Free Black Wood (A Witch Rising) by Jayde Scott Page B

was
definitely not the answer she expected. What was wrong with them
all?
    Muriel smiled regally. “I’m sure
you will, dear.” She brushed back her glossy black hair. “But this
isn’t all that bothers me.”
    Emily rolled her eyes. What now?
Was the mattress too hard? The pillows not soft enough? Her tea too
cold? Her bath water too hot?
    “You mustn’t cross her,” Sam
murmured, his gaze still lingering on his plate.
    Muriel shot him a displeased
look, then turned her beautiful eyes toward Emily’s father. “Edgar,
how long have you been a single parent now?”
    “Dad’s not a single parent!”
Emily shouted. “Tell her you’re not, Dad!”
    Her father hesitated and Muriel
continued, smiling. “It’s not right for a man to raise two children
on his own. It’s not natural .”
    Muriel placed her hand on top of
her father’s. Emily felt bile rising in her throat. She rose to her
feet, knocking down her chair. “That’s enough! I called you, I can
send you back!”
    Her father turned red as a
lobster. “Emily! What’s wrong with you? If you don’t behave, I’ll
send you to your room.”
    “But, Dad, how can you let her—”
Emily’s lower lip quivered, but she was too mad to cry. “She
doesn’t belong here. Tell her Mum’s coming over for Christmas and
we’ll be a family again.”
    “Okay, Emily. I warned you not
to be disrespectful to guests.” Her father put down his fork with
such force that it clattered on the floor. “I won’t tolerate this
behaviour. Take your dinner up to your room, and no TV for you for
a week.”
    Emily snorted and turned toward
the door. “I’m not hungry,” she said even though no one listened.
As she headed for the stairs, her father's words crushed her
heart.
    “I’m sorry, Muriel,” he said.
“She’s been a little rude lately. Of course you can stay here as
long as you wish.”
    Pressing her lips together,
Emily slammed the door to the kitchen shut. Oh, how she hated that
sneaky Muriel. She ran up to her grandmother’s room, tears
streaming down her face. Her mother hadn’t called in two whole days
and asking the diary to make Muriel disappear didn’t seem to work.
She slumped down on the bed, pulled the covers over her head and
sank into her grandmother’s pillowcase. Why wasn’t the diary
helping? Maybe it wasn’t working on Muriel because she was from the
same world?
    She only noticed Solace’s
presence when she felt a warm, fluffy ball tickle her cheek.
Sniffing, Emily crawled out from under the covers and shivered. The
room was cold as ice. By the time she reached the heating panel on
the other side of the room, her skin had turned into goosebumps.
She pressed a palm on the pane. It scalded her hand and she pulled
away quickly.
    A breeze ruffled the
curtain.
    “Not again.” Puffing, Emily
flicked it aside. The window stood ajar. “Why won’t it stay
shut?”
    Solace meowed, jumped down from
the bed and bolted for the door, then stopped in front of it and
turned its head, her fluffy tail swishing about, as if waiting for
her.
    “You’re right.” Emily closed the
window. “I won’t be hiding in here like a coward. Someone needs to
do something ‘cause she’s going way too far. I’m going to
tell Dad she’s an evil witch.”
    With her chin raised and lips
pressed tight, Emily crossed the hall to her father’s office and
knocked on the door. “Can I come in?”
    When he didn't reply, she
entered nonetheless. After all, this was a pressing matter.
    Her father wasn’t there. Maybe
he was getting a glass of water or preparing a snack in the
kitchen.
    In the hall, she bumped into
Muriel. Was this woman everywhere?
    “What is it you're looking for,
dear?” Muriel asked with raised eyebrows.
    Emily clenched her fists and
glared at her. “Where’s my father?”
    “Let me think.” Muriel scrunched
her face for a second. “No, I haven’t seen him. But I could help
you look. You know how much I want us to be friends.”
    “Huh?”