The New Girl

There was something strange about the new girl. She wasn't like anyone else. Her name was Tracey and even though her name was common in our suburb she was unlike any Tracey we'd ever met. 

She wore the same clothes every day: black skirt, black shirt, black boots. Let's just say she wore a lot of black. She even had black hair with matching black nails and lipstick. She had a pale face and dark grey eyes like the eyes of a crow. To look at her would send a shiver down your spine. At times you'd mistake her for a ghost. 

My friends Renee and Lucy would watch her at school. They thought she was weird. We tried to talk to her but she would only walk right past us, pretending we weren't there. One time Renee saw her in the library. She was reading books about witches and spells. 

'She's a witch, Hudson!' said Renee. 'I just know it.' 

'You know she moved into that old house at the end of our street? Right next door to the cemetery,' I replied. 

We decided later that day that the only way we were going to find out if she was a witch was by spying on her. We planned to go to her home that night. After all, it was a full moon. 

That night we huddled together behind a bush and watched her house. It was very dark and the house was very old. No light shone through the windows and the surrounding frees added eerie shadows to the already spooky atmosphere. 

As we crept closer to the house our only source of light was the moon. We silently knelt under a window that had a rusty broken shuttle. As we huddled close together, attempting to calm our nerves, the wind began to howl and blow violently. The trees stretched out their long branches towards us and it looked as if they were coming to life. My body was covered in goosebumps and I was sweating. Then our light vanished, the moon hidden behind a blanket of dark clouds. We were surrounded by darkness. All we could hear was the wind and our heavy breathing.

'Hey Lucy, boost me up so I can look in the window.' 

'Be careful, Hudson, someone might see you,' whispered Renee. 

Just as I was about to climb on Lucy's shoulders we heard a loud BANG! I fell off Lucy's shoulders in panic and we scrambled behind a tree where Renee was already hiding. 

I looked around in terror, my body shaking uncontrollably. I looked up at the window expecting to see Tracey staring at us with those piercing eyes but instead saw the old shutter hitting the window every time the wind blew. A wave of relief swept over me. 

'Lucy, let's try again. It was only the shutter making the noise.' 

As I looked in through the window I could sense a presence watching me. But there was no one inside. 

The lounge was filled with old furniture and flickering candles. Next to the fireplace stood a wooden broomstick and a big black cauldron was sitting in the fireplace surrounded by small logs. It didn't look like your average lounge room. There wasn't even a TV. All of a sudden a pair of yellow eyes glowed at me and before I had time to see who they belonged to I let out a scream and shouted, 'Someone's in there! I think they saw us.' Renee had already started running and so Lucy and l scrambled to our feet, we too started to run. 

The next day at school we talked about going to Tracey's house again. 

'Let's go tonight. I really want to see if Tracey's a witch.' 

'Come off it Renee, you were the first one to leave after you heard me yell last night. I think you're too chicken to go back there again.' 

'I am not, Hudson. Come on, I really want to go again, especially after what you saw in there.' 

That night we went back to Tracey's house. 

It was just like the night before, dark and no lights on in the house. Again I climbed up Lucy's shoulders to look through the window. And as I gazed in the window I cried out in alarm as I saw Tracey storing straight at me. Her grey eyes glaring and her wicked smile widening. I fell off Lucy's shoulders as I yelled, 'She saw me! Tracey saw me!' 

We ran round the side of the house and as we made our way to the front gate, there was Tracey blocking our path and holding a black cat. 

'l know you've been spying on me! Why?' she cried angrily. She came towards us, eyes narrowed, and it was then that we stood frozen in our frocks. We didn't know what to do. Finally I could not hold the words in any longer. 

'Are you a witch?' I blurted out. 'We wanted to know if you're a witch.' 

'And what if I am? Are you going to burn me at the stake or hang me like they did in Salem?'

'Of course not. We were just curious, that's all. So tell us, are you a witch?' 

She grinned at us, her eyes glowing, face pale as a ghost.

 'Yes I am!' she whispered. 

'Well, if you're a witch why don't you fly on your broomstick?' asked Lucy. 

'Only if you fly on yours first!’

With a click of my fingers I produced my broomstick out of thin air. Then Lucy and Renee did the same thing. We then hopped onto them and rose up into the air, hovering above Tracey's head. 

Lucy.cockled and Renee grinned·as I said, 'It's your turn now Tracey. Hurry up so we can see the sights before it starts gelling light.' 

Tracey looked at us In disbelief. 'I was only joking. I'm not a witch. I don't believe in witches!' she cried out in horror. 

We were very disappointed. We really thought she was a witch. It would have been really good to have another girl in our family. Then I had on idea. 

'Hey Tracey, how would you like to become a witch?' I asked, Her look of terror ceased as she smiled at us with those black lips of hers. I took that as a yes and with the click of my fingers we now had four witches in our family.