Sparkle Witch_A Novella by Helen Harper

Author:Helen Harper [Harper, Helen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-12-03T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

I was halfway to the train station when I realised that I’d been so diverted by Winter that I had forgotten to check the train timetable. There were some days when I really missed being a taxi driver.

Despite my pleas to the contrary, my driving licence had been revoked as a result of speeding. I tried to point out that speeding was out character and that I preferred to take things slowly; in fact, the only reason I’d been speeding at all was to stop a serial killer in his dastardly tracks. My words fell on deaf ears, however, and I was now forced to rely on public transport or the goodwill of others to get around. Normally it wasn't an issue; it was easy for me to prevail upon witches of various Levels to drive me to where I wanted to go. But this time I was going it alone. If this really was a plan to destabilise Winter, I didn't want any witnesses when I smooshed the perpetrator into the December-frosted pavements. And smoosh them I would.

Unfortunately, when I finally arrived at Oxford’s railway station the train I wanted was already pulling out of the station. Letting out a small shriek of alarm, I did the only thing that I could.

On the far side of the embankment, and just beyond the platform itself, stood several pretty trees. Given that this mission was a result of a Christmas tree having almost fallen on top of me, I didn't feel bad about sending out a surreptitious rune in the direction of the nearest oak and causing its trunk to snap so that the tree careened onto the train tracks with a heavy thud. There. Magic might not affect the technology of trains but that didn’t mean I didn’t have plenty of tricks up my sleeve to get them to do what I wanted.

A moment later the train came to a juddering halt and it dawned on me that it had been pulling into the station rather than leaving it. All I’d succeeded in doing was delaying its departure. Oops.

There were several gasps of horror from the hovering commuters and two station guards rushed over and gazed in dismay at the blocked railway line. I coughed awkwardly and sidled up.

‘I don’t understand,’ the older one was saying. ‘There’s not been a breath of wind all day.’

I winced.

‘Those trees were planted by the great engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel!’ the other guard said. ‘They’re part of our heritage! They’ve stood there for close to two hundred years. I can’t believe one has fallen down.’

To be fair, there were still two left. All the same, I felt distinctly crappy. I cleared my throat. ‘Uh, I can help.’

They both turned to me and I noted a flicker of recognition in the older guard’s eyes. ‘You’re that witch,’ he said. ‘The one shagging the new Hippopotamus.’

‘Ipsissimus,’ I said helpfully.

He frowned slightly. ‘That’s not a word. The leader of the witches is the Hippopotamus.’

I opened my mouth to argue then decided the effort simply wasn’t worth it.

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.