‘She decided to come into my house and steal my seven daughters away.’ Lewis brandishes his axe high above his head like a warrior.
The executioner comes towards me and takes down their hood. It’s Jemima, of course.
‘No.’ I say it quietly the first time. ‘No.’
‘Only this time the story is going to be told in a different way.’ Jemima’s voice shakes with nerves. I am confused.
Dorcas walks forward and stands on the other side of me.
‘It’s time to put the story right. To put everything right.’
Susan hands me a note. I open it with trembling hands and read to myself.
‘We, the undersigned, have agreed to give you a chance. Not because we couldn’t have you locked up forever for what you did to us at the waterfall, because we could, (especially if I was the lawyer – Jemima) but because Dorcas told us what really happened to Winter and we think the truth should be told. We don’t like it when things are unfair even if they happened a long time ago. The rest of the class don’t know what you are, or why we are changing things, but Jemima has told them she’s annoyed she didn’t get a main part and to improvise as we go along.
If you lift the curse, we will never tell what happened because it is Year Six code. We will never tell our other classmates (not even Ivy – Holly). We will never tell anyone. The choice is yours.
Jemima. Dorcas. Susan. Lewis. Holly.
P.S. I don’t think anyone would believe what happened even if we did tell them – Dorcas.
P.P.S. I really am annoyed I didn’t get a main part – Jemima.
P.P.P.S. Please don’t kill us – Lewis.
Everyone looks at me. I find my voice. It’s strong.
‘This is the real story of what happened to the witch called Winter.’
20
‘There have been too many witch hunts in Witch Point.’
I don’t like being on a stage, but this story needs me to tell it.
‘One of the most famous was the witch called Winter.’
Maybe this is a trap of some kind, but I am going to tell this story if it’s the last thing I ever do.
‘There was a cottage in the woods.’
The others all run to the side of the stage and leave me alone. I dig deep inside and find the courage to continue.
‘An orphan girl found herself in the cold forest, alone and without food.’
Dorcas comes back on holding the elaborate moon on a stick from the Midsummer Night’s Dream costumes which we found in the attic. She shines a torch at it so it gleams.
‘Finding a cottage in the woods, she asked them to give her some scraps.’
Lewis comes on holding his axe and the cardboard wall from the attic. Mae must have let them have all the props she and my mum made.
‘Because the girl was so grateful to the woodcutter and his wife for taking her in, she did everything she could to help them and their seven daughters.’
Some of the class hold up golden wands so they look like stars. Some shine lights on the flimsy stars which were hanging in the attic and now hang from the tree.
‘Soon after she arrived, the seven sisters became jealous because she was getting attention from their parents. Also, Winter was gifted. She could grow flowers anywhere.’
Jemima starts singing and signals to the rest of the class. The others rush on and fill the stage with the flowers that have been saved at the back of the house. It’s so beautiful I can feel my lip quiver, but I have to concentrate. I’m starting to believe that they might be on my side.
‘She could calm fierce animals, tell the future in water, birds came to her wherever she went. The kinder Winter was, the more the sisters grew jealous.’
One of the girls comes in wearing a lion mask and Cai comes on wearing the donkey’s head from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He’s can’t see where he’s going because the ears are so far over the eyeholes and someone leads him across to meet Duran Duran, the real donkey. This gets loads of laughs from the audience. And a smile from me.
‘Winter had been to many places and brought stories of the outside. The seven sisters had never been anywhere, and they wanted to escape. The sisters hatched a plan. If their parents loved Winter so much, they could have her to themselves. They would go and leave her behind.’
The clouds are knitting themselves thicker in the sky. My voice is clear. I will get to the end of this story and then tell the whole town that I am a witch too. I can do this.
‘One day, snow began to fall.’ I look up to see Lewis shaking pieces of confetti over me. He waves and the confetti wobbles and spills a bit. ‘Winter, who loved nature and the beauty of snow, called them out to see the intricate patterns of the snowflakes. This suited their plan perfectly. They had stored some supplies behind the Falls of Snow waterfall and they led Winter there.’
Jemima directs the class with more gestures. We are so used to improvising now. They move to sit and listen at the side of the stage. Gwyneth looks baffled but interested. Elvis the duck sits on her lap as if he’s preventing her from moving.
‘When they arrived, they told her they were going to leave. She tried to stop them, and they fought. Overpowering her, because there were seven of them, they tied her up and left her behind the waterfall. As they left, the waterfall froze over, leaving her trapped by a cage of ice. One of the sisters, who wasn’t quite as bad as the others, left her some food.’
I think of the drawing of the cage my mum drew. A sudden soft wind whispers through the ribbons and garlands and makes them ripple like a waterfall. I swallow hard. I’m nearly there. I’ve nearly told it all.
‘Winter stayed there with her hands tied for three days and nights before the waterfall thawed enough for the birds to get through. They untied her ropes with their beaks.’
Actual birds start to land on the fences and the house. It’s so magical having them there watching. They have protected me and my ancestors. I am telling the story for them as well.
‘Winter made her way back to the woodcutter’s house and told the woodcutter and his wife what had happened. They wouldn’t believe her because, of course, they couldn’t believe that of their seven daughters.’
The day has become so dark and hot that the solar lamps around the house turn on. I wipe sweat from my upper lip. Everyone is listening.
‘They took her to the town and the woodcutter and his wife told the people of Winter’s gifts. All the people blamed her for the disappearance of the seven sisters. The poor girl went to trial and the town condemned her as a witch.’
The class all turn their backs on me as we’ve rehearsed for Gwyneth’s version of the play and I stand at the gallows, imagining the fear that Winter must have felt. The terror coursing through her veins, crystallizing into hate when no one listened.
‘She was hanged as a witch and, in desperation, just before she died, she cursed the town until the truth be told. And now you look on me. Wilde. At the gallows. And when you know how weird I am, you will condemn me too.’