Georgina Adam and Eve 4/12

Eve went to the Bell’s house later that evening. “A lady asked me to give Jennifer Jane this parcel,” she said, “I’ve never seen her before but she seemed to know you!”

“I expect it’s one of the mums from school, it looks a bit like a book. I’ll open it when I’ve got into bed tonight and have a good read. Thank you for bringing it round.”

Eve stayed for a little while making small talk, although she was really bursting with questions to ask, but she was very tired after her long day out, not only that but she couldn’t really ask any of the questions she wanted to anyway. Now that she knew Jennifer Jane actually was a witch, she wasn’t at all sure how she’d react if she told her that she’d visited the alternate world with Adam.

She made her excuses and left, while Jennifer Jane went upstairs for a bath and her bed. Mum brought up her cocoa, then she sat up in bed and opened her parcel. Very strange! It was an empty wooden box that had been shaped to look rather like a book. She examined it carefully, but there was no message inside, nor any writing on the wood itself. Oh well it was Saturday tomorrow and then perhaps she could ask Eve a bit more about the lady who’d given it to her.

The next morning over breakfast, the family were discussing their plans for the weekend.

“I think I’ll go flying over at Lurbridge for the day,” said Dave, “would either of you like to come?”

Jennifer Jane looked rather puzzled. “I didn’t know you had an aeroplane! Come to that where on earth is Lurbridge?”

Her parents smiled as they both looked at her.

“Very funny,” said Mary, “you are having a joke aren’t you? You know jolly well you’re a witch and have magic lessons nearly every weekend at the Witches’ Home and quite often during weekdays during the school holidays here.”

“Don’t be silly mum, I’m not a little girl any more and I don’t believe in all that stuff about fairies and witchcraft!”

Dave looked at his wife with dismay, “It must have been Eve and that box she brought round last night. Somebody doesn’t like our daughter and has tried to fool her with a specially shaped spell box. What was inside?” he asked.

“That was the funny thing, there wasn’t anything inside at all, I think somebody must have been playing a trick on me!”

“Well that settles it, I think we’re all going to have to go up to Jennifer Jane’s bedroom, then go and see Abigail. She shouldn’t take too long to sort this out.”

“Why are we going to my room and who is Abigail, I’m sure I don’t know anyone of that name!”

At that moment Eve was on her way round to ask if Jennifer Jane had found out the name of the person who had sent her the present the previous night. As she often did, she had come through the side gate between her house and the Bell’s, opened the kitchen door and was just in time to see the family hurrying upstairs. She was quite used to waiting in the kitchen if Mary was busy elsewhere, but after a couple of minutes she called out to let them know she was there.

There was no reply, so feeling rather daring she crept upstairs to see what was going on. To her absolute amazement there was nobody there. Eventually she searched the whole house, but within a few minutes from the moment she had seen them going upstairs, the whole family had disappeared.

She hurried back to Adam and told him what had just happened. “They must have some secret way of going to the alternate world. No wonder we couldn’t find them in the woods!”

“We could go after them through our door, but after all we’re not really sure where they’ve gone.”

“I don’t think we should try and follow them this time. I have a funny feeling this is something to do with that box I took round last night! I hope it wasn’t dangerous, but that witch seemed such a nice person.”