Witch Is When the Penny Dropped (15 page)

“Daddy, Daddy, you’re okay!” Lizzie shouted.

“I knew you’d be okay, Daddy,” Mikey said. “I’m going to play the drum for you now.”

***

That night, we were back at Kathy’s house. Peter was none the worse for his ordeal, but he said his skydiving days were over. The kids were in bed, and he was reading them a bedtime story. Kathy made us a cup of tea, and handed me the Tupperware box containing my custard creams. I was back in favour, apparently.

“I never want to have to live through another day like today,” Kathy said. “I feel like I’ve aged ten years.”

“You look like you have.”

“Thanks, Jill.”

“No problem. Anyway, all’s well that ends well.”

Kathy looked at me. “I still don’t understand how they landed in the haystack. You saw what happened—they were headed straight for the target, and then suddenly they sort of drifted to the side.”

“I know. That was really lucky.”

“That wasn’t just luck. That was—” Kathy hesitated. “It was a miracle. Something weird is going on here, Jill, and I think you know something about it.”

“Me?” I shrugged, innocently. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, but just lately some strange things have happened, and it’s always when you’re around.”

“How do you mean ‘strange’?”

“Like when they were chopping down the tree near our house, and it was going to fall on the kids? You rushed across the garden, picked them up and moved them out of the way.”

“Yeah, what’s strange about that?”

“I’ll always be grateful that you managed to save them, but how did you do it? You moved so fast—I could hardly see you moving.”

“You and Peter were so scared that you froze. I wasn’t in shock, so I was able to react quickly. That’s all.”

“It doesn’t make sense. And what about the time when you lifted the bus?”

“It wasn’t just me. There were lots of us.”

“Something funny is going on, and it’s been happening ever since you found out about your birth mother. Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“Like what? Do you think it’s magic or something? Do you think I’m some kind of witch?”

Chapter 23

It was the day of the Elite Competition, and I’d arranged to meet the twins at Aunt Lucy’s house. Neither of them looked very pleased to be there.

“What’s wrong with you two?” I said. “You look like you’re waiting to be hanged.”

“We hate the Elite Competition,” Amber said.

“Yeah,” Pearl agreed. “It’s horrible.”

“But you enjoyed the Levels Competition, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, the Levels is great. Particularly the last one when you took part. All the family goes, and everyone has fun—it’s like a carnival. Even though it is actually a competition, no one takes it
too
seriously.”

Pearl nodded in agreement. “The Elite is very different. It’s really serious. The atmosphere is horrible. You’ll see for yourself soon enough. It’s very competitive. There’s no fun to be had; no carnival atmosphere. We haven’t been for a few years, and we wouldn’t be going today if Grandma wasn’t taking part.”

“Would she mind if you didn’t go?” I asked.

“What do you think?” Amber said. “She’d kill us if we didn’t turn up.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t bear thinking about.” Pearl agreed.

“It’s not that bad, girls.” Aunt Lucy appeared. “Anyway, I’m surprised you can even remember what it’s like. When was the last time you two went?”

The twins shrugged.

“It would probably have been the last time Grandma took part,” Aunt Lucy said. “And that must be several years ago.”

“Why doesn’t Grandma take part every year?” I asked.

“She doesn’t feel she has anything to prove. You know Grandma; in her mind she
is
the Elite witch.”

I laughed. “She certainly doesn’t lack confidence.”

“That’s for sure,” Aunt Lucy said. “Ma Chivers was the only serious competition Grandma has ever had, and she’s been off the scene for decades. People know your grandmother is one of the most powerful witches—if not
the
most powerful one. But those same people also have a lot of respect for Ma Chivers. Once she’d signed up for this year’s competition, Grandma really had no choice but to do the same. If she hadn’t, people would have seen it as a sign of weakness. Your grandmother may be many things, but weak is not one of them.”

***

The twins were right. When we arrived at the Spell-Range the atmosphere was very different from that of the Levels Competition. There was a good crowd, but none of the carnival atmosphere. Once again, there were bleachers on three sides of the stadium, but on this occasion there was a tall, steel mesh fence running in front of the seating areas.

“What’s with the fence?” I asked Aunt Lucy.

“That’s to keep the spectators safe.”

“Safe from what?”

“It could be anything. The Elite Competition is a whole different ball game from the Levels. There could be some very scary and dangerous spells cast, so to avoid accidents they always install a high fence to protect the crowd.”

Wow, now I was really worried. The crowd was seated in separate areas according to which of the competitors they supported. Surprisingly, Grandma had a large number of followers. Ma Chivers appeared to have just as many, and I noticed two familiar faces within their ranks. Alicia and her skinny friend, Cyril, were giving me the evil eye.

The other two competitors were Felicity Broom and Katrina Corke. The announcement over the Tannoy informed us that in each round one of the witches would be eliminated, until the remaining witch was crowned the Elite Witch of the year.

We took our seats and waited.

“What are those?” I asked, pointing to the five large platforms which had been raised high above the stadium.

Aunt Lucy looked up. “I was hoping they wouldn’t have those in this year’s competition.”

“What are they, though?”

“There’s a pen on the top of each platform. Can you see them?”

The platforms were so high it was difficult to see what was on top of them, but I could just about make out the pens.

“What’s in them?”

“Well, that’s the whole point. The reason they’re so high is so that no one can actually see which animals are in which pen.”

“What happens exactly?”

“Each witch has to choose a pen. They’re labelled: A, B, C, D and E. The chosen platform is lowered to the ground, and the competitor has to deal with whichever animals come out of it.”

“But isn’t that dangerous? Couldn’t someone get hurt?”

“It’s very dangerous. There have been some serious injuries, and at least two deaths that I know of. They’re wild animals, and there are usually several in each pen. There’ll only be one witch in the arena at a time, and she has to deal with those animals quickly using whichever spells she feels most appropriate. One of the most important rules is that they’re not allowed to kill the animals. The worst part of this round is that one of the pens will contain a destroyer dragon.”

“A what? Did you say ‘dragon’?”

“Yes. Four of the pens will contain animals; the fifth one always contains a destroyer dragon.”

“What’s that? It sounds terrifying.”

“They
are
terrifying,” Amber said. “I’ve only ever seen one once, and it scared me to death.”

“Yeah, they’re horrible,” Pearl said. “They’re massive. They’ve got wings, two heads and two tails, and they breathe fire, and they’ve got big claws and—”

“They do not have two heads,” Aunt Lucy said. “They do have wings, two tails and big claws, and they do breathe fire, but they only have one head.”

“I thought it had two heads when I saw it—”

“Well, you must have been dreaming, dear. They only have one head, but believe me, one is more than enough to have to deal with.”

“Can’t they just fly away?”

“No. Although they still have wings, they’ve lost the ability to fly. Think penguin.”

“Do they live in Candlefield?” I asked.

“Well, yes and no. They live on the edges of the sup world, but you wouldn’t normally come into contact with one. Every time this particular round is included in the Elite Competition, one of them is captured, and put into one of these pens. If one of the competitors is unfortunate enough to select that pen, she’s in real danger. Fighting a destroyer dragon is a totally different proposition to fighting any of the other animals. Their skins are virtually armour-plated; they’re fast and they’re vicious. All the serious injuries and deaths in the competition have been caused by destroyer dragons.”

I swallowed. “I’m not sure I’m going to enjoy this.”

“That’s why we didn’t want to come,” Amber said.

“Yeah, it’s really horrible,” Pearl added. “I don’t know why they do it. It should be banned.”

“That’s something which gets discussed every year,” Aunt Lucy said. “Many sups believe this particular round should be consigned to history because it’s too barbaric. But there are others, and to be honest that includes most of the level six witches, who think this should remain in the competition as it’s a true test of a witch’s power.”

I looked up at the five platforms. There were four competitors, so the odds of them picking the one containing the dragon were very good, or very bad depending on which way you looked at it.

The announcer called for quiet, and immediately the crowd fell silent. All eyes were on the four cubicles from which the competitors would shortly emerge.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said. “Welcome to this year’s Elite Competition. As always, I would remind you that the fencing is for your protection. This competition can be very dangerous; there will be wild animals in the arena. Under no circumstances should you try to scale the fence. So, without further ado, let me introduce our four competitors. Firstly, please give a warm welcome to a returning superstar, and someone we haven’t seen for many years. Please welcome Martha Chivers.”

The cubicle door on the far left opened, and out stepped Ma Chivers. When I’d seen her in Cuppy C, she’d looked scary. Today, she looked even scarier—and uglier. She was wearing the full witch’s costume comprising robe and hat, and she looked every bit the wicked witch. Ma Chivers looked up at the crowd, and nodded almost imperceptibly to the section where her supporters were seated. I looked across and saw that all of them, including Alicia and Cyril, were on their feet cheering and clapping.

“Next,” said the announcer. “We have one of the most powerful witches in all of Candlefield. Please give a warm welcome to Mirabel Millbright.”

The door opened and out stepped Grandma. I’d never seen her wearing a full witch’s costume before. She looked spectacular—as though she’d just walked off the set of a Hollywood movie. She was scary with a capital ‘S’. Grandma didn’t look at, or even acknowledge the crowd, and significantly, she didn’t look at Ma Chivers. She simply stared straight ahead.

The other two competitors were introduced, and were cheered on by their respective supporters, who were far fewer in number than those supporting Ma Chivers and Grandma.

Based on all the conversations I’d heard while walking to the Range, it seemed that everyone thought the competition was a two horse race. It was Grandma versus Ma Chivers, and the other two were only there to make up the numbers.

“Round one of the competition,” the announcer said, “will be the pens.”

There was a collective gasp from the crowd, and everyone looked at the five pens on the platforms high above the arena.

The announcer continued. “The four competitors drew lots prior to the competition to determine the order in which they will take part in this round. The first witch who will face the pens today is Katrina Corke.”

Katrina Corke stepped forward, and even from this distance, I could see she looked nervous, which was hardly surprising. The other three witches left the arena. The announcer then asked Katrina to choose a pen. The whole Range was silent, as the crowd waited for her to choose. She looked at each one in turn. I couldn’t begin to imagine how scared she must be. My heart was racing, even though I was sitting in the relative safety of the bleachers, behind a huge metal fence.

“I select pen ‘C’,” she shouted.

No sooner had she said the words, than the platform began its descent. I’d expected it to be lowered slowly, but in fact it came down really quickly and hit the ground with a thud. Immediately, the pen sprang open and out rushed five huge lions. The crowd went wild with a mixture of excitement and fear, as they waited to see what Katrina Corke would do. The lions circled the arena looking for a way out, but could find no escape. As they came close to where we were sitting, those in the front seats shrank back in terror. After a few moments, the lions seemed to notice the solitary figure standing in the centre of the arena. The crowd held its breath as Katrina slowly edged around in a circle so as not to show her back to any of the lions.

One of the lions suddenly rushed towards her. Her reflexes were amazing. I don’t know which spell she used, but it knocked the lion off its feet, sending it flying backwards head over heels until it hit the fence and slumped to the ground, stunned by the impact. The next few minutes were a blur. The lions came at her from all directions.

Katrina kept her cool, and took out the lions one by one using a variety of spells. I noticed that she had ‘frozen’ two of them. Another one was stunned, and the fifth one simply seemed to lose all interest in her. The crowd gave her a huge round of applause as she left the arena, to be replaced by Felicity Broom.

There was a short pause while the arena was cleared. Felicity chose pen ‘D’, and she was confronted by a number of very angry bears. They didn’t cause her any problems though. She used a number of different spells, and at no time did she ever look to be in any danger. She was soon exiting the arena with the five bears totally overpowered.

That left Grandma and Ma Chivers. The announcer’s voice came back over the speakers.

“The third competitor will be Martha Chivers.” At that, the stadium erupted with applause. Alicia and Cyril were on their feet waving and cheering.

I looked at Aunt Lucy. “Does Grandma have a chance against Ma Chivers?”

“Of course, but it’ll be difficult. They’re very similar in terms of power and ability.”

“Martha Chivers, please select your pen.”

She thought for a moment, and then went for pen ‘A’. It landed with a thump, and out rushed five crocodiles. Ma Chivers’ response was incredible. She barely blinked, and in less than thirty seconds all five of them had been immobilised, and she was leaving the arena as though she’d just been for a stroll in the park.

Grandma entered the arena to much applause and cheering. Aunt Lucy, myself and the twins were all on our feet waving and shouting encouragement.

“The odds aren’t good,” I said to Aunt Lucy. “There’s a fifty-fifty chance she’ll pick the dragon.”

Aunt Lucy nodded, and I could see she was nervous which made me even more scared. The whole crowd held its collective breath as Grandma looked up at the two pens. One of them contained a destroyer dragon, and I
really
did not want to see it.