Pigeon Witches

Chapter 3 -- Be Thou For The People

It was a clear but cold morning, the chilly air stinging Yamaguchi Senior’s papery cheeks. It had rained hard earlier that morning, and the dark old autumn leaves had become a sludgy slime on the pavement. It hadn’t rained for very long, so they’d managed to wait it out.

The trees’ boughs arched beautifully over the road, their bare bonelike branches cutting through the brilliantly blue sky like cracks. Most of the birds had already migrated, but the good ole’ faithfuls swooped low over the trees like specks. A squirrel dashed around a branch, pausing suddenly to twitch its ears, before dashing again.

The Karasuno coven’s ramshackle old cottage was a brisk walk down from the hill, so it hadn’t taken Yamato Yamaguchi much to convince his wife they didn’t have to drive.

And for whatever reason, his grandson thought he couldn’t put one foot in front of the other.

Tadashi bounced around his heels like an excited Jack Russell terrier, except with half the good nature. Honestly, Amaya, Yamato’s wife, hadn’t been that worried, and she’d known him since he was a skinny rascal with scabs forever on his knees and elbows. But then, Amaya had known him when he could carry two huge sacks of grain on his back and carry them three miles, and Tadashi only ever knew him as a fat, wrinkly old fart.

“Oh, shut up Tadashi!” Yamato snapped, after his grandson offered his scarf for the millionth time.

Tadashi grimaced and fell behind, embarrassed.

Yamato huffed, and sped up, clearing the cobbled path and making it to the door in record time, despite his aching knees.

The coven’s door was, much like the rest of it, well-used and weathered, the solid oak knotted, its bottom dented by the kicking feet of ages. It was good, strong, and sturdy, much like the Karasuno witches themselves.

He knocked.

There was a muffled thump, hurried steps, and the door was thrown open.

It was the young lad, skinny and short, with wild orange hair sticking up every-which-way, even more so than usual. He squinted at Yamato.

Yamato squinted back.