Free The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste Page B

off.
    â€¦
    The witch made a long sigh when Corinne arrived in front of her blanket. “Are you in trouble again?” she asked without looking up. She handed a paper-wrapped package to her customer and dropped the coins he paid into her pouch with three loud clinks.
    Corinne stepped closer. “Tell me about Miss Severine, the woman in green.”
    The man, who was just leaving, stopped dead in his tracks and looked from the witch to Corinne and back again. The white witch rubbed her withered left arm and cut him an evil look. “Why don’t you mind your own business?” she snapped and he scurried away. She turned back to Corinne. “Is that what she is calling herself? Well, I am not getting involved with her. And I advise that you do the same.”
    â€œI can’t do that now. It’s too late,” Corinne said. “You have to do something to help me.”
    â€œDo I?” the witch grumbled. She touched her arm again.
    â€œWe think she’s a jumbie that lives in the forest. We think she might be dangerous,” Corinne said.
    â€œWe?” The witch looked behind Corinne and saw Dru hovering at a distance, twirling a long braid around her finger. “Well, I think swimming in rivers when no one knows where you are and running off into the forest alone is dangerous. I think you like to look for dangerous things.”
    Corinne was startled. How had the witch known about her running into the forest alone? “I didn’t go looking for Severine,” Corinne said. Her voice dropped low. “But I think she might have come looking for me.”
    â€œWhat would she want with a scrawny little thing like you?”
    â€œI don’t know. I only need to know how to get rid of her.”
    The witch laughed. “Impossible. The jumbies have lived on this island long before people were even dreamt of. She won’t go away so easily.”
    â€œSo she is a jumbie then?” Dru said as she took a single step forward.
    â€œHush!” the witch hissed.
    â€œOur kind and their kind don’t belong together,” Corinne said with a nod to Dru.
    â€œOur kind? What do you know about our kind and their kind, little one? You can’t even tell the difference. You are new to this world. Trust in those who have been around much, much longer than you.” The witch moved around a few things on her blanket. “You must accept that things are the way they are for a reason. Here’s my advice: The next time you see this Severine coming, go the other way.”
    â€œBut she comes to my house,” Corinne said.
    The witch’s eyebrows twitched as she searched Corinne’s face. “Then you’re right. It is too late.” The witch’s shoulders drooped. Her left arm dangled useless at her side. “There is no hope for you. She is a bad one.”
    â€œBut you have to do something!” Dru shrieked. She now stood by Corinne’s side.
    The witch avoided the girls’ stares as she shook her head. Her sparse white braids tossed. “I’m sorry. There is nothing I can do.”
    â€œThen I’ll have to take care of her myself.” Corinne turned.
    â€œCorinne, wait!” Dru grabbed her arm. “What are you going to do by yourself? That will only be trouble.”
    Corinne pulled her arm away. “This time, I didn’t trouble trouble. Trouble came troubling me. And I intend to do something about it.” She turned toward the road.
    â€œYou must pay me for my time!” the witch yelled.
    Dru took an orange from Corinne’s basket and threw it at the old woman. The witch made a deft catch with her good hand. Her long yellow nails clicked together around the fruit. Corinne and Dru both shuddered at the sound. Then Corinne ran to the sea.
    By the time Corinne got to the shore, her cut had ripped open again and her leg was shining with blood, but she barely noticed. She needed to find her father. She