The kids dispersed at lightning speed, no one even noticed Hanna. As she looked towards the corner of the garden, she saw a mysterious figure standing by the fence, a short, thin figure in long, baggy clothes and long, grey hair, her face was hidden by the brim of her tattered hat.
“Get out of here!” She shouted at Hanna in a hoarse voice. “If I see you here again, I’ll tell your parents and you’ll be in big trouble!”
Scared out of her wits, Hanna ran to the other end of the street, towards her home. From the middle of the road, she looked back and saw the intimidating figure nailing a new sign to the gate:
DO NOT ENTER, OR YOU’LL BE IN TROUBLE!
When she was done, she let the cat out of the car and started walking down the weed lined path towards the door of the unfinished house. The cat ran after her, and half way up the path, it looked back and seemed to wink at Hanna.
The girl flinched.
“Don’t be stupid,” she said to herself, “It didn’t wink because cats can’t wink!” Then she shook her head and ran home.” “Early the next morning, the children gathered in front of the fence of the house and held a meeting.
“Did he really say that?” Patrick asked in disbelief after Hanna had told him about yesterday’s events. “That’s preposterous! Who is this strange person? What is she doing here? So where will we play from now on?”
“I think we should go around the house and look in the window from the back terrace. She definitely doesn’t live here; she can’t live here; nobody has touched this house for years” speculated Benny.
“True. Hanna will find out who she is. And we’ll find out what she wants” said Patrick, pushing Hanna towards the fence.
“Why don’t you go, you’re the boys! The commanders!”
“Very well” said Patrick, not wanting seem cowardly. “Benny, come with me!”
They started along the fence to get behind the house, but suddenly Benny shouted.
“Wow! Look at this! A whole forest has grown here since yesterday!”
The previously barren and weedy backyard was indeed full of trees: you couldn’t even see the back terrace for them.
But the mysteries only multiplied as time passed.” “Barely two weeks later, the children were already afraid to go near the house. Inexplicable things happened one after the other: the garden was rapidly tidied up, the tiles on the roof got fixed, the terraces were paved, and the walls were plastered and painted, although no one had ever seen a single worker renovating the house.
Sometimes the mysterious figure would show herself, working in the garden or calling her cat from the terrace. Sometimes she would go to the shop two streets away, but her basket would only contain canned cat food and milk.
“I can’t believe we can never play there again. It’s not fair! We have to get the house back from the witch.” Patrick complained one August afternoon. The black cat was rubbing against the witch’s legs, ‘as the kids had started referring to the mysterious figure, and would often spend its time with the kids, only disappearing when his owner called for him.
“Kitty!” The witch cried from far away; which was when the cat would take a big jump and head for home. A loud screeching of brakes scared the kids: there was a red car in the middle of the road, with the cat lying in front of it. It had hit the cat.” “Hanna was the first to run there, while the startled driver clambered out of the car.
“I didn’t see it… I’m so sorry… it all happened so quickly… Is it still alive?”
“It’s alive, but we need to take him to the vet,” Hanna said, trying to pick up the barely breathing cat.
“Kittyyyy!” screamed the witch again, unable to see the accident from the terrace of her house.
“Hanna! The witch must not find out, or we are doomed! What do we do now?” said Patrick in panic, who had reached the side of the car by then.
“We have to take him to the vet right away… Then once he’s treated, we’ll have to find a way to smuggle him back into the garden. It’s the only way,” Hanna said resolutely.
“Okay, but who will smuggle it back?” Benny asked, and Patrick already had the answer:
“Well, Hanna, of course.”
Hanna did not reply. She hugged the injured cat and walked towards her home with it.
“Kittyyyy! Where are you, stink face?” cried the witch, who would wait in vain for her cat until the next day. ” ““Fortunately, he is not badly hurt, only his left hind leg is broken. He will be fine in a few weeks, but the waterproof layer on the plaster will need to be replaced every two days. Is the kitten yours?” The vet asked Hanna.
“No, it’s not mine, but it lives on our street. We don’t know his owner.”
“We’ll read his chip in a minute, if he has one.” Which fortunately, he did, although the doctor scratched his head in disbelief as the computer retrieved the data.
“All it says is Hexy, 58 Flower Street. Nothing else. That is the name of the owner, no family name. All rather strange. And the cat’s name is… Kitty.”
So many mysterious things had happened around the witch that the missing family name did not surprise Hanna for a moment.
“I’ll take him home. Thank you for your help!”
“Wait, I’ll give you another box of painkillers. He should have some of these every morning to relieve the pain. Tell his owner… Mr. Hexy’ said the doctor as he handed over the medicine, and Hanna said goodbye with Kitty in her arms. She had no idea how she was going to get the cat back to Hexy’s house.