Bewitched
I checked my phone; No signal. Three hours had passed since I entered the forest. I wasn’t even certain that I should be walking north. If I had missed the car park, the forest carried on for miles, and I may have already overshot it? Also, I couldn’t be certain I was going north. It was midday, so the shadows should point north – I was navigating by shadows!
Going to the forest seemed a great idea. You wouldn’t normally find me walking in the forest; but when I found out that Julie from accounts took her dog to the lake on Sunday morning, I decided to go. Julie always smiled at me, and we had a little chat in the canteen queue once, when they’d run out of rice. I had parked my car, found the lake, and walked around it. The lake was large, with a small island in the middle. I was planning to stay for a while until I heard that noise in the bushes. I thought it was a dog, so I followed it, thinking it might be Julie’s. I kept following it; until I was sure it wasn’t her dog. Then, I wasn’t even sure it was a dog.
After I stopped following the dog creature, it had started following me and now it was by a cluster of trees. I was trying to work out what it was. I thought it could be a fox, but it was too big and its coat was not red. I didn’t think it could be a badger, although I knew nothing about badgers. I was sure it couldn’t be a wolf though, there are no wolves here, are there?
Then my phone died. If I could just find someone to ask directions, I’d be fine; why was no one around? I tried to find the lake again, but I couldn’t retrace my steps. I was lost. I looked at my watch; it was just after two. I continued down the narrow path, getting scratched by brambles. A howl from behind distracted me. It was that creature again.
The forest had become dense now, with stout oaks and tall chestnuts garnished with brambles and ferns. I was hungry, so I picked a handful of blackberries. I looked at my watch again, just after two. Jesus, that’s stopped working now. I was trying to decide which way to go; whether to change direction when I saw the eerie burnt skeleton of a tree. The deformed tree had been struck by lightning, but in the distance, I noticed a plume of smoke. Some life – if there is smoke, there must be someone near. That was the direction I must go.
As I walked on, the forest became dim and murky. The tree trunks were gnarled and deformed, many covered by thick, dark ivy. I could no longer hear any birds. I stopped and looked back at the skeleton tree; the creature was there. It looked straight at me. I could see now. It really was a wolf, but it gave a whine and set off back the way we had come. Good, it had stopped following me; I must be going in the right direction.
After twenty minutes, I thought I saw someone in the distance. It looked like an old lady, with corrugated grey hair. She looked a bit of a tramp, perhaps she lived in the forest. I approached her slowly. I could that see she was gathering things in the basket; I thought at first she must be picking blackberries too.
She turned to face me; she was quite hideous with a large crooked nose, encrusted with warts. “Hallo there.”
She wrinkled her brow, “Yes.”
“I wonder if you can help me. I appear to be lost.”
“Lost,” a crooked smile came over her face, if anything, it made her look more repulsive.
“Yes, I wonder if you could tell me how to get back to the car park?”
“Carpa?”
“Yes, the car park,”
Her brow furrowed even more. “Did you want the castle?”
The castle? I knew of no castle around this area. “Ugh yes, the castle. Which way is the castle?”
“West.”
“Is – uh, this castle far?”
“No, not far.”
I looked at the two baskets the woman was carrying; the first had mainly brown mushrooms and green leaves and the second had white and red mushrooms, together with even more leaves. “How far is not far?”
“Not two days away, on foot.”
I wasn’t sure if she was having a little joke, then she added, “You could be there tomorrow night.”
“So, you’re collecting mushrooms, are you?”
“I am.”
“Why haven’t you put the mushrooms in one basket and the leaves in the other?”
She tilted her head and frowned, “No, no – you don’t mix up the poisonous, with the edible.”
I gave a weak smile. Why on earth would you collect poisonous things?
“Are you hungry?” she asked.
I was, but I looked at the mushrooms, “No.”
“Not mushrooms. I have some cake.”
I did fancy a piece of cake, but I wasn’t sure about this odd-looking woman, “Uh – yes, that would be great.”
She went to her pocket and unwrapped the muslin from a piece of cake. It looked okay. I munched on the cake and looked around the dark forest. The sun had come out, and the forest was looking brighter now. I could even see some birds. I think they were rooks. The cake was lovely; this woman was an excellent cook. Perhaps I had been wrong about her. In the light, she looked a lot younger. Her hair was not grey, but blonde and her skin was fair. She smiled at me; I couldn’t help noticing how much she reminded me of Julie. I smiled back.
“Come back to my coven, I mean my house,” she said.
I couldn’t think of any reason I shouldn’t, so I followed her back to her house.
A few months later.
I was in Morgana’s garden tending the herbs. The plot looked green and tidy; I was using a long stick to remove the weeds. Something distracted me, horses in the distance; eventually four horsemen galloped up to the house. They looked odd, clad in shiny silver armour, and they were all armed with swords, just like knights. The horses slowed and stopped outside Morgana’s house. One knight came over and looked down at me.
“What are you doing, fool?” he said.
I looked around, as I wasn’t sure that he was addressing me.
“Yes, you fool; where is the witch?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea.”
The knight took his sword out and waved it in my direction. “Don’t play the jester with me. Where is she?”
I was alarmed; the sword looked real. “Look,” I said, “I will ask Morgana.”
“What a good idea,” smiled the knight. “He is going to ask Morgana where the witch is?”
The other knights were chuckling.
“Percival, wait a moment. I think the lad is bewitched.”
Percival dismounted from his horse and looked me over. “I believe you are right.”
“It looks like the witch has been up to her old tricks,” said Gawain.
Just then, Morgana appeared in the doorway and Percival walked over with his sword and pointed it towards her. “Perhaps you can explain why this lad is doing your gardening?”
“Hey,” I said, “don’t point your sword at a woman.”
Gawain rode over to me and pushed the tip of his sword into my chest. “That creature is no woman.”
The sword was sharp. It dug into my chest; these knights meant business. I looked across the Morgana; I didn’t want them to hurt her.
“The lad is helping,” said Morgana. “He’s a relation.”
“Don’t make me laugh,” said Percival, prodding his sword into Morgana. “This lad isn’t related to someone like you.”
“Stop,” I shouted, “have a care, the lady is with child.”
“What,” cried Gawain, still pressing his sword into me. “Is it true, Percival?”
Percival turned to face us. “Yes, I think the lad is right.”
“So, fool,” said Gawain, “would you be the father of this abomination?”
“I am the father.”
“Verily, the lad has been bewitched. It is worse than we supposed. We will have to take Morgana back to the castle. Truss her up, lads. I don’t want any of her spells.”
I didn’t know what to do, the other two knights dismounted and tied up Morgana. Then they placed a leather bag over her head to stop her from seeing. After that, they hoisted her onto a horse and secured her.
She was so brave. “What will happen to her?”
“Don’t worry about her; we will deal with her.” I don’t know what the Baron will do with her, but this was her last chance.”
I watched as the three knights left, two of them on the same horse. “Goodbye, Morgana, hope to see you again.”
The knight shook his head. “That won’t happen. Now, what are we going to do with you? You can’t stay here. Where are you from?”
“Would you know the car park?”
Gawain shook his head, “No.”
“Well, do you know the lake with an island in it?”
“One Island Lake, I think so. Is the fishing good there?”
“Uh, yes, I believe so.”
“Okay, fool; get on the back of my horse, I’ll take you there.”
We rode towards the lake, once there Gawain stopped, and I dismounted.
The knight turned his horse around. “Goodbye, fool. Take care.”
I watched Gawain ride off through the forest and then I looked down at my watch. It was working again, and it now said half-past two. Over in the lake, two ducks were swimming in the water. As I walked over, a dog came towards me and started sniffing. Its owner, a woman called it, I looked up.
The woman stopped. “Goodness Jack, is that you? You look a right state, when did you grow that beard?”
“Morgana,” I said, “thanks goodness you’re safe.”
“Morgana?” the woman frowned, “Jack, it’s Julie from accounts.”