The hex chromosome, p.18
The Hex Chromosome, page 18
“I don’t know.” Catriona disappointed Tina with her answer. All this witch stuff was completely out of Tina’s comfort zone. She had hoped that Cat would know what to do.
The decision was taken from them as a loud click sounded and a door opened allowing a narrow shaft of light to illuminate the basement. Then the light switch was flicked on and Tina was briefly blinded by the flood of light.
Tina blinked and focused. She was alarmed to see a wide angry blotch of red mottling a wide patch around Catriona’s swollen lips. She licked her own chapped sore lips and could only imagine hers looked equally bad.
Irwin descended the stairs. He looked nonplussed to see them both with mouths free of the socks. “How’d you do that? Witchery or did the tape just get wet? Ah well, no matter. We are miles from any neighbors, my dears, so feel free to yell yourselves hoarse. Knock yourselves out.”
There’s our answer, Tina thought sourly, and Cat nodded her agreement grimly.
“And I would have taken it off anyways,” Irwin continued. “We need to have a little conversation.”
He flourished a large pair of shears from his pocket. Tina gasped. Irwin smirked at her reaction, and then stopped to snip at the tape holding each of their legs together. Tina stretched her legs out, grimacing at the cramps in her calves.
He gestured for the girls to move, but neither girl could get to their feet effectively with hands secured behind them and dead feeling legs. Irwin rolled his eyes and moved to the stairwell. “Come up when you want, then. I’m not going to carry you again. Hurt my back doing all that lifting yesterday.” He climbed the stairs and left the door open at the top. He turned and called down, “There is some breakfast for you up here too. Maybe that will motivate you.”
Tina looked at Catriona. “Hurt his back? Oh my, I’m just feeling so bad for him!” Catriona laughed. Tina rolled her feet beneath her and twisted onto her shoulder. One big abdominal crunch and she was on her feet. She turned to help Catriona, but Cat too had managed the maneuver. Tina wanted to pause and chat, maybe figure out a plan, but found herself moving towards the stairs. Breakfast was a powerful beacon.
They walked up the stairs. Daylight revealed the house to be shabby and small. The living room had a sofa, two recliners, and a coffee table piled high with books. The curtains were open. Tina noted with a sinking feeling that Irwin had not lied. All she could see was big white snowy expanses of fields with grey stalks of corn poking through randomly. And behind the field, the dark pines of a thick forest. No houses in sight whatsoever.
The kitchen had a melamine top, incongruously decorated in bold flower pattern, with four old fashioned metal chairs. There was cereal, and milk laid out. It was corn flakes. Not a favorite at all. But it was breakfast and Tina was relieved that starvation was not part of Irwin’s plans.
She looked around. No Plunk. Irwin was sitting at the table and divined her question. “My sister is off teaching more of your wretched classmates today. So don’t even think about trying to influence her with your nasty thought control, whichever of you is responsible.”
Tina looked at him. surprised. “Oh, get rid of that innocent look, my girl. You and your sister had us fooled, thinking it was just Catriona who had any witching skills, but then Gertrude saw the mark of the devil on you as well. Then we knew you were both bedeviled. Which only made sense. How else would a little girl overpower my sister alone?”
Still bewildered, Tina sat at the table and looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Umm, any ideas how you expect us to eat?”
Irwin scowled. “Ok, I’ll untie you, but just one at a time. And no fancy moves, do you hear me?” He reached for the shears again, and cut through the duct tape holding Tina’s wrists together. With shaking hands, she clumsily poured some cereal into her bowl and added some milk. She ate quickly. She was hungry and also felt bad that Catriona was being forced to wait and watch her eat when she too was surely equally hungry.
When she had finished her bowl, Irwin applied fresh tape to her wrists. Tina flexed her hands, allowing for a little slack when the tape was secured.
Then Irwin repeated the process with Catriona. He even allowed them a moment of privacy to use the washroom, which did not prove an easy job with hands secured behind them. Tina found herself getting angry rather than scared. When she emerged, she looked sharply at their captor. “How about you tell us why we are here and what you plan to do with us? I’m sure the police are looking for us by now. You can’t keep us locked up forever.”
“I don’t need forever,” Irwin responded. “If you cooperate, I can let you go on Thursday.”
“Sit!” He commanded. “I’ll explain.”
The girls sat beside each other on the couch and faced him expectantly. They couldn’t hold hands, but sat as close as possible with maximal shoulder contact for support.
“This coming Wednesday is my show at the National Art Center. It’s huge! I’ve been waiting for this chance for years. And now it comes just when Gertrude is feeling poorly. You saw her at Festival hall. She can’t generate enough power to help me anymore. And you two are to blame.” He paused to glare at them each in turn. “We have never met another one with power before. Just our mother and Gertie. It’s an evil power, but we have been careful to only use it for the purpose of helping my act. An appropriate use of an unnatural skill, which should not even be given to women!”
Catriona looked at him in astonishment. “You have no power without Plunk! No wonder you can’t hear me. Why on earth does she allow it?”
Irwin glowered at her. “It should have been all my power. It’s unnatural that so much skill went to my little sister. But Mother taught Gertrude to be obedient and be my helper. And it was working until you both came along and exhausted her.”
Tina was shaking her head. How could he think she had any powers? “Not me…”she started. But Catriona interrupted her. “We didna’ mean to exhaust her. Tina is so strong, she doesn’t know how to rein in her powers, I wouldna’ risk her wrath if she gets really angry. We can help you, you know. But we aren’t going to do so willingly with wrists stinging from your tape, or mouths full of your vile socks.”
Irwin looked petulant. “I undid your legs and you aren’t gagged right now, are you? And I just fed you ingrates a lovely breakfast.”
“You did, and it was delicious,” Tina jumped in, deciding to play along. “How do you want us to help you?”
Irwin looked a little mollified. “That’s more like it. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. If you use some of your cursed skills to help with my show, I will let you go and make nice with your families. But if not, I will destroy you. I am learning all sorts of ways to destroy your sort.” He leaned over and picked up the copy of Maleficarum that the girls had seen him pick up at the library. “There are no end of good ideas in here.”
Chapter 44
Water Trial Explained
The girls looked at the pile of books on the coffee table. “The wizard of Oz? The Sorcerer’s Stone? You’ve got to be joking!” Tina expostulated.
“I had to wade through some light reading and misconceptions before I found the true handbook,” Irwin answered, looking a bit discomfited. “Witchcraft is poorly understood. We even believed water might melt you, initially.”
Catriona was nodding. “That explains the dousing Plunk gave me in class, I guess. But you must have known that was just a myth. Doesn’t your sister ever take a shower or bath? Didn’t your mother?”
Irwin tightened his lips angrily. “Don’t you dare claim kinship to my mother or sister! They are not demons. They only use their craft to help the man of the family, as they should! Eve was drawn from Adam’s rib to be a helpmate. That was the design!”
He paused and breathed slowly through pursed his lips, suppressing his anger. “We were led astray by ‘The Wizard of Oz’, but then we found the definitive guide. We read about the ’Trial by Water’ and learned that witches are repelled by water and float because they had renounced baptism when they entered into the service of the Devil. You had us on a merry chase, first the blonde one could float, but not the brunette, so we figured it was Blondie with all the power. Then, suddenly both of you girls were swimmers. You were trying to deceive Gertie but couldn’t maintain the charade. And then finally confirmation! She was able to see the hidden marks of the devil on the both of you. So, we knew you were both witches.”
Tina almost smiled. She didn’t mind being considered a witch. If only the burn on her arm had let her fly as well. She bristled at his comments about his mother and sister, A misogynist with less skill than his sister. What a disastrous combination!
“Much less skill, almost no skill!” Catriona countered her thought in quiet tones.
“What’s that?” Irwin looked suspiciously at the two girls. “No whispering. You…” He thrust his chin towards Tina. “Move over there,” he gestured to the chair across the room from the sofa.
Tina said, “We will be quiet. It’s easier to talk to us if we are sitting together. So, what is it you want us to do for your show?”
Irwin didn’t press the point. “Well, you saw my performance. I need to be able to levitate people, make birds appear, all those types of tricks. I don’t know. Use your imagination. Gertie was always in charge of those little tricks. I can do the card tricks. Those are my specialty. Those are the ones that require real skill and dexterity,” he boasted.
“Let’s try the levitation now,” He announced suddenly. “Might as well see if you are worth the risk and effort.” He jumped to his feet and approached a chest which lay against the wall, covered in gold lettering “IRWIN THE MAGNIFICENT”. He pulled it open and located a large purple bundle. He unfurled a wide scarf. Tina recognized it from the one he had used in his trick with Sophie.
Irwin dashed to the kitchen and came back hauling two of the metal kitchen chairs. He gestured to Tina to approach. “Ok—you, Blondie, what’s your name again. Trina? You girls are so vexing with your similar names. I want you to balance between these two chairs.”
Tina looked perplexed. “I don’t think I could do that even with my hands free.”
“Hmm.” Irwin pondered and then dragged a third chair from the kitchen and placed it between the first two. “This will do for now. I am quite happy to keep your hands tied.”
Tina lay down on the three chairs. She was more curious than scared. Irwin shook out the purple scarf and it landed softly over her, covering her from ankles to her neck.
“Levitarum!” Irwin called out. His voice morphed to the booming baritone he employed on stage.
Nothing happened.
“Levitarum,” Irwin invoked again. He grabbed Tina’s shoulders sharply making her wince.
“Oh, you’rrr making a big mistake.” Catriona’s voice sounded calm but the exaggerated Scottish accent betrayed how nervous she was to Tina. “I would’na upset my sister overly. She might well turn you into a frog. If you want the spell to work, you need to use me. Tina can make me rise. You have to use her like you use your sister.”
Irwin was nodding. “Yes, yes, that makes sense. Um, my apologies, Trina, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He carefully skirted the chairs avoiding contact with Tina and grabbed Catriona by the shoulder. “You, then. You lie down instead.”
Tina moved back to the sofa. Catriona obligingly lay down on the three chairs and Irwin covered her with the cloth. When he invoked “Levitarum” this time, she rose in the air. Her body looked like a plank of wood, perfectly parallel, as she soared upwards. The cloth draped over her gaped so that Tina could first see the floor below it, but then Catriona rose to within a foot of the ceiling and the chairs were left in full view below.
Irwin clapped his hands in glee. “Marvelous, marvelous. Best time I’ve ever seen it!” He looked over at Tina in appreciation. “Much better than my sister. I salute you.”
Tina tried to school her face into a modest acknowledgment of the praise. “Oh, it was nothing,” She muttered.
“Ok, bring her down. Then we can see if you can do the birds,” Irwin asked Tina. She waved imperiously at the hovering Catriona who was watching from her lofty height with a small grin. The girl came gliding down to settle gracefully on the three chairs again.
Irwin picked up the scarf and folded into a small bundle. He opened the chest to return it and jumped back alarmed. There was a flurry of wings as several birds flew out of the chest. The room filled with the sound of beating wings as several shapes circled the room. When they settled, Tina counted two crows and five pigeons perching on chair edges and the back of the sofa. Then two adorable rabbits leaped out of the trunk.
Irwin giggled like a small boy. “Brilliant, brilliant!” He had a tendency to repeat himself when he was excited. “Ok, you are hired!” He giggled again. “Not with pay though.”
A pigeon landed on his shoulder and dropped a wet looking poop on his blazer. Irwin looked a little less impressed. He turned to Tina and said, “Ok, put them away now. They can stay in the box until Wednesday night. We don’t need a full zoo taking over the house until then.”
Tina waved her arms majestically and said “into boxicus” trying to sound just as exotic as Catriona when she commanded the broomstick to fly. In the meantime, Catriona glided down to lie on the three chairs. The five pigeons, and the two crows all settled down on top of her, like a murder of crows on a branch. The two rabbits leapt onto her lap. Catriona sat upright, tipping the purple scarf to land on top of the entire menagerie. Irwin bunched them up together, holding the scarf edges together like a purse, and tossed the entire package in the chest. He closed the top with a gratified sigh.
“Well, that is perfect, girls,” he said, in a far pleasanter voice than they had heard in two days. “I wish I could just give you run of the house, but I can’t say I totally trust you. I will untie your hands as a good will gesture. First, though, it’s back to the basement with you both.”
He opened the basement door for them and followed them down the stairs. At the base, he fulfilled his promise and cut the duct tape holding their hands together. He then hastily retreated up the stairs and locked the door again.
Chapter 45
Stumped
Irwin had extinguished the light, but there was a bit of natural light seeping in under the door, as well as one high dusty window. The girls both looked around the room. It was a small unfinished basement with some boxes, a few old chairs stacked in the corner, and a shelf with jars of jam, pickles and what Tina guessed to be tomato sauce. She opened one of the jars and scooped some raspberry jam with her fingers and licked them clean. She was still pretty hungry. She proffered the jar to Catriona. Catriona shook her head. “I’d have to be a lot hungrier to get that sticky. Plus it’s all sugar!” Tina shrugged and dipped again. Delicious!
She surveyed the room again. No obvious weapons, except maybe lobbing a jar at their captors. No easy escape route either. The window was too high, and impossibly small for either of them to squeeze through.
She looked at Catriona, thoughtfully. Her sister should be able to witch them out of this mess. “What exactly are you able to do?” She asked. She counted off on her fingers. “One, you can fly but you need a broomstick. Two, you can levitate, I guess? Three, you can bend Miss Plunk’s mind, but no one else’s? Four, you can read my mind. And five, you can make birds and cute bunnies appear. Anything else?”
Catriona shrugged. “Sounds like a crazy list when you say it that way. I really don’t know. My mom died or left me before she could teach me much. I know how to fly, yes. I can hear what people are thinking. I never knew that was a skill though, I kind of thought everyone could do that. And when I hear Miss Plunk, she also hears me, so we can get into sort of thought arguments, I guess. I seem to be stronger, so I’ve been winning them, so far anyways.”
“And the magician tricks?” prompted Tina.
“Levitating is easy. I just let my body drift up. It’s easier than riding a broomstick. Much more passive, it doesn’t take a lot of focus. And Irwin’s box has all sorts of toys, props, I guess, like stuffed animals and birds. I can make them appear real. It’s an illusion. I can also make myself almost disappear and slow my heart down too. Not super useful in this case. And I can smell and hear really well. That is more of a handicap really, especially with sweaty bodies and yucky bathroom functions.”
Tina was still focused on the levitating. “How did Irwin manage to lift Sophie? Was that you helping for some reason?”
Catriona looked affronted. “Definitely not. I figure Plunk did that somehow. She is a witch, I keep telling you. Much stronger than Irwin. He is just a useless jealous charlatan with a tiny dollop of magic.”
“Well, a useless jealous charlatan who has managed to keep us captured, and is probably making Mom and Dad crazy with worry,” Tina interjected. “He’s a bit insane. I don’t really trust that he won’t hurt us. We really need to figure out an escape. There is no way anyone is going to find us here.”
Catriona scrunched her eyes and furrowed her brow. Slowly she rose in the air and hovered by the narrow window. She slid down seconds later. “Well that is not an option! Maybe when I was a wee bairn of four or five, but not now!”
Tina had been thinking too. “How about illusions? Can you make Irwin think we have lions or cobras or something scary down here?”
Catriona shook her head apologetically. “Not without a similar prop. Sorry! I’m feeling kinda useless. Magic never saved my mom. It has its limitations for sure.”
They sat quietly and glumly. Tina’s stomach growled. “I don’t suppose you can rustle up some chocolate chip cookies?” She asked without much optimism.
“It’s jam for you, I’m afraid,” was Catriona’s disappointing response.
Chapter 46
Rescue
They mulled over several ideas in the dark basement. Tina suggested ambushing Irwin with jars of jam and tomatoes when he next opened the door. Catriona pointed out that they were at a huge disadvantage having to hurl things upwards. “We are just going to make him angry, especially if one hits him and doesn’t knock him out. Then he will probably punish us somehow.”
