A World Full of Spooky Stories by Angela McAllister

Author:Angela McAllister
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books
Published: 2019-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

EUROPE

A STORY FROM ENGLAND

THE ELDER TREE WITCH

Once, there was a farmer and his family who had a small herd of cows. Their farm was a lonely, windswept place without a single tree for shelter in wild weather, but the farmer kept it well and his cows produced the best milk for miles around.

However, one day, when the farmer went to milk his cows, he found they had no milk to give.

The following day the same thing happened again.

“Something’s not right with those cows,” the farmer told his wife. “There isn’t a drop of milk in them. It’s as if they’ve been milked by somebody else.”

The farmer depended on the milk he could sell at market, so late that night, he went out to check on his herd.

The moon was shining brightly as he walked toward the cows. Suddenly, close by the hedge, he saw the shadow of a tree. The sight of a tree where no tree should be sent a shiver down the farmer’s spine, for everyone in those parts believed that a witch could turn herself into an elder tree. Quickly he rounded up his cows and drove them out of the field and down to a little meadow close to the farmhouse.

“You’ll be safe here,” he told them, and he hurried inside.

The next morning, the farmer told his family what he’d seen.

Granny, sitting by the fire, listened with a frown. “There never was a tree on this farm,” she muttered. “It’s something unnatural, you can be certain of it.”

At that moment, the farmer’s daughter who’d been out feeding the chickens came running in, as white as cream cheese.

“Father,” she gasped, “there’s a big tree standing in the meadow with the cows!”

“What tree is it?” asked the farmer’s wife.

“An elder tree!” the daughter replied.

“I thought as much,” uttered Granny darkly. “It’s a witch, for sure.”

At these words, the family was struck with terror. The farmer’s daughter ran around the house shutting the windows and locking the doors while her father fetched his gun.

“I must go out and protect my cows,” he cried.

“Bravery is not enough,” said Granny. “You need a silver bullet to kill a witch!”

The farmer remembered that a silver button had come off his Sunday coat and asked his wife to find it.

“I’ve already stitched it back on,” she told him, but she took her scissors and snipped it off again.

Meanwhile, Granny stoked up the fire with wood. Then she picked up the big iron shovel that was used for raking out ash and shoved it in among the flames.

When he had the silver button, the farmer loaded it in his gun. “Now, open the door a crack,” he said to his wife, and he raised his gun to take aim. However, to his dismay, the elder tree had moved and now stood right in the middle of his herd of cows.

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