LYDIA DEETZ AND THE WITCH’S HOUSE
Capítulo 3: Ravens and frogs in the cursed forest
The sky early in the morning was gray due to the clouds that did not decide whether to continue or not with the storm of the previous night. Only a few distant thunderbolts threatened in vain all the creatures that dwelled on the earth.
“The storm is over," said Lydia, "but the drizzle continues.”
“The smell of grass and wet soil is intense," said Percy.
“Follow my father and you will reach Winter River," said Viola, "as the other bridge collapsed, you will have to take the old stone bridge.”
“This time," said Travis, Viola's father, "it's a long detour, so we'd better get going.”
Percy went to take the tandem and Lydia hugged Viola to thank her and say goodbye.
“Thanks for letting us stay at your place, Viola. Don't forget what I told you about Ellen, don't do the body swapping spell.”
Viola was about to answer her friend but Travis was already rushing the kids and Lydia had to get on the tandem with Percy.
The soft chirping of the morning birds was replaced by a loud chirping as the morning progressed and the three finally reached the old stone bridge.
A pair of majestic crows walked arrogantly across the bridge while apparently squawking at the fog that was beginning to swirl around.
“There used to be a crude bridge made of fallen trees, the Crow tribe natives built it," Travis said. “All this land belonged to them before they were relocated to the Indian reservation.”
“Thank you very much Mr. Travis, I think that from here Percy and I can go quietly to Winter River.”
“You're welcome, Lydia, I'll go ahead, I have to tell the mayor's office about the collapse of the bridge.”
The man walked away and Lydia went to the crows who looked at her curiously.
“What are you doing, Lydia?” Percy asked her.
Before I go back to the village, I have to do something....
.
.
Lydia's snobby stepmother, Delia Deetz, was reluctant to get up late because she had to make sure her stepdaughter went to school. Charles, her husband, was still sleeping while he was babbling something that sounded like a "double bacon burger". The man missed the New York food.
“I think Charles needs more of my culinary delicacies," said the insufferable woman, who remained convinced that her disgusting dishes were a delight.
“Lydia, get ready for school!” said Delia as she knocked on the door of her stepdaughter's room, "Yesterday you didn't tell us you arrived young lady!”
No one answered and when Delia was about to open the girl's room, a voice was heard on the other side of the door.
“I woke up, I'm going to school right away.”
“Are you okay? Your voice sounds like you have a cold.”
“I'm going to school right away.”
The woman decided to go back to her room and continue sleeping, as a raven came out of Lydia's room, around her feathered neck, a ring of fuchsia light had just burst into thousands of tiny fragments. Lydia's spell was over.
.
.
The Gothic girl barely arrived in the village, rushed to the newspaper library and searched for news about the house in the forest next to Viola's house.
“...Oh no.”
Meanwhile, at the house in the woods, Viola was telling Ellen about her friends Lydia and Percy.
“And did Lydia tell you when she would visit you again?” Ellen asked Viola, as she made an effort to keep her voice sounding like that of a sick child and not reveal her surprise at the news her blonde friend brought her.
“She didn't tell me an exact date, but I guess it will be tomorrow since it's Saturday.”
There was not much time, if at first the description of Viola's Gothic friend had interested her, now she considered Lydia not as a better prospect than Viola for the body exchange spell, but rather as a danger to her plans. Even his catboy friend might bring complications, no, it was best to hurry up the plans.
“Cog, Viola, it hurts so much.”
“Ellen, you have to go to the hospital.”
“Cog, I don't think I can even get out of the house.”
“Wait for me, I'll get help!”
“Cog, cog, cog... I'll be dead before you get there.”
“Don't give up!”
“I beg you, Viola... the spell.”
“But...”
“Before I die, I want to see what it feels like to run free in the field.... At least that before I die!”
Ellen started crying and only stopped when she had a sudden coughing attack. You could tell she was breathing harder and harder.
“Okay, Ellen, just tell me what to do.”
.
.
Lydia and Percy rushed to the mayor's office but were unable to locate Travis, so they left him a message as they were told he would be back soon.
“Percy, we have to hurry to meet Viola, she's in serious danger.”
“But with the tandem we won't get there soon, remember that the covered bridge is no longer there. What are we gonna do, we gonna fly?”
“The sky is clear now, I don't think it's wise to do it. I have an idea, let's go to the village cemetery.”
The cemetery was located between the residential neighborhood of Peaceful Pines and the rest of the town of Winter River. It was respectable in size and the occasional tree adorned the surroundings with its greenery, except for one that lay upright but devoid of almost all its leaves on all its knotty and twisted branches.
The tree was intimidating with deep, black openings that gave him the appearance of a dark face with a huge mouth, ready to devour whoever approached him.
“Lydia, what do we do now?”
“We will go through the "darkness". It's like traveling through the realm of perpetual shadows, we'll get there fast.”
“Lydia, this reminds me of that movie "The Endless Story 2".”
“Albert Einstein would say that it is nonsense that the "speed" of darkness is greater than the speed of light, but remember that magic twists the fundamental laws of physics.”
“Will we be safe there?”
“As long as we try only to "bend" the physical laws and not "break" them, we will not have any problem.”
Then the two kids hugged each other and their bodies plunged to the ground until they disappeared.
Travelling in the dark was like swimming with your eyes closed and not being able to reach out your arms at will, and feeling something around you in that perpetual darkness. It was like swimming in the depths of the ocean and a sea serpent swimming around your body.
Although the displacement was noticeable, in real time, only one blink had occurred and both Lydia and Percy emerged vertically from the ground and without any trace of being covered with earth.
“We arrived in front of the viola house, let's go in!” Lydia said hastily, and suddenly opened the front door, which was apparently unlocked.
Lydia called Viola, but Percy with his super-developed cat boy senses said there was no one home.
“It's best if we go into the woods and try to locate Ellen's house," Percy suggested.
“The forest is very big," said Lydia, "the best thing is to fly and try to locate a clearing, the house must be located in a clearing in the forest.”
The kids left Viola's house and, as they did when they were caught in the storm, they started to fly.
When they tried to fly over the forest, a wind apparently formed by dark green leaves began to surround them and hit them hard.
“Percy, it's impossible to move forward, let's go back to Viola's house!”
The children returned and at that moment a group of crows approached them. The flock was led by a crow so old that he was almost blind and was helped by other younger crows.
“...Flying over the forest is impossible because of the spell of evil," graced the old raven called: chief, "you must walk through the forest but the evil mist will make you lose yourself. Take gifts, this "calumet" (peace pipe) has powerful magic tobacco that will ward off evil...”
“Thanks Chief, wish my partner and I luck," Lydia thanked him after receiving the gifts and wrapping them carefully.
The two companions entered the forest and noticed how the atmosphere changed. On the outskirts there was a pleasant sunny climate, while in the dark forest, the sky vault seemed to be covered with grey clouds and the countless leaves did not allow enough sunlight to filter through.
“For a forest, It's very quiet.”
“It's true Lydia, my ears can't hear anything," said Percy as he grabbed his tail nervously.
“Look Percy, the fog is beginning to surround us.”
“Leave this to me, Lydia.”
“All right.”
Lydia passed to Percy, the peace pipe. Once it was lit, Percy started smoking and puffing.
The thick fog began to give way to the faint vortex of smoke from Percy's lips, allowing the children to move through the forest.
In order not to separate, Percy stretched his tail and it was firmly around Lydia's waist. In that, the children heard a high-pitched cry that apparently came from a stream in the forest.
As they approached, they saw that it was a frog and its offspring, who were inconsolable.
Lydia wanted to know the reason for her mournful cry and the frog explained that her husband had entered the witch's house in search of one of her offspring and had not yet returned.
What about your missing son?” Lydia asked.
“He's back, but my husband's still missing.”
“Could you show us the way to the haunted house?” Percy asked her.
“We're looking for our friend, she's inside the house. While we're looking for her, we'll see if your husband's here too.”
The frog accepted and along with her frogs, led the two kids to the haunted house.
“How strange," said the frog, "the passage leading to the house is blocked by all these roses.”
The frog stepped forward and found a passage through the middle of the rose bush through which Lydia and Percy could pass.
Percy turned into a black cat and Lydia did the same. The two dark cats crossed the rose bush with the frog and then returned to their original forms.
“I'm a catboy again! I can't hide my ears and tail!”
“Apparently this place has magic that disrupts whatever power we may have.”
“What do we do now?”
“For the time being we should head for the house. You, ma'am, go back to your children and get out of the woods, it's dangerous. Outside are the crows and they won't hurt you.”
The frog thanked Lydia and returned to the rose bush.
Lydia stroked the roses and turned around so that together with Percy, they could go to look for Viola.
CONTINUARÁ...
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