The Coven

"Stop this! We must be at one. It is our only chance."

Mary is not so convinced.

"But you said the Black Spell will not work again."

"Yes, that is so but listen! Do you hear that?"

Mary and Miriam strain their ears until they hear the approaching helicopters and police vehicles, obviously drawn by the smoke escaping from the fire. They panic and run around the cave, wailing and squealing, working themselves into hysteria. Magda ignores them and mutters an incantation, opening her bottle of potion and sprinkling some on the fire. A whoosh of blue flame rises up to the roof of the cave and a vision forms before them. It is the village square with the gallows and the Witch Finder General. Mary and Miriam look and fall silent as they realise that they are the women on the gallows. Mary looks to Magda.

"So it is the end for us?"

"Perhaps" says Magda. "But let us wait and see!"

They watch as the Witch Finder General holds his hat high in the air and addresses the crowd with an outpouring of puritanical mumbo-jumbo. The villagers are impatient for their satisfaction, caring little for him, contemptuous of his pompous self-regard. They jeer at him to get on with it. But just then, at this critical moment, the vision is interrupted by intruders. A police captain enters the cave, backed by some of his men, all with their revolvers cocked. When they see only three old hags gathered round a pathetic fire, they relax and put down their guns. The captain laughs with some relief and apologises.

"We are looking for three fugitives, three young women in fact. Have you seen them around here?"

The women look up at them and start to speak in tongues, their eyes burning fiercely, holding the men in a trance. The fire dies down; the cave darkens and turns icy cold. Magda cackles and rubs her gnarled old hands.

"It is the police, girls! Just in time!"

***********************

Later that day, after the forensic team finish their on-site investigation, the aged and desiccated bodies of the captain and his men are taken down from the cave. The force is in shock. It is not what they had expected. Who (or what?) are these women? And where are they now? The cave had been watched throughout the operation and no one had been observed coming out. Police helicopters scour the area but find not a soul walking the barren desert. But they are not alone in the air. Three magnificent vultures soar high over the craggy outcrop, majestic and free, looking for new flesh.

ENDS