While Hildegarde was peering through the Searching Glass at the decrepit roof of Doom Dump, deep inside the house itself Linda was skulking in the shadows outside the scullery where Marissa had taken Jenna.
Linda needed a few minutes to get her spell ready for the upstart Marissa - a spell that would make Dorinda's elephant ears look like a party trick. And as she went over the spell in her mind for the last time, strengthening it, making it just that little bit nastier (more warts), Linda heard the same scream from the scullery that the Witch Mother had heard. Preoccupied with her spell, Linda was not thinking straight. She too assumed the scream came from Jenna, so she waited a few seconds more so that Marissa could finish whatever she was doing. But as the sound of choking came through the door, Linda began to get worried. It wouldn't do to have their Princess throttled just yet - not until they had thoroughly defeated the Wendron Witches. She threw open the scullery door and stopped in amazement. Linda was impressed. She couldn't have done better herself.
Jenna had Marissa in a headlock - and it was a good one too, Linda noticed. In her younger days Linda had been a big fan of headlocks, although now she let her spells do the work for her.
Marissa's face was an interesting shade of purple. "Lemme go!" she was gasping. "Lemme . . . aaah . . . go!"
Jenna looked up and saw Linda. Marissa was in no position to look up, but she knew from the pointy boots with the dragon spikes up the back who it was.
"Get her . . . off me," Marissa gasped in a hoarse whisper.
You touch her and you'll regret it, Jenna mouthed Silently at Linda.
Linda looked amused. She liked fights, and one between a witch and a Princess was pretty much top of her fight wish list. Unfortunately however, there was business to attend to and she needed to get on with it before the Witch Mother came tottering along to see what was happening.
"Well done," Linda told Jenna. "Very impressive. You continue like this and I might just change my mind about Princesses. Possibly. Now just keep holding her right there. Perfect."
Jenna saw that Linda was eyeing Marissa like a snake working out where to strike. Something was about to happen and she could see it wasn't going to be good - particularly for Marissa.
Linda raised her hands up to her face and then pointed both index fingers at Marissa's head, squinting down them like a marksman. It reminded Jenna horribly of how the Hunter had once lined her up in the sights of his pistol.
"Keep her still," Linda instructed Jenna. "Hold her right there."
Marissa whimpered.
Jenna did not like the turn events had taken. Suddenly she was Linda's accomplice. She knew that Linda was about to do something very bad to Marissa and she did not want to be part of it, but she dared not let go. If she did, Marissa would immediately turn on her - as would Linda. She was stuck.
Slowly Linda lowered her pointing fingers and, as she did so, two thin beams of brilliant blue light streamed from her eyes and rested on Marissa's face. Then the witch began to chant:
"Heart and brainFlame and painBlood and boneRattle and moanLung and liverShriek and shiver . . ."
Marissa let out a terrified wail. She knew that this was the beginning of the dreaded Exit spell, the spell that takes away human form and replaces it with another - forever. It was, like most of Linda's nastiest spells, Permanent.
"No!" yelled Marissa. "Please, nooooooooo!"
Linda's yellow incisors slipped over her bottom lip as they always did when she was concentrating. The Exit was long and complicated. It required a great concentration of energy, but it was already off to a good start. Linda was very pleased with the way the Princess was helping; it was so much easier with an assistant. Excited, Linda now moved into the main body of the spell, where all Human parts of Marissa were one by one reassigned to Toad. Her voice descended to a low monotone so that the words became blurred into one long, singsong chant.
From Marissa's terror, Jenna was beginning to realize that if she kept Marissa in her headlock she would be party to something truly awful. She had to do something - but what?
Linda's menacing chant continued, the witch's voice rising ever higher. The gloom in the scullery deepened and the thin beams of light from Linda's blue-black eyes cut through the dark like needles, joining the witch with her victim.
"Princess Jenna. Please. Let me go," Marissa whispered desperately. "I'll do anything, anything you want. I promise."
Jenna didn't believe Marissa's promises. She had to get what she wanted while she still had the witch in her grasp - but how could she? She was Silenced. Very slightly she loosened the headlock. Marissa looked up, tears welling in her eyes.
"Princess Jenna. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. Please help me. Please, oh please."
Jenna pointed to her mouth and Marissa understood. She muttered a few words and whispered, "Okay. It's gone."
Linda's voice suddenly regained its normal pitch, the chant slowed down and once more the words became gruesomely clear:
"Pinprick bones andPoison glands,Warty skinAnd creeping hands . . ."
Marissa screamed. She knew the end was coming very, very soon. "Please let me go," she gasped.
Jenna tested her voice. "Fix the feet thing," she hissed.
Marissa gabbled something under her breath and hissed, "It's gone, it's gone. Now, please, please, please."
Jenna cautiously tried a small step back, taking Marissa with her - she was free. She released the headlock.
Chaos ensued.
Marissa sprang up and Jenna raced off past Linda, heading for the door. Mouth open, Linda stopped mid chant. Marissa hurled herself at Linda, biting, kicking and screaming, Linda fell backward under the onslaught and hit her head with a craaack on the stone flagged floor.
Jenna had just got out of the door and was running down the corridor when, through the gloom, she saw the large bulk of the Witch Mother teetering on her tall, spiked shoes, blocking the far end of it.
"Marissa, is that you?" the Witch Mother's suspicious voice called out of the dark. "What's going on down there?"
Trapped, Jenna hurtled back to the scullery, slammed the door and leaned against it, holding it shut. Marissa was sitting on Linda and, as far as Jenna could make out, trying to strangle her. At Jenna's return she looked up in surprise.
"She's coming," gasped Jenna.
Marissa stared at her, uncomprehending. "Who's coming?"
"Her. The Witch Mother."
Marissa went pale. She had assumed that when Linda had tried to Exit her, she had been acting on the Witch Mother's instructions. She leaped up from Linda - who gave a small moan, but did not move - and pointed at the door that Jenna was leaning against. Jenna squared up for a fight, but a fight was the last thing on Marissa's mind. "Lock, Stop and Bar!" she shouted. A small but definite click came from the door.
"It won't last long," said Marissa, "not against her. We've got to get out of here." She headed for the only window in the dingy scullery, which was set high above a table heaped with a pile of black cloth. Marissa leaped up onto the table and pushed the window open. "It's the only way out. There's a bit of a drop but it's a soft landing. Here, put this on." Marissa picked up the pile of black cloth and threw it at Jenna, who ducked. It landed on the floor beside her.
Marissa looked annoyed. "Do you want to get out or not?" she demanded.
"Of course I do."
"Well, those are your witch robes. You've got to put them on."
"Why?"
Marissa sighed impatiently. "Because you won't get out if you don't. The window's Barred to all Cowan."