Cinderella's Secret Witch Diaries Box Set: Lost, Stolen, Found

Chapter 11-1

Chapter 11

Renée sat in the driver’s seat of the wagon and had lost herself in watching the horses. Mrs. Radley poked her head out from the back of the wagon and asked, “Did he signal when we would stop for the night?”

“No, he did not.” Ahead the second wagon bobbed up and down over the rocky trail.

The sun hung low in the sky and the trail stretched onward with no end in sight. From the back of the wagon, Renée heard the children singing a song. Their voices lifted up her spirits and she smiled. When the song ended, she heard Mrs. Radley clapping and congratulating them.

Ahead the first wagon stopped abruptly and Renée saw Phoebe jump out the back of the wagon and wave to Renée. Grabbing the reins tighter, she eased the horses to a stop and called back. “Visitors up ahead.”

Tenskwatawa crawled through the opening and sat next to Renée up front. “Can you see anything?”

“Phoebe gave me the signal and then climbed back into the wagon. I have not seen anything else.” The horses had stopped fully.

“I’ll go see what’s going on up there.” Tenskwatawa jumped off the driver’s seat and fixed his two guns in his belt. If there was trouble ahead, he would have two shots and would use them wisely.

Renée watched him walk up and then she poked her head into the back of the wagon. Mrs. Radley was comforting Teresa, Sarah, and little Ruth. “Tenskwatawa has gone to see up ahead. Just be ready for any trouble.”

“I have already started praying.” Mrs. Radley picked up Ruth in her arms and rocked her. “I hope that there …”

A rifle shot cut off her words. Renée turned back around and reached for her gun. She climbed back into the covered part of the wagon and had her weapon at the ready. Mrs. Radley had fallen to the wagon’s floor and sheltered Ruth’s body with her own. The remaining girls had grown silent and were on the floor as well.

She waited for a few moments wondering what would come next and Phoebe popped out of the wagon up ahead and waved back at her.

“Phoebe’s given the all clear.” Renée stood up and said, “Let me see what happened. Stay down in case there is more trouble.”

Renée climbed down off the wagon and saw Tenskwatawa walking back to her. Her legs ached from sitting all day. Walking felt good. He met up with her and said, “There was a wounded deer on the trail. Looks like it had broken its leg a while ago and had collapsed by the road.”

“I am glad that was all it was. I thought trouble had found us.” Renée saw Phoebe running back to her and she opened her arms, giving her a big embrace.

“Mr. Radley shot the deer so we will have a good meal tonight.” She held tightly onto Renée and then abruptly let go. “Mary, Martha, and I will go help setup for the night. We will need a good fire and it will take some time to prepare the deer.”

“Run along.” Renée patted her on the head and pushed her off of her with a troubled look on her face.

Tenskwatawa noticed and asked, “What are you not telling me?”

“I sense something wrong. I cannot explain it.” Renée looked up at the sky and saw a flock of birds flying overhead. The birds swirled in a cylindrical pattern and swarmed forward to suddenly change direction, appearing to be chased by something unseen. Tenskwatawa glanced up and heard the birds calling and, all at once, they ceased flying and fell dead to the ground. Renée watched and in seconds they heard the impacts of the birds hitting the ground ahead of them. The Radleys’ twins pointed at the dead birds and began to cry.

“What do you sense?” Tenskwatawa stood still and listened but could hear nothing.

“I cannot describe it. A presence in the sky that searches and feels cold.”

Sarah and Teresa ran to their mother’s side and clung to her dress. Mrs. Radley looked up but could see nothing. And then they could smell it. A putrid smell wafted over them all and they heard a loud roar and moan from deep in the earth. Tenskwatawa reacted instantly and yelled, “Get back in the wagon now! We have to turn around.”

The two horses attached to the wagon began to whinny loudly and had suddenly become highly agitated.

Renée glanced back up at the sky and thought she saw a shimmering there headed toward them. “Wait, I think I see …”

Tenskwatawa pushed her toward Mrs. Radley and together they helped the children back inside the wagon. “Though I don’t have my full powers in this body, I still have some. It’s the spirit of Pestilence. We must leave. Now!”

“How can that be?”

With gentleness, he tossed Teresa into the back of the wagon. “I do not know, but we must leave.”

From the first wagon, they heard Mary, the Radley’s oldest child, start to scream. Tenskwatawa looked at Renée and said, “Turn the wagon around and go back. I’ll go see what has happened. Just go.”

At the sound of her child’s scream, Mrs. Radley had climbed out of the back of the wagon and ran forward to help.

Renée climbed into the driver’s seat and grabbed at the reins. She had some trouble in calming the horses down, but she convinced them to walk and slowly turned the wagon around. Tenskwatawa ran to the first wagon, chasing after Mrs. Radley. When he arrived, he saw her holding Phoebe and Mary. Mr. Radley had already grabbed the horses and had begun to turn the wagon around so they could go back.

On the ground, the dead deer’s skin had begun to crack and hundreds of maggots began crawling out of the wounds. The smell became overwhelming and they all climbed back into the wagon. Phoebe ran to Tenskwatawa and asked, “What is happening?”

“We must leave. Get inside the wagon.” Tenskwatawa picked up Phoebe and half tossed her into the back of the wagon. “Virginia, please gather Mary. We must leave.”

Mrs. Radley crossed herself and scooped up Mary in her arms. “Come, let’s go.”

After the wagon had been fully turned around, Mr. Radley climbed back into the driver’s seat. Tenskwatawa ran up next to Mr. Radley and shouted at him. “Drive hard. Do not stop until the sun has fully set.”

Mr. Radley nodded and then urged the horses onward. The wagon rumbled away and Tenskwatawa ran back to the second wagon. Renée waited until he climbed in and for the first wagon to go past them. She looked at him and asked, “Mab, do you think we will be able to outrun it?”

“I don’t know. Just drive.” Tenskwatawa glanced up at the sky and a glittering patch appeared high overhead. The disturbance would shift with the sunlight and then disappear.

After several minutes of the horses’ hard running, the first wagon stopped abruptly ahead. Renée pulled on the reins and slowed down. From the back of the wagon, the twins cried, sensing the danger around them.

Renée handed the reins to Tenskwatawa and climbed into the back of the wagon, gathering little Ruth in her arms. The twins rushed up to her and clung to her tightly. Sarah quaked in fear. “We saw it. It looked to be a monster in the sky.”

Tenskwatawa yelled from the driver’s seat. “Where in the sky did you see it?”

Teresa answered first, pointing straight ahead. “There. It was right there.”

From in front of them, they heard screams from the girls in the first wagon. Renée closed her eyes and focused. In a quiet voice, filled with concentration, she said, “Mab, go get the others and bring them back here. If ever you could prove yourself, it would be now.”

Tenskwatawa nodded and ran as quickly as he could to the first wagon. Before he could arrive, he saw Mrs. Radley carrying Martha with Mary running in front of her. Mr. Radley held tightly onto Phoebe’s hand and then ran hard as well. And then he saw what had blocked the road. He stopped running and saw more than a dozen American soldiers lying dead on the ground. Their faces were marked with pox. Around them birds had fallen dead and a heavy silence hung over the scene. The air above the bodies shimmered briefly and Tenskwatawa realized that Phoebe had broken from Mr. Radley’s grasp and had stopped running with Mary and he stayed with him. Together they looked at the bodies and the shimmering appeared again. This time he thought he glimpsed a tentacle-like appendage floating above the bodies.

Phoebe took a step back and asked, “Mab, what is it?”

Tenskwatawa backed away slowly holding tightly onto her hand. “Has your mother and Renée taught you about the great spirits?”

“Yes.” She quickened her retreat but did not turn back around.

“You’re seeing the spirit of Pestilence.”

Phoebe brought her hand up and Tenskwatawa quickly grabbed her left arm and pushed it down. “Don’t use magic. Just slowly walk away.”

Phoebe lowered her arm and did as told.

The air shifted again and for a moment Phoebe thought she saw movement for the briefest of seconds. Tenskwatawa stopped and held her still. “I changed my mind. Stay still and gather your magic.”

“But I thought you told me …”

The shimmering brightened and only a few feet ahead they could both see a tentacle hanging from the sky. “Don’t talk.” Tenskwatawa pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her and pulled Mary close to him as well. The shimmering tentacle shifted and brushed against a tree on the side of the trail. Within seconds, blight began to appear on the leaves. The tree’s green leaves quickly turned to a darker green and then to yellow and brown.

Tenskwatawa pulled the girls back with him toward the wagon and they could hear the children crying in the second wagon. The shimmering vanished for a second and Tenskwatawa said, “Run.”

Phoebe and Mary both turned around and ran as fast as they could toward the next wagon. After running a few yards, Mary tripped and fell hard to the ground. Phoebe kept running and did not see her friend fall. Tenskwatawa saw Mary’s fall, stopped and saw that Phoebe could not outrun the spirit and he would need to pick her up to make it to the wagon in time. He hesitated a moment and then turned away from Mary and ran hard. He scooped Phoebe up in his arms, running faster than he thought possible.

From behind, Mary screamed and Phoebe watched a shimmering tentacle stretch down from the sky and wrap itself around her. Mary fought to pull herself out from the creature’s grasp, but her hands quickly withered, and her face became marked with pocks and turned yellowish in hue. Phoebe cried and tried to focus her magic but could not. She began pounding her fists against Tenskwatawa’s back. “Mab, stop! Please, we have to go back and get her. Please, stop!”

He ignored her and Phoebe watched her friend die. She struggled against the pustules that broke out over her face and body and then after a few seconds ceased to struggle. Tenskwatawa arrived at the back of the wagon and saw Mrs. Radley climbing out. He ignored her and tossed Phoebe roughly inside.

Mrs. Radley tried to push past him. “Where’s Mary?”

“Get inside.” Mab used Tenskwatawa’s strength and held her with both his arms.

“I have to go get my daughter.” Mrs. Radley’s face reddened as she struggled with him and from inside the wagon Tenskwatawa could hear the other children screaming. Mr. Radley and Renée were trying to calm everyone down.

Tenskwatawa shook his head. “She is already dead. Please, get inside.”

Mrs. Radley tried to run off but he held her and called for help. Mr. Radley jumped down and wrapped his wife in his huge arms and lifted her up into the wagon. She fought for a few moments and then broke down sobbing. Her children cried as well and Tenskwatawa glanced up and for a split second saw the great spirit in the sky. It towered high up over the wagon, higher than a bird flies, and the setting sun glistened off of what she could only think of as skin. The massive spirit stretched out above the sky and its hundreds of tentacles searched out across the land. But its huge gaping hole could only be its mouth. The spirit dripped its tentacles from the hole and the darkness he saw in there frightened him. Tenskwatawa jumped into the back of the wagon and all were packed tightly together. Renée had everyone formed into a loose circle holding hands and tried to calm everyone as best she could. Mr. Radley did his best to quiet his children and lead them in prayer while he had his arm around Mrs. Radley who had buried her face into his shoulder, sobbing.