Last Witch Standing (Mountain Witch Saga) Read online

  Last Witch Standing

  Mountain Witch Saga Book 2

  Sequel to Run, Witch, Run

  Jonathan R. Grimm

  Copyright © 2012 Jonathan R. Grimm

  All Rights Reserved

  ISBN:

  ISBN-13:

  978-0615683768

  ISBN-10:0615683762

  Cover Photograph:

  © Ioana Grecu | Dreamstime.com

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 1

  Monday, May 14, 1973

  The Citadel Universe

  Katie ran through the undergrowth, stirring up clouds of spikelets from foxtail that flourished by the lake. The Citadel stood proudly atop the hill, a stone sentinel keeping watch over the elegant gardens nourished by water from the streams that fed into the lake below. Katie hopped atop the fence that marked the southern boundary of the vegetable garden. She did a little dance on the tips of the white pickets, then hopped down and two-stepped through the rows of squash, landing upon their large leaves, like a frog on lily pads, yet doing no damage. This time I will get my lake back. They think I only collect tablets for them in the ruins. They do not know that I can read and understand the instructions written on them.

  “Good morning Katie," the Headmistress of the Citadel’s academy called from the lake shore beyond the garden. She was quite tall. Katie would call her regal. The regal-ness was especially prominent in her dark blue Victorian dress with lace around the wrists and high neckline. Her salt and pepper hair was held in place by a polished rosewood hairpiece. Around the Headmistress, on a checkered blanket spread on the lush green grass, were several pupils, all holding pencils. On their laps were books and tablets, books Katie would’ve given anything to own. All eyes were on Katie, who’d stopped atop one particularly large squash leaf.

  She emerged from the garden and peeked through the picket fence. Her cerulean blue eyes were oversized for her child-like face. A pink headband held her golden ochre hair firmly in place.

  "Come, sit with us," the Headmistress summoned, although she knew Katie was too skittish to come so close.

  Katie jumped the fence and approached to within half-a-dozen meters of the party and gestured towards a freshly-built structure at the corner of the lake. The mill's wheels turned slowly, adding a charm to a scene the English landscape artist, John Constable, would have been proud to paint.

  “We can’t move the mill, Katie. The fishies go around it. You can too.”

  Katie gestured a second time. Why didn’t Headmistress understand it ruined everything having it there?

  "No, dear. We have already discussed this. Let's hear no more about it," Headmistress Mary-Beth Simplice answered, adding a touch of sternness to the last sentence.

  Mrs. Simplice's pupils looked at Katie, small smiles curling from the edges of their mouths. The oldest, Karen, a light brown haired young woman of 17, held out her hand. Next to her, Jakob, a youth, only slightly younger, lounged close enough to the girl to imply the intimacy of long familiarity. Katie did not look at the girl, but instead, reached a hand into the pocket of her yellow dress, removed an item, and put it behind her back.

  “What do you have there?” Karen asked.

  “What do you have, sugar-plum?” Jakob, the young man, asked. He was dressed in a white cotton long sleeve shirt and tan riding pants. His boots were carefully polished and reflected the sunlight. He lay on the cloth, his head resting on his palm, an unfinished apple next to him.

  Katie beamed. She was enjoying this. Just wait until Headmistress sees what I have, sees what I can do.

  “Did you find something in the woods or the old village? Perhaps something you might like to trade for some pretties?” Headmistress Simplice asked.

  Katie nodded no.

  “Did you find an artifact? Or, perchance another old tablet? The last one you brought us was quite useful.”

  Again, Katie nodded no and smiled, her toes tapping the ground. Overhead, a flock of sparrows dotted the ultramarine blue sky on their way to nest in the cover of the brush at the far end of the lake.

  “Well, Katie obviously feels she won the jackpot. What did you find?” Mary-Beth asked.

  Jakob sat up straight. All now stared at Katie. This is just right; they are all paying attention to me. Katie brought her hand from behind her back. Inside her palm lay a ball of blue plasma. It illuminated her face like stage lighting directed upwards towards a performer.

  “Run!” Headmistress yelled to the students and dropped her book.

  Katie, like an Olympic competitor hurling a shot put, sent the blue fireball at the mill. The projectile was visible as it traced a parabola in the air, picking up speed as it went. The mill erupted into flame when hit. Shards of stone and timber flew in all directions. Soon, black smoke and dust obscured the area around it. From the distance, she could smell the structure as it burned.

  Katie went to where the students had been and stood triumphantly facing the mill as the fires consumed it. She raised her fist to the sky and grinned, her baby teeth glistening in the light.

  Chapter 2

  Sixteen Months Earlier

  Christmas Morning, December 25, 1971

  Earth

  “Sh! Quiet!” Dan Edwards said to his sister, Katie. They crouched in the hall, peering through the white balustrades of the stairway, trying to get a peek down at the Christmas tree below.

  “I am!” Katie answered.

  The Christmas lights lit the room. Dan could see the cookies they had left for Santa on the coffee table were gone, only crumbs remaining on the plate he and Katie had set out the night before. He had been there.

  A door opened down the hall.

  “Hurry.” Dan herded his little sister back into the bedroom. He jumped into his bed, and pulled the covers over him. Katie just stood in the center of the room, in her nightgown, staring at him.

  There was a knock at the door. “Come in,” Dan said.

  Keith Edwards peeked his head in. “Ready?”

  Dan hopped out of bed. Katie grabbed his arm and their father led them down the stairs. Their mother was already in the living room and smiled at them as they entered. She must have seen us on the stairs.

  A Big Wheel was in the corner by the tree, a pink bow wrapped around each handle.

  Their mother put GOODYEAR’S Joyous Songs of Christmas LP on the phonograph.

  “Santa Claus arranged your gifts like this.” Keith Edwards pointed towards two stacks. “Katie’s here, and Dan’s there.”

  “I know you two are anxious to see what Santa left, but let’s get some pictures first,” Patricia Edwards said. In her right hand she held a Polaroid Colorpack II Land Camera Dan and Katie had picked out, with their father’s help and funds, for last year’s Christmas gift.

  Katie stood so close to Dan as their mother snapped pictures with her Polaroid that he almost lost his balance and tumbled backwards into the tree. He took a deeper stance and put his arm around her. Their mother had t
o adjust the front lens knob to refocus before she flashed a final picture.

  “Okay, kids. Let’s open your presents.” Their father took a seat on the reclining chair by the fire.

  Katie tore the wrapping paper off the first gift.

  “Katie, dear, I think the Big Wheel is yours,” Patricia Edwards said.

  “Okay.” Katie looked up, then returned to removing the paper from the next present.

  “What do you have?” her father asked.

  “I don’t know.” Katie turned the box in her hands.

  “Here, bring it to me, and let’s see.” Her mother drew yellow cloth from the box. “It’s a sundress.”

  “It’s pretty.” Katie brought it to her father to examine.

  “Beautiful,” he said.

  Beside Dan lay a desk set. Pens, a notepad, a stapler and a container for paperclips. It would come in handy for his projects. He was always having to go downstairs to use the stapler in his father’s study. He reached for the next package. It was heavy and came up to his chest as he kneeled and began removing the wrapping paper.

  Requires assembly. That was always good news. Dan was good with his hands and liked building things. He tore the paper diagonally across. On the front of the exposed box was a picture of a radio controlled P-51 Mustang. Gas powered. Perfect. He couldn’t wait to show his best friend, Jimmie.

  No BB gun this year. He could always play with Jimmie’s.

  Ring, ring. The telephone call. The one his father got from an old army buddy every year since Korea.

  Katie sat staring into the window of an ant farm. Dan knew this would keep her busy for a long time – and out of his hair. Within a week the colony would be filled with ant tunnels. She was fascinated by anything to do with science and experimentation and her Christmas gifts reflected this. No dolls for her.

  Dan helped his mother collect the used wrapping paper. Katie was too preoccupied with her presents to notice as they gently pulled a piece from under her foot. “Mom, I’m gonna run next door, see what Jimmie’s got,” Dan said after they had cleaned up the living room.

  “Okay, don’t be too long. We’ll have breakfast soon.”

  The Sanderson’s curtain was open. Jimmie saw Dan coming and met him at the gate.

  “What ya get?” Dan asked his friend.

  “A pellet gun,” Jimmie answered.

  Dan halted. This was too much. On the other hand, if Jimmie was occupied with his new pellet rifle, that would be more time for Dan to use the BB gun.

  The rifle was a Sheridan pump, the model advertised in Boy’s Life magazine. One look and Dan knew it was well made and would easily outshoot Jimmie’s Red Ryder BB gun.

  “I got a scope for it,” Jimmie said.

  Dan held it in his hands and admired it. The stock was of deep, finished rosewood and the barrel of heavy gunmetal. This was not a toy.

  “Try it.” Jimmie dug a pellet from his pocket. “Only one pump. My Dad has to build a trap for it. It goes right through the backstop.”

  Jimmie showed him how to load a pellet and pump it. Dan took aim at a Coke can and fired. Plink! The can flew off the stand. The recoil was less than the BB gun and Dan could tell it was far more accurate. At least as accurate as the .22 rifles he shot at summer camp.

  Dan was met by the smell of pancakes when he returned home. His father dozed in his reclining chair as Mrs. Edwards worked in the kitchen. Katie was pushing a train car across the floor, yelling, “Choo choo”. Beside her lay an opened B/O Railroad train set.

  She looked up when Dan entered. “I wonder how much this engine can pull.”

  “I don’t know. Wouldn’t try too much, you could break it,” Dan cautioned.

  “Kids, wake your father,” Patricia called from the kitchen. “Breakfast is ready.”

  Katie ran to their father and grabbed his leg near the knee. “Time to get up.”

  He smiled down at her and let Katie lead him into the kitchen.

  Chapter 3

  Monday, December 27, 1971

  Earth

  “Katie, please. Back off. I need to concentrate.” Dan Edwards carefully adjusted the decal over the wing of his model airplane. It was almost done; he couldn’t mess it up now. Fore and aft of the fuselage were painted bright yellow to increase the model’s visibility as it flew – or if it crashed in a field somewhere – making it easier to locate.

  Katie stepped back further on the bed where she stood looking down on her brother as he worked. The fan on Dan’s desk blew some of the fumes of modeling paint her way.

  Dan set the plane on the desk and stood to examine his work. It looked straight, but he backed up to see it from a distance. The decal was slightly off, but not more than a few degrees. Good enough. He could use a straight edge and razor blade to shave a centimeter, or so, on the bottom to bring it level. It was too late to move as he had detached the backing on the sticker and it was now firmly adhered to the wing of the craft.

  The plane smelled strongly of modeling glue. A night spent by the heater had dried the paint, but Dan needed to file down the parts where he had used too much adhesive. That could wait, though. What mattered now was getting it into the air.

  He collected the parts and put them into the wood toolbox he and his father had constructed when Dan was seven. It had been the first of many projects the two would complete over the years and Dan had recently sanded it and re-stained it with redwood sealant. Into it went the radio controller, gas can, glue and twine.

  “I’m gonna try to fly this today. Do you want to come?” Dan asked his sister who was staring down at the plane with wide blue eyes.

  “Yes!” She jumped off the bed.

  “Let me call Jimmy. He can meet us at the school.”

  The two walked together: Dan, carrying his plane and toolbox, and Katie behind, struggling to keep up on her Big Wheel. The sky was overcast and a mild breeze chilled them. But Dan was not about to go back home for their jackets. Not now. Not until he had seen his new toy fly.

  “You have to get off,” Dan said when they reached the street. “You can’t cross on your Big Wheel. Drivers can’t see you and you could get hit.” He waited for her to catch up and they crossed together. Dan put his toolbox on the seat of the Big Wheel and pulled it along behind them.

  The lot was empty. Normally, there would be several kids on the slides, rings and swings. Good, Dan didn’t want anyone getting in his way. He took Katie because she would fuss if he didn’t. Their mother wouldn’t like him leaving her behind, anyway. In any case, she did move out of the way when asked, and every now and then, she came up with a suggestion that saved him time. Like the time the Johnson’s truck got caught under an overpass. It was Katie who suggested they let the air out of the tires and push it through. Brilliant. He didn’t like to admit it, but he knew his kid sister was smarter than him.

  Jimmy pulled up and stood beside them on the playground, straddling his bicycle. Katie, the Big Wheel next to her, peered over her brother’s shoulder as he knelt on the asphalt, filling the plane’s tank from a small, red, galvanized steel gas can. Some spilled and the fumes drifted in the air around the trio.

  Dan turned the props and the engine sputtered into life. Katie backed off from the noise as it pierced the damp morning air.

  “Cool.” Jimmy pushed the kickstand down and came up to Dan. Katie let go of the handle of her Big Wheel.

  “I’m gonna try to taxi a bit before I take her up.” Dan held the controller in his hand and pushed the lever. The prop engaged, the plane shook, then moved forward, gaining speed as it sped across the lot.

  Dan adjusted the controller and the plane circled back towards them as it taxied. He needed to know how responsive it was, how tightly it cornered. When it neared them, Dan turned it back. Then he had it go in circles, then zigzags as he gained proficiency operating the controls.

  “Want to try?” Dan handed the controls to Jimmie. He used Jimmie’s BB gun so this was a good opportunity to show that he shared as
well.

  “Sure.” Jimmie took the controls.

  “Just don’t touch that one.” Dan pointed to the elevator control.

  “I won’t.” Jimmie gunned the throttle and the plane shot down the walkway, towards the street. “How do I stop it?”

  Dan took the controls back and turned the craft before it left the lot. He didn’t lower the throttle as he could see it was stable even at this high speed. As it reached them, he pulled back gently on the elevators. The P-51’s nose angled upwards and the model climbed into the air.

  “It’s flying!” Katie pointed at the Mustang as it rose, then chased it across the field, her golden hair fluttering in the breeze.

  “Yep. That it is.” Dan grinned. He turned it towards the field as he didn’t want it to land on someone’s roof and be lost.

  “Wow. I didn’t think you’d get it in the air like this the first time,” Jimmie said when the plane landed.

  “I want to try this time!” Katie jumped up and down.

  “I’ll let ya, if you’re careful.” Dan paused to figure out a way to let his sister fly his prized model without wrecking it. Maybe if he got it high enough first, he would have enough time to grab the controls and recover it. No, she was too smart to consider that a turn. He would just have to bite the bullet and let her take off – and hope it didn’t crash.

  “I will.” Katie smiled.

  “Just for a second, we can’t let it get too far.” He turned to Jimmie. “We’re going to have to take it to the park next time. There’s not enough room here.”

  Dan taxied the plane to the far end of the parking lot and turned it until its propeller faced them. He handed his sister the controls and stood behind her. “Push where I tell you. Slow and gentle or it‘ll crash and bust and we won’t be able to fly it anymore.”

  “Okay,” Katie said.

  Dan motioned her to pull back on the throttle. She did, and the plane taxied towards them. After it gained flight speed, Dan said, “These are the controls to make it take off. Slowly, and I mean slowly, pull down on this.” He gestured toward the control.