Ghastly Edna shouted from the darkened cabin. 'Go on, Newt! Do as she says!'
'Oh, very well.'
Newt was my mistress's familiar. Familiars come in countless varieties: demons molded into animal shape, enchanted creatures, dreams made flesh, flesh made dream. Ghastly Edna had created Newt by enchanting a waterfowl with intelligence and speech and then grafting a pinch of pure demonic essence. The end result was an ill-tempered duck, unhappy with the entire world and quite willing to share his unhappiness.
Being a duck was what he was most unhappy with. Not just a duck, but a white duck. Brown feathers trimmed his wings and ran down his back, but they failed to make him more sinister. Even if he'd been midnight black, I don't think it would've helped. Ducks, even demon ducks, just aren't terrifying to look upon.
He hopped off the roof to land beside me. 'Let's get going then. If we must. You'd better get dressed.'
'I am dressed.'
'I think not. You're barely covered at all.'
I explained that this was all Ghastly Edna allowed me to wear. He quacked his displeasure. We walked the path down to the lake. Newt had a peculiar way of walking. His bowlegged swagger seemed more ridiculous than a traditional waddle. I'd told him once, and he'd told me to mind my own business. So I did. Even if he did walk like a bird with a rash between his legs.
When we got to the lake, I hesitated to do as I was told. I'd spent most of my life in the dark. I'd bathed in the lake many times before, but always at night. Not that the sun was a true danger. I just wasn't used to it. It was so bright, and I would be so exposed.
Newt sighed. 'Get on with it, would you?'
I pulled my hat tighter on my head and slipped off my dress.
Newt sighed again. 'Dark gods, girl, you're beautiful.' It was not intended as a compliment.
I quickly immersed myself up to my chest, hiding from the warm sun beneath the cold water. 'It's not my fault.'
'Have you tried eating lard?'
I nodded.
'And it didn't do anything?'
'Nothing does anything.'
He paced back and forth a safe distance from the shore. He didn't mind water, but only in shallow tubs and puddles.
'Self-mutilation. A nasty scar or two couldn't hurt.'
'I don't scar,' I replied sadly 'I considered sawing off a limb once, but the mistress said it would just grow back. She says as long as I live, I'll look like this.'
'Bad luck.'
Newt pushed his wings up in a duckly shrug. In this particular matter, he could sympathize. Just as I was too pretty to be a witch, he was too white and fluffy to be a creature of fear.
My bath didn't take long. I was just emerging when Newt raised his head and glanced around the woods. 'I think there's somebody out there.'
'There's nobody out there,' I replied, even as I slid on my dress to cover myself. It hid little. The cloth clung to my damp skin.
'I think there is,' he said.
I joined him in scanning. At night, I could've seen everything. During the day, my eyes suffered. I didn't see anything or anyone, but I felt something. I wondered if this was perhaps the magic finally talking to me. Ghastly Edna said that it talked to everyone, but most were unwilling to listen.
'I think we should get back,' I said.
I refused to allow myself to run back to the cabin. I wanted to flee to my sanctuary from the light and phantom eyes. But I was not about to give in to the dread. The farther we got from the lake, the better I felt. My sense of foreboding ebbed, then rose as the cabin came into view.
'That was a complete waste of time.' Newt stopped and peered at me. 'Are you crying, girl?'
I wiped a tear away. I didn't want to go back. I told myself if I didn't go on, if I just stayed put, then Ghastly Edna would never have to die. I knew it wasn't true, but it was the only thing I could do.
'Why are you crying?'
I pushed away my tears. Witches weren't supposed to cry
'What is it?' Newt demanded.
'She's dead.'
'What?'
'I should've stayed.'
'What are you talking about?'
'She's dead.'
'Why would you think that?'
'Because she told me she would be.'
Newt spread his wings in alarm. 'She told you! She didn't tell me! Why didn't she tell me?' He dashed toward the cabin in a speedy, flapping skip. 'Why didn't she tell me?'
I ran after him, overtaking his short strides and reaching the cabin before him. I threw open the door and stepped inside.
Ghastly Edna lay on the floor, a sword blade buried deep in her back. A scraggly man, hairy and dirty, poked around the cupboard. He turned, revealing a scarred face.
'What have we here?'
He leered. I'd never been leered at before, and I didn't like it.
He rubbed his grimy hands together. 'My, what a healthy young girl we have here.'
A second brute emerged from my room. 'Hey, look what I found. I think someone else lives here.'
'I'll say.'
The brute laid eyes upon me and wiped his mouth. The two killers advanced, no doubt intending to force themselves upon me. Newt strolled in between my legs. He took one brief glimpse of Ghastly Edna and turned on the killers. His eyes glinted in a way I'd never seen before.
'What'cha gonna do, girl? Sic your bird on us?'
Newt bellowed a monstrous quack, deep and bestial. It wasn't very scary, but as scary as any quack could be. The demon rose within him, and he pounced. A storm of webbed feet, slashing bill, and slapping feathers tore into the killers. They ran screaming out the door. Newt chased after them, squawking curses. I left the murderous scum to their executioner and checked on Ghastly Edna.
I pulled the sword out of her and rolled her over. She looked so peaceful. It was almost a shame to bother her, but it was her last order.
My ability to talk to the dead was a gift of my curse. Witches knew ways to speak with the deceased, but it was complicated magic. On the other hand, I could awaken the soul of a fresh corpse with just a touch. Provided the soul was still in the flesh. The spirit usually remains for a few minutes, just to be certain that the body has really expired. Ghastly Edna, knowing I would be back, would certainly still be waiting.
Newt strolled back into the cottage. He was covered in blood, none of it his own. He left scarlet, webbed footprints behind him.
'They're dead.'
I was not as comforted by this as I would have thought. The killers being dead didn't bring back my mistress.
'You should've seen it. I speared out the big guy's heart and showed it to him before he died. And the little one, sliced off his head with three slashes of my bill. I don't mean to brag or anything, but it was something to behold.' He grinned, but the grin vanished quickly. 'Ah, damn it. I can't believe she's dead.'
'Quiet. I need to concentrate.'
I laid a hand on her stomach and dug around for Ghastly Edna's soul. I wasn't certain I could do it. I'd only practiced on animals up to now: rabbits, squirrels, sparrows. But my first person wasn't much harder. It took only a moment, and there was no resistance.
Her eyes snapped to life. 'Hello, child.'
