Spellcast Waters by Janet Post

Author:Janet Post [Janet Post]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tell-Tale Publishing - Thistle Imprint
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Riko knelt on the hard floor next to Oz’s feet. They were inside the weirdest building she’d ever seen. The floor had to be some type of rock, maybe slate, because it felt smooth and hard. Her stomach ached as she looked over the pieces of meat spread out across the black floor. Bits of nut-crusted, cooked meat scattered everywhere when Oz smacked the fat witch’s hand. Her stomach growled. She was so hungry.

The fat woman lurched off her couch and punched Oz in the arm before she picked up the plate and snatched a piece of meat off the floor. “You always were a little toad, Oz.” Her face brightened. “Maybe when Salome’s through with you, she’ll let me turn you into one.”

Her slimy, black teeth flashed as she chewed, and saliva poured down her chins. “There’s nothing for you to be worried about girl, its just candy.” She smacked loudly on another piece while she talked, spraying spittle over Riko. “Have some.”

“No thanks,” Riko said as she wiped stinking slobber off her face. “I lost my appetite.”

The sight of the witch’s slovenly eating habits turned her stomach. She remembered Oz telling her not to eat anything. When Riko thought about what he might have meant and what kind of meat might be under those nuts, she shuddered.

She looked away. Two feet from where she sat, an open door led to a room seething with tropical vegetation. Heat and a terrible stench emanated from the room. It smelled like a rotting corpse which blended horribly with the musky smell issuing from banks of black candles. She scooted further from the woman which brought her closer to the open door. A vine lifted off the floor and felt its way toward her.

“Oz, that plant is moving.”

He turned his head to look. “Oh, crap.” Oz mumbled a few words, grabbed her and pulled her next to him. “If it gets any closer let me know.”

When he put an arm around her shoulders, she huddled against his body. “You can move,” she whispered.

“Shhhh! Not much.”

When the vine slithered toward one of the nut-crusted pieces of meat, the fat woman grabbed her plate and hurled it at the vine. The plate hit the wall and shattered into a hundred pieces. The vine rapidly withdrew into the greenhouse. “Damn, vicious plants’re always hungry.”

“What was that?” A tall, black-haired woman walked into the room with a bulky, brown book under her arm. It looked old, the cover worn smooth. Loose pages and scraps of paper stuck out everywhere. She stroked the cover with one hand, her fingers caressing the tan leather. The blonde man stepped behind her. He was a head taller than the woman and wore his dark coat buttoned under his chin. His eyes were the scariest Riko had ever seen.

Riko recognized the woman as Salome, Oz’s mother, when she bent down and smiled into her face. “Who do we have here?”

The fat woman pointed at Oz and said, “Your son knocked my plate of treats on the floor.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.