Chapter 3- Wicked Forest

Jeanette watched as her youngest child darted across the garden and onto the footpath, her blond curls swayed with her movements. She sighed. Crystal was stubborn and headstrong. The plans she had made for her rebellious daughter wouldn’t go down well and she knew it. Perhaps one day Crystal would see the bigger picture. Jeanette doubted that. She had to find a way to get Crystal to do what was needed. She was the only one of her girls that frustrated her. If she told Crystal to do one thing, she did the opposite. It was like she did whatever she could to destroy her position.

Freedom was close, closer than it had been for so long, Jeanette couldn’t stop the excitement that welled inside her. Sacrifices had to be made. Crystal would just have to learn that, sooner rather than later. It was all a part of being a witch. After all Crystal would have no choice in the matter. She would do what was asked if she didn’t like it. Then it was tough.

Jeanette plated up Henry’s breakfast and cleaned away all the pots and wiped the sides before her husband appeared. She wanted to do something to cheer the old miserable idiot up. Their youngest daughter had wrapped him around her finger. Now he was nothing but a shadow of the man he used to be.

He looked rough, he had stubble on his chin and his eyes held a tired redness.

“For goodness’s sake Henry, pull yourself together,” Jeanette snapped, as she placed the food in front of him, the plate banged on the table. She was tired of his depressive ways. Long gone was the man she had married.

“I think what we’re doing is wrong. I can see this ending badly,” he muttered. Jeanette slammed her hands down on the table and gave him a deadly glare. Who was he to question her abilities to be a mother? To lead? He was nothing but a weak man.

“You, need to man up. This is what we have been waiting for. This opportunity will not come again, and you know it. By the way, it is we are. I think you have been spending too much time with the drama princess,” she scrunched up her lips and scowled. As a leader it was important to speak proper English and not the slang the teenagers picked up. They had to show an example of elegance and maturity, one thing that Henry lacked recently, not to mention his overall appearance.

“And at least look respectable. A shave would not go a miss.”

“But at what cost Jeanette? What are the lengths you are willing to go too to get what you want?” he questioned her. It was like a bomb was ticking inside her. It took remarkable strength not to put the man in his place.

“What we want? What the coven wants,” she corrected him. He had a way of making her feel guilty. She wasn’t going to let him this time. She had worked too hard to let Henry Hudson ruin what she had worked for.

“At the cost of our daughter?” he said quietly.

“Yes. We are the lucky ones, just like I knew we would be. Mama blessed us with the key. You should be happy,”

“I like it here, going back isn’t something…” he looked at her and Jeanette knew her face showed her anger and annoyance. Without finishing his sentence, he got up and left.

She watched him retreat. If only he understood like she did. But like her daughter, Henry was stubborn. He would come around. He always did. It was what he was taught to do, follow the rules, and support her. She smiled as she waited for the elders to arrive. Today was the day her plan was going to be put into motion. The first steps to…

A knock on the door told her they were on time and cut her thoughts off.

She marched through the house and opened the door. Her heels clicked on the white tiles as she moved. Jeanette was dressed for the occasion, a tight black business skirt with a white blouse. Her hair piled at the top of her head in a neat bun. The only make up she wore was bright red lipstick that made her lips stand out, against the ivory colour of her skin. The smile that took over her mouth was one she could not stop.

“Martha, Gary and Dean come on in,” the three oldest members of the coven had faces of stone. No expression. Miserable gets, Jeanette thought as she closed the door with a soft thud. They were nothing but useless, but it was the way of her people to have a council and Jeanette just had to put up with them. Smile and bear them. That all she had to do. Make it look like she was interested in what they had to say when in reality she felt like screaming for them to shut up more often than not.

She led them into the living room offering them each a cup of tea, and a sandwich, playing the perfect host when all she wanted to do was blurt the news out.

“I am pleased to tell you all, that I have found the perfect match for Crystal,” she grinned while the three elders looked at one another.

“What about Hugo, he is a strong boy with immense power,” Martha said voicing her thoughts.

“Hugo is a good match, just not the perfect one. The young man I have found will be enough to get us home. Of that I am sure,” the elders didn’t look convinced. “Our ancestors have heard our call,” Jeanette said proudly. She watched them give each other small glances of curiosity with a hint of doubt. It angered her that they doubted her. After everything she had done. She was the reason they had survived the horrendous ordeal of living in the human world.