The Witch's Fire

It was a very hot day in Hawk Valley, and Lucas was helping his father drive a cattle herd.

“Lucas! Lead the herd to the pasture, I’ll make sure there ain’t any stragglers!” yelled Buck, Lucas’s dad, over the noise.

“Alright Pa!” replied Lucas. He kicked his heels into his mare, Blacksnow, and led the herd into their pasture with his father’s help.

Meanwhile, in a small shop, was a brown-haired girl watering some kind of flower with a small black cat rubbing against her legs.

“Fern, can you take Mrs. O’neil’s herbs and deliver them to her?” asked a young woman from behind the counter.

“Yes, Jessica. Just a moment,” replied Fern, as she watered one last plant. She walked swiftly over to the jar and grabbed.

Fern walked outside, the kitten at her heels.

A few minutes later, when Fern got to the O’neils’ house, she knocked on the door. A tall girl with black hair answered, when she recognized Fern, she smiled.

“Hi, Fern! What is that? Are those the herbs Mom asked for? MOM! FERN IS HERE WITH THE HERBS!” the girl rambled.

“Yes, these are your mother’s herbs,” Fern said calmly, “and Katherine, would you please not yell?”

“Oh, sorry. Also, how many times do I need to tell you to call me Kate?” Katherine responded with a touch of annoyance as she reached for the small jar in Fern’s hands, but before Katherine could even touch the jar, the kitten, who was on Fern's shoulder now, swatted her hand away.

Fern smiled and explained, “You need to pay first, and Nightwitch here seems to have caught that.” she patted the kitten's head, then continued, “And to counteract what you said, I honestly like the name Katherine better than Kate, besides, you were named Katherine, not Kate”

“This oughta do it,” said Mrs. O’neil as she came to the doorway and handed Fern two silver pieces. 

“Yes, thank you.” replied Fern gratefully, then decided she should head back and was about to say goodbye when they all heard someone yell, “Ouch! Will! Why’d you do that, AGAIN?”

“Oh, Will. He needs to be more aware.” sighed Katherine.

What had happened at the blacksmith was that Will had been helping his mentor, Kano, hammer a nail into a piece of wood. They took turns hammering and holding the wood. When Kano was holding the wood, his hand got smashed under the great weight of the hammer.

This time, Fern was sure that she was going to leave and say goodbye, so she opened her mouth to speak, but before she could mutter a single sound, she saw Jessica running towards them with her hands waving above her head.

“FIRE, FIRE! THERE’S A FIRE AT THE GRAIN STORE! FERN! HELP ME GRAB ALL OF MY RARE HERBS!” Jessica yelled as she came running hysterically towards the girls.

Chaos erupted. Horses ran in all directions, children and their mothers were running around in a panic, men were yelling orders to other men, people were trying to save pets or belongings, and brave men ran into burning houses to save someone’s dog or child.

In all this panic and distress, Jessica, seemingly calm, trotted into her herb store and started grabbing her most precious herbs with Fern. Then Jessica decided to be a hero and said, “Fern, take this bag of my most valued herbs and run. Go with your friends and don’t come back until everything has died down.” Then she shoved her bag into Fern’s arms, ran out of the shop, and helped a woman out from under a burning plank.

Fern realized that she would most likely die if she didn’t move fast, so she ran out of the building, and found her friends helping a boy into a wagon. She helped them get him and his family out of town, grabbed her friends, and ran to the river near the town.

At the river, they found that most of the village’s women and children had gathered for safety. Kate looked around worriedly and when her eyes found her mother, she let out a relieved sigh and ran to her mother and two younger sisters. Then Lucas looked around the group. He didn't see his mother or father, and had a worried look on his face, but then Katherine pointed and said his name. His parents were herding cattle and horses towards them. Will then looked to the village after not seeing Kano and feared the worst as minute after minute passed. The same happened to Fern. Fern waited for Jessica for a while, and after about an hour, she looked to the town to see it still in flames, but not as bad as before. Then she decided to distract herself by making sure her friends were okay.

She checked with Kate and Lucas. They were fine and so were their families. Then she went to find Will.

Will was sitting on a rock next to the river and was throwing stones into it when Fern came up behind him and asked, “Will, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he answered sternly.

“I was only seeing if you were alright.” Fern replied.

“Sorry,” he said, “I’m just worried about Kano. And this fire reminds me of my parents.”

“Right, you have a right to be worried,” Fern comforted, “Also, Kano probably stayed behind to help people get out of town and put out that wretched fire.”

“Thanks for trying to make me feel better, but I can’t help feeling worried for Kano,” he sighed, “enough of this though… What about Jessica? I don’t mean to make you feel bad, but have you seen her?”

“No, I haven’t. The last time I saw her, she was helping Mrs. Douglas from under a burning plank,” Fern replied, she paused then continued, “Have you seen her since then?”

“Well, now that I think of it, I did see her and her scary cat going toward Lucas’s place… but she was probably just checking to make sure there weren’t any horses trapped there.”

“Oh, that reminded me! I forgot about Nightwitch!" Fern said, then Nightwitch jumped out of the bushes and into Fern's arms. Fern smiled, then continued, "But Lucas said that that was the first thing he did. All the horses were out,” she stopped to think for a minute, “although, Lucas did say something about one of the mares, she's missing, but that doesn’t mean anything. Were you implying that Jessica stole her, she didn't and wouldn't."

“I wasn't, sorry to upset you. I just wanted to tell you there was hope that Jessica got away safely.” Will said, then he added, “Anyways, it’s getting late, and if I don’t go to Elyn soon, she will probably get mad.”

“Oh yeah, I hope she isn’t too worried about her husband. Tell her that Kano is probably fine, also tell her I said hi,” Fern sighed, ''See you tomorrow.”

***

The next morning, when Fern woke up, she looked toward the village and saw no more smoke. 

That’s good, she thought The fire is out. Will can finally see that Kano is alive . . . Hopefully.

She noticed that her friends were awake and had food.

“Where’d you get that food?” asked Fern.

“We got it from my mom.” said Kate with a mouthful of food, “She always comes prepared.

“Cool,” replied Fern and she sat down to eat.

After they finished their meager breakfast, Kate said, ”We were thinking of checking out the town to see if there is anything left to salvage. Then we wanted to get supplies from here and Lucas’s house, since it didn’t burn down. Then we want to go to Shora, where my dad is, so he can come back and help rebuild our town. My mom said it was fine and so did Lucas’s parents. Elyn is still thinking. What do you think about the idea?”

Fern thought for a moment, then slowly replied, “Yeah, I think that idea is fine. Although, wouldn’t it be dangerous to go all the way to Shora?”

“Yeah, but Herman ought to know about the fire. And everyone either has kids or wives to take care of, besides, the O'neils have money,” stated Lucas.

***

When looking around the burnt town, Will spied Kano with his head in his hands sitting in the charred blacksmith shop.

“Kano! We were all so worried about you. Are you okay?” exasperated Will.

“Yes I’m fine, except for a few burns, but this shop ain’t,” Kano replied.

After encouraging Kano to go to the makeshift camp, Will recapped his plan to retrieve Herman. “That sounds good to me. You all have your supplies already?” said Kano thoughtfully.

“Yes we do, but Elyn is still thinking about me going, so we have to go back to camp.” sighed Will.

“No, you don’t. I’ll tell Elyn it is fine that you go.” Kano said, “You leave with your friends from here.”

***

After Will told his friends the news, they started toward Shora. They walked for hours and hours, and during those hours, it was a miracle that Kate didn’t complain once.

The peace had eventually come to an end, “Ugh! My feet are killing me! Can we stop? The sun is already going down. Can’t we stop for the night? My feet hurt!”

“Stop complaining. We're almost to The Forest, then we will stop, and besides, Howl doesn't complain, and he has smaller legs than you,” said Lucas, obviously annoyed.

“But he can’t talk! Howl is a dog! How far is The Forest anyway?” asked Kate.

“Just a little further, maybe around that corner there,” replied Fern.

They walked the corner and saw the tall, looming, trees of The Forest. “Oh my, it’s even scarier up close,” whispered Kate.

“Which is why we are staying out here and not in there,” said Lucas.

When they finished setting up camp and eating dinner, Will suggested, “Hey, let’s tell scary stories!”

Then Fern said hastily, “No, let’s not!”

***

The next day, when everyone was up, Fern started making breakfast. When it was done, she announced, “Everyone! Breakfast is ready! Has anyone seen Kate?”

“I thought she just went to use the trees, if that's what to say here instead of the bathroom,” Will stated.

“Well I thought she went to get you something for breakfast,” Lucas said to Fern.

“And I thought she was still asleep. I haven’t seen her all morning. Have any of you?” Fern asked.

“No, actually I haven’t.” harmonized Lucas and Will.

“KATE! BREAKFAST IS READY!” yelled Fern.

“Wow Fern, that's the first time I've heard you yell,” said Will in mock surprise.

“This isn’t a time to joke, Will. Where is she?” asked Fern, more to herself than to Will.

“Maybe she went into The Forest. No one knows what happens to people when they go in there.” Lucas worried

“I think we should move on and I can leave marks in trees with my knife. She will either get the memo, or she will go back home,” mentioned Will.

“Yeah, but what if she uses one of her 'Katherine' moves and, I don’t know, gets lost?” argued Lucas.

Then, after thinking, Fern said, “I agree with Will, we should go on. We can’t waste more time.”

“Okay, fine. Let’s eat and then pack up.” Lucas gave in reluctance.

In The Forest, Fern, Lucas, and Will found that it wasn’t as scary as the elders told them. The trees were tall and some green light came through the canopy. Every once in a while a fox would dart into the bushes, or a squirrel up a tree.

They decided to stop at a creek to fill their water bottles, but when Fern and Will turned around, Lucas was missing.

“Lucas?” said Will, “Where are you? This is not funny.”

“Lucas is probably where Katherine is.” thought Fern out loud.

“Okay, let’s get out of here asap,” Will replied.

They moved on and walked for a while. Then, when the darkness just started to rise, they found a nice meadow. “I think we should sleep shifts,” Fern said. 

“Good idea,” said Will.

***

When morning came and Fern woke up, her eyes skirted the clearing for Will and realized he was gone. 

Great, now Will is gone. She thought. Fern knew that she had to go on, so she packed up camp and followed the narrow trail deeper into the woods.

A while later, Fern started hearing things in the distance like, “Fern, I can see you. Come here sweet darling, you need to continue your training.”

“Jessica? Is that you?” Fern asked the strange, eerie voice.

“Yes, and you need to finish your training.” the voice responded.

“Where are you?” asked Fern, then she saw a faint, ghost-like person in the distance who looked a lot like Jessica. Fern was so freaked out that she ran to a rocky clearing about a half-mile away.

Only then did she stop, and after catching her breath, she set up a small camp, ate a quick and meager dinner, and curled up in her sleeping bag, but did not sleep.

***

The next morning, when Fern woke up, she ate a quick breakfast and packed up camp. She turned in the direction she was headed and saw the Ghost-Jessica.

“What do you want?” Fern asked, attempting to sound bold, yet failing.

“I’m making sure you don’t get too close to my hideout,” Ghost-Jessica replied.

“Why? What are you hiding? I thought you were good.” said Fern.

“Oh, but I am. I taught you to be a witch just like me, and now you can rule Hawk Valley with me and our cats,” sneered Ghost-Jessica with a sinister face.

“You’re evil and cruel! I should have never gone with you! I would have been better an orphan! I will never be an evil witch like you!” Fern yelled.

Then Nightwitch jumped down from her perch on Fern's shoulder and hissed at the Ghost-Jessica, who just looked in disgust at the kitten, then looked back at Fern.

“Oh you won’t, won’t you? Well, I guess your friends will just have to rot in their cages then,” sighed Ghost-Jessica as she float-walked away.

“You won't get away with this,” growled Fern, surprised at how fiery she had become.

She ran after Ghost-Jessica and then disappeared. Fern looked at her surroundings and noticed that she was in a neat little clearing with three huge vine cage-like things in it.

“Jessica, where are you?” muttered Fern.

“Fern is that you? Help us please!” said someone from one of the vine cages who sounded like Kate.

“Kate! I have Will's knife! I’ll cut you out,” Fern exclaimed.

“It is of no use. I have multiple spells on those cages.” laughed Jessica cheerlessly.

“Jessica, release my friends.” pleaded Fern.

“Not until you become my little witch apprentice, all I need to do is make you a witch necklace, just as my mentor did when I was young,” said Jessica.

“I will not become one of you,” retaliated Fern.

“Have it your way,” smirked Jessica as she began to utter a clearly dangerous spell.

“No! Wait! If you release my friends, I will become your apprentice.” choked Fern.

Although, secretly, she had a plan brewing in her head.

Remembering what Jessica had said about a necklace, and knowing that Jessica protected her necklace with her life, Fern thought that it had something to do with her magic.

“Oh? I’m glad you say so, but your friends won’t be released until I finish your necklace.” Jessica snorted.

“But-” Fern started.

“None of that! You have made your decision.” spit Jessica.

Jessica walked over to Fern and whispered, "And if you so much as try to rescue your friends or escape, you will greatly regret it."

Nightwitch started to snarl at her, but then Jessica's cat, Nargett, jumped in front of her and started yowling unpleasantly. Nightwitch went quiet and jumped back onto her master's shoulder.

"Now that we have that settled, I will make your necklace." Jessica cackled.

She held hers out in front of her, so she could see how she should make Fern's, but before she could blink an eye, Fern snatched it and dropped it. Before Jessica could retrieve it, Fern stomped on the necklace and broke every single bead.

“NO!” Jessica shrieked horribly.

Her looks changed rapidly. She no longer looked like the pleasant young woman everyone knew, but a wrinkly, ugly, old woman. Then, as rapidly as she changed, the cages that Fern’s friends were in disappeared. Fern was so happy to see her friends that she forgot about Jessica for the time being.

“I’m so glad you guys are safe!” Fern said happily.

“We're also glad that you are safe,” said Will and they all embraced in a group hug.

“Arg! This was not supposed to happen!” growled Jessica as she started to shrink and die.

“She must have been so old that she started to die once you took her magic away.” said Lucas, “Also, Fern, where’s Howl?”

“Oh, no! I’m so sorry Lucas! I must have forgotten about him!” cried Fern.

Right when Fern was about to give up their friendship, Nightwitch started growling. They heard rustling in a bush, and then after a second of tension, Howl jumped out and barked happily.

“Oh good! I’m glad you’re safe Howl.” Lucas said.

***

After rejoining together, the four friends and two animals all journeyed to Shora, found Herman, and brought him back to Hawk Valley. Since Herman was a wealthy merchant, he used some of his money to help rebuild the town, and they all had nice lives in their renovated town. In later years, Fern and Will got married and Fern became an herbalist while Will was a blacksmith. Katherine and Lucas also got married. Kate opened her own clothes shop and Lucas took over his father's ranch. Everyone lived happy lives in Hawk Valley, hopefully.

The End