Free The Witch Family by Eleanor Estes

through her big book of runes.
    "I thought it was in here," she muttered. She was looking for the loose clipping that had the rune of Malachi, the bumblebee, on it. She thought that if she tore it up, his magic would disappear, and this was probably true. Fortunately, Little Witch Girl did not know what Old Witch was looking for and did not have to think must she, or must she not, give it up. So far, the Malachi rune was safe in the hem of Little Witch Girl's cloak.
    Little Witch Girl decided not to tell her gammer Old Witch about the little mermaid or the mermaid lagoon. They were her own shining secrets. "My," she thought. "What a wonderful day! That Babay! She was so cunning! If only I had a baby sister too! Then I would have everything," she thought. "The baby could try to put its toe in its mouth." Sighing, she rocked back and forth, back and forth...

8. The Baby Witch
    One day, Old Witch was poring over all her books, searching for a rune that would get the magic off Malachi—wherever he was—that someone (it was she, but she didn't know it) had magic-ed onto him. She looked under bumble, and bee, and Malachi, and magic, and bites, and stings; also under plain antidotes for magic. "Let's see," she muttered. "What about sewing bees? A sewing bee might sew up a spelling bee." She was so absorbed that she didn't hear the murmur of the bee, " MEND THY WAYS! " Nor did she hear anything Little Witch Girl said. "I might as well not talk," thought Little Witch Girl.
    Little Witch Girl sat lonesomely rocking in her little red rocker. There was no one to talk to. She had been to the mermaid lagoon to play with Lurie. But neither Lurie nor Babay had been there. Perhaps they had swum away, way inside, to search for the beginning of the lagoon or to milk the mermaid cow. Little Witch Girl had waited for a while. She loved the many-colored pool. Dipping her fingers in it, she watched the drops falling from her fingers, like miniature soap bubbles. Suddenly she had begun to feel lonesome. "Lurie!" she had called. "Who-whoo!"
    Her echo scared her. "Lur-eee ... whowhoo-oo-oo!" it answered as with a sigh. The echo did not seem to want to stop. Frightened, Little Witch Girl had flown home as fast as she could. So, there she was, sitting in her little red rocker, having a lonesome rock. It is sad to go looking for your best friend to play with and then for her not to be there. At this low, lonesome moment who should fly up but the red cardinal bird, Amy's emissary. He dropped a tightly folded little wad of paper in Little Witch Girl's lap. "Twee-eet!" he sang, and then he flew away.
    "O-o-oh!" said Little Witch Girl, squealing with joy. "It's a letter from Amy!"
    Is there anything nicer, when you feel lonesome, than to get a letter from a person whom you love very much? She could hardly bear to read it, she was so happy. Finally, she read:
"Dear Little Witch Girl,
    Thank you for the birthday party in your house. How do you like the little mermaid? Fine? But she isn't there every time when you go and say, 'Can you play?' Well, it is the same with me and Clarissa. Sometimes she isn't there either. Sometimes she goes and plays with Polly Knapp. And that is when I wish most of all that I had a baby sister. Your birthday wish was for a baby sister, wasn't it? I thought so. Why not try for one with your abracadabra, or have Old Witch try?
    I love you and you love me,
Amy.
    P.S. Mind that Old Witch does not find Malachi, or the magic rune. BEE seeing you. A."
    Old Witch, as well as Malachi, saw the letter in Little Witch Girl's lap, and she knew at a glance that it was from Amy.
    "What does that banquisher want now?" she demanded irritably.
    Little Witch Girl didn't even hear. She read the letter three times more. And then she happily sat, and she rocked, and she thought.
    Old Witch peered curiously at Little Witch Girl from the doorway. After a while, she said, "Well, Hannah. What's the news?"
    Little Witch Girl stood up. A happy glow