Free Witch's Business by Diana Wynne Jones Page B

with people’s worse natures?”
    â€œI—I—” stammered Jess. Then she thought of Own Back. She supposed that was just what it was. “Yes, I think I have,” she said. “But I didn’t mean to. It just happened.”
    The lady smiled sadly. “That’s what we all say,” she answered. “Someone says: Do me this favor, and I’ll give you six pence, or a pound, or whatever it is. And you see no harm, and you do it. I did someone a favor once, for a half-crown bus fare, and it’s taken me all this time to work it off. I hope you didn’t let whoever it was pay you anything.”
    â€œNo—I—at least, they haven’t yet,” Jess said. “Should I cancel it, then?”
    â€œMost certainly,” said the lady, “if it’s anything at all bad. Just in case.”
    â€œAll right,” said Jess. “I will, then.” She was longing to get away. This lady made her more uncomfortable than she had ever felt in her life. “Can I go now?” It was worth having no money just to be able to go.
    â€œIn a second,” said the lady. “I’m going to give you these first. Have you a chain or something to hang them on, so that you won’t lose them? They’re very precious.” She held out her hand and showed Jess two little oval-shaped things. Jess at first thought they were beads, each with a hook in one of their longer sides. “Eyes,” said the lady. Jess saw that they were. Each bead was a little tiny model of an eye, one blue, one brown. “They ward off evil,” the lady explained. “The evil eye particularly. I’m strong enough to do without them now. So I’ll give them to you, because I think you need them more than I do. What’s your name?”
    â€œJessica,” said Jess.
    â€œAnd so is mine!” said the lady. “That is nice. Now, find a chain.”
    Jess remembered that she still had her charm bracelet in her pocket. She fetched it out, and the lady helped her hook the little eyes on it. They became quite friendly over it. Jess was almost sorry when the lady said, “Now, run along, dear. You’ll be safe now, provided you don’t do a bad act disguised as a good one.”
    â€œThanks,” said Jess. She looked back at the lady when she reached the door in the wall, but the lady was leaning back in her deck chair and seemed to have forgotten about her. Funny, Jess thought. She’s nice, even if she is mad. I wonder who she is.
    She forgot about it the next minute, however, because as soon as she came out at the back of the house, the row of heads in the deck chairs turned, following Frankie and Jenny, hurrying and limping past the line of urns. Frankie saw Jess and dragged Jenny over to her.
    â€œWe came,” said Jenny, “but not to look, because we can’t think of anywhere we haven’t looked, here.”
    â€œThen we’d better look in your house,” said Jess. “I’ll tell Vernon, shall I?”
    â€œYes,” said Frankie. “But Biddy knows you’re looking. I know she does.”
    â€œHow?” said Jess. “Who told her?”
    â€œWe think Daddy did,” said Jenny. “He does things for her. We told you. And Aunt heard us while she was painting you, and we heard her talking to Daddy, and Daddy went down to Biddy’s hut straight after lunch.”
    â€œOh, no!” said Jess. “But couldn’t you stop him? I mean, he seems quite nice. Surely he wouldn’t do a thing like that if you explained?”
    â€œWe have,” said Frankie. “But he’s in her power, so it’s no good.”
    â€œBut he’s grown up!” said Jess. She just could not credit that Biddy could have power over a real grown-up person.
    â€œI know,” said Frankie, “but he does what she wants. Always.”
    â€œWe’d better tell Vernon,” said Jess.