A Witch In Winter (8 page)

‘No, please don’t. I’d honestly rather you didn’t.’

‘It’s no trouble. You can’t trudge all the way back up that hill: you’ll be late for school.’

‘I – I’m not going to school,’ I said desperately. ‘I’m ill.’

‘What?’ He took his foot off the accelerator. ‘Anna – are you OK?’

‘No, please let me out.’

‘But—’ He reach C—’ I sed out for my shoulder but I shook his hand off and fumbled for the door.

‘Seth, please just – just leave me alone.’

I jumped down but again misjudged the height of the door and tripped, skinning my knee and ripping my jeans.

‘Anna!’ I could hear Seth grappling with his seatbelt as I started to walk, hobbling at first with the pain from my knee, then faster as I heard the slam of his door and his feet on the gravel behind me.

‘Anna, stop! You’re hurt!’

‘No!’ I shouted back, tears springing into my eyes out of a mixture of rage, frustration and pain.

‘Anna!’ He caught up to me, even though I was half running by now, and grabbed at my shoulder. ‘For God’s sake, let me take you home, Anna.’

‘Stop it!’ I screamed. He fell back at the sight of my tear-stained face. ‘Seth, please just go away. I mean it. Go!’

‘OK.’ He held up a hand. His face was white with hurt, and he half turned away. For a minute I thought he was going – but then something seemed to wrench at him, like a fish-hook in his flesh and he turned back. ‘I’m sorry, Anna, but I can’t just … Look, will you let me drive you home? I just want to—’

‘No!’ I couldn’t bear a second more, just the sight of him twisted at my insides like a knife. A sob rose up inside me and I choked out, ‘Please, Seth. Just – just leave me alone.’

He didn’t say anything after that. He just stood and watched as I hobbled painfully up the long cliff road. After about twenty minutes I risked a glance back, and he was still there, his tall silhouette blurred with my tears. It began to rain and I hobbled on, feeling his steadfast gaze on my back, my tears mingling with the rain.

It started to thunder just as I got to the house. Dad’s car was gone from the drive, so I knew he was out. I slammed the front door with relief and stripped off my wet shirt, shivering in my bra and jeans. There was a pile of laundry by the foot of the stairs and I grabbed a towel off the top of the heap and wrapped it round my shoulders, scrubbing my wet hair with it. In a flash of lightning I saw my face illuminated in the hall mirror. It gave me a start – I looked so gaunt and ghostly, with draggled rats’ tails of sopping dark hair and eyes just pits of shadows. There was a smear of mud on my cheekbone. Then the thunder answered, making me jump again.

My teeth chattered uncontrollably as I retrieved the spell book from its hiding place. I crouched by the fireplace, trying to wipe my tears away enough to read the words. I wanted this
over
, as soon as possible. I wanted Seth back to normal and life back to normal and this whole twisted, bloody mess sorted out.

The thunder and lightning came again, closer together this time, and Chis stood the ashes in the grate were being slowly pitted by raindrops from the chimney. As I turned the pages with numb fingers I heard a tap-tap at the window and leapt convulsively, expecting to see Seth’s pale, rain-drenched face at the glass. I jumped up, ready to scream at him, to force him once and for all to leave me alone. I’d threaten to call the police if that was what it took.

But there was no one there, only the crow, hunched on the window sill. I stood, my hands shaking with cold and nerves while it watched me with expressionless eyes. It tapped on the glass again with its hooked black beak, as if asking for entry.

‘Shoo!’ I shouted, furious with myself for being scared. Then I beat on the glass so that the window shook in its frame and the leaded panes rattled. The crow rose, flapped its great wings, and wheeled away.

I watched it go, dissolving into the storm-wracked sky like a dot of black paint swirling into water, then returned to the book with a shudder. It had fallen open at the page I was looking for, and I smoothed out the instructions with trembling fingers.

To lift a Spelle – let this incantation be rede in the place of bewitchement.

Hagorúne.

Hagorún.

Hagorú.

Hagor.

Hago.

Hag.

Ha.

H
.

This was it. The tingling rushed through me again, like pins and needles in my blood.

I drew a breath and then I said the words. My teeth were clenched with cold and I couldn’t stop myself shivering convulsively as I spoke. My chattering teeth made the words sound even eerier, the last strangled ‘H!’ coming like a shuddering gasp of desire, or fear.

I finished, and there was silence for a few seconds. It was so quiet that I could hear the rush of blood in my ears and my own gasping breaths. Even the rain seemed to stop, and then came the most stupendous crack of thunder, accompanied by other noises from above – a roaring crash, like the roof was falling in, and what sounded like screams.

Something huge and heavy was coming down the chimney, sending great gusts of soot choking out into the room. Thuds and cracks sounded from the hearth, a mushroom cloud of ash spewed up from the grate. The room was filled with a sound like thunder and thick gouts of smoke and ash obscured my vision so that I was blinded as well as deafened. For a minute I thought I saw the crow’s dark shadow, its wings beating at my face.

And then a searing pain in my head, a flashing brightness that tore across my vision, and a slide into darkness.

Everything was a jumble. My head was throbbing, and in time with the throbs a broken voice was saying, ‘Anna, oh God, please wake up, Anna.’ And then a gasped, ‘Oh God!’

More thuds, rocks shaking the floor, making my head pound with each thump – something crouched over me, shielding me bodily. Then, as the dust settled again, strong arms reached around me, and there was a moment’s agony as my head lolled and throbbed. Hands hot on the cold skin of my back … the sound of feet crunching on stone and a catch of breath as I was lowered carefully to the ground again. Pain like an electric shock rocked my body as my skull shifted against the hard ground and my muscles went weak and liquid.

Then I felt a rough hand stroking my cheek … and slowly my muscles relaxed from their tense agony into something nearing content. The cold abated slightly, kept at bay by the warm arms around me. I felt I could sleep … almost. If only my head would stop pounding.

I became aware that hot liquid was trickling down past my ear. It tickled unbearably, but my limbs were far too heavy to lift a hand to wipe it away. There was a low groaning sound and the voice said with a catch, ‘Thank God! Anna, I know you can hear me. The ambulance is coming. There are people coming to help. Just hang on, please just hang on.’

The moan came again, and I wondered who was in so much pain. I felt very sorry for whoever it was. Then I realized it was me.

I woke to a confused babble of noise and a host of uncomfortable sensations – damp, gloved hands poking and prodding me, the chilly metallic kiss of a stethoscope on my bare chest, a strange, new voice insistently saying, ‘Anna, Anna, Anna.’

‘I had to move her,’ said the voice. ‘There were more rocks coming down.’

‘You did the right thing; don’t worry. You did really well to get hold of us so quick. If you hadn’t been here it could have been a lot worse.’

‘But will she be OK? All that blood, and she was so white when I found her, I thought …’ His breath caught in his throat. ‘I thought she was dead.’

Who was the voice? It was familiar and comforting but I couldn’t place it. Not Dad …

‘Anna, can you hear me?’

I was reluctantly yanked out of my introspection by two cold fingers pulling up my eyelids and a bright light searing my left eye.

‘It’s OK,’ said the strange voice. ‘She’s coming to.’ Then, over his shoulder to someone behind him, ‘Breathing and circulation both good. BP a bit low but otherwise her obs are fine. Anna, Anna, can you hear me? Do you know C Dogloved hanwhere you are? Open your eyes please, Anna.’

‘Owwww …’ This time I recognized the husky moan for my own voice. My head was throbbing viciously. I opened my eyes to the blurry dazzle of the room and put a trembling hand up to the pain. It came away warm and sticky with crusted blood.

‘Wh-what’s happened?’

Someone bent over me and took my hand; my eyes were too dazzled to see properly but the familiar voice said, ‘Anna, everything’s OK. Don’t worry, I’ve called your dad.’

‘Anna, lie still please, don’t try to move. You’ve just hit your head but you’re fine,’ the other voice said. ‘There’s an ambulance here waiting to take you to hospital.’ I blinked. The blurry images shifted and resolved a little and I made out Seth, two paramedics behind him. I tried to sit up but found I was strapped to something, and the paramedic stepped in.

‘Don’t try to move, Anna. You’ve got a head injury. Can you tell me where you are?’

‘H-home,’ I managed.

‘What’s your full name?’

‘Anna Winterson.’ My voice was a thread and everything hurt.

‘Very good, and what day is it?’

That was harder. I shut my eyes and moaned as the pain throbbed again.

‘Anna, don’t go back to sleep. Anna, do you know what day it is?’

‘Tuesday,’ I whispered. The paramedic nodded.

‘Very good, good girl. We’re going to lift you now, just stay relaxed.’

I found I was already strapped to a stretcher and one paramedic moved efficiently to each end, counting the lift. As I was being manoeuvred out of the door I heard Seth say, ‘I want to come too.’

Oh God, couldn’t the guy take a hint? I tried to shake my head but it seemed to be wedged in place by some kind of pillow and the first paramedic said, ‘I’m sure that’s fine. She’ll do better with a familiar face around. What’s your name, son?’

The second paramedic leaned over me and said slowly and clearly, ‘Anna, we’ve called your dad, and in the meantime your boyfriend’s going to come with you, so you won’t be alone.’

‘He’s not …’ I tried to say through thick lips, but the words were slurred.

‘I’m just a friend,’ I heard Seth say, but the paramedics weren’t listening. They were speaking into their radios, discussing what route to take to the hospital.

Cl.

In the ambulance they tucked a blanket around me. I shut my eyes, and everything, even the wail of the siren, began to take on an oddly distant quality. Even Seth’s hand gripping mine wasn’t enough to anchor me, and I slipped slowly into sleep.

When I woke up again Dad was sitting beside me, gently stroking my hair on the pillow, and Seth was nowhere to be seen. My throat was burningly dry and everything hurt, including my head.

‘Thirsty,’ I whispered, and Dad jumped.

‘Anna! Oh sweetie, thank goodness.’ He got up and reached for a jug of water, holding a paper cup to my lips. Most of it spilled down my front but I managed to sip enough to ease the hoarseness in my throat and I smiled up at Dad with weak relief.

‘What happened?’ I croaked. Dad gave a shaky laugh.

‘I should be asking you that! All I know is what your friend Seth told me. You’ve got a lot to thank him for. Do you remember the thunderstorm?’

‘Not sure,’ I whispered.

‘Seth said that you forgot something on the way to school and had to go back. He was waiting at the end of the lane and heard a clap of thunder followed by an almighty crash. When you didn’t reappear he was worried enough to go after you. It looks like the living room chimney collapsed – God knows how – and some of the stones ricocheted down the flue. One of them hit you on the head and knocked you out. When Seth found you, you were unconscious in a pool of blood. He called the ambulance – and here we are.’

Memories were starting to come back. One of them was so unbearable I shut my eyes. Yes, I was lying in a pool of blood,
in my bra
. I moaned again and Dad put a concerned hand on my cheek.

‘Oh, sweetie, is it very painful? I could ask for some more painkillers if you need them.’

‘It’s OK,’ I whispered huskily. I felt surreptitiously under the sheets. I seemed to be wearing a hospital gown now, from what I could make out. Would I ever live this down at school?

‘Well, they’ve done an X-ray and some other scans and it looks like you’re fine, but they want to keep you in overnight in case there’s concussion.’

At least it looked like I wouldn’t have to face Caroline for another day or two. Every cloud, and all that.

‘I’m furious with the surveyors,’ Dad was saying. ‘They said the house was perfectly structurally sound. I know there was a thunderstorm but there’s no evidence of charring or anything to indicate a lightning hit, that I could see. From what I can make out, the tremors of the thunder just caused half the stack to collapse spontaneously.
And
there’s a huge crack down the side of the house.’

‘Will it cost a lot?’