Hocus Pocus: Rising of a Little Witch

Chapter 3: Nearly Dawn

"But, Winnie, what shalt we do with her?" Sarah asked, flicking her head in my direction.

I had just finished sweeping the cottage floor, which had taken me almost an hour. Now, the Sanderson Sisters stood before me wearing their cloaks, brooms in their hands. They were readying to fly off and collect things for that potion. But they had to "contain" me first.
Mary was for staying and watching over me. Sarah was for hanging me on a hook. And I had no idea what Winifred wanted.

They stood before me, just thinking.

Winifred bore her teeth at me and squinted her eyes.
"I have it! Thou shalt be hung in a cage until our return," she said deeply.

At first I thought that, even though she was a witch, Winifred was joking. But the way she batted her eyelashes told me that she was serious.

Yup. She was as serious as a heart attack.

The next thing I knew, I was in a cage, hanging from the ceiling. Great.
And, to make things better, Mary began to wonder what they were going to feed me, now that I was their new "pet" so to speak.

"Ah," said Winifred.
"The slave of the Sanderson Sisters shall be very well fed, indeed," she teased. She raised a finger and said a spell that I did not catch. I had moved to the side of the cage, and rested my back against the bars. Suddenly, a Clark bar landed between my feet.
"Enjoy!" Winifred screeched.

And with that, they all laughed and headed out the door. As I sat in the cage, I heard whooshing sounds. Must be the sound of the brooms. I sighed, and grabbed the Clark bar. How old were these things, anyway? I hadn't had one in years and I had totally forgotten what they tasted like. Oh, well, it was food anyway.

As I began to slowly munch on the Clark bar, many thoughts whirled through my head. Although I was the prisoner of three women who were older than I could possibly think, and the fact that I'm in a cage, I actually was happy to be away from my parents. I was comforted by the fact that I knew they wouldn't find me here. I doubt that they'd even bother to look. They didn't care about me, so I didn't care about them.

I finished my Clark bar and curled up to try and get some much-needed sleep. Hours seem to pass and it soon became pitch black outside. I took it to be around ten or eleven. It became very cold in the cottage, and I balled up to keep myself warm. Memories of cold nights in our townhouse back in Virginia plagued my mind, putting me in a sour mood. I closed myself tighter in my ball, and tried so very hard to sleep.

The sound of feet landing on the front stoop awoke me hours later. I quickly uncurled myself and sat upright, just as Sarah entered the cottage by her lonesome. I sat, perplexed. Where were Mary and Winifred?

Sarah strode happily over to the cage. She looked up at me and smiled.
"Hello, there," she cooed.

"Hi," I greeted plainly. Truthfully, I was a little wary of Sarah. I was too afraid that she really would hang me on a hook and play with me. But, she seemed nice, in a sort of dim-witted way.
"Umm..." I said. "How was flying?" I asked. I took it I was going to be here for a while, so I might as well make friends with at least one- maybe two- of the Sanderson Sisters.

"The weather is quite nice tonight," remarked Sarah happily. "The wind isn't too strong, either." She set her broom up against the wall, and removed her hood. She shook out her long hair, and began to comb it with her fingers. She giggled as she crossed the room and dug in a small box.

"Don't tell Winnie I went in her box," she said.

I nodded. "Secret is safe with me."

She dug around for a few minutes. It seemed that box could hold more than it looked like it could. It was almost like Mary Poppins' carpet bag. I watched as Sarah finally withdrew her hand. Inside, was an iron key. She crossed the room to me.