Page 99 of The Neighborhood Witch

There was only silence.

Something struck Hugo, and pain erupted in his right ribs. The force knocked him over onto the ground. He clutched his side and clenched his teeth. His face contorted in agony. He couldn’t hold itany longer and let out a cry of pain. He rose to see what hit him. There, floating in the air, was Galahad.

“Gally!” Hugo yelled. “What the hell?” He gathered himself. He stood up and brushed off his jacket and pants.

“She couldn’t do it herself? So, she sent you to finish the job, huh?”

Galahad floated there. Unmoved from the question, he waited.

“Well, what do you want?”

Galahad crept closer to Hugo. It bumped against his chest.

Hugo backed away. “What are you doing?”

It bumped against his chest twice more. Hugo leaned over and glared it in the face. His eyes changed from annoyance to concern at the hickory stick floating before him.

“Alice wouldn’t have sent you without the cover of darkness,” Hugo remarked. Fear washed over him. “What’s wrong?”

It floated forward and lightly tapped under Hugo’s chin. It backed up and turned around. The broom waited for Hugo to get on.

Hugo turned back toward the grave. “I…” Hugo spoke to Elizabeth. “I have to go.”

Hugo grabbed the broom handle and swung his leg over the seat. He placed his feet on the footrest. He pulled up on the handle, and with a “yah,” took off.

Hugo and Galahad flew over the farmland leading into town. They flew as fast as Galahad could. The wind rushed over Hugo’s face, and his hair blew wildly. He didn’t have the cover of darkness to hide. He needed to hide. He couldn’t let anyone see him flying.

Hugo pulled up on the handle, ascending to dizzying heights. He tried to fly as high as he could. The church steeple was first to appear off in the distance. More and more buildings emerged on the horizon. With his eyes focused, he leaned forward.

To hell with it.He cut across the center of town, finding the fastest route to her house. He noticed some people look up as he streaked across the sky. He didn’t care. He had one thought. One solitary purpose. Get to Alice.

Galahad flew down Ravenhill Drive toward the purple house. Hugo saw the front door open. He held his breath as panic set in. He leapt off onto the top of the porch and went charging through the door. He stopped himself before tripping on the knocked over entryway table; its contents spilled across the hallway floor.

“Alice!” Hugo shouted.

He continued down the hallway. He paused to examine the shattered tea cup on the ground. The black and orange pieces were scattered in a pool of liquid. He ran to the kitchen. There was nothing. He sprinted into the living room. It was there in the middle of the room—the distinct black onyx ring. He picked it up off the floor. He rolled it back and forth between the tips of his fingers, looking it over.

“Alice! Are you here?”

“Help!” Alice’s voice came from upstairs.

Hugo placed the ring on the coffee table and charged to her voice. He grunted with every step as he dashed up the stairs. The sight of Alice’s splintered bedroom door stopped him in his tracks. He touched the hole in the door—the hole big enough for a broomstick to fly through.

“Hello? Is someone there? Please help me,” a familiar voice shouted from inside the room.

Hugo pushed opened the door to find the room vacant except for Max. She whined and barked in her cage.

“Wait a moment, Max,” Hugo said as he rushed past.

“Please help!” Alice’s voice came from the bathroom.

The bathroom was dark. Hugo turned on the lights, only to find it empty.

“It’s you! You have to help,” Alice’s reflection exclaimed. “You have to help me.”

“What happened?”

“I… I don’t know,” she said. She paced back and forth in her mirrored bathroom. Her hair was messy, and her hands cupped over her mouth, only removing them to talk. “There was a voice, then I heard an argument and shouting.”

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