The statue 10/15

Everything else in the village was much as she remembered and Jennifer Jane was beginning to wonder what to do next, when she suddenly had one of her bright ideas. If everything was really as normal as it looked then perhaps magic might work as well. After all she must be twenty or thirty miles away from the Witches Home and if the loss of magic was local, as she was beginning to believe, then it might well be working properly at this distance.

She went back to Major and leaning against his side so that no one could see her, she did a quick twiddle. She was rewarded by a perfectly normal looking chocolate Swiss roll. She heaved a sigh of relief. Now all she needed to do was find out the cause of the problem at the Home, then she could go back to her own time after all.

She was thinking hard all the way back and was most surprised when Major stopped just outside the drawbridge. She got down rather stiffly and leaving her pony grazing on the long grass by the moat, had a good stretch and a bit of a walk to relax after the long ride.

She wandered over towards the place where the shop had once been, then laughed as she remembered Dulcibella pointing towards the Ley line when her class was learning about magical theory.

Without really thinking, she set off across the ground waiting to feel the telltale tingling in her feet. She crossed and re-crossed the line several times without any sign at all, before suddenly realising that if there was no Ley line then magic probably wouldn’t work properly in that area. That solved the immediate problem and she was already beginning to suspect the answer.

How to cure the problem was another matter entirely! It was too late now to go back to the old castle, so she decided to sleep on it and took Major inside to his stable.

By the time she woke up the next morning her head was buzzing with ideas. The power the Gate was using must be trickling in from areas where the Ley lines were still working. It was still operating properly, partly she supposed because it had been established for such a long time and partly because the general level of magic power flowing into the area was just sufficient to keep it open. This meant that there was nothing left over for the witches to use.

She’d also remembered that the Ley line in her time had gone past Tasmin’s cave and on towards the giant’s castle. If the castle had collapsed about the same time that magic had stopped in the area, the two things would seem to be linked, so after breakfast she was going to go back for a good look round.

The other witches were sitting round the breakfast table quietly talking amongst themselves. The talk became rather louder for a moment, as they seemed to come to some conclusion, then Matilda got up rather reluctantly and walked over to Jennifer Jane.

“Excuse me interrupting your thoughts Ma’am, but we are all wondering if you’ve made any progress in your endeavours to bring magic back to us?”

So that was what all the serious conversation had been about! Jennifer Jane nearly laughed out loud, but remembered her manners just in time.

“I hope to confirm the cause of the problem by lunchtime,” she said in her grandest grown up manner, “then I’ll have to have another good think to see how I go about curing it.”

“Thank you Ma’am, thank you!” Matilda almost bowed before she turned and went back to the others.