Free The Whitby Witches 1 - The Whitby Witches by Robin Jarvis Page A

what did he see?'
    'You don't stop, do you?' Jennet gasped incredulously. 'You just don't care—he might have been sent round the twist and all you're interested in is what sort of ghosts he saw!'
    Aunt Alice shook her head. 'That isn't true,' she denied vehemently. 'Of course I'm concerned.'
    At that moment Ben appeared. In his arms he carried a bundle of belongings and his cheeks were stained with tears. He gazed up at Miss Boston miserably. 'Why don't you like us any more?' he asked in a tremulous voice. 'I don't want to go.'
    She yelped as though wounded. 'Oh, but I do like you, Benjamin,' she cried, 'and I don't want you to leave.'
    'Give me your stuff, Ben,' Jennet said coldly.
    The boy looked from Aunt Alice to his sister, his unhappy face betraying his emotions. He was torn between love and loyalty to Jennet and reluctance to leave the one place he had felt at home since the death of his parents. Miss Boston saw his pain and decided that enough was enough.
    'Go back to bed, Benjamin,' she told him kindly. 'We'll sort this out.'
    Jennet glared at her and was about to speak, but Aunt Alice puffed herself up and spoke in such a forceful voice that for a moment the girl was startled into silence. 'Let Benjamin go,' she instructed firmly. With one hand on his shoulder she guided the boy out of the room, then closed the door and turned to his sister.
    'What right have you got—' Jennet began.
    But now it was Miss Boston's turn to speak. 'I have every right,' she declared. 'I am now legally responsible for both of you and if you think I am going to let you run off in the middle of the night, you're not the clever girl I thought you were.' She jutted her chins out determinedly, daring the girl to disagree.
    Jennet sat down heavily on the bed and sobbed bitterly.
    Aunt Alice's expression softened and she sat next to her. 'Let me explain. Jennet dear,' she said gently. 'When I was a young girl, not much older than yourself, I saw things I didn't understand.'
    'Like Ben, you mean?'
    'Exactly so, but at the time my mama forbade me to mention them. In those days children were not spared the rod and I soon learnt to save my poor hands from the cane by ignoring what I saw.' She stared for a moment at her palms, remembering the weals that had once marred them, then she thrust her hands under her knees. 'A gift such as I possessed goes into decline if neglected,' Aunt Alice resumed sadly, 'and I neglected it for very many years.'
    'So what were you doing downstairs?' asked Jennet, totally unmoved.
    Miss Boston heaved a great sigh. 'I do wish you would be a little less prickly. Jennet dear. I'm afraid that what you saw downstairs was one of my attempts to regain the gift. The circle meets every month for what Mrs Banbury-Scott jokingly calls "spirits and scones". More often than not it ends up as just a little social chit-chat—our dear departed don't always feel inclined to come through, you know.'
    'You had a good turnout tonight though, didn't you?' Jennet put in. 'Practically a full house.'
    The old lady clucked uncomfortably. 'You must believe me, child, I had already made up my mind that tonight's little get-together would be the very last.'
    'So you say.'
    'I swear it on my life. Jennet; there will be no more meetings of the circle.'
    Jennet remained wary and distrustful but she realised that there were no other options open to her. 'All right,' she said slowly, 'we'll stay—providing there are no more "spirits and scones".'
    'There won't be.' The old lady brightened, confident that the situation had been resolved. 'Well, it's time you got some sleep now,' she smiled, getting to her feet and crossing to the door.
    Jennet did not reply.
    As she left. Miss Boston hesitated. 'Oh, and by the way,' she added, 'you need thirteen for a coven, and I prefer the term "wise woman". Goodnight, dear.'

    A wild and windy Monday kept most of the tourists indoors, to the irritation of the landladies and the profit of the arcade owners. The