The Twilight Watch: by Sergei Lukyanenko

Author:Sergei Lukyanenko [Lukyanenko, Sergei]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Horror, Vampires, Fantasy
ISBN: 9780099489948
Google: OesvoixyvkYC
Amazon: B0031RS6S2
Goodreads: 17427917
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2004-01-01T11:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 5

ARINA WAS BREWING a potion – just as any self-respecting witch should – in her little house in the forest. Standing by the stove with the oven-fork in her hands, holding a cast-iron pot that was giving off clouds of greenish fumes. And muttering:

Spindle tree, white furze – a pinch,

Rocky cliff sand – quite a sprinkling

Heather branch and skeleton of finch

Pustule squeezings – just an inkling.

Edgar and I went in and stood by the door, but the witch didn't seem to notice us. She carried on standing with her back to us, shaking the pot and chanting:

More white furze and spindle tree,

Three tail feathers from an eagle . . .

Edgar cleared his throat and continued:

Kneecaps of a bumble bee,

And the collar off my beagle?

Arina started violently and exclaimed:

'Oh, good heavens above!'

It sounded perfectly natural . . . but somehow I knew for sure that the witch had been expecting us.

'Hello, Arina,' Edgar said without expression. 'Inquisition. Please stop working your spells.'

Arina deftly thrust the pot into the stove and only then turned round. This time she looked about forty – a sturdy, full-fleshed, beautiful countrywoman. And very annoyed. She put her hands on her hips and exclaimed peevishly:

'And hello to you, Mr Inquisitor! Why are you interfering with the spell? Am I supposed to catch the finches and pluck the eagle's feathers all over again?'

'Your ditties are no more than a way of remembering the amounts of the various ingredients and the right sequence of actions,' Edgar replied, unmoved. 'You'd already finished brewing the light footfall potion, my words could not possibly have interfered with it. Sit down, Arina. Why not take the weight off your feet?'

'How's that supposed to improve things?' Arina replied sullenly and walked across to the table. She sat down and wiped her hands on her apron with its pattern of daisies and cornflowers. Then she glanced sideways at me.

'Good morning, Arina,' I said. 'Edgar asked me to act as his guide. You don't mind, do you?'

'If I did mind, you'd have ended up in the swamp!' Arina answered in a slightly offended tone. 'Well, I'm listening, Mr Inquisitor Edgar. What business is it that brings you here?'

Edgar sat down facing Arina. He reached under the flap of his jacket and pulled out a leather folder. How had he managed to fit that under there?

'You were sent a summons, Arina,' the Inquisitor said in a soft voice. 'Did you receive it?'

The witch started thinking. Edgar opened his folder and showed her a narrow strip of yellow paper.

'1931!' the witch gasped. 'Oh, all those years ago . . .No, I never received it. I've already explained to the gentleman from the Night Watch that I went to sleep. The Secret Police were trying to frame me . . .'

'The Secret Police are not exactly the most terrible thing in the life of an Other,' said Edgar. 'Very far from it, in fact . . . So, you received the summons . . .'

'I didn't receive it,' Arina said quickly.

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