Free The Witchfinder Wars by K.G. McAbee

Manning had about us, so I kept my mouth shut
as the energies around us focused on the task I was completing.
    Suddenly, I didn't care if Tommy blamed me
like the others. I just wanted to make sure the sadness I'd seen in
his eyes that morning went away. To make sure he wasn't hurt.
    It took a moment to pull my hand away, but
as soon as I did, I was holding the envelope I realized now held
the faint scent of vanilla.
    Evie...
    I groaned inside. "Could you do something
for me, sir?"
    His eyes told me he was still bewitched by
my meager attempts at magic. His feverish nods confirmed it.
    "Anything, Miss..."
    I held out the envelope. "Could you give
this to Tommy for me? Again, I don't wish to disturb the family
during this difficult time. I just wanted to send my condolences to
him."
    The man nodded and took the envelope in
gentle hands. In his eagerness to help, he turned away from me to
rush toward the house. I stopped him with fingers that just grazed
the back of his arm. Briefly, I wondered exactly what he did for
the Hopkins that made him so willing to obey. Or perhaps they were
all like that. It was something I could never know.
    His eyes were puzzled as he turned to face
me, and I had to catch my breath before I could get the words
out.
    "No. Not now. Tonight for sure, but you'll
know when the right time is, sir. Give it to him, then forget all
about it. And thank you. I do hope no harm comes to you or yours
for this."
    He nodded and bowed his head in such a
slight motion I wasn't sure if I saw it at all. I released his
arm.
    A glint of the sun against a second story
window caught my attention and broke the hold casting the spell had
over me. I wanted to panic, sure my distraction had released the
man as well. Yet he secured the envelope in his breast pocket and
smiled.
    Still awaiting his commands...
    "Go now, sir. You shall be yourself again
once the work is done."
    The servant walked away from me then as I
saw movement behind the curtains. I had done what I was meant to
do, and I sighed in relief. I slipped back into the shadows offered
by the trees to start the journey back across town as the
glittering world Tommy lived in disappeared behind me.
    ***
    Wednesday was nothing special. Tommy was
still absent from school, and the other kids would part the way for
me whenever I had to walk by them in the halls. As if the peaceful
Monday I had enjoyed had been nothing more than a figment of my
imagination. I made it through the day, and most of Thursday as
well, once again with same treatment I'd been used to since junior
high school.
    After classes on Thursday, Jordan's pack
struck again. I couldn't prove it, but as I approached my locker to
put away the books I wouldn't need, I found the pale yellow surface
of it marred with thick black marker. I stopped in front of it, and
sighed, examining the crude drawing and messages had been left
there.
    A stick figure woman was hanging from a
noose, much like the ones drawn when playing Hangman . But
this one was different. This one had a ponytail, and a crooked
pointy hat hung in the same unnatural position as her neck. Whoever
had drawn this had also been considerate enough to leave me a
message. The words Die, witch, die! and Thou shalt not
suffer a WITCH to LIVE Exodus 22:16 framed it. I snorted
as I turned the combination lock and threw my books inside.
    Cute. Real damn cute, Jordan.
    I had no real proof he wrote those words,
but the whole thing certainly had his stamp of approval written all
over it. I grabbed a marker out of my bag and drew an 'X' through
the 16 , replacing it with 18 .
    A voice behind me interrupted just as I
finished the correction. "Miss Blanchett, what are you doing?"
    My English teacher, Ms. Lofton, stood behind
me with her hands on her ample hips. I shrugged as I recapped the
pen and tossed it back in my bag.
    "Making a correction. The least they could
have done was get it right." I tried a smile as she continued to
stare at me incredulously. Perhaps