Star polishing 4/11

The next day her parents kept her busy, so she wasn’t able to find the time to have a better look at Esme’s cottage. She finally got there the following day, by leaving home early in the morning before any one could find her a job to do.

She was early enough to arrive at the castle before Esme and Dulce turned up to light their fire. So she quickly flew over to Tornak’s cave and turned into the woods. Then just in case she met either of the witches on their way to work, she got off her broom and wandered along as if she was just admiring the scenery.

At last she saw the cottage a bit further along the path. There was still no sign of either of the witches, although they were obviously at home, since a wisp of smoke was rising from the chimney. The cottage seemed even prettier in the daylight.

She was pleased to see that she’d guessed correctly about the roses round the front door. The pathway leading to the front door was lined on either side with a low box hedge and divided into two, with one side going past the building through an archway with a side gate to the back garden.

Again it came as rather a surprise to see how well kept the front garden looked, although she wasn’t able to see too many details through the arch. She’d never thought that the two slovenly witches she had always known would possibly be able to maintain a cottage and its garden in such a beautiful condition.

Then as she was trying to make up her mind to go through the gate and knock on the door, something strange happened.

The cottage and its’ garden faded slowly from sight. Her head swam for a moment and she felt rather as if she was going to be sick. She closed her eyes, counted slowly to ten and the feeling passed.

When she opened them again the cottage was no longer there, nothing else seemed to have changed. The spot where it had been, now looked just like the rest of the forest. The path back to Tornak’s cave didn’t look any different. In the other direction it disappeared round a bend after about fifty yards.

There didn’t seem to be anything else to do but go back to the Witches’ Home and ask if they knew what might have happened.

She was just about to climb on her broom, when she saw a man approaching from the direction of the cave.

“Excuse me, I was hoping to find some friends called Esmerelda and Dulcibella but I can’t find their cottage.”

“Oh, they said they were going on holiday today, didn’t they tell you? Going for a month they are, both of them were really looking forward to it. They call themselves witches but I expect you know that if you’re a friend.

They say they have to go to work in some other horrible world where nobody likes them and they come here to get away from it all and have some peace and quiet. They tell some wonderful stories about that place, although I’m sure they make most of them up. There’s one person there called Jennifer Jane who’s supposed to do the most amazing things.”

“My name is Jennifer Jane,” she interrupted. Really, this person was nearly as talkative as Tasmin and what did he mean about Esme and Dulce working in another world?

The man was speechless for a moment as she told him her name, then he burst out laughing. He laughed till he cried and couldn’t stand up properly. He staggered over to the nearest tree and leaned on it for support.

“Oh dear oh dear,” he gasped, “you’re Jennifer Jane are you?” and he burst out laughing again.