place to another—from one room to another, from one city to another, even from one country to another.
“Transportation was discovered by the ancient Druids. They realized that everything in the world is connected by a network of what they called ley lines, and that anything could be moved along these ley lines by using the Earth’s own natural magnetism—especially anything made of metal or stone with any kind of metallic ore in it. But living creatures, too, because they contain minerals. People, even.”
“How about you? Have you ever managed to do it?”
Annie shook her head. “Once I tried to make all my dirty dishes vanish from the dinner table and reappear in the dishwasher, but they wouldn’t.”
“That sounds like Mickey Mouse in Fantasia , making all those broomsticks carry water for him. Maybe it only works if it’s something you’re passionate about. Or angry. Or vengeful.”
“Maybe I’m just not powerful enough,” Annie admitted. “Last night, I tried to locate that fourth witch again, the one who set fire to the map. I used salt, and I used needles. I even used a spider tied to a length of thread. I can sense that she’s very close. I can sense that much. She could be hiding in my closet for all I know. But she’s keeping herself very well cloaked.”
“We’ll find her. I have a feeling about it. That’s if she doesn’t find us first.”
Annie looked at him, wide eyed and serious. “This is scary, isn’t it? I mean, like, this is very scary. It seems like these witches can do whatever they want, and nobody can do anything to stop them.”
Dan held out his wine glass for a refill. “Nobody wants to believe in them, that’s why.”
“But you believe. And I believe.”
“Exactly. So it looks like stopping them is entirely up to us, doesn’t it?”
Dan climbed the steps back to his apartment. When he opened the door, he found that the living room was billowing with acrid smoke, as if the place was on fire. He pushed his way into the kitchen, coughing. His pizza was burned black, like charcoal. “Shit,” he said. He had lost his appetite after seeing Gayle, but this was all he needed.
He opened all the doors and windows to disperse the smoke. Then he went for a shower and washed his hair. He dressed in a black short-sleeved shirt and tan-colored chinos. As he came back into the living room, combing his hair, the NBC news was rerunning its footage of Chief O’Malley vomiting up the toad, over and over. This was followed by a discussion from a panel of experts—a Roman Catholic priest, a veterinarian, a gastroenterologist, and Roland Zod, the famous TV illusionist.
“From earliest times, the toad has had very strong religious associations,” said the priest, who had a crimson face and wild white hair. “The ancient Egyptians believed that the goddess Heket sprang out of the wetness of Ra’s mouth and that she looked exactly like a toad, as well as having the power to make the Nile flood every year. Even today the Orinoco Indians still beat toads to death with sticks, in the belief that this will make it rain.
“But in the Christian canon, toads have always been associated with heresy, and the devil. It is my personal belief that what happened to the chief of police this morning was a sign from Our Lord that we should return to the laws and morals of the Christian church.”
“So where do you suppose this unfortunate toad came from?” asked the veterinarian, blinking at him furiously.
“It was such a totally obvious trick,” said Roland Zod. He was thirtyish with a shiny, bald head and a pencil mustache. “It appeared that a toad came out of his mouth, yes. But in my opinion, it was a yellow balloon painted with eyes to make it look like a toad. The chief put his hand up to his mouth, spat out the balloon, which he immediately deflated and tucked into his cuff, and then dropped the real toad onto the floor.”
“Do we know if Chief O’Malley has ever
“Transportation was discovered by the ancient Druids. They realized that everything in the world is connected by a network of what they called ley lines, and that anything could be moved along these ley lines by using the Earth’s own natural magnetism—especially anything made of metal or stone with any kind of metallic ore in it. But living creatures, too, because they contain minerals. People, even.”
“How about you? Have you ever managed to do it?”
Annie shook her head. “Once I tried to make all my dirty dishes vanish from the dinner table and reappear in the dishwasher, but they wouldn’t.”
“That sounds like Mickey Mouse in Fantasia , making all those broomsticks carry water for him. Maybe it only works if it’s something you’re passionate about. Or angry. Or vengeful.”
“Maybe I’m just not powerful enough,” Annie admitted. “Last night, I tried to locate that fourth witch again, the one who set fire to the map. I used salt, and I used needles. I even used a spider tied to a length of thread. I can sense that she’s very close. I can sense that much. She could be hiding in my closet for all I know. But she’s keeping herself very well cloaked.”
“We’ll find her. I have a feeling about it. That’s if she doesn’t find us first.”
Annie looked at him, wide eyed and serious. “This is scary, isn’t it? I mean, like, this is very scary. It seems like these witches can do whatever they want, and nobody can do anything to stop them.”
Dan held out his wine glass for a refill. “Nobody wants to believe in them, that’s why.”
“But you believe. And I believe.”
“Exactly. So it looks like stopping them is entirely up to us, doesn’t it?”
Dan climbed the steps back to his apartment. When he opened the door, he found that the living room was billowing with acrid smoke, as if the place was on fire. He pushed his way into the kitchen, coughing. His pizza was burned black, like charcoal. “Shit,” he said. He had lost his appetite after seeing Gayle, but this was all he needed.
He opened all the doors and windows to disperse the smoke. Then he went for a shower and washed his hair. He dressed in a black short-sleeved shirt and tan-colored chinos. As he came back into the living room, combing his hair, the NBC news was rerunning its footage of Chief O’Malley vomiting up the toad, over and over. This was followed by a discussion from a panel of experts—a Roman Catholic priest, a veterinarian, a gastroenterologist, and Roland Zod, the famous TV illusionist.
“From earliest times, the toad has had very strong religious associations,” said the priest, who had a crimson face and wild white hair. “The ancient Egyptians believed that the goddess Heket sprang out of the wetness of Ra’s mouth and that she looked exactly like a toad, as well as having the power to make the Nile flood every year. Even today the Orinoco Indians still beat toads to death with sticks, in the belief that this will make it rain.
“But in the Christian canon, toads have always been associated with heresy, and the devil. It is my personal belief that what happened to the chief of police this morning was a sign from Our Lord that we should return to the laws and morals of the Christian church.”
“So where do you suppose this unfortunate toad came from?” asked the veterinarian, blinking at him furiously.
“It was such a totally obvious trick,” said Roland Zod. He was thirtyish with a shiny, bald head and a pencil mustache. “It appeared that a toad came out of his mouth, yes. But in my opinion, it was a yellow balloon painted with eyes to make it look like a toad. The chief put his hand up to his mouth, spat out the balloon, which he immediately deflated and tucked into his cuff, and then dropped the real toad onto the floor.”
“Do we know if Chief O’Malley has ever
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