recapture youth.”
A memory so vivid flashed within my mind. Evie. Korb. A desired spell.
Evie had traded this spell to Korb for me. He hadn’t wanted eternal youth for himself. He had wanted his rat-catching children to stay small. Didn’t Evie say he’d been hanged for killing a child? Evie had given him the spell, thinking he would not find the answers, but he had. What a shock that must have been to Evie.
“He did not plan well, but I will.”
My limbs had grown so weak and stiff, I could not hope to steal a child. But I had something every child loved. “Oh, yes. I have a way of tempting the little ones.”
I collected the ingredients of the spell and put them aside, and then I started the beginnings of my lure.
Chocolate, nutmeg, sugar and cream. Tangy, sour, sweet and salty. I baked and baked and created confection after confection. But the smells of my treats brought no one near. The mothers held onto their little darlings’ hands and the children who happened to be alone shuddered whenever they passed. Though I would tempt them, “Come. I’ll feed you treats. I promise your mummy won’t miss you.”
They ran away crying, scared by the hungry look in my eyes.
Clearly I could not lure the little darlings away so easily.
“I must be cleverer still.”
I turned a critical eye on my house. What I could make out startled me. It had fallen into such a state of ruin, it scared even me. Raw wood peeked from behind dingy whitewash. Ivy clung to the walls and slid within the upper windows. The lace curtains hung in tatters and billowed eerily in the wind. No wonder no one came near. I had to create something so tantalizing, a child couldn’t resist. I would build a sweet tasting house deep in the forest where only naughty children would go; runaways, disobedient ones, those looking for adventure or avoiding work.
Yes. A naughty child would be prime for the taking. Everyone misses an angel; no one misses an imp. Again, I baked and baked and created my confections in the shape of a house. I placed an enchantment on the little structure so that no element of nature and no forest creature would destroy what I had built. Gleefully, I moved in.
All I had to do now was wait.
Who would have thought there were so many obedient children in my corner of the world? Not one child wandered near my door. Disappointed, I pouted for days, sulking and crying and wondering if all the parents actually loved their children. “Impossible! They use them only for labor.” Just as my parents had used me. Just as Evie had.
I would have to think of a way to lure them here. If I set a famine on the land, would not the parents be less vigilant? It was perfect. A famine. I worked all day and night, and when I was through, I had created a spell from my worst nightmares. A plague of rodents. Mice would eat everything and what the mice didn’t eat, the locust would, and then, when there was nothing left to eat, the children would wander from their homes and… “They will come to me!”
A cackle of pure delight sounded from my throat.
I went to bed dreaming of fat, succulent little children.
It was only in the morning I realized famines take time. So very long. Years in fact. And then, when I’d almost lost hope within the security of my enchanted part of the forest, the residents of the village began to feel the tightening grip of the famine. Soon they grew desperate.
One morning, I awoke and went outside as was my custom. While I puttered about, I thought I glimpsed mold on my house. “Impossible!” I muttered. I had specifically enchanted the house so that no element of nature could ruin what I had created. I drew closer, and to my horror, I saw someone had nibbled a hole in my wall. I looked up and squinted hard. Had a gumdrop gone missing from the eaves? I took a quick tour, and when I came to the front door, I saw the lemon drop handle had been peeled off! I looked down. Two sets of small footprints circled my house.
A memory so vivid flashed within my mind. Evie. Korb. A desired spell.
Evie had traded this spell to Korb for me. He hadn’t wanted eternal youth for himself. He had wanted his rat-catching children to stay small. Didn’t Evie say he’d been hanged for killing a child? Evie had given him the spell, thinking he would not find the answers, but he had. What a shock that must have been to Evie.
“He did not plan well, but I will.”
My limbs had grown so weak and stiff, I could not hope to steal a child. But I had something every child loved. “Oh, yes. I have a way of tempting the little ones.”
I collected the ingredients of the spell and put them aside, and then I started the beginnings of my lure.
Chocolate, nutmeg, sugar and cream. Tangy, sour, sweet and salty. I baked and baked and created confection after confection. But the smells of my treats brought no one near. The mothers held onto their little darlings’ hands and the children who happened to be alone shuddered whenever they passed. Though I would tempt them, “Come. I’ll feed you treats. I promise your mummy won’t miss you.”
They ran away crying, scared by the hungry look in my eyes.
Clearly I could not lure the little darlings away so easily.
“I must be cleverer still.”
I turned a critical eye on my house. What I could make out startled me. It had fallen into such a state of ruin, it scared even me. Raw wood peeked from behind dingy whitewash. Ivy clung to the walls and slid within the upper windows. The lace curtains hung in tatters and billowed eerily in the wind. No wonder no one came near. I had to create something so tantalizing, a child couldn’t resist. I would build a sweet tasting house deep in the forest where only naughty children would go; runaways, disobedient ones, those looking for adventure or avoiding work.
Yes. A naughty child would be prime for the taking. Everyone misses an angel; no one misses an imp. Again, I baked and baked and created my confections in the shape of a house. I placed an enchantment on the little structure so that no element of nature and no forest creature would destroy what I had built. Gleefully, I moved in.
All I had to do now was wait.
Who would have thought there were so many obedient children in my corner of the world? Not one child wandered near my door. Disappointed, I pouted for days, sulking and crying and wondering if all the parents actually loved their children. “Impossible! They use them only for labor.” Just as my parents had used me. Just as Evie had.
I would have to think of a way to lure them here. If I set a famine on the land, would not the parents be less vigilant? It was perfect. A famine. I worked all day and night, and when I was through, I had created a spell from my worst nightmares. A plague of rodents. Mice would eat everything and what the mice didn’t eat, the locust would, and then, when there was nothing left to eat, the children would wander from their homes and… “They will come to me!”
A cackle of pure delight sounded from my throat.
I went to bed dreaming of fat, succulent little children.
It was only in the morning I realized famines take time. So very long. Years in fact. And then, when I’d almost lost hope within the security of my enchanted part of the forest, the residents of the village began to feel the tightening grip of the famine. Soon they grew desperate.
One morning, I awoke and went outside as was my custom. While I puttered about, I thought I glimpsed mold on my house. “Impossible!” I muttered. I had specifically enchanted the house so that no element of nature could ruin what I had created. I drew closer, and to my horror, I saw someone had nibbled a hole in my wall. I looked up and squinted hard. Had a gumdrop gone missing from the eaves? I took a quick tour, and when I came to the front door, I saw the lemon drop handle had been peeled off! I looked down. Two sets of small footprints circled my house.
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