The statue 2/15

She arrived at the end of the Witches’ Home lawn as usual in her canoe. Fortunately it seemed to be a quiet day with not too many people about, so she just pulled Drawrof up onto the lawn, put the paddle inside and walked towards the workshop end of the building.

Remembering her last attempt when she tried to walk round the Home, she started off slowly, following the edge of the magic field that surrounded the building.

Unlike the previous time, everything started off well, but after a few steps she began to get the impression that she was moving along the ground very quickly. It was almost as if she was sliding on ice, most unlike the hard work that she’d found previously when she was trying to go into the past. She tried to stop for a moment before she went too far, but to her surprise kept on moving. Not only that, but she appeared to be travelling faster and faster.

It was very much like trying to stop while sliding on a frozen pond and as a result she lost her balance and fell over. Even this didn’t prevent the movement continuing and she was beginning to get really worried when she popped out on the other side of the Home by the broom sheds.

Somehow things didn’t feel as if they’d worked the way she’d expected. She quickly decided to try and go back, just to make sure that she was able to return to her own time line when she wanted.

She turned and started to walk back round the building, but her worries increased as she went; firstly the walk was very easy, with no magical resistance at all. The second surprise came as she walked out of the bushes and found herself on the castle side of the Home in the alternate world.

Something was seriously wrong! The two parts of the Home were always separated by magic; something terrible must have happened if the two halves were now in the same world. Not only that, but it seemed that she wouldn’t be able to go back to her own time at all, until she was able to walk round the front half of the building by itself!

She turned round at once, walked thoughtfully back to the front of the Home, then went down to the water’s edge to see if she could spot any changes. Not unsurprisingly her canoe had gone, so at least she knew that some time had elapsed, the only question now being how far she had gone into the future. She walked back across the front of the house and put her head round the door of the workshop.

“Hello,” she called, “anyone at home?”

Two witches dressed in overalls looked up from behind a cloud that was in for repair.

“Can I help you miss?” asked one, before being elbowed in the ribs by the other.

“You’re not one of our apprentices are you?” asked the second, “I think you’ll find someone to help you round at reception.”

Jennifer Jane thanked her and went off to the front door before they asked her if she knew where reception was. There certainly hadn’t been such an office in her time, or indeed in the past on her previous visits. She walked slowly through the building looking around her as she went.

The layout hadn’t changed, but unsurprisingly the decoration and lighting was very different to what she was used to. She decided to go right through to the alternate world and see if any changes there were more obvious.

She didn’t meet any one in the corridors, until she was stopped just as she reached the guardroom.

“Hey you! Come in here and explain yourself, you kids aren’t allowed this side of the Home without a teacher, you should know that!"

The witch looked very surprised as Jennifer Jane walked in. She wasn’t nearly as surprised as Jennifer Jane herself, when she looked out of the window into the alternate world just beyond the drawbridge.

At the beginning of the path from the drawbridge was a strange structure rather like a small bandstand and inside it was a life size statue of a witch. Although the statue was facing anyone entering the Home, she was obviously holding a staff of power, which Jennifer Jane recognised from the time when a Grande Dame had used one to destroy Lurgin.

“What are you gawking at kid?” asked the witch rather rudely.

“I’ve never seen that statue before, who is it?”

“You’ve never seen the statue of the greatest Grande Dame who ever lived? There’s something very strange about you my girl. Not only are you dressed in the most peculiar sort of clothes, but you shouldn’t really be here at all. Why haven’t you gone home with all the others? You just stand there while I send for a senior to come and talk to you.”

The witch pushed a button on her desk, then leaned back in her chair and watched Jennifer Jane closely. It only took a few seconds before someone could be heard hurrying along the corridor.