Witch of Apple Hill ~ Part 37

Paul’s eyes widened. “No, you can’t. I was your mentor. Let me stay here with you. I won’t cause any trouble I swear.”

“I would love to trust you, even put in a good word on your behalf,” said Cage allowing Mayor Garver to put the handcuffs on Paul, “but as my teacher taught me … trust no one, especially a fool who plays with dark magic.”

Paul screamed again as Cage pulled him to his feet and led him toward City Hall where they would meet the sheriff.

“Want to try to sit up?” asked Pammy. Elise nodded slightly.

“Okay, slowly now,” said Pammy.

With Pammy’s help, Elise pushed herself off the sidewalk and sat. She was surprised to see the townspeople still surrounding her. She remember how they had shielded her when she was fighting the mass and how they had stood with her when the battle started. Tears formed in her eyes as Roark slowly crawled off Pammy’s hand and onto Elise’s shoulder.

She looked at her friends … her family.

“I can’t thank you enough,” she said to them. “I’ve cursed you all these years. You knew and yet you came to my side anyway. I don’t understand.”

Mr. King looked to her fellow townsfolk before answering. “Our ancestors settled on your land, looking for gold. Gold that could have scarred this place for ages. You kept them from finding it, if any was here, which protected the way of life we know now. You protected the apples, which have made us all very wealthy, since the townspeople own the orchard and we all get a cut. You created a barrier that made it hard for anyone wanting to do this town, and therefore us, harm. Which is why it takes the sheriff’s department so long to get here, they don’t have to often. You build a library and kept us educated, even though you declared you didn’t like us much. You’ve been to every town hall meeting I can remember and participated in every event the town has thrown.”

He shrugged. “So the founding families decided long ago, we’d put up with curse and those that couldn’t handle it would need to move. You are this town, Elise, and we can’t thank you enough.”

Elise felt her tears fall on her cheeks as she smiled. “I have seen the love and light. I lift the curse and all the plights. I know now I’ve been wrong. Let us celebrate for centuries long.”

Her fingers tingled as the magic trickled from them and started to spread throughout the town. Pammy’s hair turned back to its lovely shade of blonde. Elise heard Ms. Welch ask someone for a sweater. The items broken on the streets due to the fight and the storm Elise had caused before fixed themselves, the wind swept the streets clear of debris, and the mums grew bigger and brighter than ever.

The townspeople oo’d and awed as if they were watching fireworks and for the first time in 83 years, Elise felt the world lift off her shoulders.