The Stregacattivo Witches

Chapter 3 - In The Dark of The Town

Elizabeth sat at the kitchen table while Katherine cooked in the kitchen. Hannah was with Elizabeth examining the book. "So....the queen gaveth this to thee?" Elizabeth nodded. "Aye she did. Listen, both of thee, we could use this as revenge."

"Revenge on who?" asked Hannah. Elizabeth smirked. "Governor Jonny Ivel." "Aye! We've waited long enough. 'Tis about timeth we doth something against him." said Katherine, stirring the soup she was cooking. Elizabeth was about to say something until she was interrupted by their door opening, revealing a young man in a black cape with his hood over his head. Elizabeth knew it was Edmund and remembered she had the spellbook in front of her and threw it at Hannah to hide it somewhere.

It took Hannah by surprise, but she took it and quickly ran to their bedroom to hide it under Elizabeth's bed. Elizabeth sat in the chair straight and tried to look as innocent as possible. She watched Edmund take off his cloak, not aware Eliza was watching him. He turned his head and almost ran into the small table next to him. She had not been in the room but had a full view of him in the front room.

"Ah, my goodness, Elizabeth. Must thee be staring right at me like that?" he said, smirking, with his hand over his chest. She smiled innocently, "What doth thee mean?" "Eliza...what didst thee doth?" Edmund was in a peasant outfit, which meant he snuck out again and slowly walked toward her. He nodded his head to Katherine to greet her. "What didst I doth? What didst thee doth? Thee art wearing peasant clothes and thy a prince." He sat next to her in Hannah's seat. "Thee art up to something." she internally panicked. "I promise thee we, the three of us, art not up to something." Edmund made a gesture. "Where is Hannah then?" Elizabeth didn't respond. Instead, she pointed at Hannah coming back into the room.

"Dost thee hast any fun plans at all?" Edmund asked. All three of them said "nay" quickly to hide the fact that they were planning revenge against the Governor. Edmund thought it was odd, but he never questioned it to them. "I needed to get away from my father today. He is having a fiteth about the hags. He was toldeth by a guard that there was a witch spotted giving a girl a spellbook." Elizabeth tensed, hoping it was not her and his mother. "The guards, of course, caught them both and have them locked up since they art a danger to the town." She relaxed, glad that it was not her who got caught. "How many have they spotted then?" asked Katherine, who was splitting the soup into bowls.

"About five I believe," Edmund responded. "Five?!" Eliza shouted, "Aye, five." "There might be more out there that we don't know about." Elizabeth laughed nervously. "Aye, maybe." Said Edmund. "Thee never knoweth what's out there in the world. Especially the number of witches, thee may never knoweth if one is communicating with a witch and or her coven."

After Elizabeth said that, the room went quiet, and anyone could feel the tension at the truth. It was true. Edmund didn't know how many were out there or that he had three witches under his fingertips. Elizabeth knew she couldn't tell him. It would hurt him if she did. After all, he was the one who told her not to do it in the first place.

Edmund cleared his throat and stood up. "I should really leave now before the guards catch me out here." Elizabeth stood up as well. "Aye, of course. We can't have thee getting caught." She shoved him out the door quickly and slammed it behind him. She let out a huff and ran back to her room. "Hannah, where did you put it?" She shouted, "Under thy bed Eliza!" Elizabeth looked under her bed and grabbed her book.

Eliza came back with the book in her hand. "Okay, so what's our plan?" asked Hannah. Elizabeth set the book back on the table. "Well, I was thinking...we taketh his daughter and kidnap her. It's only fair, he took something important from us...so we taketh something important from him." She said with a smirk. Hannah and Katherine look at each other. "How art we gonna doth that?" asked Hannah, looking over Eliza's shoulder to read the book. "Easy, magic. There art a few spells we can use." she made a face that said, "Duh." "Well, when art we going to doth 't?" asked Katherine, leaning over Eliza's shoulder to read the book. Eliza looked between her two sisters. "Three weeks at max. We must learn the spells and perfect them before we use them because people will get hurt."

There was nothing but darkness outside. No one was out since everyone was home sleeping. Three hooded figures in dark forest green, dark velvet red, and dark navy blue were sneaking around. There was another person awake and outside. It was Prince Edmund in his sleepwear, a white, vast, cotton shirt and a pair of breeches standing on his balcony. He watches the three figures run to Governor Ivel's house. He knew it was Eliza and her sisters because of the colors of the cloaks he had bought them. He watched them silently open the door and quietly run inside. He waited for them to return, and when they did, he saw they had his daughter. It seemed odd, and he was determined to find out what the sisters were doing.

Inside the home of the Stregacattivo sisters, Eliza, and her sisters prepare to leave their home to execute their plan of taking Governor John Ivel's daughter Emily Ivel. The girls grabbed their cloaks, clasped them on, and put their hoods up, trying to hide from the world. Elizabeth opened the door and walked out, followed by her sisters as Hannah was to carry Elizabeth's book until she needed it. She turned to her sisters and put her finger to her lips to tell them to be quiet. They sprint to the Ivel house, cautiously looking around to know no one was watching them. Eliza stood by the front door casting a silencing spell on John and his wife. She quietly opened the door and motioned for Hannah to go first since she had part of a job. Katherine followed Hannah, and Elizabeth was the last to enter since she was on the lookout.

Hannah was inside, working on getting the girl through a lullaby-like song, and she sang it almost like a siren would. Katherine was with Hannah, who grabbed the child. Once they got her, Elizabeth gave her a small potion to make her follow the sisters' orders. The girl tried to keep her mouth shut, but Katherine was too strong, and Eliza shoved the potion down her throat. The girl began to follow the girls as they quickly and quietly walked out of the house. As they ran down the street, Hannah seized the opportunity to use her magic to get back at the boy who would make fun of her and her family by setting fire to their beloved garden.

Elizabeth, Katherine, and little Emily were back in their home when Eliza realized Hannah was not with them. She went back out, but not before Katherine protested. Eliza is stubborn; Eliza went anyway. When she found Hannah, she saw she was setting a massive fire. Elizabeth quickly ran to Hannah "Hannah! What art thee doing?!" Elizabeth enunciated in a harsh whisper. She gave Hannah no time to answer because she put her hand over Hannah's mouth before she made a sound, and they ran back into their house.

The girl was sitting at the table as Hannah and Elizabeth fought. It was almost light outside, so there were people already outside. "Hannah, you idiot! I told thee not to doth that!" Elizabeth was loud enough for the whole village to hear. Even Edmund heard, but that was because he was right outside their house. "Sorry, Elizabeth, but it was necessary!" she shouted, "'twas not necessary to start a fire after I gaveth thou one job!" Edmund slowly backed away from the door because he thought now was not the time. He knew Eliza's temper and anger issues, usually caused by Hannah and something she had done, which seemed to be the case again.