Beauty and the Magician (Tales of the Red Witch Book 1)

Chapter 16 - The beast makes a friend

Annika's first step out of town sent a wave of panic through her limbs. With each step she took from here on out would be the farthest she had ever been from home. She hated this feeling of not knowing where she would go or what she would do. But her father had done this a thousand time before and so could she.

She was still terrified but she forced her limbs to push on. She had no choice. She would either find the witch or she would make a new life.

Annika walked for hours on her shaky legs before stopping along the side of the road to take a break and eat a little of the leftover mincemeat pie she had packed. It made her think of Sofie and bought a fresh wave of sadness to here for everything she was leaving behind.

She had never thought she would leave her little village of Wohnort. She had no reason to believe that she would ever have to.

Maybe that had been her problem. She was too much of a coward to see what was in front of her. To see that Sofie had been right.

She was a plant that had outgrown it's pot.

Maybe she had been treating Sofie as a convenient excuse for avoiding life and it's constant movement forward. She wanted to say that every decision she had made was for Sofie or for her father but maybe it was because she was too afraid. She was still afraid but she knew that she could either crawl into a hole and wither away or she could fight and hope to find a solution.

Her thoughts turned back to Sofie. Annika knew that Sofie also deserved a little freedom. She deserved a chance to try things on her own without a sister telling her what to do. She was a grown woman in her own right. Even if she met trouble with Annika away, she knew she could take comfort knowing that Mrs. Pender would be there for her and she knew Sofie was not too proud to ask for help.

No, pride had always been Annika's fault. She would miss her sister dearly every day she was away but she would not stop fighting her way back to her old life. She would fix this. She had to.

She looked at the fields around her. They were full of waving golden wheat and rustling cornstalks. It was almost peaceful. She looked up at the darkening sky, it would be night soon. She needed to consider where she was going to sleep. The cloudless sky told her that it was going to be clear and not too cold, so she considered the idea of sleeping out in the open. Maybe she could find a tree nearby to offer a little cover. She let out a little sigh.

She got up from her seat and left the road to search for a suitable sleeping spot. She pushed her way through the corn field and popped out into area that looked as though several people had been through it with shovels.

"What on earth happened here?" She muttered to herself. Across the destroyed field she spotted a scraggly looking tree. It would have to do for tonight.

She made her way to the tree careful to avoid all the large gaping holes and piles of torn up corn stalks. As she danced around the holes, her tail acted as a counterbalance helping her to attain a certain level of grace that had been unfamiliar to her. Dancing the complicated dances of the ballroom would probably be a lot easier if everyone had tails. There would certainly be less tripping.

Placing her back against the rough trunk, she slid down onto a soft tuft of grass. She pulled her satchel off her shoulder tucking it into her side. She breathed a sigh and tried to relax. Her mind still a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. She had no plan beyond heading east and her practical side rebelled against this. It begged her to make order of the chaos.

But she couldn't, there was no order to be had in this mess. There was only a murky path forward.

At some point exhaustion must have taken over because she came awake with a start when she heard a soft rustle come from the corn field. She opened her eyes wide scanning the area.