The Witch of Northester

Shadows Cast

Fresca didn't put up a fight that night. She obligingly left the shop, reminding me she had to check on her mother and make dinner for the family anyway. I turned the sign, pulled the curtains, and shut myself up in mom's shop. A couple of hours working in the apothecary, and a knock sounded on the back door. I glanced at the clock- 11:15. She's early.

Mrs. Potts hung out in the back, glancing now and again around the back of the building to make sure noone was looking. As soon as she was inside, she finally let out a breath and greeted me with a smile. "How are you, my dear?"

"Well, thank you." I smiled back as we kissed one another on the cheek.

"It's an eerie night out tonight," she shivered, shuffling toward the fire with her bundles of herbs gathered and collected. I would have to hang them up to dry before leaving tonight. "A full moon is out, you know."

"I heard." I didn't have to look outside. It certainly appeared bright enough.

"It's going to be orange by the end of the week," she pointed a gnarled finger at me, one eye drooping tiredly under her hood. "Mark my words. A beast will be out."

"Just in time for the festival, eh?" I smirked, rummaging around my wallet for three coins. I tried not to let my heart seize at how quickly my pouch was dwindling. The loyal customers couldn't afford to pay, and newcomers would be relied upon during the festival...

If they weren't the superstitious lot that Northester was.

"I heard there's some talk in town," Mrs. Potts pulled up a chair by the fire, helping herself to some of the herbal tea I had prepared. "They want you to close your doors."

This is no surprise. "They're trying their damndest to deter me from staying open," I put in, joining her.

"They don't just want your shop gone." She leaned forward, whispering, "They want YOU gone."

I bristled. Then, burst forth in anger. "How dare they! I've been nothing but a loyal member of society! I have held nothing but respect for the church! Hell, the times I helped them to put away the true wrongdoers of society-"

"Society is blind, child." She looked sympathetic. "They don't know anymore justice than your mother at the end of that rope."

I sucked in a breath. Tears came to my eyes.

"Truth be told, I think it's your leaving the church that started some of these rumors." She squinted. "Why did you leave?"

"Everyone was telling me to close shop." I threw a twig into the fireplace, watching it crackle. The heat burned my face, but I didn't care. I relished the pain. "Everyone was constantly telling me how unholy it was, how unrighteous I was being. That the only true way to do penance was to completely let go of Mom and her things and close up shop."

"Not a very accepting lot."

"Not the most openminded," I agreed, defeatedly swinging my arms in the air. "Either way, I'm not doing it. I've done a lot of good in this town, even if they refuse to see it."

"They couldn't see what's right in front of their noses," she agreed with a firm nod. "But are you strong enough to face them, girl?"

I stopped. "What do you mean?"

"Are you prepared to face what they might have in store for you?" She held a breath, whispering, "Things could get mighty ugly."

I scowled into the fire. "I can do ugly."

"Not just shut you down, ugly." Mrs. Potts stood, vehement. "Are you prepared to be the next swinging at the end of that rope?"

I staggered back, stunned. "I'm not a witch."

"I know that. Your customers know that. But Northester?" She shook her head, shuddering. "Take my advice, girl. Get out of town."

I balked. "They need me here. You need me here!"

"I'll manage." She nodded, tired. "They'll manage. You can do a whole lot of good somewhere else. Go to the city! You'll have loads of customers, and there'll be a nice weight of people for your controversial shop that will balance out the superstitious lot. They're far more prestigious in the city, I hear."

Frowning, I looked back to the fire. "I'll think about it."

"Don't think on it too long." Mrs. Potts stood. "Shadows only get larger the longer you wait. Best sleep on it, and rise with the sun."

I walked her back out to the door. Before she left, she gripped my hand, giving it a firm shake. She looked up at me and smiled. "If I don't see you before you go, know that you've done a service for one old lady in this town. You've made a difference nobody even dared."

I gave a nod. "You helped me just as much."

She tilted her head, the hood of her cloak falling off to the side. I could see the sagging side of her right face, the result of an episode 4 months earlier. Since then, she had withdrawn from Northester and hidden herself away in the hills. The disfigurement would not only make her an outcast, but a suspect. Especially if anyone saw her doing business with me. Her son was the only one to care for her, reassuring everyone she was just elderly and needed lots of rest.

"Thank you," she kissed my hands, replaced the hood of her cloak, and left.

I closed the door after her, hung the herbs to dry, and finished closing up shop. Helda waited patiently for me in the grove at the outskirts of town. I untied her lead and hopped on, starting up the road to home.

It's late, and this time of night not only makes me nervous, but gives Helda the jitters as well. The full moon hangs over us, lighting the way. When I look up, I not only notice the yellow tinge to witch Mrs. Potts referred, but a halo of fuzz surrounding.

It's going to rain soon.

Mom used to tell me about the signs in the sky. Hot winds coming up from the south, rail like clouds that mean a storm's rolling in, the cold blowing down from the north...

She wasn't wrong, but I stopped telling people about it. When I was a kid, I figured it was just common knowledge that people look to the skies for signs. Even the Bible references that, but...maybe it was my background that gave them pause.

Helda pulls back, suddenly nervous. "Whoa, girl." I lean down to stroke her neck reassuringly. The path home is dark, per usual, and even the bright moon can't light it all the way.

"We're almost there." I click my tongue, urging her forward. She takes a few steps, but then staggers again.

Only then do I realize something glinting out of the dark. A pair of eyes. A wolf?

Birds scatter in a nearby tree as the eyes rise up higher, higher...higher...

This is no wolf. Maybe it's something climbing a tree, but it's stalking closer to me. A giant shadow walking toward me in the trees.

Helda completely rears, letting out a whinny. I tighten my knees against her, pressing my weight forward to hold my grip and keep from falling off. Instead of retreating, she charges forward down the path. I didn't look back over my shoulder to see if it was following me, but I heard it. A thrashing through the trees, something desperately trying to keep up.

"Go, Helda! Go!" I urged her forward, allowing her to take the path down to the house. The sound in the trees moved from behind me to my right. I looked over to see something, anything, but all I caught sight of were shadows and dark. It tore through the trees, ripping through branch after branch- what animal can possibly DO that?!

I had a sudden, disturbing thought- what if it's not an animal?

Mom used to talk about beasts in this wood, I shrugged it off. This has to be a dream. There are no such thing as monsters!

Even still, the sound charged on ahead of us, stopping abruptly.

I looked wildly around while Helda continued on, struggling to see something,

Suddenly, Helda reared up, turning sharply. "Helda, no!" I screamed, falling off her backside and collapsing to the ground. I looked up at the night sky, the moon hanging like an orb and the stars spinning around me. I fought to stay awake, but felt cold as a shadow crept over me, trapping me in darkness.