When Halloween traditions defended by real witches
Agatha couldn’t help herself, so she swept the porch with her
broom before she used the oversized door knocker. It was a bad reproduction of
the head of Bela Lugosi’s Dracula holding a single link of a heavy chain in his
fanged mouth.
A short octogenarian woman who could have been Margaret
Hamilton’s double answered the door. “About time, Cousin Agatha. It’s almost
sunset, and the trick-or-treaters will be starting.”
“Don’t bristle at me. This is a new broom, and I just
whisked in from Cincinnati. This isn’t your first Halloween; I suspect you’ve
got a handle on things.”
“I do. Come inside, and let’s get ready for the children.”
Agatha leaned her broom against the wall inside the door. “This
is a Boeing Stratoduster, right off the assembly line. Free to me because I’m a
beta tester. Thought I’d try it for a spell.”
Endora inspected the broomstick. “Boeing? It’s a miracle you
didn’t crash on takeoff.”
“Jealous much? You’re still flying that old Curtis Twin
Stick, aren’t you?”
“It’s a classic and the most stable broomstick ever
manufactured. It belonged to my grandmother. She flew 36 missions during World
War Two.”
“She’s my grandmother, too. That’s such a bewitching tale,
but my mom said that Grandma spent the war working in a defense plant in
upstate New York putting protection spells on aircraft.”
“She was a witch just like us. She told me that the defense
plant was just a cover story. The Curtis was the fastest broom on the planet.
She’d finish her shift at the Curtis-Wright plant, sweep across the Atlantic,
make a bomber escort run, bewitch a V-2, and then shuffle back to Buffalo in
time to clock in.”
Agatha petted a large black cat, Ashtoreth, Endora’s
familiar. “Ashtoreth looks healthy and happy, cousin, but I came for Halloween,
not a history lesson. Are we ready for the children?”
“I was born ready. Ashtoreth loves Halloween. We’ll take
turns with the kids. I’ll go first and you take the second group. The children
love my house because I don’t do Halloween like everyone else.”
“How does that work? Don’t the children get upset?”
“Not at all. When I answer the door, they don’t say
trick-or-treat. I do. They always say trick, and then I do a trick for them.
Different tricks for different kids. I sometimes make their flashlights talk or
their costumed wings real. I make the jack-o’-lanterns or my Bela Lugosi door
knocker talk.”
“That’s real magic, Endora. No one can know that magic is
real.”
“Relax, Cousin. The only magic I do for the children are
parlor tricks, and they wear off like fairy gold when they leave my yard.
Most of the parents who live around here visited my house when they were
young, and the rest wouldn’t believe it anyway. I’m just a harmless old lady.
It’s fun, and it makes Halloween a little more special for the children.”
“Clang, clang,
clang went Bela Lugosi. Endora opened the door and said, “Trick or
treat.”
Three princesses shouted, “Trick.”
Ashtoreth slipped out the door, brushed against the girls’
legs, and then slunk back into the house. Endora thought for a moment and then
touched the girl’s tiaras one at a time. The plastic headpieces glowed brighter
than sparklers on the Fourth of July.
The princesses laughed and danced. Ashtoreth danced with
them. Like real sparklers, the tiaras soon went out, and the three girls walked
quickly to their mothers waiting on the sidewalk. One woman cupped her hands
and yelled, “Thanks, Endora. You’ve still got it, girl.”
Two boys ran onto the front porch. Endora smiled at them. “Wow,
I love your costumes. Who are you supposed to be?”
“I’m Speed Racer, and Greg is Astro Boy. Manga comic
characters. Japanese.”
“Can’t say as I’ve ever been to Japan. Trick or treat,
boys.? Trick or treat?”
“Trick.”
“Agatha, help me with this one. These boys want a trick.”
Agatha waved her little finger, and Speed Racer’s helmet lit
up like a futuristic computer screen. Data flashed inside the faceplate,
visible only to the wearer, and scrolled rapidly in several colors, using
several languages, known and unknown. The young man was mesmerized.
Continue reading the story in the anthology:
