Georgina Adam and Eve 9/12

Jennifer Jane had left Abigail and gone home to try and think of a way to deal with Georgina. Neither of her parents had been able to suggest anything that seemed practical, so she’d gone to bed that night to see if a good night’s sleep would help. As was often the case, she woke up the next morning with an idea in her head. She was sure that she noticed something familiar about Georgina’s cottage.

She’d only seen it for a moment or two, but it looked very much like the one Esmerelda lived in and she couldn’t resist wanting to try and find out if they were the same. She was certain Abigail wouldn’t mind if she was careful and stayed invisible the whole time she was there and who knows, the knowledge might prove to be of some use when they did eventually think of an idea to solve the problem.

She flew away from the Witches’ Home early that morning and as soon as she was airborne turned herself invisible. It didn’t take too long to reach the cottage on her scooter and she hovered over it for a while to make sure there was nobody about before she landed.

From the air she could see that it was certainly built on the same plan as Esme’s and there was also a magic sheen over the wall at the end of the garden. She couldn’t resist landing inside the garden near the far end to have a look through the peephole, assuming there was one, so that she could see what was on the other side of the wall.

She stayed invisible just in case Georgina happened to look out of the kitchen window and crept over to the wall on foot. Sure enough there was a spy hole with a heavy iron door covering it, although unlike Esme’s it looked well cared for. Very carefully in case she made any noise, she opened the little door and had a quick look.

She very nearly screamed out loud. Georgina was standing about two feet away on the other side looking straight at her. She turned away intending to run for her scooter, but to her horror Georgina was again standing right in front of her. Without thinking, she hurled the largest chocolate Swiss roll that she’d ever produced straight at her.

It went right through the figure in front of her and fell with a squelch on the garden path. Now she looked more carefully she could see that the figure was transparent, but before she could do any thing else, the back door of the cottage opened and a very solid looking Georgina came out and walked towards her. She struggled to twiddle her fingers for another huge roll but nothing happened, she was totally unable to move.

“Well, well, well, what have we here? A young lady dressed in strange trousers, riding a queer looking broom with wheels and able to perform elementary witchcraft. Unless my beady old eyes deceive me you must be Jennifer Jane!”

Jennifer Jane just managed to realise that the lady had made her visible, before she heard her own voice confirming her identity. Oh dear she was going to be in deep trouble here! Her best hope might be that Georgina would try and kill her, then her protective spell would operate and she’d be sent back to the guardroom at the Witches’ Home.

“Now that is interesting! I suppose I should have realised that a young person from the alternate world would need some sort of protective spell. That solves a lot of questions and also gives me a course of action for removing you permanently from interfering with my plans!”

“Please before you do anything else, would you mind telling me who you are and why you want to ruin Sir George?”

“Nothing simpler, you certainly won’t be coming back here, so I’ll put your mind at rest before getting rid of you. My real name is Margarita, then when you came along and spoiled things by getting the dragons to eat coal, the peasants began to get ideas above themselves and good honest witches weren’t able to go about their traditional craft as they had before. Then George killed my mother just for trying to bring back the good old days. Now then if that answers all your questions, come indoors and we’ll have a nice cup of tea while I take the cottage to some other place far away where I can drop you off.”

Jennifer Jane followed Margarita indoors without being able to help herself. She still couldn’t twiddle her fingers, there seemed to be some sort of paralysing spell affecting her hands. Margarita also appeared to be able to read her mind when she wanted, although at least she was still able to speak for herself if she tried.

“So what brought you to my cottage in the first place? I mean there isn’t anything you can do about my deal with George. He’s paid me his share of the money and even as we speak, is delivering the goods to the quayside at Timber Creek. Tomorrow the goods disappear, George will lose his business, I’m going to rich, I have my revenge and then I can go and rest quietly in the countryside somewhere pleasant without any more worries.”

“Abigail and I followed you here the other day and I thought the cottage looked the same as the one Esmerelda lives in. I just thought I’d come and see for myself while Abigail is trying to think of a plan to stop George from losing his business.”

“You’ve seen Esme’s cottage have you? Mine is the same model as you can see, but unlike hers it’s all in perfect working order. Now then that’s enough chat, let’s get on with the job of taking you to a place where nobody will ever find you!”