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This is the second post of this book, I posted the first one earlier. You can see it here. I decided to divide the post into two because it was quite long. I need all your feedbacks once more. Thanks a lot.
Chapter Two: The Witch In The Cave(Part 1)
“Wait, what do you mean by you met a witch?” Milo asked as he turned his face to look directly at Mary’s face.
“And what do you mean by a real witch?” Marvin chipped in.
Mary just looked at the both of them with a smile on her face and said, “Don’t worry, we will come back here and I will show you people”.
Mary walked past them towards the school bus and Milo and Marvin stared at her in disbelief.
She turned around and said, “come on let’s get on the bus, before other people take our seats”.
They both hurriedly get on the bus and didn’t say any word to each other throughout the entire journey home.
The next day was a Saturday, and there was no meeting Mary till Monday. The weekend seemed to crawl, that Saturday was the longest in history and there was Sunday. Milo was counting the seconds, he had not been excited for a Monday before.
Finally, Monday came, and he was off to school, first person he met was Marvin, it seemed two of them had a similar weekend experience.
They both stood outside and waited for Mary to arrive; they didn’t have to wait long. Mary’s uncle, Mr. Hawkins was always on time. As soon as she got down from the pickup truck, the boys were already waving at her.
She looked at them and smiled, she waved back, turned around and said a few things to her uncle, and he waved at Milo and Marvin, and then he drove off.“So Miss witch finder, what a cliffhanger”, Marvin teased. “You had me looking forward to a school day, bravo to you”.
Mary let out a little chuckle and said, “Anyway, I saw what I saw and I said what I said, you boys are supposed to clear your schedules, so we can have a date with the witch”.
Milo looked at her with a bit surprised, “So, it wasn’t a dream or a joke, you actually saw something in a cave on Friday?” he asked.
“Not something, someone. A living, breathing person was in that cave, and we spoke to each other, she was the one that told me that my friends were looking for me, I thought she was talking about the hide-and-seek at first, but then she said I had to go but I should promise her that I would return later”.
Mary narrated.“Please tell me you didn’t promise her anything”, Marvin inquired.“Well, she looked bored and in need of company, and she kind of gave me chocolates that she made appear out of nowhere, so yeah, I made her a promise and I’m going back there, with or without you people”. Mary said and walked away from them.
They both looked at each other in disbelief; this was more serious than they thought. Marvin ran after Mary and asked, “What kind of chocolate are you talking about? Can she do ice cream as well?”Mary laughed. Marvin looked at her and said, “I’m in”.
And they both looked at Milo and asked in unison, “What about you?”Milo replied, “Of course I’m in, I can’t let you people have all the fun without me”.
“So we are going there tomorrow after school, agreed?” Mary asked.
They both nodded in agreement. “I will tell my uncle that I will be in Milo’s house working on my science project after school, so we move from Milo’s house after school”, Mary said.
“Wait, why are we going from Milo’s house, when my house is closer to the beach?” Marvin asked.
“Because my parents are not around till its dark, and I’m the only one at home”, Milo replied.
“That’s fair enough then, so see you tomorrow after school”, Marvin said.
“What are you talking about? See you tomorrow? Are we not going to the same class?” Milo asks jokingly.
“You know what I mean”, Marvin replied.
All through the school hours, thoughts and stories of witches had occupied their minds, robbing them of whatever focus their adolescent minds could have mustered.
Marvin imagined the witch would be old, haggard and dirty. Images of a wizened old woman wearing a musty dark shawl with pointy fingers and crooked teeth yellowed by all the children's blood she had drank consumed his mind, filling him with an ominous sense of dread and danger.
All day he nursed doubts about their little field trip, feeling the fear growing, wrapping it's tendrils round his throat. But he couldn't back out. Not when his friends were going. Whatever happened he had to protect them.
Milo on the other hand, imagined the witch would be quite beautiful and ethereal, with magical green eyes and fire red hair, like the ones in the stories his old nan used to tell him. His nan had told him old tales of the shinelu witches who could read your mind and grant you your deepest desires. Would the witch read his mind? He wondered Maybe she'd even grant him a wish, he thought excitedly.
There was only one person who could have their minds at ease, Mary, had been uncharacteristically unforthcoming, deflecting all questions and asking them to "wait till after school".
It promised to be an interesting adventure.
That day and the next, classes went by like the wind, Marvin was so excited; he wore a Harry Potter shirt to school that day. Milo would look back at him during classes and giggle.
On their way to Milo’s house, Marvin went in search of an ‘Elder wand’, he walked off the road to a nearby tree, and he picked up an innocent twig lying beside a heap of dry leaves. He held it between his index finger and his thumb, like ‘You-know-who’ would hold his magic wand and was shouting, “Abracadabra” at any and everything.
Mary looked at him and said, “I’m sure you know the correct spell is Avada Kedavra”.
“Well, well, abracadabra is an older spell, as old as magic itself and most likely the inspiration behind J.K Rowling’s lesser powerful Avada Kedavra”, Marvin retorted.
Marvin always seemed to have an answer to every question and explanation to anything he was doing.
They arrive at Milo’s house, have lunch and ride out on the bicycles in Milo’s house. It didn’t take long to get to the beach. As soon as they got there, Mary took the lead, and led them to the cave directly like she had a map.
As they walked into the cave, her steps were slowing down. Milo noticed the reluctance and asked if she was okay. “I’m fine”, she replied. “Just that I’m starting to think, this might not be a good idea after all” she continued.
Milo looked at her and said, “If you want to go back right now, it’s okay.”
Marvin looked at the both of them and asked, “What do you mean ‘go back’?” “We are almost there or unless your ‘real witch’ isn’t real after all”.
The three teenagers stood in the dimly-lit cave thinking about what to do next, a voice from inside the cave said, “Marvin is right you know, you are already here, the least you can do is to say hello before leaving”.
Marvin was in shock, fear written all over his face because it was very clear now; someone else was in the cave and that someone else knew his name.
As they stared into the darkness of the cave in horror, the voice continued, “Mary, what took you so long, I was beginning to think you wouldn’t keep your promise”.
At this point, it was clear that a real witch was somewhere in the cave. Or someone was playing a very bad prank.
They started walking towards the voice, Milo leading the pack this time, followed closely by Mary and then Marvin. After some seconds, they were standing in the presence of a living breathing human being.