Diary of Anna the Girl Witch 1: Foundling Witch (13 page)

I didn’t exhale until I was back down the stairs. By that time, the itch in my stomach was almost too much to bear, so I released the magic, becoming visible again. There was no point in frightening the children even more, anyway.

One by one, I opened the cell doors. Weak and scraggly children came out on unsteady legs. Mei herded them into the center of the room, talking to them softly. To my surprise, seven cells were occupied this time. I thought the eighth cell was empty because no one came to the window as I worked the lock. But inside, I found my best friend chained to the wall.

“Gaëlle!” I ran to her. A new bruise darkened one side of her face. Her ankle was bound in a metal bracelet that locked onto the chain, holding her fast to the corner of the cell. “Who did this to you?” I asked.

“Marie,” Gaëlle sniffled. “It’s my punishment for telling Beatrice the truth about being adopted by them.”

“That was brave.” I could only imagine how angry Marie must have been.

“It didn’t matter. After we dropped Beatrice off at the orphanage, Marie snatched another little girl right off the street. There she is.” Gaëlle pointed at the smallest girl in the little crowd.

Marie must have been desperate to have the Nine ready tonight. That meant that we had to get out of there fast!

I tried fitting the key into the lock on Gaëlle’s ankle, but it was too big.

“It’s no use,” said Gaëlle. “You have to leave me. Get the others out of here before it’s too late.”

I turned to Mei, who was standing with the other children at the cell door. “Take the lantern,” I said, “and go out the back way. You’ll find a long tunnel. Follow it until you come to an iron door. You’ll be in the center of the hedge maze. I left you a trail of red thread to find your way out. Take the kids, and hurry.”

Mei hesitated.

“Go!” I said. “We’ll be right behind you. I promise.”

Mei nodded and led the children away. I hoped they would be safe.

The lantern left with Mei. Gaëlle and I sat in total darkness. I fumbled in my pocket for the half-destroyed letter opener.

“I’m going to pry open the bracelet,” I said. “Hold your ankle steady.”

Ignoring the sturdy lock, I fitted the letter opener through one of the chain links. I made several tries – then the tool just snapped in half. The chain hadn’t bent even a little. “Darn it,” I said.

Gaëlle whimpered in the dark. “Please go,” she said.

Sitting back, I raised a hand to calm her. I realized that she couldn’t see me in the dark and said, “Wait. Let me think a little.”

A possible solution came to me – though it involved using the red-hot energy that had invited the shadows into my heart the last time I’d used it. But I couldn’t think of any other ways to save my friend.

“It may get hot,” I warned Gaëlle in a whisper. “Whatever happens, please keep quiet.”

Closing my eyes, I remembered myself in the car. I visualized André’s leering face. Immediately, the familiar rage began to build inside my chest. I thought of the miserable, dirty children stepping out of the cells in the unsteady light of the lantern. The anger grew in size and intensity, soon turning into red, seething fury.

“Close your eyes!” I said, and released that fury at the lock holding the metal bracelet on Gaëlle’s ankle.

Gaëlle cried out in pain. “It hurts!”

The bracelet and lock fell to the stone floor with a loud clang.

Not waiting to see if we’d awakened the guard, I grabbed Gaëlle’s hand and pulled her out of the cell. The shadowy emptiness inside me grew a little, chilling me to the bone. But Gaëlle was worth it. It was a fair exchange, I believed – a part of my soul for her freedom.

I heard the scraping of a chair, then heavy footsteps on the stairs.

“Run!” I whispered. In the darkness, we stumbled toward the rear entrance. Gaëlle whimpered, and I realized that I had burned her foot while removing her lock. I could only hope I hadn’t hurt her too much.

Flickering light hit us just as we pushed through the old iron door. “Hey!” the guard called. “What are you doing?”

We ran down the black hallway. I had no time to explain to Gaëlle where we were going. I just hoped she trusted me enough to lead her through the darkness. A faint light glimmered behind us: The guard had lit another lantern and was hot on our trail.

The hallway grew steeper. The door was just ahead, but the guard’s pounding footsteps were right behind us. We flew out the door into the cool night air. I turned and saw the guard’s angry face, only steps away. Without my even thinking of it, magic burned at my fingertips. I shot a blast at the heavy iron door, and it swung shut with a bang, smashing into the guard at the same time.

His yell was muffled by the door, but it still sounded pained. We waited a long moment to see if he would follow us, but the night was silent.

Gaëlle was bent over, gasping for breath after our run. My stomach tightened into knots. I hadn’t meant to hurt the guard, only to shut the door and slow him down. But his silence suggested that I had knocked him out. I groaned, releasing the pent-up tension in my belly. Just as I had expected, the emptiness inside me grew, making me feel sick.

Every time I used my magic, I walked a fine line between good and evil. I knew it wouldn’t take much effort to push me over to the shadow side. I waited for the darkness to seep away from me again, and soon enough it did, leaving a chunk of it behind in my heart. Although my intentions had been good enough, I didn’t manage to dodge it this time.

Well, there was nothing I could do about it now. “Let me see your foot,” I said.

Without saying a word, Gaëlle raised her foot for me to see. In the moonlight, it looked like there was only a light burn on the surface of her skin. It pained me to see her hurt, though, since it was my action that had caused her injury. I blew on her foot gently and wished her a fast recovery.

“We have to find the others,” I said.

Gaëlle nodded and stood up, still catching her breath. She seemed so weak. What had they done to her in all those months? Starved her?

“Follow the red thread to get out,” I said, taking my mop and pail from behind the gazebo.

“What about you?” Gaëlle asked.

“You’ll see,” I said with a smile. There was no use hiding my secret any longer. By now, Squire would have revealed it when he found Jean-Sébastien. At least, I hoped that was the case.

My slippers were a soggy, muddy mess. I kicked them off and stood barefoot in the bucket, calling for my magic. As the bucket rose off the ground, Gaëlle’s eyes grew big with wonder.

From above the hedges, I waved to her. “I’ll meet you outside the maze!”

Floating above the hedges, I took a moment to breathe deeply. The night air was chilly and crisp, and the moonlight seemed to recharge me. My dream stone hummed on the cord around my neck.

Up ahead, I could see Mei and the children bundled together near the hedges. I thought it had been a successful rescue – and I was starting to feel pretty good about myself.

That smug feeling lasted until I landed in the grass and André stepped out of the garden with Marie on his arm.

“Don’t think you’ll get away that easily,” he said, gazing at me with an easy smile. “My guards have the house surrounded. You and these filthy kids aren’t going anywhere, my dear.”

D
ear Diary
,

Magic isn’t just about doing tricks to make people laugh. It’s serious business. I’m learning the hard way that every bit of magic comes with consequences. I will only be able to truly call myself a witch when I can understand all those consequences – understand them and live with them.

For now, the question is this: If my friends are in danger, will I risk letting the darkness take over my soul to save them?

O
ne of the
children started to cry. I looked at the pitiful group: four girls and three little boys. With Gaëlle and me, that made nine. As if to confirm this, Gaëlle stepped out of the maze – and froze.

“Ah, Gaëlle,” Marie said. “So good of you to join us. Now the whole gang is here.”

“You won’t get away with this,
Mother,
” Gaëlle said. I was glad to hear some of her old fire in her voice.

“Oh, child. Don’t be dramatic,” Marie said. “We already have gotten away with it. Mei is off to college, you see. You’ll be staying at our house in Scotland. And your friend Anna Sophia here… well, she’s dead already. At least that’s what everyone thinks. The rest of these brats are nothing but guttersnipes. No one will miss them.”

I winced at her words. Every child should be missed by someone. But I didn’t believe this was over yet. I had worked so hard and pushed my magic to its limits to get this far. I wasn’t giving up. Not yet.

But for now, all I could do was stall for time and hope that Jean-Sébastien had gotten someone to believe him. My hand slipped into my pocket and started to fiddle with the plastic bag.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked. “Why do you steal children? Does it make you feel powerful?”

“Don’t be stupid,” Marie said. “Only money is power. And we do this for the money. Do you think that keeping a castle is cheap? Why, the taxes alone are outrageous.”

Stepping back into the shadows of the hedge, I kept fiddling with the bag, prying it open, hoping that André and Marie didn’t notice the movements in my pocket.

“So you sell children, huh,” I said. “And how exactly do you report that on your taxes?”

“What are you talking about?” André boomed. “Enough of your foolishness. Ouellette!”

The ex-constable emerged from the shadows beside the house.

“Take these brats back to their cells,” André commanded. “And make sure they stay there this time.”

My hand finally found the thumbtacks in my pocket, and I scooped them out. Sending a shot of magic through my fingers into the tacks, I released them into the air just as Ouellette grabbed Mei’s arm. The tacks flew at him like angry bees. One after another, their sharp little points pricked him on his face and neck.

Ouellette yelled. Mei stomped on his foot and ran, pushing the other children ahead of her. Ouellette stumbled blindly, shrieking and swatting at his face as the tacks continued their assault. He tripped over something and fell face-first on the gravel path. He didn’t get back up.

He hadn’t even had time to use his magic. Was I the better witch? It was good to know, if true.

“Why you little… witch!” André snarled, as if he couldn’t think of anything else to call me. He grabbed my arm, but I shot my magic deep into the ground, anchoring my feet. I badly wanted to hurt him. But after I’d hurt Gaëlle, the guard, and Ouellette, the darkness of black magic had been spreading around me fast already. I was afraid of André, but he was still a human being. Who, or what, was that growing darkness? And when would it fill my heart completely? I didn’t know, and not knowing was infinitely more terrifying.

So I resisted using my powers to hurt André. “I won’t let you take these children,” I said stubbornly.

André yanked at me, but my feet were stuck firm. He pushed his bulbous nose right in my face and said, “Your stupid magic won’t help you. I’ll cut off your feet and sell you to Victor in pieces if I have to. I’ll still get top dollar for your scrawny little body. Victor tells me your grandmother is willing to pay handsomely to get you back in whatever condition.”

My heart sank to my knees. “You’re lying!” But even as I said those words, I knew he was telling the truth. Victor worked for my grandmother, the Iron Queen, and all those children were being sent to her… I had no idea why, but it sure wasn’t to play Duck Duck Goose with them.

It was starting to make sense now – although still in a confusing and chilling sort of way. No wonder my mother hid me in a bear den when I was just a few weeks old. Just who was she, that grandmother of mine?

André said, “So either you’ll come quietly with me or my lovely wife will start gutting the children, starting with your pretty friend Gaëlle.”

I looked over and saw Marie holding Gaëlle’s arm in one hand and a knife in the other. Gaëlle tried to look fierce, but I could see that her entire body was shaking. She was scared.

A stone flew out of the darkness and hit Marie in the chest. She jerked back with a sharp “Oomph!”

Gaëlle kicked Marie’s leg and pushed her stumbling away. More stones flew from the shadows along with a familiar voice yelling, “Get them!”

Jean-Sébastien, Luca, Lauraleigh, the Sisters, and all my dormmates burst out of the bushes. Some had stones that they lobbed at André and Marie. Sister Constance gripped her cane, and Sister Daphne waved a rolling pin over her head as if it were a sword. Squire bobbed along beside her, carrying a baseball bat.

André and Marie yelled in alarm and ran. Gee, what cowards they were.

I took only a moment to make sure that my friends were surrounding the children. Sister Daphne was hugging as many of them as she could reach, and even Sister Constance was holding a little girl in her arms.

Then I ran after the Montmorencys. I felt strangely vulnerable, running barefoot, and I think I couldn’t run very fast. Now I regretted kicking off my sneakers.

“They went around the hedge,” Jean-Sébastien yelled, following me right on my heels. We rounded the corner of the maze and saw the couple halfway to the clearing. The forest was only a short run from there. If they made it to the trees, we might never find them.

I stopped in my tracks and took a deep breath, gathering my magic.

Jean-Sébastien bumped into me from behind, and we held each other not to tumble to the ground. “Anna, what are you doing?” he said. “They’re getting away!”

Unable to speak, I only nodded. I had no time for explanations right now. The darkness was enveloping me, and it was taking all my concentration to control the growing rage in my chest.
I’m not a black witch,
I told myself.
I’m not an evil witch.

Magic blasted from my fingertips in a long stream of cold, blue power. I cried out as the mighty energy tugged at the pit of my stomach, blocking my breath.

I aimed it, not at André or Marie, but at the hedge. When the magic hit, the hedge burst into life. Long, gnarled branches uncurled like arms and fingers. They snatched up André and Marie and held them fast. More branches coiled around their feet, securing the fugitives in place.

Marie screamed.

By the time we’d reached them, her hair was a snarled mess with branches growing through it. She looked at me with pure hatred in her eyes and spat. The branches jerked her head backward. She yelped and held still.

“That was some catch, Anna,” Jean-Sébastien said at my side. I had expected that my magic would freak him out, but instead, he smiled. His eyes shone with excitement in the dark. “You really are a strange girl, but in a kind of awesome way.”

His praise made me blush.

The rest of the gang caught up with us. Squire dropped the bat and sat on my shoulder. I welcomed his warm touch. The shock of the night was starting to sink in, and I was suddenly cold. My stomach buzzed from all the effort. The darkness was still around us, although it hadn’t grown, thankfully.

“You brats!” André growled. “You’ll be sorry…”

I stopped his cursing by wrapping another branch around his face. It bit into his mouth like a gag.

“Be quiet!” I snapped. “You have lost the right to speak here.” I turned to the others. They were a ragged lot: eight dirty children, half-starved, in torn clothing, plus my friends, who had been startled out of their evening routine and had arrived in pajamas.

“What do we do with them now?” I asked.

“Kill them!”

“Cut off their faces!”

“Bury ’em!”

These answers came from the kids who had been held prisoner. I could hardly blame them. How long had the Montmorencys kept them in that horrible dungeon, alone, cold, and in the dark? But children shouldn’t think about killing others, should they? I realized now that those kids would never get over their experience at Irvigne Manor.

“You caught them, Anna,” Luca said. “You should decide what to do with them.”

I shrank at the thought. I could feel the emptiness that had already found a home inside me jumping with glee. “
Yes!”
it whispered,
“Punish them! See how wonderful it will feel.”

I turned toward André and Marie. They were bound head to toe in rough vines. Only their eyes, bulging with fear, spoke to me.

“They deserve it,”
whispered the voice inside me.
“Remember Mei in the dungeon. Remember the bruise on Gaëlle’s face. Your best friend! They hit her. And even worse, they were going to sell you into slavery. They deserve it. They deserve it!”

The voice pressed on, hissing and insistent. I knew it was the shadow talking, the little piece of darkness I had let into my heart when I had used my magic to hurt people tonight. But the more I listened to it, the more it made sense. André and Marie had to be stopped. No one would believe us. I’d already gone to the police, and look how that had turned out… No, only one person had the power to stop this evil.

Me.

At that thought, magic surged through my veins. The amount of power coursing through me started to hurt… and the only way out of that pain was to release it. All I had to do was shoot my magic into that tangle of branches. It would light up like a bonfire, and André and Marie would be roasted. They would never hurt another child again.

My stomach and fingers tingled with unshed magic. I held up my hands. André’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. He groaned.

“Do it! Do it!”
the shadow whispered.

“I can’t!” I dropped my hands, gulping down tears of fear and pain. Magic still coursed through me, demanding to be used. I raised my hands and shot a pure blast of energy into the sky. Then I collapsed, wracked with pain and that awful emptiness from opening myself to the darkness.

Squire floated forward and laid his fingers on my shoulder. Only he knew what danger I had truly faced.

The crowd behind me was silent. Sister Constance picked her way carefully through the jumble of roots and vines and lifted me up.

“You did well,” she said. “It’s not your job to save the world. We’ll leave that to the professionals.” She tilted her head toward the house. Many people, some wearing police uniforms, were running towards us, led by my friend, Monsieur Nolan.

I smiled and sank into Sister Constance’s arms.