Free The Witch Family by Eleanor Estes Page B

glory be!" she muttered. "Who ever would have thought that I could do anything as smart as that? Up on this bare and bleak place of banishment my magic is rusty. Yet see what I did!" She felt quite proud. Witch babies are very rare. Giving an amiable, not an awful, heh-heh, she too sat back on her haunches. It is quite exhausting to do great magic.
    "Now," she croaked. "We be quite a family, ben't we? All generations be represented here now."
    " THAT BE RIGHT, " confirmed a solemn voice.
    Feeling rather confused, Old Witch studied matters. She wondered if getting this weeny witch out of thin air meant that she was being a good or a bad witch, according to the rules and regulations laid down by Amy, the banquisher. Good or bad? Finally, she decided that, since the suggestion to get Witch Baby had come from Amy, she was being good. At the same time, she was also being a successful witch. Here was one occasion, she decided, when "good" applied both to witch and to Amy rules. "Oh, to glory be!" she said. "Here I be, pleasing everybody."
    "We'll have to get her a cradle," said the little witch girl, staring at her little sister in love and admiration. "Oh!" she said. "See its hands, its tiny hands! Did you ever see such hands? I wonder about its feet. Could we see its feet?"

    "Tcluck, tcluck, tcluck," said Old Witch, still quite pleased with herself. This clucking sound was like music to Weeny Witch's ears, and the baby flashed a sudden, endearing smile.
    "Not right now," said Old Witch. She bent over the little witch baby. "She has to have her bottle now, doesn't she?"
    "Cr-cr-cr," crooned the weeny witchie baby.
    "O-o-oh!" breathed Little Witch Girl. She gasped with delight over every single thing that the baby did.
    Old Witch busied herself right away, preparing the little witch baby's herb formula. And while Old Witch was not looking, the little witch girl could not resist taking a peek at the little witch baby's feet. She turned back the baby's robes, which were as soft as the silkiest black cobwebs, and she saw that the weeny witch's feet were encased in softest, thinnest, most transparent little black booties. Since she had kicked one of them off, Little Witch Girl gently tied it back on. The color of the ribbons was pale pink!
    Again Little Witch Girl was astonished. She didn't know that weeny witch babies were allowed to have pink ribbons. She thought black, everything black, plain, regular, real, right witch black. "They must be a present from Amy," Little Witch Girl decided happily.
    "She has to have a cradle right away," said the little witch girl again. "Look how she kicks. She might roll off my bed! I'll try to get her the cradle."
    So, Little Witch Girl said an abracadabra, but it still did not work, despite the great wiggling around that she had done in imitation of Old Witch. However, she did get a rattle, and Old Witch got the cradle from thin air and by way of abracadabra. In the cradle were soft black blankets and a warm little black bunny suit for cold days. Now the witch baby had everything.
    "Abr-abr-abr," she gurgled happily when she was settled in her cradle.
    "She is trying to say abracadabra," said Little Witch Girl.
    Little Witch Girl and old Gammer Old Witch marveled at the brightness of the little one.
    "Very bright baby," observed Old Witch with a gentle croak. "What does the serpent say?" she asked the baby.
    "Sss, sss," said Baby.
    "And what does the hoppy say?" asked Old Witch.
    Baby gave a trill like a tree toad.
    "What'd I say?" said Old Witch. "Here's a bright one, all right."
    Little Witch Girl was so entranced with the baby witch that she could do nothing but stand at the side of the cradle and watch her and watch her and watch her. Long and silently she stood there watching, with one hand on the cradle, gently rocking it. She refused to go to school because all she could do was stay beside the cradle and rock it and stare at the weeny witch and exclaim over her enchanting ways.
    "Look at the