A Witch's Revenge

Chapter 2

Henry and Ms. Gladstone stood on the dock waiting for the boat to come take them home to visit her mom. It was one of the few methods to travel to the Cabin and ran on magic. They huddled together under an umbrella, and despite her layers of clothes, Henry thought she may freeze to death. The cold, humid air seemed to seep right into her bones, and she couldn't stop her teeth from chattering.

She longed for her mother's cozy living room where she could sit by the fire and drink vanilla tea while she filled Esmeralda in on the happenings of Gladstone Cabin. Even though Esmeralda didn't possess witchcraft herself, she did enjoy hearing the stories about those who did. She'd get a kick out of Beatrice starting the fire, even if the situation could have been very dangerous. Thankfully, it hadn't been, and they'd be able to get a good chuckle out of it.

Then, there had been the scare this morning.

An eardrum-shattering scream had come from upstairs. Henry had run from the kitchen into the living room, and just as she'd been about to ascend the stairs, she had glanced up.

Gladstone Cabin stood three stories tall and was able to house twenty students in all. The bottom floor consisted of a dining room, kitchen, a game room, and the Great Room.

The second and third floors housed the sleeping rooms. The ceiling could be seen beyond the dark, wood banisters of the upper floors. There, she had seen Myron floating in between the second and third floors. He'd stared down at Henry, his arms and legs outstretched. The other kids had looked at him in awe, and Henry had realized that the screams had come from Myron.

"I'm going to die!" he had yelled.

Myron had the ability of Hovering, or floating through the air. If he freaked out too much, he would lose the magic and fall right down into the living room and could very well kill himself, or break a lot of bones at the minimum.

Thankfully, Virgil had been able to talk with him, eventually reaching him and getting him to safety. They'd later found out Myron had taken a bet from one of the other boys—he'd win two dollars if he could float from one side of the third floor to the other. He'd been fine until he'd moved over the banister and noticed just how high up he actually was. There had been a long discussion on making bets and poor choices. It had been a dangerous situation, but again, now that it was over, she couldn't wait to share it with her mom.

Finally, through the dense fog, the same rickety boat that had brought her to the island when she had been fifteen appeared. She'd never forget that morning. Scared to death, angry her mother was sending her away ... then to step into the boat and float through the brume toward the hidden island all alone ... it would be difficult to forget.

Ms. Gladstone reached into the water and grabbed the rope, muttered a spell under her breath, and the bench dried up. They both climbed in and were careful not to rock it. The last thing they needed was to send themselves into the frigid water.

Henry once again wished that she had a knack for spells. Knowing her abilities, she'd probably make the boat disappear instead of drying the seats. She'd never been able to master the art, and she'd made some pretty big mistakes. Like the time she'd tried to use a spell that turned solid objects into liquid. She'd sat at the kitchen table attempting to change a piece of wood into water. Instead, the table had been turned to stone so heavy, it had fallen through the floor. Ms. Gladstone had been furious.

They sat down next to each other, both huddled under the umbrella once again, and Henry held her overnight bag on her lap. Hopefully, everything wouldn't be soaked by the time they got to shore. Her mother didn't have a dryer in the house, and her clothing would remain wet if the weather was the same on Whidbey as it was out at sea. She hoped the sunshine Ms. Gladstone had mentioned previously continued to be true.