The Dance of the Witches by Elizabeth Chettlebrugh (each kindness read aloud TXT) 📕

in with the dance again, Ann walked into the circle, all the witches finished there dance and the three younger witches ran over to Cathy who jumped up happily.
Ann looked up at the other witches and they smiled at her kindly, she smiled back and then took out her book, sat down and started to read it, one of the younger witches ran over and joined Ann, she sat down beside her and looked at the pictures happily. (Ann assumed that the little girl didn’t know how to read yet)
Once the witches had left, Ann walked happily back to her tree, when she was back, she went straight to sleep, but then she was woken by a strange noise, she got up and put on her shoes and coat, she picked up Cathy and quietly got out of her tree bringing the book with her.
As she drew nearer the lake she heard the noise stronger, it almost sounded like people talking, Ann walked further up the lake side. She saw the witches dressed in white, sitting around a bleu fire and quietly talking.
Ann heard a noise that sounded like a twig snapping, it was coming from the other side of the lake, she looked over to Horsefield forest and just made out the figures of the four withes dressed in black, the dark magic witches.
Ann saw a pebble fall into the lake; it came from Horsefield forest, the pebble hit the surface of the water and it disintegrated in a small cloud of light bleu smoke.
Then Ann saw a twig fall in from Blossemhill forest, she watched carefully as the stick hit the surface of the calm water, the stick disintegrated also, but this time in a small cloud of black smoke, Ann opened her book and read.
The book said “There are two types of witch, dark and light magic, if one thing from a dark magic witch comes within five meters of light magic things, it disintegrates in a cloud of bleu smoke, the same with light witches only the object disintegrates in black smoke.”
But when Ann went over to Horsefield forest in the boat, she and the boat were not disintegrated, she read on, “however, if the witches travel there on something that is nether dark or light magic, they are not affected, it is only disintegrated if it touches the water in the lake, so if they travel across the lake in a boat that they do not own and have not made, they will not be affected because nothing under their possession will come in contact with the water”
That’s why the witches wouldn’t follow her back over the lake. Ann kept reading, she found a page about bewitched or enchanted places. The book said that there is a lake that is less than five meters wide, one side of the lake is dark magic and on the other side is light magic.
The illustration below the writing was a calm lake, one side was dark witches around a tree sapling, and the other side was light witches around a bleu fire.
Ann looked up, she saw the dark witches around a tree and the light witches around a blue fire, the lake was perfectly calm, just like it was in the picture, she quietly walked back to her tree and when she got back she went straight to sleep.
The next day she woke up at about 10:30 am because Cathay was barking loudly and looking towards the lake as if to say there was something on the other side, luckily Ann quieted her down before she had she woke up either of the witch tribes! They quietly ran towards the lake.
Ann had seen lots of movement in the forest before, but this looked different! She looked back at Cathy who was sniffing around at the side of the lake, Cathy looked back at Ann and started barking again but this time she looked angry, she growled at and jumped up at her, but Ann ran away into the forest. She ran towards the white witch tribe but they weren’t there, unless Cathy could pick up Ann’s sent, she was safe!
On the run from your own dog!

It turns out that being on the run from a compleatly phyco dog isn't realy the best of all ambitions (duh!). Ann was starving and thersty, she couldnt leave the circle, if she left the leaves would rustle, if the leaves rustled the Cathy would know where she was, if Cathy knew where she was, she was dead meat, litiraly! If she could just find a way to get back to the lake, she left her only food sorce in her tree and if she went to get some water from the lake, she would either be kiled by witches or a dog that went mental!
Miss hartwell was bound to go looking from her, no doubt that when Ann first ran awy her fake mother sent about 60 other kids out looking for her,they obiously never thought to look in the forest even though there was a huge hole in the fence, what else did they need, a huge yellow arrow saying "this way to Ann Rede's secret hideout!".
Thats the difrence between Ann and all the other girls in her year, when it comes to secret hiding places, Ann's an expert, she one at hide and seek 10 times in a row each time hiding in the exact same spot with a floresent spongebob hoddie on, she usualy knew that it would thakre about 3 whole houers until the bunch of 6 year olds gave up and hid for ten seconds so Ann had a chance to escape without being seen! Whereas Ann found all the other 50 girls in her class in 2 minits without even trying!
After a long sleep (and i dont just meen one night, I meen a whol 2 days of sleep), Ann decided that she might aswell try

to do some magic to get out of this mess. she picked up her book and repeated the spell, "Anchant gods and goddesses, I beg of the. Clear the path in my way, for the freedom of me." She waited, but nothing happend, she repeated the spell, this time louder and more like she was saying it not just reading it fro the book. she waited, then the leaves started to move mpore and more, she backed away, thinking it might be Cathy, then, to her suprise, the leaves seperated creating a pathway of broken soil from the tree roots. She qouickly ran through the path way before it closed.
She turned back and the trees were already moving, she was worn out and coldn't run verry fast, it took her anbout 30 seconds to get to grip with what was actualy hapening, she saw the trees comming towards her and ran as fast as she could towards the river. the trees were closing in fast and she was starting to doubt that she would make it. she turnd around and SPLASH!
Ann fell in the river and ghasped then stopped when she realised that she was inhaling water, she swam to the serface of the water and looked back at the trees were the pathway had not so long ago been.
Cathy was barking at her from the river bank, but she didn't seem angry, still, Ann swam to the other side of the river and gave a few commands to se if she was actualy Cathy and not some phyco-mental dog that looked like it was about to turn into a warewolf! Sure enough, it was Cathy so and reached as far as she could across the river and Cathy jumed into her arms.

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Publication Date: 01-23-2012

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