There's no place like home 6/9

“That’s an unusual name for a witch!”

“Yes, she came to us from Ireland. The leprechauns over there are a mischievous lot and it can be difficult to concentrate when you’re studying to pass your exams. So she came to us to work in comparative peace and quiet.”

Just then Carmel shouted to make herself heard over the noise the giant was making, “Over here, there’s water about ten feet down.”

Abigail walked over, followed by Jennifer Jane. Carmel had marked the spot where she’d found the water by laying her hazel twig in the right place. Abigail took a piece of paper from her pocket and refreshed her memory by having a quick look at the spell she’d copied.

Then she grinned at Jennifer Jane and wiggled her fingers. Jennifer Jane recognised a boundary spell followed by a twiddle that she’d never seen before.

A hole about two feet in diameter appeared underneath the hazel twig and sank slowly into the ground. Sure enough when it had gone down ten feet or so, water began to cover the bottom and rapidly rose to just below ground level. Carmel bent down and picked up her twig, which had floated up with the water.

“It’s a good dowsing rod that, I’d hate to lose it.”

The witches looked at each other with satisfied smiles.

“That’ll save a lot of time and worry,” said Abigail, “Fundin can come over here when he’s ready and put in whatever machinery he wants. None of the local humans will be able to see it of course, any more than they can ever find the giant or the pool. Right then, job done, let’s go back to the Home and have a cup of tea and a chocolate swiss roll or two, I think we’ve earned it.”

All three trooped along the path towards the wishing clearing. As they arrived, a rattling noise could be heard approaching and Abigail stopped for a moment to see what was coming.

As Jennifer Jane had already guessed, it was the goblin firemen with their pumping engine.

The chief fireman gave them a wave as he passed. “Just on our way with the second load of water,” he shouted.

Jennifer Jane ran after him to tell him about the new water supply near the pool. He seemed a little disappointed at first, but cheered up when he realised that he could still use the engine to pump the water from the spring into the pool.

Abigail and Carmel had gone when she returned to the clearing, so she hurried after them and found them in the Refectory drinking their tea. There was a third cup for her, with a saucer standing on top of it to keep it warm.

“I recognised the boundary spell,” she said proudly.

Abigail laughed, “You jolly well should after all the effort I put into teaching you that one.”

She told Carmel the full story of the growing spell that had gone wrong and the way in which she’d punished Jennifer Jane in consequence.

“Now we can sit back and wait for Fundin to do his stuff. I suggest you pop over there and ask him when he’ll be able to come over to you and fix things permanently.”