this family has no idea what I could do to them if I tried. After all, packed in an invisible compartment of my suitcase was hidden some yellowing, small print spell books. No, I don’t use a wand. I have power when I flash my eyes. Which makes the government more difficult to find us. I do perform spells to keep the government at bay but I’m not very powerful. Yet. The car was silent as we drove on. A few hours turned into eternity. Eternity turned into………hell? I kept accidentally shooting sparks at Michael so angry I was, so sad at leaving my friends behind. Some people say that crying is a sign of weakness. I say crying is a sign of real caring………..or real injury. So that’s what I did. Low sobs. Hunched over in my seat I curled up my eyes spilling- WHAM! I flew back against the seat as the car spun off the road and into the nearby trees. One word (actually two) flashed through my mind: Bounty Hunters. They resorted to even more desperate measures than the government did- and that was saying something! In this case they had stood in the middle of the empty road with their hands up. I felt a shiver of foreboding as two figures drew closer. They were what you would picture bounty hunters would look like- ragged, unshaven and………not Prince Charming. Mom clasped her hand around Dad’s neck. They couldn’t have guessed, I tried to convince myself. I supposed we had just gotten lucky. Michaels face was pale as the closest man reached over to Dad’s door and yanked it open. “Out” he growled. Dad didn’t give him any lip- and I knew it was because of us. I could risk overpowering them- but that was such a great risk- and the government might be alerted……… My door rolled open and another grabbed me by my shoulders and pulled me out of the car. Michael followed meekly. “So, which one of you should we test?” There was silence only broken by the chirping of crickets. “No voulenteers,” snarled the nearest one omitting a stench so powerful I could hardly breathe. “How bout we take the girl” the other suggested. “Yeah, she does have a witchy sense about her,” I felt myself begin to tremble. It’s not like I have green skin and warts but most witches have dark hair (like me), are a bit mysterious and aloof (me again) and flashing eyes (now who could that be?) so of course they would pick on me! “I…..” I had no clue what to say. “Tie her up and her family too” My heart began to pound as one of the men headed to their car (which I could now see was parked behind some trees) and emerged with some ropes which they promptly began to tie my hands with. I tried to catch Mom’s eye but she was thrown into shadow by the tallness of the man so I couldn’t see the expression on her face. The ropes dug into my skin and I searched desperately down the deserted road. Wasn’t there something I do? A spell I could perform? I wondered. Maybe I could make a branch hit them on the head or……..all of the spells I had conveniently forgotten. I thought so much my eyes watered as I racked my head for any spells. I felt a tug on my shoulder and was thrown to the ground. “Throw her in a bag,” another said. I felt my heart pound. I knew the tests the government would run on me. They would burn me (because fire doesn’t hurt witches) and then they would kill me once they found out the truth. Not that the bounty hunters cared. They would head about the country capturing witch suspects and testing them- then handing them over to the government if the tested positive- the ones that didn’t often died. I don’t know where the power came from: all I knew is that I was not going to become a victim. My eyes warmed up and flashed and I heard two thuds. I had knocked them out. Successfully, I hoped because sometimes spells go horribly amiss. Mom helped me up well Dad and Michael lugged them to the edge of a shallow ditch and then tossed them over. I hurried next to the them and perform what I hoped was a memory spell. Five minutes later we were driving down the road (after puncturing their trailers tires) and we were all breathing heavily. Mom was crying softly and Dad was more tense, more alert and so was Michael both keeping their eyes peeled for any suspicious movement. I kept turning my neck around to make sure that we were not being followed. The sigh of relief when the farmhouse came into view drowned out Dad’s grumbling and Mom’s crying. The lights were on and I glimpsed my cousins sitting on the porch using the porch light for reading and playing chess. I felt a warm fuzzy feeling that occurred whenever I saw my cousins. There were four of them. Cousins, I mean, at least four cousins at the fam. Mary-Kate, close to my age and one of my best friends, Joe, a real pal and someone to joke around with, Susanne, also fun to play with, and Edward, one of the adults now! I heard the hubbub they caused as we pulled up in front and saw Edward and Joe get up to help with the baggage. Aunt Jeanette though was more than hubbub. Mom had called her on the road with the news of what had happened and I imagine she had been going crazy. She ran to the car and stood panting looking like Christmas had come early. Dad hopped out of the car and embraced her right away. The rest of us were more slow to get out. Joe, Sue and Edward stood back a bit awkwardly while Aunt Jeanette hugged me. They had only just been informed about my condition and perhaps were a bit afraid of me. Mary-Kate though had known for a while and we shared a look of deep understanding. “Well, let’s get unpacked” Aunt Jeanette said eagerly and led us into the dining room (which now serves as the living room) I immediately felt safer once inside as Aunt Jeanette directed us to our bedrooms. Susanne, Mary-Kate and I were sharing the back parlor room. I had never shared before but I had my own table and dresser for my clothes. Susanne had stayed in the dining room so finally I was alone with Mary-Kate. “Was it awful?” she asked. I nodded. “It was pretty scary. But let’s not talk about it “What’s that?” Mary-Kate asked, nodding at the package. “I dunno. I’ll open it now,” I gently ripped the paper off to reveal a journal. This journal (I discovered) as I flipped through the book was filled up with encouraging words and puzzles they had done and photos. They had each written a few pages and I choked up knowing I couldn’t call or write to them (They can’t be in my life anymore because we just can’t risk it. They don’t even know where the farmhouse is. It isn’t that Mom and Dad don’t trust it but they just prefer to keep my secret in the family) Mary-Kate looked very sympathetic as I rubbed the cover of the book, soft and velvety. She then reached out and hesitantly stroked my arm. I appreciated the effort but it really didn’t help anything. There was some shuffling as Michael stumbled into the room with a Monopoly board. Mary-Kate rolled her eyes at me and I felt my stomach leap. I had a feeling that this wouldn’t be so bad.
