Helen Speaks

Lucy Skylark Entry 0, 3^rd March.

To: Vera Sparrowfield
3 The Willows
Grainthorpe

From: Lucy Skylark
Dune House
Barkmouth

Dear Vera,

I’m so glad you agreed to be my mentor. It was very kind of you when you could be enjoying your retirement, so I’m grateful for all your time and advice. I’m so excited to be taking my first steps to becoming a full time witch.

I will miss Grainthorpe so much. I know it’s a small town, but I always enjoyed going around the little shops like the grocer’s and the butcher’s, looking at all the weird things in Tarny’s Antiques, and spending my pocket money in Harriet’s Discounts, buying cheap lumpy nail varnish or a weird colouring book!

And I’ll miss the hills. I was thinking of when I first realised I had power, and I think it must have been the day they moved in to extend the bypass and chopped down the trees. I saw red, Vera. I remember there were still weeds they hadn’t got to – nettles and thorns. And I remember willing them to grow and they did. It was intoxicating. I was only 13 years old then. It felt like my weird secret. People I knew at school were doing much more normal kinds of rebellion – vaping, staying out too late, and there was me, disrupting a motorway.

I think I knew before then. I’ve always been good at growing things. My aunty Sandy used to say I had green fingers. She would give me the houseplants she’d neglected and they’d be green and growing again in no time.

My parents were so furious about the road, when they realised. There had been rumours it was a rogue witch… I’m sure you remember. And they were mortified. But I’m really happy because they asked you to help me when I had to go persuade the plants to go back. I started thinking I might become a full time witch. I’m so glad you persuaded them to let me go, even though it means not doing my GCSEs this year. My parents have always been very practical. I think I am too, but not in the same way. You see, they always hoped I’d get a business job, but I’ve always wanted to just help people. Not in a business way, in a direct way.

Speaking of which, please keep an eye on Mr Akhtar for me – I’ve been worried about him since his wife passed away. He never spoke much English but I learned a bit of Punjabi so we’re about equal. He was struggling to get around the house so I went and did some tidying and I fixed the garden. I persuaded the weeds to retreat and give him room. I helped his wife’s flowers to bloom again. I know it’s a simple job but it feels like important witch work. We have to keep an eye on each other.

Mrs Webfoot is my landlady and I’m staying in a lovely room overlooking the sea. She’s very kind and is very motherly. She makes sure I’m eating regularly and I’m not stuck in my room too long and not going astray. I can’t imagine local nightlife being very interesting! The day time in Barkmouth is lovely. There’s a path up on the cliffs with amazing views where I go to sketch. I’ve brought my art supplies with me and they’re a great help when I feel lonely.

Of course, I can’t feel too lonely because I don’t just have Mrs Webfoot, I also have Teddy. Teddy’s a ghost! I’m not sure what my parents would think if they knew that the suitcase we bought from Tarny’s was haunted. Teddy gave me such a fright when I opened the case in my new room and he flew out like a genie from a bottle. He was surprised too. He talked about the “job” he was on and at first he seemed genuinely frightened, then after a while it was like he came to his senses. I eventually got him to understand that he’s a ghost and that I’m a witch, and that he’s not running around speakeasies or doing “jobs” but haunting an antique suitcase in a British boarding house!

He’s my age, but from the 1920s. He was in New York when he died. When he eventually realised he was a ghost, I asked about how he died, but he didn’t want to talk about it. Teddy sometimes talks like he thinks he’s a gangster, but he seems really lonely, deep down. Now we’ve got to know each other a bit, he’s really excitable and chatty. It’s a bit annoying sometimes but he’s good company around town. He can travel wherever his case travels, so I just take it with me. You said I’d find a familiar – do you think Teddy could be a familiar, in a way? He came with me when we first went to look around Barkmouth and when we got to the little cinema – it’s a weird, old style place – we both got a strange feeling about it.

Most of the people here can’t see Teddy – children and animals can, but most adults seem to look past him somehow. But the people in the cinema all smiled a bit too widely and they didn’t even seem to notice that Teddy was a ghost. And then they offered us free popcorn, which we didn’t take. Do you think they might be Fae? They have weird taste in movies anyway. They had some vintage horror and then some old rom coms from the 90s.

Mrs Webfoot is very kind, and I’ve mentioned to a few people that I’m a witch – the only one they have in Barkmouth. People have been polite but not as interested as I’d hoped. I hoped that they’d be excited to have a town witch again! Mrs Webfoot says the last one left decades ago. Her friend Mrs Edgwood asked some prying questions about potions and spells. I told her that I planned to start small, and I’m very good with plants. She seemed disappointed. I hope the rest of Barkmouth doesn’t feel the same way.

Please give my love to Tibbles and your garden too!

Your friend,

Lucy.