Catweazle

Prince of Fire!’
    Carrot
sat down and tried to explain about Miss Bonnington.
    ‘That
money we got for the head of Cernunnos doesn’t seem to have made much
difference. If Dad marries her, just to save the farm, life won’t be worth
living. You see, she’s got pots of dough - ’
    ‘Pots
of dough?’ queried Catweazle.
    ‘Anyway,’
said Carrot, finding it hard to explain, ‘I want to get rid of her, and I don’t
know how to do it.’
    Catweazle
sat twisting his beard round his finger. ‘There are many ways to rid thyself of
meddlers,’ he said finally. ‘Rapkyn will know.’
    ‘She
shall be blasted like a riven oak! Drowned in sulphur! Torn by whirlwinds!’ he
said as he turned the pages of the old book.
    Carrot
was a little taken aback. ‘Couldn’t we just scare her a bit?’
    ‘Hear
Rapkyn!’ said Catweazle, finding the place. ‘ “To spite thine enemy: make thee
a mannikin of wax, saying the while, be thou such an one. Burn garlic and
vervain, and at the striking of the church bell at the seventh hour, take thou
a long pin and pierce the image throughly.” ’
    ‘Sounds
a bit final, doesn’t it?’ said Carrot.
    ‘Ay, it
doth,’ Catweazle grinned evilly. ‘Hast thou wax?’
    ‘Well,
I’ve got some modelling clay. Look, Catweazle, don’t you think we ought to
think of something else?’
    ‘
“Provide thyself with any ring, thing or knick-knack of thine enemy’s and tie
it to thy doll,” ’ Catweazle read on remorselessly. Carrot was beginning to get
worried.
    ‘Any
ring, thing or knick-knack?’ he said. ‘How are we going to get that?’
    ‘Where
is the woman?’ asked Catweazle.
    ‘She’s
still at the farm, but I can’t just go and ask her, “Please Miss Bonnington can
I have a ring, thing or knick-knack of yours, because I need it to put a spell
on you!” ’
    ‘Thou
art a dolt, brother in magic,’ said Catweazle. ‘We shall steal it from her.’
    ‘Steal
it!’ Carrot was shocked, ‘couldn’t we just sort of borrow it and give it back
afterwards?’
    ‘Afterwards,’
said Catweazle grimly, ‘she may not need it!’
    Carrot
led the way back to the farm with considerable misgivings. The farm buildings
gave them excellent cover and they managed to creep quite close to the house,
where they hid behind some bags of fertilizer, only a few yards from the car.
    Catweazle
blew on his thumb-ring. ‘Gab, gaba, agaba,’ he said to the car.
    ‘There
might be something in the glove-compartment that would do,’ whispered Carrot,
and then ducked down as his father and Miss Bonnington came out of the house.
    ‘I really
will do my best, George,’ she gushed.
    ‘I’ll
have my fingers crossed,’ said Mr Bennet, smiling as he opened the car door for
her. Miss Bonnington put her handbag into the car and then stopped. ‘Silly old
me,’ she said, ‘I’ve forgotten the eggs!’ Mr Bennet roared with laughter as if
it was the funniest thing he had ever heard and the two of them went back into
the house.
    The car
door was open and the handbag lay on the seat. Carrot felt terrible. He had
never done anything like this before, but he had to save his father, so he ran
over to the car and grabbed the bag. Catweazle followed and climbed over the
seat to get a little red devil mascot that was hanging in the rear window.
Carrot was still struggling to open the handbag when he heard Miss Bonnington
and his father returning, so he threw it back on the seat and raced for cover.
    ‘About
nine I should think,’ said Miss Bonnington as she reached the car, with her
basket of eggs.
    ‘I
shall be waiting,’ said his father.
    Carrot
was horrified. Catweazle was still in the car! He watched with dismay as it
roared out of the yard, and, as his father went back into the house, he leapt
on his bike and pursued Miss Bonnington up the lane.
    The
hairdresser’s, Dorrice and Jayne, was at the far end of Westbourne High Street.
Miss Bonnington’s car was parked nearby and as Carrot cycled up, Catweazle’s
terrified face appeared at the window. He opened the door quickly and the old
man fell out on to the pavement.
    ‘Oh,
oh!’ he moaned, ‘trees rushing past like storm clouds!’
    ‘Did
you get anything?’
    ‘Nay,
my brother! She was protected by Lucifer.’ Catweazle held up the red devil
mascot.
    ‘So we
can’t use this as a thing or knick-knack?’
    ‘Nay,
’tis a charm.’
    Carrot led
him over to the hairdresser’s. ‘She’s in there,’ he said. They looked in. The
young