Dire Woods

“John Joseph,” Mrs. Wickaby chimed, “I’d like to introduce my granddaughter, Emily Lavender.”

Emily’s glittering, dark eyes blazed across the kitchen table. “This is who you wanted me to meet?”

“Why yes, Emily, it’s my friend, John Joseph.” Mrs. Wickaby placed a platter of fragrant brownies beside a steaming pot of tea. “You’ll be seeing quite a lot of him.”

“I see too much of him already,” she muttered. “And he’s no friend of mine.”

Mrs. Wickaby tapped her ring on the pine table. Emily gave a “yip” and jumped out of her chair.

“You shocked me!” she sputtered.

“You shocked me,” her grandmother responded

“But he’s a stuck up, rich kid!” Emily protested.

“And you are a rude one, young lady, and I am ashamed of you,” Mrs. Wickaby’s eyes darkened dangerously. “I consider this young man a friend and if you plan on visiting me and taking magic lessons, you’d better get used to him. He’ll be taking classes, too.”

“I will?” John Joseph sputtered.

“He will?” Emily screeched.

“He will,” Mrs. Wickaby stated. “I saw a spark in him when we met and now that I‘ve seen him working with plants, I‘m sure,” she said, running a dirt-stained hand over John Joseph’s wind-blown hair. “He’s Just like his grandmother.”

“Really?” John Joseph asked.

The old woman’s eyes disappeared into a twinkle as she grinned. “Really.” She poured out the tea as she continued. “She could have been a spectacular green witch. She had the spark too.”

“Then why wasn’t she?” Emily questioned. “Was she too good to be a green witch?”

“No, Emily, she wasn’t,” her grandmother answered. “By the time we became friends and she discovered that she had an affinity for green magic, she’d been an academic mage for years. She dabbled extensively after she retired. We used to ramble around the countryside for days. ” Mrs. Wickaby gave John Joseph a gentle smile. “The next time you wander through your gardens at Alabaster Manor, look for signs of her magic. I’m sure you‘ll find them.”

“Do you really think there‘s a chance I might be decent at it?” John Joseph whispered. It was almost too much to hope for, especially considering how bad he was at everything else.

Emily made a sputtering sound with her lips. Her grandmother tapped her ring on the wooden table and Emily clenched her mouth.

“You’d be amazed at what I believe,” she answered then she turned to stare at her granddaughter once more. “Emily, you do want to learn to be a green witch don’t you?”

Emily gulped down her tea. “Of course, Grandma. It’s what I’ve wanted forever!”

“Well, either accept the fact that John Joseph will be learning alongside you, or give up your dream,” her grandmother replied tersely.

The rest of the afternoon went by quickly, if not quietly. Considering the fact that Emily had agreed to her grandmother’s wishes, she still managed to shoot John Joseph quite a few rather nasty looks and more than one pointed comments.

They concentrated on the differences between green magic and academic magic for over two hours. Mrs. Wickaby kept emphasizing over and over again how academic magic involved controlling magic with spells, while green magic required you to connect directly with the elements that surrounded you.

“The lines of power that you use for green magic flow through, over and on the earth itself,“ she stated. “They manifest themselves through the core elements of the earth of which we are all a part.“

“The elements?“ asked John Joseph.

“Earth, fire, wind and water,“ stated Emily with a snort. “Everybody knows that.”

John Joseph hadn’t, but now he listened harder than he ever had in his life. Even though his brain felt likely to explode it all made sense. It was something he could actually connect with, instead of scientific magic, which did nothing but confuse him with mind-numbing spells and complicated wand patterns.

Two pots of tea later, it was time for John Joseph to head home.

“Do I really have to go?” He asked Mrs. Wickaby with a pathetic smile.

She gave him a quick grin and helped him carry the dirty dishes to the cluttered counter.

“Unfortunately, yes,” she answered. “You can’t spend so much time at my house that your aunt starts to notice.”

John Joseph stuffed a dry laugh down his throat. “My aunt doesn’t notice a thing I do, lately,” he responded. “I’m sure she’d love me to disappear off the face of the earth.”

Mrs. Wickaby didn’t look so cheery anymore. “That’s probably more true than you ever imagined, John Joseph. But let‘s pretend, shall we?”

He helped wash the dishes then reluctantly grabbed his backpack from the mudroom before he headed out the door back to Alabaster Manor.

“Mrs. Wickaby,” he said holding his pack tightly to his chest. “Thank you.”

The old woman gave him a quick hug and pushed him gently out the door. He could hear Emily Lavender complaining before he hit the bottom of the worn, brick steps.

He was quicker walking home this evening. There was even a bit of a skip to his steps. For the first time since his parents had disappeared, he felt optimistic.

The house was the same as it had been every night since his aunt‘s arrival. All the windows were dark except for the light filtering out from the dining room. His aunt, as usual, was entertaining her friend. John Joseph didn’t even bother to peer in the window, he just ran quietly up the back stairs.

There was no dinner waiting for him.

Great. Now she’s even forgetting to feed me.

He threw his backpack into the corner and collapsed onto the bed. Maybe he should just go to sleep. At least he had something to look forward to now and he had eaten two brownies at Mrs. Wickaby’s.

He got into his pajamas, grabbed his favorite book from the bookshelf and crawled into bed. His stomach started to growl before he’d even gotten to the second chapter. He tried to ignore it, but it was getting so loud he knew he couldn’t sleep without some sort of snack. He slid out of bed and rummaged through his backpack. There was nothing but a shriveled apple. He tried a small bite then spat it out into his hand.

He slipped his dirty socks back on, hoping they’d make him quieter, then inched out into the hallway. He checked right, then left. The passage was dark and empty. He went down the back way, stepping on the outside of the stairs to make less noise.

The kitchen was cold and unwelcoming. Better make this quick. He was carefully opening the icebox when he heard the sharp staccato of high heels clattering down the hallway. Cripes! Someone was coming! And it was probably her!

A wild fear grabbed him by the throat. His head swung wildly, seeking an escape route. The pantry door shone with a glimmer of light from the back wall. John Joseph lunged forward into the pantry, shut of the light and pulled the door towards him and held it tightly, afraid that if he closed it, she’d hear the click of the latch.

“For god’s sake, Felicity, can’t you please try to keep up?” Angerona Alabaster groused, a blaze of light preceding her into the room.

“I’m trying Angerona, I’m trying,” replied a weak, simpering voice. “It’s just you’re so quick, as always.”

John Joseph listened to his aunt’s laughter float across the room. “Ahhh, but that’s always been my appeal, hasn’t it?”

The frail voice answered hesitantly. “You‘ve always been a good friend, Angerona.”

A rich laugh filled the stone room. “Not bloody likely, you lily-livered twit, but it doesn’t really matter. You’re just along for the ride.”

“Never, Angerona,” protested Felicity.

John Joseph listened to the snap of a match being lit and the whoosh of the wood in the stove flaring.

“Oh, quit simpering. I just need a quick cup of tea then I need to do some planning.”

The timid voice ventured once again into the airways. “Planning? More planning? I thought everything was going as planned already.”

China clattered on the polished sideboard.

“The plans have changed.”

“Why?” the tremulous voice continued. “You’ve dealt with your brother and sister-in-law. You have custody of your nephew and his money. I thought things were going perfectly.”

There was a tinkle and a crash.

“Haven’t I told you not to think, you idiot? You simply can’t pull it off.“ Angerona Alabaster growled. “Anyway, it’s not enough. Not by a long shot. It upsets me just to know that he’s in the same house with me, the little upstart. All set to inherit everything that should by rights be mine, even though he’s a pathetic little excuse for a magician.“ She laughed viciously. “I haven’t figured out how to deal with him yet, but I’ll come up with something.”

John Joseph felt like he was melting into the wall. His aunt was responsible for his parent’s disappearance and she was planning on doing him in too.