Chapter 17
17
Salem was alive, the air practically fizzing with excitement, and Dora could feel the energy as she walked through the pretty streets, her boots crunching on the fallen leaves that covered the uneven red-brick sidewalks. The crowds of people dressed as witches, ghosts and ghouls outnumbered the people dressed like her and Lenny. She felt positively underdressed. There was a queue thirty people deep outside a black house with a wooden sign swinging in the breeze that read ‘The Witch House’.
She glanced at Lenny who didn’t even look in that direction, purposely keeping the pair of them on the opposite side of the street. ‘What is that place?’
‘It’s the only surviving house in Salem from the witch trials. And the bastard that lived there.’ She stopped herself from saying anything more, but Dora couldn’t tear her eyes away from it. They continued down Essex Street, past a Pennywise, a huge Frankenstein and lots of witches. There were so many shops selling all manner of witchy things that Dora knew her mouth was open in awe at the sights and sounds. They reached what Dora knew, or at least suspected, was the common. The large expanse of grassy park had trees lit up with thousands of orange fairy lights and a huge bandstand in the centre, with lots of small white tents with vendors selling their wares. There was a large hotel called The Hawthorne just before the common with blue and gold canopies adorning each ground-floor window and a giant golden eagle above the entrance. As they walked among the stalls, Dora spotted one selling broomsticks.
‘Look. If we are what you say we are, we could get a couple of those broomsticks and fly around.’
‘Besoms, Dora, we don’t call them broomsticks and, unfortunately, flying’s never been something any of us could master. It would be perfect when the streets are this crowded, I’d forgotten how much I dislike other people’s body odour mingled with scent of popcorn.’
Dora could smell popcorn, toffee apples and hot dogs but not anything else. She stopped in her tracks as a terrifying Pennywise walked towards her and Lenny, his mouth all bloody, jagged teeth and a handful of red balloons clutched in one fist. Lenny hissed, ‘I hate that clown.’
Pennywise stopped in front of them, then did a theatrical bow to Lenny who shook her head. He offered Dora a balloon which she took from him, and he smiled.
‘Well, it’s been a while, Ms English, how are you keeping? I’ve missed you.’
‘I was good until I saw you, Brandon. A scary clown, really?’
Lenny shook her head and he threw back his and laughed so loud the people around them stopped and stared, shocked to see Pennywise laughing so hard.
‘Your Aunt Lenny is such a spoilsport; I have no idea why she won’t put on her costume and give the crowds what they want.’
Dora smiled. ‘What do the crowds want?’
‘What does anyone who comes to visit Salem want? A witch, a real witch, one who can levitate and do magic. They want to know that they exist. Your aunts are the real deal, it’s a shame they spend all of their lives in denial. They could work it for all that it’s worth and then some.’
He took hold of Dora’s hand and raised it to his cherry-red-stained lips, gently kissing it.
‘Miss Dora, you need anything you come find me over at Crow Haven Corner. I live above the pub next to it at the end of the pedestrian walkway. I am always at your service, I’m so happy to see you both.’
He let go of her hand and turned to the crowd watching them.
‘Want a balloon?’
Lenny pushed Dora away from him. As the crowd opened up to let them through, Dora handed the red balloon to a small boy who was smiling at her. They were walking back up Essex Street now, or at least attempting to but there were so many people. As they passed one shop doorway Dora jumped to see the most life-like Freddy Krueger standing still, in his dirty red-and-green jumper and brown fedora. Lenny kept on leading her on. Dora lost count of the number of Sanderson Sisters that they walked past, but she knew she was falling in love with this strange, beautiful little city. Everywhere she looked there were witchy shops selling spells, trinkets, hats, costumes, books and everything else an aspiring witch could wish for.
‘Is it always so crowded?’
‘October is the busiest month of the year; I do think it’s great for the local businesses but dreadful for the people who live here. We have a mutual friend, Ambrose, who usually opens Sephy’s shop up around ten a.m., it’s not really busy until after lunch. I recommend you pop in first thing and introduce yourself to him.’
Dora nodded, and wondered why her aunt was so desperate for her to meet this Ambrose guy.
‘Where are we going now?’
‘To Sephy’s shop. You need to know where she spends most of her time when she’s not home.’
Lenny stopped and Dora knew she was hiding something.
‘What is it with the big secrets you two keep hiding? And who have you got cooped up in that bedroom? I heard you earlier, there were three voices.’
Lenny kept on walking so fast that Dora had to almost jog to catch up to her. They rounded the corner and there was a quaint, very pink shop. Lenny muttered, ‘Oh God, she didn’t.’ Dora laughed; it was even prettier than the front of Sephy’s house. There was a garland of pink and white flowers surrounding the door with tiny pink pumpkins and silver witches attached to it. Wind chimes tinkled as Lenny slammed the front door open and stepped inside. Dora was almost disappointed to see the inside of the shop wasn’t the slightest bit pink. It was full of old wooden glass cabinets and shelves upon shelves of glass bottles, there were beautiful crystals in baskets and on the huge pine dresser that filled an entire wall, lots of dried herbs, tarot cards, cups and mugs galore, but not one book in sight apart from a few leaflets. Above the counter was an old-fashioned wooden sign that read, ‘English Sisters I mean, I literally have no words.’
‘Well, that’s good because it doesn’t matter if you do. This is my shop, you left a long time ago, Lenny. Dora, would you like to take a quick peek inside the heart of the place before my next customer arrives?’
She nodded and Sephy held back the soft black velvet curtain for her. She walked around the counter and past the curtain just as the shop door tinkled and three women all wearing pointed witch hats walked in.
‘Lenny, be a dear and cover for me.’
Lenny gave Sephy a death stare and she let the curtain drop, cupping a hand to her mouth to stifle her giggles. Dora smiled; she adored her Aunt Sephy’s happy manner and light-hearted way of looking at things.
‘She’s going to kill me,’ Sephy whispered. ‘But, you know, she is half owner, it won’t hurt her to do her part and serve a few customers. Besides, they will buy a jar of tea and a couple of crystals then leave, this isn’t what they’re looking for.’
‘How do you know?’
‘I just do, I have a gift of reading people deep inside of their souls. Something tells me that you want to know about the person in the bedroom because you heard us, or you’re very astute?’
Dora nodded, unable to find her voice. She pointed to the round table on which sat a Ouija board on a black velvet cloth, next to that a spread of tarot cards.
‘Are you not scared of that thing?’
She shook her head. ‘It’s just a tool, one of the many tools I use. If I’m honest I don’t tend to use it very much, I don’t need to, but it gives the customers a bit of satisfaction to see it sitting there. The damn thing is as reliable as the newspapers, it’s always getting things wrong and sending messages from the wrong people.’
‘What about the bad spirits and demons?’
‘They can only come through if you let them, dear, and I am very strict about it, I chase them away if they start to try and get through. After you’ve been around as long as I have, you realise those needy little pests are just attention seeking.’
‘Oh.’
Sephy laughed. ‘It’s all a matter of perspective, Dora. I have been on this mortal plane more times than I care to remember and over the years I have met some horrid humans far worse than anything that board could conjure. Now, I suspect that Lenny will not want to be the one to tell you this, but there’s somebody else you need to meet.’ Sephy’s tone was light and breezy, but she looked down at the floor, and Dora felt a wash of sadness come over her.
‘Someone else? I have two aunts, one who lives in the most beautiful house and owns the most wonderful apothecary, and I didn’t know about any of this. It’s kind of hard to believe. What about my parents? Would my mother have been a third English sister?’
‘No, dear…’
Dora felt confused. ‘There are more than three?’
‘There’s just the four of us. You, me, Lenny and Lucine…’
For a moment Dora didn’t understand what Sephy was saying. And then it clicked. Her mother was alive.
‘My mother’s alive?’ Dora felt her stomach twist. Everything she knew had been turned upside down. The shop door closed, and Lenny stepped through the curtain, her face aghast.
Sephy looked at her and shrugged. ‘We have to tell her sooner or later; we don’t know how long Lucine has left.’
Lenny sat down heavily on one of the chairs, her head bowed. Dora looked at her, then back to Sephy.
‘Why have I been living with you in London instead of here with my mum?’ Dora exclaimed. ‘What do you mean “has left”? Are you saying she’s dying? I don’t even know her, why would you never tell me about her, this is unfair.’ Her stomach had knotted itself so tightly that she could hardly breathe. ‘Why were we kept apart from each other, and what about my dad, where is he? Is he not dead either?’ She glared at Lenny. ‘Why have you never told me about her? Why have you kept me from Salem? You lied and told me my parents were dead?’ Dora was pacing up and down the small room, the shock and betrayal making it hard to focus.
Lenny sighed as if the weight of Dora’s questions was physically pressing down on her shoulders, her face looking pinched and even paler than it usually did.
‘It’s complicated, Dora. I took you away to keep you safe. As for your father, he was nothing but trouble and I knew it the moment he breezed through the village on that dapple grey horse of his with his bag of tricks. He stole your mom’s heart and her virginity, leaving her pregnant and alone in the most unforgiving place on earth. All he gave her was that blasted grimoire, full of spells that he swore would change her life for the better, only we knew that doing any of them would put all of our lives at risk. It was him who brought the magic into our lives and left us alone to face the wrath of George Corwin’s noose.’
Dora felt as if her mind was about to explode. How was it even possible that she had a whole other life she’d known nothing about?
‘Keep me safe from what?’
Sephy was standing with her hand clamped on Lenny’s shoulder, she spoke directly to Dora.
‘From him. From the witch hunter.’
Dora closed her eyes, this all sounded like some Grimms’ fairy tale.
‘The witch hunter? What does that even mean? Have I just fallen down a black hole and found myself inside “Hansel and Gretel”?’
‘Unfortunately, no, sweet child. That is what George Corwin is and always has been. He chases us. He hunts us. He never gives up; he stalks us no matter where we run to, which is why we decided to keep you away from Salem this time.’ This time? Dora could barely understand what Lenny was saying. ‘But I fear he found you in London anyway. He used to leave sprays of forget-me-nots for me, and when that man gave you some I realised that he might have found you anyway.’
A cold chill settled over Dora’s shoulders that seemed to envelop her in a cloak of ice so cold it made her shiver.
‘What do you mean, he might have found me?’
Lenny looked at her. ‘Those flowers, he gave them to you. The ones that you and I both know are out of season this time of year.’
‘He said his name was George Corwin.’
Sephy looked at Lenny. It was her turn to look horrified.
‘He came to my shop for some funeral flowers, his girlfriend had just died.’
Sephy took both of Dora’s hands in hers.
‘Did he seem familiar; did you recognise him perhaps, his voice, his manner?’
‘I thought I knew his eyes; they were so dark, and I remember thinking that I’d looked into them before, but I didn’t recognise his face.’
Sephy turned to Lenny. ‘Did he know who she was or was he just guessing?’
‘I think he would have moved fast if he’d been sure it was her. He can’t have been convinced.’
‘Erm, could you please not talk about me like that, it’s very weird and unsettling.’
Sephy stood up and patted her arm. ‘Of course not, Dora. It’s difficult there’s so much to talk about and do, but we need to put it in order of priority. Did you tell this man you were coming to Salem?’
‘No, I did not. There’s only my friend Katie who knows. Oh God, she’s running the shop. Is she safe? Would he hurt her to find out where I am?’
Panic filled Dora’s voice and she pulled her phone out of her pocket to text Katie. She checked her messages and felt a wave of sickness rush over her. Katie hadn’t read the message she’d sent earlier, and Katie always replied to messages even in the middle of the night. She never put her phone on silent, always telling Dora she was too nosy to miss any gossip.
‘I have to go back to London and check on her.’
Her aunts screeched at the same time. ‘You can’t, you simply can’t.’
‘Until today I had no idea any of this existed. And I don’t understand half of what you’ve told me. But one thing is certain, Katie has been my best friend since I went to college, and I can’t leave her in danger.’
‘Honey, it’s almost one in the morning in London, she might be out or exhausted after working the shop. Can you phone someone else to check on her, what about Mabel?’
Dora nodded. ‘I can ask Mabel to check the shop, she has a spare key; will I be putting her in any danger though?’
Lenny nodded. ‘Possibly. Why don’t you ask her to check the shop when it should be open in the morning? You could phone Katie’s parents or the police and ask them to check on her for you.’
‘I can’t drag her parents into this, they’re elderly and live too far away. Seriously, what are the police going to say when I tell them my friend is in danger from a witch hunter?’
‘Not a lot, I should imagine they may tell you to stop wasting their time.’
Sephy looked down and Lenny nodded. ‘Good, that’s good. Maybe ask Mabel to check her in the morning but for now I need you to turn your phone off, just in case.’
‘Just in case what?’
‘Please, it’s been a long day. Katie is fine. There’s a lot going on and we don’t want to worry about anyone tracking your phone. Turn it off and we’ll get you a new one tomorrow. Let’s go and say hi to Lucine, she’s been waiting a long time to see you again.’
‘Okay.’
Dora felt all her anxieties draining away at the thought of meeting her mum. Just then, the shop door tinkled again.
Sephy smiled at them both. ‘Perfect timing, my customer is here. I’ll catch you both at home – try not to tire Lucine out too much and have fun.’
She walked through the velvet curtain, leaving Dora staring at Lenny, who shrugged.
‘Come on, we’ll go out of the back door and take the long way home to avoid all those people outside the Witch House.’
They left, Lenny softly closing the door behind them. It was dark, the alley a lot more peaceful than the mayhem they’d walked through on the way here. Dora realised that after all these years of wishing she’d known her mother that she was finally about to meet her, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that.