The Witch’s Tears. Katharine Corr

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СКАЧАТЬ weren’t any adjectives bad enough. She went upstairs to get dressed.

      Merry ran the whole way to Simon’s parents’ house, and with each step she planned her revenge, each scenario darker than the last: baldness – skin disease – crippling, incurable pain. Horns growing out of his head; horns and a long, forked tail, so everyone would know exactly what he was. By now it was a little past five, and she was standing on the driveway next to Simon’s car – much newer and shinier than Leo’s crappy black Peugeot. The sun had only just risen and no one was around. Simon’s bedroom was the front right window. She could put a curse on him easily. As easy as breathing.

       I haven’t taken the coven’s oath yet.

       I can do exactly what I like.

      Merry raised her hands. She felt the power building at her fingertips, pulsing underneath her skin. The air around her began to shimmer slightly in the pale grey light.

       And yet …

      And yet she hadn’t ever actually cursed anyone. She’d defended herself against Gwydion, but that wasn’t the same as deliberately choosing to hurt someone. Someone who had no chance of fighting back.

      She gritted her teeth in frustration, nails aching with the build-up of magic. What was the point in being a witch, of having all this power, if she couldn’t take revenge on the guy who’d beaten up her brother?

       Get on with it, Merry. Do it. Punish him …

      The pain got worse. Any minute now she was going to lose control. She wanted to lose control …

      ‘Hell—’ Merry jerked her hands downwards just as the power exploded silently out of her fingers, sending it across Simon’s car, gouging deep grooves into the paintwork and the glass, warping the metal, taking chunks out of the hubcaps.

      The pain faded to a tingling, fizzing sensation. When that had faded too, Merry lowered her hands.

      The car was a wreck. As she watched, one of the hubcaps fell off and rolled away into the street. Better than nothing. But she didn’t smile as she turned away.

      Leo was in the kitchen when she got home.

      ‘Where have you been?’ His one good eye peered at her suspiciously.

      ‘Er … out for a run.’ There had been running involved, after all. ‘I woke up early.’

      ‘Want some coffee?’

      Merry nodded and leant against the counter next to her brother.

      ‘How are you feeling?’ She studied his face. ‘Everything looks normal again. Apart from your eye. Your eye is hideous.’

      ‘Gee, thanks.’ Leo put two mugs of coffee on the table and sat down. ‘Hope I don’t put you off your breakfast.’

      ‘Don’t be mean. I’m worried about you. Are you going to visit Gran?’

      ‘Obviously.’

      It was hardly obvious, given how argumentative her brother was being. But Merry let it slide.

      ‘Want some toast?’

      He nodded, so she went to get the bread out, wondering whether she should mention that she knew about Simon. Leo was just sitting there, slouched over his coffee cup. She watched him for a few moments. Maybe she should keep her mouth shut and let him bring it up when he was ready. Besides, if he found out what happened to Simon’s car, and he knew that she knew …

      Stick to casual conversation. That was a good idea. She put their breakfast on the table and sat down again.

      ‘So … that was lucky. That guy coming along last night. Ronan.’

      No reply.

      ‘He said he was a wanderer. He’s living in a tent in the woods. Near the lake.’

      ‘I know. He told me about it while he was driving me home.’

      ‘Oh.’ Merry took a bite of toast. ‘Not sure I’d fancy it, though, even if he’d chosen a different location: all the creepy-crawlies. Plus, not having a shower, or a washing machine.’

      Leo pushed his plate away.

      ‘You’re so … judge-y. There’s nothing wrong with not having much. I bet he’s a nicer person than lots of the people round here with loads of money.’

      Merry rolled her eyes.

      ‘Give me a break, Leo. I didn’t mean—’

      ‘They were beating the crap out of me, Merry. I might have ended up in hospital if it hadn’t been for Ronan. It was … terrible.’

      ‘I know. I’m really sorry.’

      Leo bit his lip, pressing the heel of one hand against his uninjured eye.

      ‘I just …’

      ‘What?’

      He shook his head. ‘Doesn’t matter.’

      Merry could almost hear her brother’s agony, like he was screaming inside his head, reliving the betrayal and the pain. She wanted to hug him and shake him at the same time, to tell him that she knew the truth and that he didn’t have to suffer on his own.

      ‘Leo—’

      ‘Don’t, Merry.’ He stood up. ‘I know what you’re going to ask. But I didn’t see them properly. And even if I had recognised them –’ He seemed to catch his breath, a quick, shuddering gasp that he turned into a cough – ‘even if I had, I can fight my own battles. I don’t need you to – to run around after me like I’m a child, like you’re trying to fix my life.’ He turned to leave the room, but stopped to add: ‘Even a witch can’t just wave a magic wand and make everything better. You should know that by now.’

      He left the kitchen and stomped up the stairs. A few moments later, Merry heard the bathroom door slam.

      She sighed and started clearing the table. So much for casual conversation.

      They had to get a bus to Gran’s house. Leo didn’t feel comfortable driving with one eye out of use. The journey – luckily – wasn’t long. They sat on the top deck, Leo wearing his sunglasses, staring out of the window and drumming his fingers on his knees. Merry tried to talk to him about Ellie Mills and the other dead witches, and the story she’d read, but his replies were monosyllabic. Eventually she gave up and started looking at some new photos Ruby had posted on Instagram: her dad’s parents on their farm, windswept on the north Norfolk coast, interspersed with pictures of her cousins in St Lucia, smiling and squinting in the sunshine. She scrolled up and down through the photos hungrily.

       Must be nice, having a normal family. Without quite so much drama.

      Fifteen minutes later they were on Gran’s doorstep. As usual, the door opened as they approached. Gran was on the phone when they walked in, but she waved them through to the kitchen, СКАЧАТЬ