Read Online Time of the Witch by Mary Downing Hahn - Free Book Online Page B

Maude.
    "Suppose she's right, though?"
    "I don't care what Annabelle says. Or Charlene either. I'm going to ask Maude to make my parents stay married." I frowned at Wanda. "And if you won't come with me, I'll go by myself."
    "I think I better get on back home. It's late," Wanda said.
    "But we're not even halfway to Aunt Grace's house. Aren't you at least going to walk me through the woods?" I stared at her, feeling betrayed.
    Wanda shook her head. "If I walk through the woods with you, then I got to walk back by myself."
    "How about halfway through the woods? Will you walk that far?" I pleaded, aware that my voice was rising to a Jason-like whine.
    But Wanda was already inching backwards up the road. "Just run," she said. "Just run as fast as you can toward your house and I'll run toward mine."
    "Please come with me, just a little way?" The more we talked, the darker those woods got.
    "I'll come to your house tomorrow, okay?" Wanda called from the top of the hill.
    "Don't bother!" I shouted. "If you can't come with me now, don't come tomorrow either! Don't come ever!"
    Taking a deep breath, I turned and ran toward home, wincing when my bare feet struck against loose stones. As I plunged into the darkness under the trees, I saw something move in the shadows at the side of the road. Before I could dodge aside, Maude stepped into my path, blocking my way.
    "Well, well, Laura Adams, where are you going in such a hurry in the dark? You almost knocked me down, child." Maude smiled at me, but the hand that grasped my arm was cold and strong.
    "I'm sorry, I didn't see you," I stammered, my lips stiff.
    "Well, now, I saw you coming, Laura Adams, and I heard you too, but then these old eyes and ears of mine are sharp as a cat's. They work better in the dark than they do in the daylight." Maude peered at me, her eyes searching my face. "Now I've gone and frightened you, haven't I?"
    Turning her eyes to Soot, who was riding her shoulder like a small demon of the night, she said, "We are
a frightening pair, aren't we? The two of us roaming the woods day and night, as we have for years, shunning the company of other human beings. But we mean no harm to this child, do we?" Maude chuckled and stared at me, her eyes glittering in the moonlight.
    "My aunt is expecting me home. She'll be worrying," I whispered, backing away from Maude.
    "Ah, now, I wouldn't want to worry your aunt." She reached out and stroked my hair back from my face. "Such a pretty girl," she crooned, "such a pretty, pretty girl. How proud Margaret would have been of you, Laura."
    I stood still, letting her stroke my hair, afraid to move, afraid to ask her to help me.
    "Charlene told you all about me, didn't she?" Maude asked softly. "You'd like to ask me to use my power to help you, too, wouldn't you? You needn't be afraid of me, Laura." Maude smiled at me as she bent nearer, her voice soft and low.
    "How do you know I need any help?" I whispered.
    "I have ways of knowing things, my dear. I have the power to know and help."
    "But Eddie hasn't come back to Charlene, he didn't marry her, you didn't help her." I tried again to back away from her, but her grip on my arm was tight.
    "He hasn't yet, Laura, but he will, he will. Everything comes in time, everything." Maude continued to stroke my hair, harder and harder, her fingers raking through it like a comb.
    "You're hurting me," I whispered, tears stinging my eyes. It felt as if she were actually yanking hairs from my head.
    Maude's face softened. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to
hurt you. Your hair was tangled and I wanted to smooth it, that's all." She smiled, splitting her face into millions of crisscrossing wrinkles. "Now, shall I help you? Will you let me?"
    "Could you really stop the divorce?" I asked.
    Maude nodded and gestured up at the sky, hidden by the dense leaves of the trees. "Yes, I can stop it. Come to me tomorrow night, Laura, if you want my help." She smiled again and Soot shifted restlessly, his strong taloned