Hocus Pocus: Rising of a Little Witch

Chapter 11: The Fire

"Come now Mary!" hissed Sarah. "Just get in!"

    Mary swiped her mouth to the side. She then grinned, plugged her nose, and jumped. Because she was the biggest of all of us, the pond seemed to shake violently when she hit the water. It flailed Sarah and I around like a storm. I  laughed as I tried to keep my head above the surface. When Mary's head appeared from underwater, she was grinning. I was surprised, her hair had not fallen out. I watched as Sarah swam over to Mary and playfully began to splash her. I joined in, and soon we were all laughing as if we had known each other for hundreds of years. We played and swam in the pond until we got so tired, we decided to climb out and dry off.
   We laid in the sun on the quilt, watching the clouds. I was tracing over their shapes with my eyes. One looked like a witch hat so much it was ridiculous. It made me smile. I found myself drifting to sleep. I knew Mary and Sarah had already fallen asleep because they were snoring. I was just about to close my eyes, when something slammed into my face.
     I jerked and sat up. Something was blocking the sun from my face. I looked up. At first I couldn't tell what it was, but it soon began to take form. It was Winnifred standing over me.

"Winifred?" I said.

"Get up,"she instructed.

I did as I was told and sat up before pushing myself to my feet. Winifred walked over to the opposite side of the tree and sat down, her back pressed against it.
"Come." She commanded, motioning for me to sit down.
I walked over and sat across from her.
"Now," she said , smoothing her skirt out.
"Since we hath discovered your magical abilities. I suggest you know the truth about us."

I looked at Winifred questioningly
"Us?" I asked, my left brow quirking up.

"Us. The Sanderson Sisters," she replied haughtily.

I nodded. Perhaps she was about to tell me who Sarah thought I was. Or perhaps their whole background, either way I was interested.
I nodded, and got comfortable so I could listen.

She cleared her throat.
"Well," she said. She paused, as if she didn't know where to begin.
"I don't know if Mary hath mentioned this or not, but our mother was the mistress of Satan."

I wanted to gasp so badly, but somehow I knew that it would offend her. Mary had mentioned it, but Winifred was admitting it herself. Satan was Winifred's father! I folded my hands, rested my chin on them, and gave her every little strand of attention I had.

"What I am trying to say is that Satan is my father, thus the fact that we're witches," said Winifred plainly.
"Mother had affairs with other men as well, giving Mary and Sarah different fathers."
I nodded again.

Just then, in the corner of my eye, I swear to god I saw something black dash through the trees. My head snapped in the direction. I saw nothing. So what? I was seeing things now?
Winnifred noticed my gaze move from her and the look in my eyes change.
"What be the matter?" Winifred asked.

"I swear I just saw something," I said, my eyes narrowing as I continued to stare back towards the woods.
"Over there," I said, pointing.

    Winifred quickly got her feet under her. She slowly, with her arms behind her, held onto the tree trunk and slid upward into a standing position. She kept her head turned, and looked curiously at where I pointed.
Without really thinking, I began to walk toward the trees. I took seven or eight steps and I stopped. Behind me, I heard the sound of Mary yawning. It was followed by Sarah asking us what was going on.
Winnifred ignored them and kept her attention on me.
"What dost thou see, Kaytrina?" Winnifred asked, her voice hushed and cautions.
    Truthfully, my sense of smell began to altar, and all I could smell was smoke. But there was none in sight. I guess I was a witch now. Could witches smell random things like this? Unsure of myself, I decided not to mention it. I didn't want to cause unnecessary alarm.
By now, both Sarah and Mary had gotten up.
"Kaytrina?" Sarah asked warily.