For a list of the many characters who populate this saga, check out Dramatis Personae.
Thus far in our story…
Prologue: Hailey Ellis has returned to Morcant-On-Sea after several years away, only to find the coastal town is a shadow of its former self. Amidst this decline, Hailey navigates her various relationships, but a shocking encounter with her selkie aunt foreshadows a chain of events that will change all their lives forever.
Ch1: Several months later in the village of Derwold, the summer holidays begin for the Newton girls. Eleven-year-old Freya struggles to cope with the changes that adolescence brings, and wonders why she feels so angry and alone. To add to her unhappiness, she experiences her first period.
Ch2: The next day, Freya has a chance meeting with Elsa Hart, wife of the new lord of Derwold Manor. A little later, Freya joins Sadie and her sister Millie for a lesson in alchemy, but things don’t quite go as planned when Millie inadvertently amplifies the potency of the love potion they’ve brewed. After the effects have worn off, Millie visits the churchyard to pay her respects to an old friend. Whilst there, she has an encounter with a black panther, and discovers she can communicate with the creature.
Ch3: Several days later, Simon and Elsa host a housewarming party in the grounds of the old manor. Elsa treats Freya to a tour of the recent restoration efforts, and the seeds are sown for a burgeoning friendship. Meanwhile, post mistress Sally Jeffries has a few too many drinks and ends up accidentally setting fire to pompous druid Bernard, then has a few choice words for Simon Derwold, who she remembers from decades before. Georgia, Sadie and Millie make their way home, where they indulge in a night of passion in the lounge, only to be interrupted by Elsa and Freya. Elsa comes to suspect her new neighbours are not all that they seem.
Ch4: The vicar of Derwold has been murdered by an unknown assailant. Unaware of the events that are about to unfold, Sadie tries to fathom the mysteries of the ancient standing stone near her cottage with the help of Freya and Millie. Later, Freya pays a visit to Derwold Manor, and she and Elsa enjoy an afternoon of passion. It turns out Elsa is using Freya for her own ends, and the eleven-year-old is tricked into revealing all their secrets.
Ch5: Sadie receives a concerning call from Vivaan Dinesh, Derwold’s resident doctor. At the surgery, she is confronted with the murdered vicar. Meanwhile, Millie rescues Bernard from the mysterious black panther, and the traumatised man confesses he’s not a real druid at all.
Sadie sets out to investigate the vicar’s murder, and discovers that someone has set an arcane wall around the village, preventing anyone from entering or leaving. In the woods that surround Derwold, she meets Astris the dryad.
Ch6: Astris tells Sadie that Elsa is the one who has sealed off the village, though for what purpose she doesn’t know. The dryad also hints that Elsa is a witch, and that she harbours great power. Sadie researches the Derwold family and discovers they have a troubled history. She also discovers Elsa changed her name to conceal her past, and is inexplicably older than she seems.
At the post office, Sally Jeffries tells Sadie a disturbing childhood story, in which an eight-year-old Simon tortured and killed his pet dog. Suspecting the vicar’s murder may have been Simon’s doing, Sadie hastens to Beekeeper Cottage to make sure everyone’s safe, but Freya has already gone to the manor to meet with Elsa. Sadie races to retrieve her.
Ch7: At Derwold Manor, stark truths are revealed. Elsa has sealed the village off to protect Simon. More than that, she intends to set the stage for a new world order, one where women rule and men are consigned to history. She asks Sadie and Millie to join her, but Sadie refuses. She and Freya arrive back at Beekeeper Cottage only to find Georgia and Millie missing. They are captured by Elsa’s thugs, and reunited with Georgia and Millie, the four of them are imprisoned in the manor.
Discovering the large rock in the cellar where they are confined is actually an ancient standing stone, Millie manages to tap into its magic, and she and Sadie are transported to an unknown location.
Ch8: Enraged, Elsa threatens to kill Georgia if Freya doesn’t tell her where Sadie and Millie have gone, but Freya manages to convince her they know nothing of their whereabouts. Taking no chances, Elsa locks them in a room full of taxidermy specimens. Freya opens up to her mother, expressing her fears and doubts.
Meanwhile, in the Cornish town of Morcant-On-Sea, a tribe of Selkie rescue a near-drowned Sadie and Millie, then point them in the direction of the lighthouse. Sadie hopes that whoever lives up there can help them get back home. Having reached their destination, they discover a strange cocoon-like object. Before they have time to consider exactly what it is or what it means, they realise someone has followed them into the lighthouse.
Ch9: Elsa uses the menhir to determine Sadie and Millie’s whereabouts. Having discovered they are in the town where she spent her childhood, the enraged woman prepares to recapture them.
Meanwhile, Sadie and Millie meet Hailey and Derek. Hailey tells them that whatever’s sleeping inside the cocoon was once her selkie aunt, Rita. Sadie explains that she needs to get back to Derwold to rescue Georgia and Freya, but with no easy way back to the mainland, they will need to wait until morning. Meanwhile, Sadie’s cat familiar, Billy Buckham, sneaks into Derwold Manor with plans of his own.
Some time later, Millie is awakened by a strange voice summoning her to the top of the lighthouse. There she meets a spectral version of Rita, and the two of them enjoy a moment of intimacy, culminating in an exchange of old magics. Over on the mainland, Elsa makes her way towards the coast to prepare an invasion.
Ch10: Elsa raises an army of the dead and invades Morcant-On-Sea. Sadie does her best to protect Hailey and Derek, but Millie is trapped in the lighthouse and they must get to her with all haste. Fighting their way to the top, they find a very angry Elsa. Revealing her true power, the dark witch threatens to kill them all, but she has invoked the wrath of the creature slumbering inside the cocoon. It bursts free, revealing itself to be a Siren. Amidst the ensuing chaos, the creature flies off with Elsa in its grasp, and Sadie, Millie, Hailey and Derek make their escape from the destroyed town.
And now, dear readers, we make our way into the next installment. Read on…
by BlueJean
1
Vengeance comes to the village of Derwold in an Uber driven by a nice man called Malcolm.
Sadie Laine and her apprentice Millie Newton sit in the backseat of the taxi while Malcolm tells them how his wife Beryl can’t find an NHS dentist for love nor money. She’s seriously considering pulling out her rotten tooth herself, he explains.
When they approach the border of Derwold, Sadie leans forward in her seat to ask him if he’s feeling all right, carefully observing his face in a most unsettling way. She’s a beautiful young woman, and had he been thirty years younger, Malcolm might have considered the possibility that she was making a pass at him. He was quite the ladies’ man back in the day. Malcolm tells her he’s right as rain, thanks very much for asking.
As the WELCOME TO DERWOLD sign comes into view, Sadie tells Malcolm to stop the car. She exits the vehicle and moves tentatively towards the outskirts, zig-zagging between trees and ferns, advancing; retreating, then repeating the process in a new area.
“What’s she doing?” Malcolm asks Millie while he sucks on a Murray Mint.
Millie decides to try an experiment. She’s recently come to understand that telling the truth sometimes works better than telling lies when it comes to covering one’s tracks. The caveat to this is that it only works if the truth is more ridiculous than the lie. “She’s testing to see if there’s still an invisible wall around the village.” She follows this up with a tiny fib: “She has a syndrome.”
“Ahhh. Right,” says Malcolm, as if it all makes perfect sense.
Sadie climbs back into the vehicle. “It’s down!” she says with a grin, giving the thumbs up.
Millie raises her own thumb. As does Malcolm. He winks to Millie in the rearview mirror.
When they reach the village green soon after, they find a handful of residents congregating. There are raised voices and urgent gestures. Sadie can feel the tense atmosphere. She doubts the villagers know exactly what has befallen them, and yet they still sense something amiss, the way prey animals catch a whiff of danger on the wind.
Sadie pays Malcolm his fare and he departs Derwold, never to return. Three weeks later his wife Beryl pulls her own tooth out with a pair of her husband’s rusty pliers. She dies of sepsis.
Bernard the Druid greets Sadie and Millie heartily, and he has a very special friend with him. When Bee sees Millie, she wags her tail madly and screws her snout up into a smile. Bernard found her wandering the village alone, and she’s been staying with him in his tent ever since. Millie buries her face in the dog’s fur and whispers soothing words of nonsense.
Throwing caution to the wind, Sadie explains to Bernard and the other villagers present that Simon Derwold has kidnapped Georgia and Freya. They are being held in Derwold Manor, and she means to go rescue them. Bernard is outraged. He brings his staff down with a mighty thud, and when he’s done nursing his foot, not only vows to march with her, but promises to rally the rest of the village residents, too.
Phone calls are made. One by one they come, young and old alike. Bernard has told them there are men with guns up in the manor, so they bring makeshift weapons of their own. The farmers among them carry shotguns, but most of the improvised weaponry is less conventional: cricket bats and knitting needles, saws and hammers, dustbin lids and brooms. A few folk even wield that classic symbol of discontented peasantry: the humble pitchfork.
Roy Sutton turns up looking absolutely livid. The bastards have kidnapped his good friend Georgia, and God help anyone who ends up on the receiving end of the electric whisk he’s currently brandishing. Even if he can’t find a plug socket in the heat of battle, it’ll still have someone’s eye out in a pinch.
The villagers turn up in force. Most everyone has heeded the call, though there are a few notable absentees.
After consuming a dodgy sausage roll, Colin Brambles has been shitting through the eye of a needle all day and dare not risk the journey, lest he get caught short en route.
Maisy and Gavin Mustard would like to help, but there’s an episode of Peaky Blinders they really don’t want to miss. Millie asks them why they don’t just stream it later, but Maisy and Gavin have no idea what she’s talking about.
Ethel Weatherford has been given special exemption – she’s ninety-six, crashes into things on her mobility scooter, and is not particularly handy in a fight.
Sadie has a job for Sally Jeffries, the local postmistress. It’s too dangerous for the village children to march with them, so they must be left behind. Sally will take them under her wing. Sadie had briefly considered plying the woman with gin and taking her along, but though a plastered Mrs. Jeffries would be a lethal weapon in the fight to come, the risk is too great she would turn on her fellow villagers instead and decimate their ranks.
And so they have gathered. Two of their own have been taken, and it simply won’t stand. Now they turn their righteous anger to the task of vengeance, and the march on Derwold Manor begins.
2
Millie had a face like thunder. Her fists were bunched together at her sides. “I’m going with you, Sadie. I have a right to go!”
There was quite a crowd on the village green now. Bernard paced up and down alongside their ranks, perhaps imagining he was some Iceni general inspecting his troops before a great battle against the Roman army. Sadie just wanted the numbers. There was less chance of violence with this many witnesses.
The witch folded to her knees and placed her hands on the girl’s arms. Millie looked disheveled and exhausted, but then Sadie supposed she herself wasn’t exactly running at peak performance. Still, she couldn’t justify taking her apprentice with her. Millie had been through too much. “It’s too dangerous, Millie.”
“What, more dangerous than nearly being killed by Elsa and her dead friends, and that, that thing with the wings?”
“There are men with guns up there. And Simon’s loopy as a rabid hamster. I’m sure everything will be fine, and we’ll get Freya and your mum out without any problems, but I need to know that you’re safe back here with Mrs. Jeffries.”
Millie stood her ground. “I’m going with you. If you leave me here I’ll sneak off and go anyway.“
“Millie, will you listen to what I’m telling you!“
“No, Sadie! I’m going, and that’s that! It’s my mum and sister up there. I’m too worried about them to stay here, okay?“
Sadie gave an exasperated sigh. “Is there anything I can do to convince you to stay?“
“No.“
Sadie rubbed at her temples. She was too tired to argue, and there was still more work to be done before they were all out of the woods. “All right. Have it your way.“ She levelled a stern finger at her apprentice. “But you stay close to me, and don’t try anything stupid.“
Millie kissed her mentor on the brow. “Trust me, I’m a witch.“
Sadie gave her a half-hearted scowl. “That’s my line.“
There hadn’t been time to talk about what had happened back in Morcant; wasn’t really time for it now, either. But Sadie had questions that wouldn’t wait. “Hey, back at the lighthouse. How did you drive the dead away like that? Can you remember?”
Millie furrowed her brow trying to recall. She’d been so scared that night, so panic-stricken. It was hard to remember it all clearly. “I dunno. I used the sending chant, and then I said some other words, older ones. I think maybe it was the Dryad language.”
Sadie remembered the utter terror on the faces of the dead as they’d fled the lighthouse. To think that an eight-year-old girl could instill such fear in creatures that didn’t have much reason to fear anything.
“But I didn’t teach you how to perform The Sending.”
“No,” Millie agreed, “but I read some of your books, and they’re easy to understand. It’s just, the people who wrote them didn’t know how to put all the pieces together.”
That led to more questions, but Sadie wasn’t going to pursue them for now. She forced a smile for Millie.
Over on the village green, Mrs. Jeffries clapped her hands together, a delighted grin on her rosy-cheeked face. “Right then, me little oompa loompas! Who wants a bag o’ sweets from the post office?”
A cry of approval went up from the gathered children.
“That’s the spirit! You can pay me back later. Or spend the rest of the day doin’ me housework. I’m flexible.”
Sadie swept Millie’s hair back behind her ears. “Let’s go get your mum and sister.”
3
Simon Derwold paced back and forth in his study, a gigantic cigar trapped between his teeth. Every now and then he would check his phone for new messages, but there had been nothing from Elsa since late last night. He’d tried calling her numerous times since then, but her phone was unreachable.
Something was wrong. She’d never been gone this long before, not without calling to let him know where she was and what she was doing. Had Sadie Laine killed her? Had something else befallen her? What was he supposed to do with Georgia and Freya if Elsa didn’t return? He certainly couldn’t let them go, not now. It was all a bit of an inconvenient mess, truth be told.
Elsa brought stability into his life. When the madness descended, he would lose himself for days, a multitude of personalities vying for attention. Elsa kept him contained, and if she was unable to keep him contained, she cleaned up the mess he made, covered his tracks. Before her there had only been chaos, the same chaos that destroyed his father decades before, the same chaos that saw his sister Helen take her own life.
Without Elsa, Simon could be… rash.
He made his way upstairs to the taxidermy room. Time to have a little chat with Georgia and Freya. Kurt and Bernie were ordered into the kitchen to make themselves a slap-up breakfast, and neither man had any objection to that.
Simon unlocked the door. When he entered the taxidermy room, he locked it again from the inside.
Georgia hadn’t failed to notice him pocket the key, and didn’t think it boded well. “Hello, Simon,” she said with a strained smile.
Simon did not smile back. “I’m rather concerned, Georgia. Elsa should’ve been back by now and I’m worried something has happened to her.”
Georgia didn’t know what to make of that. If Elsa was missing, never to return, all for the good, but where did that leave Sadie and Millie? Were they still safe? Still alive? “I’m sorry to hear that, Simon,” she said.
“No, I don’t believe you are.“
Simon laced his hands behind his back and set about inspecting the taxidermy display. Some of them were old friends, each with their own unique collection of memories. Many of the memories were pleasant; others, quite horrific. Simon had learnt to face both kinds without fear or remorse. There was a strange kind of solace in acceptance.
“Tell me, do you think Sadie has done something to Elsa?” he said, gazing into the cold, glassy stare of Jasper the ferret. “Is your friend capable of murder, do you think?”
“Sadie’s a schoolteacher,” said Freya. “What do you think?”
Georgia flashed her eyes at Freya and shook her head. The last thing they needed was to upset this madman right now. “Sadie couldn’t kill anyone, Simon,” she said. “She doesn’t have it in her.”
Simon regarded Toby the Jack Russell with great fondness. He still had his little collar on. Oh, how Toby had screamed at the end. “No, indeed. Although, stressful situations can reveal parts of ourselves we never knew existed. We’re all brutal animals, deep down.”
“If Elsa’s gone, will you let us go?” Georgia said.
Simon tugged on his cigar and blew smoke into the face of Floella the tortoise. Not an easy thing, separating a tortoise from its shell, especially when it’s still alive. “That’s rather insensitive. I’m worried sick, and all you can think about is yourself.”
“I’m sorry, Simon, but I’d really like to go home now. There’s no point keeping us here any longer, is there? Don’t worry, we won’t say anything to anyone. It was all just a big misunderstanding, that’s all.”
“Well, I think we’ll give it another couple of days. If Elsa’s not back by then, I expect I’ll have to kill you and Freya. It’s a damn shame, because I’ve grown quite fond of you both.”
Simon came to the next former pet. “Hmm… odd. I don’t recall you. What’s your name?”
He leaned down to carefully inspect the stuffed animal. Had he ever owned a black cat? There had been a couple of black panthers, he remembered, back in the days when it was still legal to keep such pets. As he recalled, his father had released them into the forest back in ’76, when the exotic animal ban came into force. But never domestic cats. His mother had hated them; wouldn’t allow them in the house.
The stuffed cat blinked its eyes.
“What?!” Simon cried, recoiling.
Billy Buckham sprang from the pedestal and attached himself to Simon’s alarmed face with a furious screech. Simon grabbed the tomcat and attempted to wrestle himself free, his cigar tumbling to the floor and rolling beneath the couch.
Georgia and Freya leapt to their feet, not yet fully aware of what was happening.
“Get off me, you horrid thing!” Simon wailed, his fingers tearing at Billy’s fur.
Billy lashed out with a paw and hooked his claws into one of Simon’s eyes.
Simon shrieked, clutching at his bleeding eye while Billy leapt free.
Georgia came up behind the wailing man and pushed him headlong into the vacant pedestal. Half blind, Simon fell awkwardly and hit the floor hard. Freya booted him full force in the face.
Simon’s cigar had caught on the edge of the dust sheet covering the couch. It smouldered away for a few seconds until a small flame took hold, then rapidly spread.
With Simon rolling around on the floor in pain, Georgia rifled through his pockets and quickly retrieved the key. She scrambled for the door and unlocked it. “Freya, let’s go!”
The two of them bolted out, closely followed by Billy. Georgia fumbled with the key and locked the door from her side. She ran down the hallway with Freya.
Kurt, having heard some commotion out in the hall, emerged from the kitchen just in time to see Georgia and Freya run down the grand central staircase and bolt for the main doors, accompanied by a black cat, of all things. He dropped his bacon butty and pulled the tiny gun from his belt. “Stop!” he yelled.
Georgia had already reached the doors and was slinging them open. But it wasn’t Kurt and his gun that stopped her in mid-motion.
They were met with a wall of people outside in the forecourt. Georgia recognised them, one and all. It looked like the entire population of Derwold was here. At their head, Bernard the Druid stood clutching his staff, fire in his eyes. Beside him stood a dishevelled, but very determined looking Sadie Laine, and beside her, Millie.
Georgia burst into tears and ran to meet them with Freya. The villagers jostled around them protectively.
“Give them some room!“ Roy cried, doing his best to keep people at arms length. “Ooh, I’m going to give that bloody Simon a piece of my mind! I am so angry right now!’
4
Simon picked himself up off the floor. His left eye throbbed painfully, and when he closed his other one there was only a blur. To add insult to injury, someone had kicked him in the face and broken his nose.
He’d made an awful mess of things. They both had, he and Elsa. Surely, that demonic cat had been sent to punish him. His lord Satan was displeased, no doubt about it.
An intense heat singed the hairs on the back of his neck, and when he turned to face its source, he found the couch ablaze, along with several of the taxidermy specimens.
“The fires of Hell consume us, my old friends,” Simon groaned. “How could it not be so?”
He stumbled towards the door, only to find it locked. Shielding his face from the roaring heat, he found the inner wall by the fireplace and kicked at it several times. The wood splintered and eventually gave way, creating a hole big enough for him to crawl through.
His father had removed many of the bedroom walls and replaced them with thin sheet ply, all the better for drilling small, discreet holes to spy on the guests. As a boy, Simon had spent many an hour peeking through them. He pulled himself through the gap and entered the adjacent bedroom, then exited out into the hall.
“Kurt! Bernie!” Simon hollered as he approached the main staircase. “The fire extinguishers have escaped!”
Bernie was down in the great hall. He peered up at his master with a pallid expression, pointing towards the open main doors. “Sir, we’ve got a bit of a problem.”
Simon considered that an understatement of biblical proportions. He hobbled to the end of the upper hall and stepped out onto the balcony.
“There he is!” someone in the crowd shouted.
Half-blind, and in considerable pain, Simon tried to make sense of the scene below. It looked like the entire village had caught wind of recent events and had come to make a rescue attempt, which was unsurprising given that Sadie Laine seemed to have made a sudden reappearance. Simon’s feline attacker sat on her shoulder.
Yes, of course. It was all Sadie’s doing.
Georgia and Freya had slipped through the doors and were now safe amongst the retinue. Or so they believed.
“Oh, what a treat!” Simon crowed, his arms held aloft. “My loyal subjects come to swear fealty to their lord! Unfortunately, I’m rather busy at the moment, so if you wouldn’t mind giving my guests back and then kindly fucking off!”
“Shut yer mouth, Derwold!” Greg Clements barked. “You’re as loopy as yer old man.”
“Yeah, I knew there was something off about you!” Jill Sanders warbled in a shrill, near-hysterical voice. “You’re giving off weird vibes!“
Simon hunched his back over and began lurching round the balcony, his arms swinging back and forth. “Ooh-arrh! Ooh-arrh! Let’s burn the master in a wicker man!” He offered the crowd of villagers a contemptuous appraisal. “If I thought it’d appease you cretins, I’d give you a sack of turnips and a couple of sheep to fuck.”
“Come down ‘ere and say that, you posh twat!” Roger Baker taunted.
Simon gripped the handrail in both hands, baring his teeth in a rictus grin. “You filthy peasants! My ancestors would’ve run you out of the village at the point of a halberd for your insolence!”
“Oh, now the Lord of the Manor shows his true colours!” someone else cried. “Why don’t you crawl back into whatever hole you came out of? You’re not wanted here!”
“You… rotter!” Roy hallooed, brandishing his whisk like a madman. “Big bastard buggery bumhole! Think you can get away with kidnapping people willy-nilly?! I’m not having it! I’m not bloody having it!” The outburst drew a few odd looks from the crowd. Abashed, Roy lowered his makeshift weapon, then muttered, “Well, I’m not.”
Simon pointed an accusing finger at Sadie. “I see you, Laine! What have you done with Elsa? Did you set your vile animal on her, too?”
Sadie stepped forward. “I doubt Elsa’s coming back, Simon,” she said. In all likelihood, Elsa was currently working her way through the digestive tract of a mythical sea creature, but Sadie thought it wiser to keep things as vague as possible for now. Admitting Elsa was dead in front of the entire village would only create more problems for them later on. “It’s finished, do you hear me? Whatever you and Elsa were planning, it’s over.”
“It’s over when I say it’s over, you murdering trollop, and I say it’s the exact opposite of over – not over!”
“The manor’s on fire!” someone cried.
“Now would probably be a good time to vacate the building, Simon,” Sadie said.
“So you revolting bumpkins can tear me from limb to limb? I don’t think so, Miss Laine. You must think me awfully naïve.”
“The manor’s on fire!”
“Right, who keeps saying the manor’s on fire?!” Simon ranted. “Who was it? Come on, own up!”
An awkward silence ensued until someone sheepishly put their hand up at the back of the crowd.
Simon began clapping very slowly. “Oh, there he is. Clever boy! ‘The manor’s on fire, Mr. Derwold, sir! The manor’s on fire, the manor’s on fire!’ By the way, did I mention the effing manor’s on fire!'”
“I was only sayin’…”
“I can see it’s on fire, you buffoon! I can practically feel the flames searing the skin from my flesh! In fact, it was me who started the bloody fire!”
Bernard stepped forward with Sadie. “Now, look here, my good man. Come down and face the music while you still can. I’ll see to it you’re treated fairly.”
Simon leaned over the railing. “Kurt! Shoot Freya!”
“No!” cried Georgia, pulling Freya behind her.
“Kurt! Did you hear me? Shoot the girl! Shoot… someone!”
Kurt tentatively raised his little gun at the throng of villagers. Several men immediately stepped forward and aimed their shotguns at him and Bernie.
“What are you waiting for, Kurt?!” Simon wailed.
Bernard dropped his staff and strode towards the two men. He spread his arms wide. “Here’s where we are, chaps: These people have been good to me. They welcomed me into their village with open arms and I’m very grateful for their hospitality. I’m afraid I can’t let you hurt them. If you need to shoot someone, then let it be me. If the Gods are looking down on me today, then it is indeed a good day to die.”
Sadie put a hand on the druid’s shoulder. “Don’t be a plonker, Bernard.” Then to Kurt and Bernie: “Listen, you know as well as I do that Elsa was the one calling the shots. She’s gone. And Simon’s clearly batshit crazy. If you leave now, no one will stop you. Take my advice, lads – cut your losses and run.”
Bernie looked at Kurt forlornly. “Sod this, Kurt. This ain’t what I signed up for. There’s something seriously weird about this village.”
After some consideration, Kurt lowered his gun, then carefully set it down on the doorstep. The crowd parted to let the two men through.
“You cowards!” Simon called after them. “Go on then, fuck off! Good riddance!”
By now, the manor was fully ablaze. Great tendrils of flame licked at the building, and the roof had begun to collapse in on itself.
Up on the balcony, Simon seemed to barely notice. “Well, this has turned out to be an exceptionally shitty day. I hope you’re all pleased with yourselves, I really do.”
Sadie had one more go at persuading him. “For the love of God, Simon. Jump, before it’s too late.”
“Oh, I’m not one of God’s flock,” Simon said morosely. “A darker master lays claim to me. Farewell, Miss Laine. Perhaps I’ll see you in Hell one day.”
And with that, Simon Derwold retreated back into his burning manor. Of all the villagers present, it was only Millie that saw the dark, spectral hand emerge from the fiery interior, fingers that may or may not have simply been tendrils of dirty, black smoke reaching out for Simon, and two molten eyes that could just as easily have been smouldering embers amongst the conflagration.
But when those eyes fixed on her for a brief moment, Millie was sure the voice in her head didn’t belong to her.
I see you, child. I see you.
5
The police arrived the day after the manor burnt down. They had no records of ever having been contacted by Vivaan Dinesh – or by anyone else from Derwold, for that matter. Elsa’s sorcery had reinforced and amplified the old magics already present in the village. Derwold didn’t want to be visited by men with authority, so they invariably stayed away.
Nevertheless, a murdered vicar, a destroyed manor house, and a very incinerated Simon Derwold were serious affairs, and Derwold could not keep the outside world from its doorstep. The police spent the better part of a week interviewing residents, but each villager’s account of events was consistent enough to designate it an open and shut case: Simon and Elsa had kidnapped Georgia and Freya. Elsa was missing, presumed dead. The villagers had gone to rescue them. Simon had set the manor alight and perished inside. This is what the people of Derwold believed, so that is what they told.
Georgia and Sadie filled in some of the other gaps with truths and untruths. Elsa and Simon were Satanists. Freya had recently begun menstruating and they had wanted a ‘virgin’ to sacrifice. That led the police to the dead vicar, and then the Derwolds’ troubled history.
Case closed, the police left, and life in the village of Derwold returned to its normal shape. Georgia, Sadie and the girls spent much of the next few days sleeping, their bodies’ way of healing wounds both physical and mental.
Millie regaled her mother and older sister with tales so fantastical, it was hard to know how much of it was true until Sadie confirmed the wild account.
6
A few days later, Bernard came knocking at Beekeeper Cottage, his usual druid’s robe ceded in favour of a t-shirt and hiking shorts. A large rucksack was strapped to his back.
He found Georgia and the girls in the wildflower meadow, their heads protected against the heat of the midday sun by wide-brimmed hats. Bee trotted up to the druid with her tail wagging, and Bernard scratched her behind the ears.
“Ho, friends!” he hollered.
“Hi, Bernard,” Georgia said back. “I almost didn’t recognise you without your robe.”
Bernhard shuffled his feet awkwardly. “Ah, yes. Well, truth be told, I’d had enough of the ruddy thing. I gave it to Mrs. Jeffries. I think she was quite pleased with it. Hopefully, she’ll refrain from setting light to this one.”
Georgia pulled the hat from her head and mopped her brow with the back of a hand. “It was a very brave thing you did up at the manor, trying to protect the villagers like that.”
Bernhard waved the notion away. “Oh, no, no. It was foolishness. Heartfelt foolishness, but foolishness all the same.”
“Are you leaving?” Millie asked.
“Indeed I am, Millie. It was very good advice you gave me that day in the forest.” At this, Georgia and Freya exchanged intrigued looks. “If I can find the courage to stand up to a man with a gun, I’m damned sure I can stand up to my wife and children. It’s high time I went home and set things right.”
“I’ll miss you, Bernard,” Millie said.
“And I you, my young friend. But I’ll not have you mourn my absence. Weep not for poor Bernard.”
“I probably won’t miss you that much.”
Bernard looked mildly affronted when Georgia and Freya began chuckling, but was soon joining them in their laughter. “I have a parting gift,” he said, handing a gnarled and polished length of mahogany to Millie.
“But… that’s your staff!” Millie cried.
“No, young Millie. It’s your staff.”
Millie hefted the stave, carefully inspecting every inch of it. “It’s quite big, isn’t it?”
“I imagine you’ll grow into it. I suppose you could lop a few inches off.”
“That’s very generous of you, Bernard,” Georgia told the man.
“Thank you, Bernard,” an awestruck Millie said.
“You’re most welcome. Now, I must make haste before I miss my train. It’s been a pleasure knowing you all. Send my regards to Miss Laine, won’t you?”
Bernard hoofed the rucksack onto his back and strolled away. When he turned to wave one last time, he caught his foot in a dip in the driveway and toppled over. He rolled around on the floor trying to right himself, pedalling the air like a tortoise on its back, his cumbersome pack making it all but impossible.
“I, er, seem to have got myself into a spot of bother,” he said in the tones of someone who’d really rather not make a fuss over nothing. “Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.“
Freya and Georgia rushed over to help him up. Millie was too busy inspecting her new staff to notice.
7
A little over one week after their ordeal, having fallen back into their old routines, Georgia and the girls paid an unannounced visit to Sadie’s cottage. Sadie had been conspicuous by her absence these past few days, uncharacteristically so. Her and Georgia had exchanged texts and a couple of phone calls, but Sadie had seemed distant, cagey. It was unlike her.
When Georgia pulled the Beetle into Sadie’s driveway and saw the FOR RENT sign, the mystery only deepened.
They found Sadie in the back garden, poring over a stack of books piled high on her rattan coffee table, a large parasol shading her from the afternoon sun. She peered over her reading glasses as Georgia and the girls made their way over.
“Oh, hi,“ Sadie said.
“Hi, yourself,” Georgia replied. “You look busy.“
Sadie gave a sheepish smile. “I’m trying to double down on my studies. I’ve… well, I’ve been getting lazy these past few months. There’s nothing like a horde of the undead bearing down on you to make you realise it’s time to up your game.“
Georgia took a seat opposite her friend. “I mean, it’s not like that kind of thing happens every day.“
“No,” Sadie admitted. “But like you said, trouble has a way of finding me.“
“Me and my children had just been kidnapped. I said some things I didn’t mean.“
“But you were right. Trouble finds me because it’s meant to find me. If I don’t deal with those kinds of problems, who will?“
“It’s not your job to save the world, Sadie.“
“Isn’t it?“
They regarded one another across the coffee table. There was an undeniable tension between them.
“Girls,” Sadie said at last, “would you mind making us all some cordial? You know where everything is.“
Freya and Millie disappeared into the cottage.
“I saw the sign out front,” Georgia said. “Listen, you didn’t need to put the house up for rent. I know I was grousing about you not staying with us all the time, but I was being selfish. You have every right to your own space.“
Sadie was shaking her head before Georgia had even finished speaking. “Georgia… Georgia, stop. You’ve got it all wrong. That’s not what’s happening here.“
Georgia sat and stared at Sadie for a long moment. Finally, she gave her a sad smile. “You’re leaving.“ It wasn’t a question.
Sadie nodded. “For a while, at least. I was going to tell you and girls, of course I was, but… well, I was never very good at that sort of thing.“
“Where are you going?“
“I’m not entirely sure. I need to find out what happened to the covens. I have a few leads.“
“Chasing witches, huh?“ Georgia said, with a sharper edge than she’d intended.
“I came to Derwold to deal with Isabel,” said Sadie, “but I don’t think I was meant to stay in one place for this long. I’ve become too comfortable, too complacent. All this business with Elsa made me see that. I need answers, and I can’t find them here.“
“So where does this leave you and me?“
“I’m not leaving forever. I’ll be back at some point.“ Sadie gave Georgia an abashed look. “Would it be selfish of me to ask you to wait? Could you do that? Do I even have a right to ask that of you?“
Georgia sighed. “It’s not as if I have many dating options in this backwater, is it?“
“I need to do this, Georgia. But I don’t want to leave on a sour note. Will you give me your blessing? Please?“
Georgia let out a long breath. She fixed her friend and lover with steely eyes. “You better come back to us, Sadie Laine,” she said, echoing something she’d told Sadie that night at the old oak tree, when a herd of deer had escorted her and the girls away from danger, leaving Sadie alone with her cat and one very pissed off ancestor. You better be okay, Sadie!
Sadie gave a simple nod of the head. “I will.“
“The girls are going to miss you,” Georgia said. “Who’ll be your replacement at the school?“
“I’m working on it,” Sadie replied.
Freya and Millie emerged from the cottage with a pitcher of cordial and four glasses. Billy Buckham followed closely behind, still sporting a bald patch on the scruff of his neck where Simon Derwold had torn the fur out.
“Did I ever tell you how Freya and I managed to escape the manor?“ Georgia asked Sadie.
“No, I don’t believe you did.“
Georgia winked at Billy, who blinked his eyes languidly, though it was hard to tell if he was responding to Georgia or simply doing what cats do.
“Oh, it’s quite the tale. Nothing compared to selkies, sirens and hordes of undead, of course, but still…”
8
They marked Sadie’s departure with a picnic in the woods. Georgia made Dorset apple cake and posh sausage rolls with parmesan and fennel seeds, and Sadie brought scones, clotted cream, and a pot of homemade ginger and rhubarb jam. Of course, no picnic of theirs could be complete without a jar of Newton honey.
They’d chosen the most secluded spot they could think of – a waterfall glade in the deepest part of the forest, a magical place with moss-covered rocks and cool, clear spring water. The village children came here to play sometimes, but some residue of uneasiness still lingered in Derwold, enough to persuade parents to keep their little ones close at hand for the time being.
Sadie knew this was also where Astris now made her home, though she hadn’t shared that with Georgia and the girls. She didn’t feel it was her place to tell, and the dryad had earned her secrecy, if secret it was to be.
Freya and Millie had dressed in their best summer frocks, but Georgia had settled for cream linen trousers and a white camisole top. Sadie wore a long sarong skirt and a lacy crop top. Remembering the day she had swapped fashion tips with Astris, she wondered if the dryad would approve of this bohemian style.
They lay their blanket on the ground near the pool, and Freya and Millie wasted no time in tucking into the delicious looking treats. Georgia and Sadie merely picked at the food, more interested in savouring the bottle of strawberry wine Georgia had brought.
When their repast had been reduced to crumbs and empty bottles, the four of them sat at the pool’s edge and dangled their bare feet into the cool water.
“We should’ve brought our swimsuits,” Millie said.
“Ssswimsssuitssss!“ Freya said, mocking her sister’s new lisp.
“Shut up, you horrible girl!“ Millie shot back with a gap-toothed grin, splashing water onto Freya.
Freya shrieked in surprise, then splashed her sister back with a breathless laugh.
“Who needs swimsuits?“ Sadie said, pulling her top over her head.
“Uh, what if someone comes?“ Georgia said.
Sadie closed her eyes, then made a show of bringing the tips of her fingers up to her temples. “I do not sense anyone near,” she said in a mystical voice.
Georgia stared at her for a short span. “You’ve just completely made that up, haven’t you?“
Sadie offered an impish grin. “Yeah. Who cares if anyone sees us skinny-dipping?“ She stripped out of the rest of her clothes, then dived into the water.
Millie and Freya quickly followed suit. Georgia peered in all directions, gave a shrug, then began removing her own clothes.
In the heat of the midday sun, the cool water was nothing less than exquisite. Naked as babes, the four girls swam and frolicked in the pool, ducking and diving beneath the rippled surface.
Sadie stood waist-deep under the waterfall, sweeping her hair back as the water cascaded over her. A little head bobbed to the surface, and Sadie found herself smiling down at Millie. She drew the eight-year-old into her arms, cradling Millie against her breasts. The two of them nuzzled one another, the intimacy as natural to them as breathing. Sadie grasped the child’s bottom and hoisted her from the water. Millie wrapped both legs around her teacher’s waist.
Freya watched them make love with a wistful expression, at least until Georgia came up from behind and snaked an arm around her torso. Freya peered back to smile at her mother, and Georgia peppered soft kisses down her nape. Freya breathed out a contented sigh, reaching behind to seek out the fleshy lips of her mum’s pussy. Georgia let her own hand wander beneath the water and between her daughter’s thighs.
“Finger me please, Mum,” Freya murmured.
“If you do the same for me,” Georgia said, and immediately felt a couple of digits enter her. She slid a single finger into Freya’s pussy and pumped it back and forth.
Sadie had walked Millie to the edge of the pool and was now laying her down upon a carpet of lush, green moss. She made no effort to climb from the water herself.
“Are you gonna lick my pussy?“ Millie asked.
Sadie skimmed the palms of her hands across the clear water, taking in the sight of her naked apprentice. “I might,” she conceded. “If you ask me to.“
Millie drew her legs open. “Lick it, then.“
“Ask me nicely,” Sadie teased.
“Lick my pussy, please.“
“Not nice enough. You can do better than that.“
Millie grinned impishly. “Please, Miss Laine. Will you lick my pussy for me? Pretty please with bells on.“
Sadie nodded approvingly. “That’s more like it.“
She traced her tongue round Millie’s mons, teasing at the small mound before retreating to pepper kisses across the girl’s inner thighs. When Millie gave a pout, Sadie chuckled, then returned to dip her tongue into the crease of the eight-year-old’s warm sex. There she lingered, probing the tart, coppery flesh while Millie writhed beneath her.
Georgia took Freya by the hand and led her to the water’s edge where Sadie and Millie made love. She ran the tips of her fingers down Sadie’s spine, then climbed from the water with Freya. They lay down side by side and let their hands wander over each other’s nakedness.
Freya rolled onto her mother, and Georgia responded by twining a leg round her daughter’s thighs, drawing her into a lustful embrace. They moved their bodies against one another.
Then Georgia was steering her eldest daughter down her body, coaxing her towards the moist heat of her sex. Freya kissed her mother’s bellybutton, then nuzzled at the sparse patch of hair that Georgia always kept so neatly trimmed. She found her mum’s clit and took it between her lips, gently sucking. Her fingers probed at the fleshy folds beneath, two of them sliding inside with ease. Georgia hissed a blissful sigh, stroking her daughter’s hair.
Sadie climbed from the water, unable to resist tracing the crack of Freya’s arse with her fingers. She turned her attention back to Millie, standing over the eight-year-old, then lowering herself to her knees until her sex was poised above Millie’s mouth.
Millie licked her lips, knowing full well what was expected of her. Sadie prised herself open with two fingers, then brushed her pussy back and forth across Millie’s mouth. Millie poked her tongue out, letting it glide over the rosy flesh of Sadie’s inner labia. She breathed in her teacher’s musky scent, her nose bumping Sadie’s clit on each pass.
“You’re awfully good at that,” Sadie told her apprentice. “I really have taught you well.“
“I’ll take some of the credit, if you d-don’t mind,” Georgia groaned, arching her hips as she came in Freya’s face. “Oh, yeah, baby girl!”
Sadie ground her clit on Millie’s mouth until her own body demanded release. As the orgasm oozed out of her, she cradled Millie’s head, then dipped her fingers into the twitching heat of her sex. When she withdrew them they were slick and creamy. She popped them into Millie’s mouth.
“I like the taste,” Millie told her with a grin.
Their own needs met, Georgia and Sadie lay side by side and tasted the girls while Freya and Millie propped themselves up on their elbows and watched with interest.
“Who’s the best at licking pussies, Freya?“ Millie asked as Sadie went at her. “Mum or Sadie?“
“Dunno,” Freya replied. “I kind of like the way Mum puts her tongue right in and – oh, wow – swirls it round like that.“
“Yeah, so do I. But I also like how Sadie flicks her tongue everywhere.“
Hearing their oral skills reviewed so openly, Georgia and Sadie could only share amused looks.
Freya thrust her pelvis towards Georgia. “Okay, shush now, Millie. Mum’s gonna make me do an orgasm.“
Mother and teacher brought their girls to climax, then leaned across to offer one another communion, sharing the taste of Millie and Freya.
9
Afternoon at the waterfall glade passed with more wine sex. Sated, Millie and Georgia dozed off in each other’s arms, the lush green moss soft and cool against their skin. Sadie sat with Freya between her thighs, weaving braids into the girl’s hair.
“I’ll miss you,“ Freya murmured. “So will Millie.“
“I know. And I’ll miss my apprentices.“
Freya shook her head. “I’m not your apprentice. I never was.“
“Oh?“
“It’s okay, Sadie. I know I don’t have any magical powers like Millie, and I never really wanted to be a witch in the first place. It was just nice to be a part of it for a while, you know? But I’m starting a new school soon, and I want to find my own path. I just need you to know that.“
Sadie put both arms around Freya’s shoulders and pulled her close. She rested her cheek against Freya’s. “That’s all I ever wanted for you… for all of you. To go out into the world and be who you were meant to be. I’d never try to hold you back. I already cried my tears for you back in the classroom, remember? I already let you go, Freya Newton.“
“I guess I had to let you go, too,” Freya murmured.
Georgia was stirring, reaching for her clothes. “Oh, crap.“
“What’s the matter?” Millie asked, rubbing her eyes.
“We have company.“
Sadie followed Georgia’s line of sight. There was a figure standing by the trees at the edge of the glade, watching them. It wore a dark cloak, the hood pulled up around its face, too far away to determine gender or build.
Sadie’s fingers were tingling, as were Millie’s.
“Who is it?“ Freya asked.
“I don’t know,” Sadie replied, “but I have a really bad feeling.“
Soon to come: Chapter Twelve!
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