her feet.
“P-p-poor k-k-kitty,” she stammered, glancing
down at the cat. “P-p-poor m-m-me.”
Then she looked up, and the eerie apparition was
gone.
A frowning Renie was standing on the steps.
“Where’ve you been? The back door blew shut, and I
thought maybe you got locked out.” Seeing Judith’s
pale face under the porch light, she gasped. “Hey,
what’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”
“A witch, actually,” Judith said, clinging to the
porch rail as Sweetums crept along beside her. She felt
dizzy, her teeth were chattering, and her feet seemed
glued to the steps. “I may be having a nervous breakdown. I need a drink.”
“I’ll fix it,” Renie volunteered, but first put a hand
under Judith’s elbow. “You are a mess. Easy does it.”
Carefully, she guided her cousin through the back door.
“How does Bill describe his patients who’ve gone
mad?” Judith asked, slumping into the nearest kitchen
chair.
“Clinically?” Renie responded, going to the cupboard where the liquor was kept.
With vacant eyes and mouth agape, Judith nodded.
“Crazy as a loon,” Renie replied, pouring her
cousin’s drink. “Tell me about the witch.”
It took Judith two big sips just to get started. She
scowled at the glass before she spoke. “I’m not only
insane, I’m turning into a drunk.”
“Hardly,” Renie said. “You’ve been through a lot the
last few days.”
“So I have.” Judith sighed, beginning to pull herself
together. “But I’m not seeing things. I don’t think.”
She proceeded to tell Renie about the apparition in the
driveway.
“A witch?” Renie said when Judith had finished the
horror story. “Maybe it was. It’s Halloween.”
“At this hour?” Judith glanced up at the schoolhouse
clock, which showed eleven on the dot. As if to underscore the time, applause and cheers could be heard
coming from the living room. “Then why didn’t whoever it was come to the door?” Judith asked, clutching
her drink as if it were a talisman against evil.
“Maybe the witch went to the toolshed,” Renie
replied. “Your mother was probably still up, and with
the TV on and the lights out in the front of the house,
whoever it was may have thought everybody had gone
to bed.”
“That’s possible,” Judith allowed, then gave her
