“Come on, we’re almost at the top!”

“No we ain’t! The map says ‘The Sorcerer’s Bridge’ is two kilometres away from the peak, and that’s where we’re at!”

I rolled my eyes at my friends’ bickering.

“Marlin, your map’s from a hundred years ago! It’s useless!”

“Don’t take it out on the map, Miss Taking-our-phones-along-will-kill-the-hiking-vibes!!!!”

Rhonda harrumphed. She stomped away from Marlin, and my eyes widened. In two long strides, I reached her and yanked her wrist.

She let out a small yelp as she looked at the sheer drop below.

“Th-thanks, Pat.” She smiled wanly.

“Anytime.” I grinned. My friends looked terrified, staying ten feet away from the edge.

“I think it’s best that we stop for tonight, unless we want one of us to get smashed to smithereens by the end of the hour. There’s plenty of dry caves around here. Tomorrow, we’ll either find a way outta here or turn around. Plus, we get to talk about the merit of Marlo’s map.” I probed around and found a dry, roomy cave.

“This’ll do!” I yelled. No response. I peaked over my shoulder to find nobody in my vicinity. I groaned.

“Guys, not funny! It’s been a long, tiring day, and I’m not in the mood for tricks! Now get here this instant, or I’ll push you both off this ah!” I finished with a shriek, as I felt cold, rough hands grip my ankles and tug me backward. I tried to scream, when a lined palm covered my mouth.

“Patricia!” I whipped around, and saw my friends staring back at me. They’d both been pinioned against the wall by two figures that stayed in the shadows. The cave was by far the biggest of any I’d ever seen. The walls had strange symbols carved over them, and torch brackets were nailed into stone. In spite of my terror, I was intrigued.

“Will these ‘uns do?” A raspy voice sounded.

“Perfectly.” Another one replied, sounding scarily delighted.

Immediately, my friends and I were thrown down on the ground in front of us. We looked at each other, horror-struck. Suddenly we heard cackling from all around us. The torches in the brackets were lit, sending each little feature of the cave into sharp relief. Including our kidnappers.

Warts, hats and flowing robes. That’s all we could see all around us, but it was enough. Enough to tell us we were in the presence of...

“Witches.” Marlin whispered, and the cackling eddied.

“Sisterhood of the ‘Warkamha Witches’!” A loud, guttural voice thundered across the cave. “A blessing has been bestowed upon our humble coven this fine night. ‘Tis three young humans who’ve wandered into our lair!” The cackling started again. “But we’ll have to eat Butch here. Pity too, he’s a pretty one.” Marlin gulped as one of the witches dragged her talon under his chin.

“At least he’ll have some meat on him.” More cackling, but there was something different. Their voices sounded... normal, now. I frowned. My friends had noticed too. In fact, apart from their appearances, they seemed pretty average.

“Excuse me... witches?” Rhonda asked nervously. All sixteen witches looked up at once. “If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly do you mean by initiation?”

“Well, we’ll perform some ancient rituals, call upon the devil, anoint you with the blood of your male buddy, after which we’ll feast on his corpse and what-not. It’s really quite an elaborate process. Tiresome sometimes, but sadly witches are bound by the ancient laws.” And the witch sighed so deeply, that I would’ve felt very sorry for her if she hadn’t just described, in very gory detail, how she would murder my friend.

“Wait a minute.” Rhonda frowned. “You’re no witches. That’s not how initiation works. There’s a lot more brutality, but it’s quite simple. Good ol’ gore.”

The witches grins faltered. Once again, they sighed.

“Damn. I told you we should have sprung for the expensive costumes, Martha.”

They turned to us. The leader spoke. “The proverbial game is clearly up. We’re a bunch of phonies. We have a YouTube channel. We’ve tried to start pranking people. Hopefully that’ll coast us over to two-hundred subscriptions!”

We left after the astonishing revelation and a promise to subscribe. Right as we settled for the night, Marlin turned to Rhonda.

“Hey Ronnie?”

“Yeah Marlo?”

“How come you knew so much about covens and witches?”

I should’ve known something was wrong when we found the clearing. The rest of the forest - the sheer jungle - that we’d just spent the better part of three hours tracking through was overgrown. It stank of the earth - unsurprisingly - of things growing and rotting in perfect harmony with each other. But its colours were muted, faded greens and browns that had mushed together over time. When Marcus stepped on a twig, it didn’t snap. It squelched.

“What I wouldn’t give for a desert assignment right now,” Marcus moaned, rubbing feet that were equal parts wet and blistered.

“Keep yourself together, Private,” I replied, but not unkindly. Marcus was my best friend, after all.

“Wait, what’s that?” Marcus’ gaze was razor sharp, locked in something beyond the thicket of trees facing us.

“A clearing?” I guessed, my vision not being as good as his, evident in the spectacles that dangles from a chain around my neck.

Not giving a moment’s pause, Marcus stalked through the underbrush, mindless of the foliage he was destroying.

“Damn it,” I muttered, taking off after him with a heavy sigh.

When I eventually staggered through the wall of trees, cursing when thorns prickled my palms, it was the sound that hit me first. A delicate, dreamlike melody that softened the hard line of my shoulders.

Laughter.

“Marcus?” I call out, but my voice sounds distant, even to my own ears.

Smoke wafts through the clearing in iridescent plumes, softening my vision. I shake my head once. Twice, trying to clear it, but it clings to me, steadfast.

I see Marcus ahead of me, in deep conversation with a hooded figure.

Strange, I think, I don’t remember seeing them before. Then they throw back their hood and a tumble of grey curls fall out.

“Do you agree?” the witch wonders. For of course she’s a witch, with her gnarled nose and sunken cheeks.

Marcus nods blithely, extending a hand for her to shake and it’s only when their palms connect that I realise what a terrible idea this hiking trip was.

Sweat stung his eyes, slid down his temples. Even his jeans were damp. Shorts weren't an option. In the Texas brush, you had the least amount of bare skin possible. Brambles, prickly pear, and every other damn thing that could grow, could and would bite, scratch, or mess your ass up. So, jeans, boots, a thin button-down, and hope you don't get heatstroke. Wells wiped the back of his hand against his eyes, and came to a stop. Balancing on the sloping rock road, Wells called out. Ten feet ahead, Lorena and Jr halted and then backtracked to where Wells stood. They took a breath and traded the water canteen around. They spoke little, hardly more than clipped one syllable questions and answers. Despite the sporadic cloud cover, it was hot and very humid, and their patience was thin and their moods lacking. However, fence lines had to be checked, even ones that ran up the side of a mountain. As Wells was screwing the canteen lid back on, he noticed a spot of light beside his boot. He looked at it a moment, then reached his hand out over it. “Wells, what are you doing?” Jr asked. Wells ignored him and moved his hand. Judging from the angle, the light was coming from behind him. Their sister took notice, and immediately her eyes caught the shine on the ground. Wells saw that Jr had caught it too. “What is that?” That was Lorena. Wells straightened up from where he’d crouched down, and he turned around. He jerked back abruptly when he saw a man staring back at him. His hand snapped towards his revolver and he leveled it at the strangers eyes. The man, who was appeared to be around Wells’ age, was bedraggled and gaunt, with filthy hair and grimy skin and scars, particularly a thick one circling his throat. His clothes were tattered, though Wells noticed a buckle at his waist. Oddly polished, which he suspected caused the speck of light. “Who are you?” Wells asked, keeping the gun trained on the man. He was conscious of Lorena aiming her own pistol beside him, and heard the sheer glean of Jr drawing his buck knife. They were in the middle of nowhere and on private property, so yes, they were going to be slightly defensive. Or perhaps hostile was a better word. Seemingly undaunted by two guns and a blade pointed in his direction, the man took a step forward, smiling with yellowing teeth. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen other people.” Wells wavered a little. He spoke with...breathless wistfulness. “Come with me, you can meet the others.” “Others?” “Yes, yes. Though Ginger is still as a fox. She refuses to change back. And I suspect Nova is causing the unfortunate weather. They're not in the greatest moods, but maybe you three could change that.” Alright. So. This was...not normal. At all. “Alright, why don’t you take us to them?” Both Wells and Lorena turned to their brother, guns still up but ludicrous expressions on Jr. His face tightened, and turning a little he mouthed “Go with it.” “Good, good. It’s not far, just follow me.” And with that, the man stepped back into the brush and began to head through the cedars. Wells stood, ready to protest, but Jr was shoving them both forward and talking lowly. “That’s old man Tampki’s son.” The path they were walking was a game trail, which though well used, was still a game trail and that meant low hanging branches and places so thick that they were practically tunnels. Wells was accumulating a nice number of scratches and nicks on his face. A muffled swear told him the branch that slid off his arm just smacked his sister in the face. “Old man Tampki, the one who lived next to us? The guy who killed himself?” Wells had a distant childhood memory of the man. Healthy as a horse and mad as a hatter. “Yes.” “ I though he killed his son too.” Lorena pitched in. “Yeah, so did I.” Wells came to a halt, watching the back of the man continuing to walk ahead. He seemed to be talking to himself. Wells swallowed, and said quietly, “I think he tried to.”

Author’s note It’d be really damn great if we could get some italics on here. And I hope the subtext of this was apparent.

Oh boy, oh boy. I’m allowed to come out on a hunt with the Prince and his two knights. The Prince is on his horse and he holds up his jousting stick. One of his knights is in all black, also riding a black horse. He has a mace. He’s like a dark knight. He’s pretty cool. And then you have the other one. The knight on foot. He’s got a funny moustache but at least he doesn’t look like a giant like the other two. He’s the one that invited me to come along on a hunt. The Prince didn’t mind as long as I can keep up and hold their weapons when they get tired. I can’t wait.

I’m a squire. I want to be a knight. I want to be a Prince but that only will be possible if I marry a princess. I don’t know any princesses, so I’ll have to be a knight. We are climbing up a hill which we have been climbing for several hours and the horses are treading warily upwards. The knight on the ground is huffing and puffing. We find a cave and the Prince raises his free fist to tell us to stop. The Lance pointing to the Heavens.

“My darlings...” An old crony woman creeps out and she walks out with two woman.

“I am the Prince!” The prince announces in a boastful voice.

“Why, it’s a pleasure to have you visit.” She replied with a hint of sarcasm. She looks at me and I can feel her eyes digging into my soul. They moistened as if they had lips they were licking.

“Are you hungry?” She inquired. Still staring at me intently.

I was.

“We have only been out for a few hours but yes, we shall come in.” The Prince announced.

Author’s Side Note: Told in first person by me the narrator. Lols.

“One foggy, spooky evening, I was out hiking with some of my friends. Two of my friends, were my girlfriends Brooke and Ella. The other two, were my best guy friend Brock and also my friend Michael Nussear as well. As we were talking and laughing, and enjoying the scenery, we noticed a coven of witches. Obviously, my curiosity was peaked and the opportunity to go check it out was much too good to pass up, so I used my Special Kawaii Powers of persuasion and I was able to persuade my friends to check it out with me, and what we saw was totally unexpected....”

What did my friends and I see? Why was it so unexpected? Find out in my new YA Novel “Midnight Lake Hike 🌚🌛🌜🥀🌲🌹🎋🌺🌊” when it comes out on March 9, 2021!

Madeline blinked in surprise and moved the red curls out of her face, to see if that made her vision clearer——but no one was there. How was that possible? Her group was right there a moment ago.

“Hello!” Madeline called out into the darkness, looking for her lost group, with her flashlight in hand. “HELLO!”

No response. A silence seemed to rest over the forest. No crickets chirping or people talking——the only sound Madeline could hear is her own heartbeat, loud and fast.

When did it become so quiet? When did it become night? It felt like some part of Madeline’s brain blanked out.

“Guys, if this is a prank——,”

“It’s not a prank,” a chilling voice spoke up.

Madeline gasped and turned around to find three witches, almost glowing. But not with a welcoming kind of light, but a shady kind. The kind of light only used to make shadows, that’s dismal but strong.

There were three of them, long hoods covering their faces. One was front and center, while the other two were slightly behind, and to the right and left, forming a triangular shape.

Madeline froze in place. She knew she should run but at the same time, Madeline felt lucky that her legs were even keeping her up. She felt faint.

“Do not be scared,” they all spoke at once, as if the same person was in 3 different bodies. “We want to invite you to our coven,”

“Coven?” Madeline barely found her voice. “Y-you want to make me a witch?”

“Yes,”

Madeline gulped.

“Why? I- I’m not powerful,”

Suddenly, in a synchronous motion, all the witches looked up, revealing eyes like two inky black orbs. Madeline almost fainted.

“Your hair,” they echoed. “That is a powerful color. That is rare. The color of human blood. And fire,”

Madeline shivered, thinking of her messy mahogany curls. She liked to think it was the color of rubies, the color of cherries, the color of roses. Not fire. And certainly not blood.

“Um… what happens to me if I become part of your coven,” Madeline was trying to find a way to say ‘no’ without saying ‘no’.

“You will be brainwashed, given humongous power that you will not be able to control without the coven members, become one of us by becoming one of the coven’s aspects,”

“Aspects?”

“I am Envy,” said the one to the right, in a monotonous voice.

“I am Vindictiveness,” said the one to the left, in exactly the same voice.

“And I am Hatred,” said the one in the middle, zero evident emotion.

Then in a chorus, they all said, “And you will be Frightening. After-all, nothing is stronger than fear. And we will be a complete coven which will take over the world,”

“You know,” Madeline stuttered, slowly backing away. “Fire is really orange, not red,”

“And if you refuse,” the witches, in turn, took steady steps closer to her. “We will feed on your insides. Just like we did to the other hikers,”

Madeline tripped and fell on her back, her heartbeat loud in her ears.

One choice clear.

Finally, Madeline took a deep breath, stood up, and forced a smile. “You know what? The opportunity seems to too good to ignore. I’d love to be a part of your coven,”

She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to suppress the tears, wondering if there’d be any chance of escape from this situation.

Knowing there was none.

The mountain trail went on forever. Great tall pine trees loomed overhead as the path winded ever further up. Each step sounded the crunch of gravel and earth and their breaths mingled with birdsong.

They had been walking for almost three hours and Beth could overhear the other three talking about their plans for the summer while she trudged behind wishing she hadn’t finished the last of her water. Her legs were burning and she wondered if her Vans were really the best footwear for a hike. A rest was needed.

Within seconds of the thought bright light broke through gloom, and and the path was lit up as the trees melted away behind as the path began to lead up to a giant house, defying physics somehow as it leaned over the mountainside.

The house gave Beth a sense of renewed energy and she caught up with the Temi, Amy and Mia as they all stared up at the mansion together.

‘It’s beautiful’, said Amy ‘Should we go up there?’ Mia asked Temi, who had organised the hike, nodded. ‘Yeah, it’s where the path leads and we should be near the top in an hour.’

Beth nodded in silent agreement. They walked up the trail and it passed the front of the house. Long rectangular windows looked out over the mountain and also gave them a view of inside. Four girls were inside the house making food. As they walked along the path past the door one of the girls from inside smiled at them through the window and opened the door.

‘Hey there! Do you want some water and some food? We’ve got tons!’

Beth immediately nodded, along with Mia and Amy but Temi answered for them.

‘We’ll be okay thanks. How long is it to the top?’ ‘A couple hours from here. You can’t be going up there now surely? It’s about to rain!’ Beth looked up and saw that the girl was right. The sky had gone grey and dark clouds were gathering. Rain started to splatter Beth’s face.

‘You can stay in here with us for a while!’ ‘Are you sure? We don’t want to bother you’ ‘Of course, it’s fine. Come in, come in.’

The matter settled, Beth, Amy, Mia and Temi rattled in through the doorway as the rain began to fall heavier.

The girl led them to the front room where they met the rest of the group and they all introduced themselves. ‘I’m Temi, that’s Amy, that’s Beth and that’s Mia.’ The other girls came and hugged each of them respectively and Beth caught their names; Destiny, Faith, Hope and Eden. Eden, the girl who offered them shelter then offered Beth a glass of water, and Beth went into the kitchen with her, while the others all sat on a U shaped sofa in front of a fire.

Beth thanked Eden for the water and devoured it so quickly that Eden smiled and brought her a second glass. ‘It’s a long walk, you must be tired.’ Beth smiled. ‘It’s the first hike I’ve done in years, my legs don’t won’t to move for another ten years.’ Eden laughed. She put a hand on Beth’s thigh in such a way that Beth didn’t jump back or ask what she was doing. ‘How does it feel now?’ Beth walked a few paces. Nothing. Her legs felt as though she had hardly walked at all, in fact they felt stronger than they had ever done. ‘What just happened? My legs feel amazing’ ‘Have you heard of Wicca? We’re Wiccan here and we can do special things. I’m sure you must have realised it before now.’

Beth thought back to how the weather changed immediately and how they had found the house as soon as she desperately wanted a rest. A feeling inside her knew that Eden wasn’t lying yet she wasn’t afraid. ‘Wiccan? What is that?’ Eden smiled. ‘We can do things, heal people, read minds, even see the future. We’re humans in case you were wondering, but our abilities are not. We only reveal ourselves to those who we think are worthy of sharing our gifts.’ Beth was taken aback. ‘You think I’m worthy?’ ‘You all are. Even Temi, though she will find it the hardest.’ ‘I can learn magic? You’re not joking?’ Eden put a hand on her shoulder. Instantly Beth felt a surge of energy and she stood up straighter. Beth looked her in the eye. ‘Okay, I’m in.’ Eden smiled.

“It’s getting darker out here, are you sure this is the way back to the cabin?” Alex said in a scared tone.

“I’m pretty sure.” said Wendy.

“Well what’s that light up ahead?” Marcy said while pointing to a faint light that was about ten feet from where they were standing on the path.

The girls started to pick up speed thinking that the light was the cabin they have been searching for all night.

“That’s the not the cabin.”said Wendy

Instead the source of light was a lantern hanging from a log cabin that had vines growing on the sides of the wooden walls.

“Can we help you?”

All of the sudden, three beautiful women were pointing their wands at the girls and stepping out of the darkness to greet them.

“Sorry! We were just trying to find our way back to our cabin.” Alex said.

The women put their wands away.

“Sorry we didn’t mean to frighten you ladies, we just got back from looking for ingredients for our potions.” said the shortest lady.

“You’re witches!?” Marcy said.

“You have nothing to fear, we’re nothing like the stories that have been spreading around town, we are just trying to live our lives without riots in these woods.” The tallest witch said.

“Sorry we didn’t come here to intrude on your ladies’ cabin, we thought this was our cabin.” Wendy said.

“Would you girls like to stay with us for the night? I’m Raven, this is Ebony, and the tallest one is Mona.”

“Are you sure we wouldn’t be intruding?” said Marcy.

“Not at all! Come, let’s all step out of the cold.” said Ebony as she started to walk into the cabin.

Marcy laid their on the witches’ hard wooden cabin floor talking to Raven that night.

“You know, we’ve never believed the stories our town has told us, about you witches being dangerous.” Marcy said, “we’ve actually thought you guys were more magical and beautiful than dangerous.”

“Have you ever thought about becoming one of us?” Raven said.

Marcy stared into Raven’s dark, purple eyes and said with confidence, “Yes.”

The group of was hiking much deeper into the Appalachian forest than they had ever been before. They had decided this was the weekend to hike in and stay they night so they had brought sleeping bags, camp food and even a small stove to make soup,for dinner and coffee for dinner. There were four of them, longtime friends who had met in college and remained steadfast to each other over the last decade. The annual hiking vacation was always a reconnection of their bond.

“This looks like a good spot”, Marni said throwing her pack on the ground next to the stream. “Flat ground and good water. What more could we want?”

Sally threw her backpack and bedroll next to Marni’s and stretched. “God but it feels good to get that off”, she laughed.

Within a few minutes, Krissy and Linda were busy spreading out their bed rolls and setting up the camp stove along with a campfire. It was warm now, but the group was experienced enough to know as soon as the sun set it would be chilly this far up the mountain. It was a gorgeous spot and the mountains stretched up,and away all around them. They sun was setting and the stars popping out along with a huge full moon.

Linda reached into her pack and pulled out a box. “Tada! Special treat to celebrate our 10th reunion! Boxed chardonnay!”

“Only you would haul that all the way up here, but YIPPEE!” Marni fished in her pack and pulled out her collapsible cup as did the others and they were soon settled with wine, cheese, and a camp soup starting to bubble on the stove. Laughing and talking over each other they were catching up on the past year, they were totally taken by surprise when a woman walked out of the dark woods and approached their campsite.

“I mean ye no harms,” the woman had her hand in front of her showing the women she as carrying nothing. “Your joy called to me through the trees. It is happiness ye seek?”

They were all in shock, staring at the woman who seemed to have materialized from nothing. Sally was the first to find her voice.

“Well hello there. We’re longtime friends visiting here. Uh, do you live here? “

“I does. With my own sisters. We also comes together at times of the full moon and have done so for many years. We don’t wish to bother yous, but just to talk. Be it okay?”

“Uh....well...I guess. How about it, girls? You all okay with a visit from some locals?”

They all nodded, and the odd woman turned and walked back into the woods.

“Well this is weird,” Linda said. “What strange speech she has. Some kind of dialect? I have never heard anything quite like it.”

“My guess is this is a kind of mountain family. Just be on guard, ladies. Do all of you have your trail knives handy? I’m just saying to be prepared.” Krissy stuck her knife into her heavy socks and the others did the same.

They heard a rustling, and were shocked to see the woman coming back followed by a line of other women. They were different ages, and the leader, the first woman they had met seemed to be the oldest, somewhere in her sixties. The others ranged from a young girl in her teens to several in their 40’s. The group totaled six women and they all came into the firelight smiling and finding places to sit.

The old woman smiled broadly. “We is grateful for the fire and the talks. We brought gifts to share.” She nodded at her group and one by one the women pulled out biscuits and cakes and fruit and set the food on the tarp next to the stove.

“Wow. That looks wonderful,” Marni said, meaning every word. “I am so sorry we don’t have enough soup to share but we can add the rest of our cheese and meat and we can have a feast. And you can tell us who you are. We are just old friends who live in different states now, but who meet once a year to talk and enjoy each other.”

“That be a good thing,” the old woman said. “We be some the same but we lives together. We be sisters of the Goddess and all have chosen to be of one group. We lives in the forest and live from the good of the land. We is also healers and hags.”

One of the other women, a beautiful woman with long black hair and strange, deep black eyes continued. “Our purpose in life is to do good. Many have called us witches but we are merely followers of the Goddess. People in these mountains come to us for potions and lotions and midwifery. I used to be a doctor in the other life but left to join the Sisterhood. It is a joyful, purpose driven existence.”

There was a lot of talking that night. The four hikers were astonished to learn that these women were a motley group. There was the doctor, another a former herbalist and one a businesswoman who had walked away from the madness of consumerism to live a simpler life. At one point, the forest women stood and began a slow, beautiful dance to an ethereal song that they sang together is perfect harmony. They reached down and pulled the four hikers into their dance and it was wild, and free, and freeing to dance under the full moon with this group.

Suddenly the old woman, the obvious elder, clapped her hands and the forest women stood in a circle around the hikers, laying their hands on them.

“Do you feel that?” Sally whispered. “That....power....or something.”

“There’s a strange buzzing in my head,” Marnie replied.

They stood that way for several moments and then the Elder said, “We does that you for the gift of your joy and we leave you with a bit of our spirit. Come again to us. We will always find you if you come. Join us if yous wishes. We are in you as you is in us. “

As silently and suddenly as the women had come, they disappeared into the forest.

The hikers crawled into their sleeping bags. There was little conversation because they fell deeply, so peacefully into sleep. The next morning and all the way through their hike out, their conversation was quiet, gentle, and deeper than ever. They shared things they had never shared with each other before and they felt their sisterhood in a deeper place. Love surrounded them and would ever be so over the next decades. They had become their own sisterhood of the goddess.

“Jane where in the world are you taking us? We have been walking for hours. I mean Levi is barely keeping up.” “I’m fine!” He wasn’t really though, huffing and puffing as the walked deeper into the trees, Levi the younger of the three friends had fallen behind more and more. His short frame was made for long slow walks, like a Hobbit but not these high paced waltz into nowhere.

“How are you holding up Levi? We are almost there!” Jane who was leading the group was a slender brunette with the style of Jane Godall and the athleticism of Lebron James.

“I’m okay, I promise but if you don’t mind me asking we are almost where?”

“Yeah Jane you never told us where you were taking us, and I think that we have walked far enough to know now.” Always the cautious one, Gillian had surprised her friends when she agreed to leave her tv screen and follow them into adventure.

“Okay listen. Yesterday I came upon a clearing, weird right?” Gillian looked bemused “Not really weird. People cut down trees what’s new about that Jane?”

“People cut down trees, but these people left some of the branches in a circular pattern. I think it might have been for a ritual or a festival or something.”

“Let’s hope for a something. I don’t think I have the energy to join a festival.” Levi had finally caught up, his favourite Ninja Turtles shirt was drenched in sweat.

“Well we will see In a second, the clearing is just on the other side of this brush.”

The children found themselves in the clearing as expected but what they hadn’t expected was finding a circle of hooded figures chanting in unison, until they noticed the children and silence fell.

Gillian was the first to speak. “So sorry we didn’t meant to interrupt, we will just turn around and head home now.”

Speaking with one voice the hooded figures responded.

“Don’t be scared, we have been expecting you. Besides it is too late for you to leave now. We are the coven and we invite you to join us for some food and sleep. Tomorrow morning if you choose to leave you are more than welcome to. But tonight we have something special for you.