I saw an angel in the marble and I carved until I set him free Michelangelo
Prologue Every town has its own witch Sometimes she’s stooped over and has tufts of white hair other times a long charcoal braid and perfect posture but no matter how well disguised she is children can always spot her In twelve-year-old Johanna Sullivan’s neighborhood of Dunkler Wald the resident witch was named Mrs Kinder and she lived across the street The sky was overcast and as gray as pigeon feathers when Johanna rounded the corner toward Mrs Kind er’s house Pulling her younger brother Casper in tow she trudged up the creaky stairs They bowed beneath 9
LISA PREZIOSI the children’s weight giving the unsettling feeling that at any moment the kids would crash right through the old wood Mrs Kinder’s house slumped against itself like all the wood was resting and being held up only by the wispy cobwebs in its corners The paint was peeling and chipped the windows dark and covered with heavy drapes Dangling from the sagging porch beams were rusted baskets so grimy the flowers had long since abandoned them The baskets blew in the wind giving out a long whiny sound that sent spidery shiv ers down Johanna’s neck Why why do we have to go whined Casper Because Mom said we do answered Johanna pulling Casper along But why Did Mom finally decided to kill us Casper exclaimed his eyes narrowing at Johanna Casper Johanna’s annoying nine-year-old brother was frequently suspicious of others He had brown hair and green eyes that narrowed whenever he thought someone was trying to trick him which of course was most of the time It’s only for a couple hours Hours Casper whined But I hate it there her house smells like mothballs and basement and and wet cat 10
THE ICE MAIDEN’S TALE Johanna sighed Casper you know Mrs Kinder doesn’t have a cat Exactly Casper answered raising an eyebrow What does that tell you Johanna let out another sigh and used her sternest I’m-your-big-sister-and-Mom-left-me-in-charge-so you-have-to-listen-to-me voice This isn’t my favorite way to spend an afternoon either but we have to do what Mom says Now hurry up before someone sees us going inside As they stepped on the old creaky porch a bolt of lightning cracked the sky like an egg Rain poured out Johanna screamed Yeah right replied Casper This house doesn’t bother you at all You’re not even a little bit scared He punctuated his sentence by sticking out his tongue The lightning just surprised me okay Now let’s get this over with Johanna approached the front door It must have been painted red once but now all that was left were grimy patches of paint on the old wood Just above Johanna’s eyes was a rusted door knocker She guessed that it was supposed to be an an gelic face like those cute golden cherubs you see scat tered inside Christmas trees but time and weather had battered it making it look ill and ghostly Johanna took a deep breath and grabbed the knocker trying not to look at the haunting face 11
