The Crow Folk by Mark Stay

Author:Mark Stay [Stay, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781471197987
Google: uxTjDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2021-02-04T00:00:00+00:00

22 BLACK SALT BURNS

Faye was rooted to the spot. It was one thing to convince everyone else that these scarecrows were real, but to be so close to one in broad daylight brought its own special kind of fear. Its blackbird head didn’t help Faye’s nerves much, either. It kept twitching and darting from side to side. It was unnatural. Inhuman. Straw given life.

‘Come closer.’ Charlotte beckoned the blackbird scarecrow towards the wall. Faye watched as it hesitated, as if expecting some kind of trap. ‘I promise, I won’t hurt you,’ Charlotte said gently, as if speaking to a child. The scarecrow shuffled nearer to the wall. ‘Stop.’ Charlotte pointed to the long trail of black dust on her side of the wall. ‘See that?’

The blackbird scarecrow peered where she was pointing.

‘Black salt,’ she said, waving it closer. ‘Come. Hop over. Careful now.’

The blackbird scarecrow did as it was told.

‘That’s it. Don’t cross the line, not yet,’ Charlotte told him, then added, ‘Your kind may not cross this. I have protected the village, do you understand?’

The blackbird scarecrow stared at her with little sign of comprehension.

‘A demonstration, perhaps,’ Charlotte said. ‘Come forward, just a little, yes, that’s it. A little bit more… a little bit more…’

The blackbird scarecrow inched its slippered feet across the line. Faye watched them blacken. A small spiral of white smoke puffed up from each foot like the first wisps of a bonfire. The blackbird scarecrow quickly drew its feet back.

‘You see?’ Charlotte glared at it, her voice harder. ‘Cross this and you will burn. All of you. Go away and do not come back. Understand?’

The blackbird scarecrow looked up at Charlotte. It had crossed stitches arranged in squares for eyes and it did not appear to be breathing.

‘Go and tell your master,’ Charlotte said. ‘He will know what this means, and if he’s half as clever as he thinks he is, he will stay away.’

The scarecrow remained where it was.

‘Maybe… maybe it don’t speak English?’ Faye found her voice, though she was still breathless and awed.

Charlotte shot Faye a silencing glare, then raised her chin, closed her eyes and muttered under her breath. Faye couldn’t make out the words, but there was something in their rhythm that reminded her of the rituals in her mother’s book.

Light flashed, leaving streaks of green and purple on Faye’s retinas. Heat brushed her cheeks as a section of the black salt burst into flame.

‘Go. Shoo!’ Charlotte jolted forwards and the blackbird scarecrow vaulted back over the wall and fled like a startled child. It ran in zigzags between the trees before vanishing from sight. Charlotte muttered more words and the flames guttered into white smoke.

Faye was half blind and giddy. If her mind wasn’t playing tricks, she had just seen an actual witch do some actual magic. ‘What’s… what’s black salt?’ she asked, half afraid to know the answer.

‘Two parts salt, one part coal dust and ash,’ Charlotte said, picking up her black bag. ‘I’ve had to burn a lot of coal and wood to create the ash I need to protect the whole village.

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