Caution: Witch In Progress Read Free Page B

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thump as something fell off. Leaning down, Gertie picked up her umbrella and
placed it back on the bed. She had reached it out earlier to take to
Grothilde’s, but the rain had stopped before they set out. Gertie stared
absent-mindedly at the umbrella. It was a special one, shiny black with a
wooden handle that ended in the shape of a bat’s head.
        ‘Oh!’ Gertie exclaimed, ‘I know, I’ll make you talk! You can
chat happily to me when we go for walks in the rain. You can tell me jokes and
make me laugh. Oh we’ll have such fun! You can be my friend.’
        The wooden head stared blankly at her.

Chapter Three
     
    Gertie
stared hard at the umbrella. ‘Right,’ she said, pondering, her finger in her
mouth. After some time, she summoned up every ounce of her concentration. She
pointed intently at the umbrella handle, and began her spell.
        ‘Come to life and be my friend,
        Talk to me, so I don’t have to pretend.’
        Well, she wasn’t used to making spells yet. This was her first
try at thinking up a rhyme herself. Nevertheless, though Gertie tried very hard
to believe, nothing happened. She concentrated even harder, and tried again.
She had no reason to wonder why it shouldn’t work, so she believed with all her
heart. This time, she felt sure she saw the bat’s little nose quiver.
Encouraged by this, Gertie tried again. She wasn’t one to give up easily.
        ‘A…a…Atishooooooooo!’ sneezed the bat’s head. ‘Gor Blimey,’ he
continued, ‘I’ve got a blinking cold. No wonder mind, being out in all
weathers. How would you like it? Being upside down with cold water pouring down
your ears? Never think of me do you? Oh no, you don’t take me out on nice sunny
days do you?’
        Gertie tried to reply, but didn’t get a chance.
        ‘No,’ the umbrella continued. ‘I only see light of day when it’s
pouring rain. What a life. Don’t interrupt,’ he added, as Gertie tried to
speak. ‘At last, I can have my say, and no one is going to stop me. I HATE
rain, do you hear me? I hate it. Why I was put on this Earth to be an umbrella
I don’t know. I must have done something really evil in a past life to deserve
this, that’s all I can say.’
        Unfortunately, it wasn’t all he could say. Because he continued.
        ‘Not only rain either. You take me out when it’s snowing too,
and blowing a gale. My ears get blooming freezing. And what do I get when we
arrive home for all my hard work? Cocoa? Hot chocolate? Kind words and a nice
warm fire? No, a blooming good shake. That’s what I get.’
        ‘I’m sorry, I never thought,’ said Gertie in a small, ashamed,
voice.
        ‘No. No one ever does. After all, I’m only a blooming umbrella.
ONLY an umbrella! But what would you do without me, eh? YOU’D get soaked. See
if you would like that. And do you hear me complain? No, you don’t. Why?
Because we umbrellas blooming well can’t, that’s why! Well, believe me, things
are going to be very different from now on. Mark my words. Hey, what are you
doing? Put me down. Hey. Where are we going?’
        Gertie had reached the wardrobe by now, and carefully stood the
umbrella in the corner.
        ‘HEY!’ the umbrella’s head exclaimed more loudly. ‘IT’S DARK IN
HERE YOU KNOW. THAT’S SOMETHING ELSE I DON’T …like.’
        The last word came out muffled, as the wardrobe door was closed
firmly. Gertie went off to tell her mother she didn’t think she would be using
the animation spell again.
        The umbrella bat continued to bemoan the fate of umbrella-kind
from the back of the wardrobe.
     
        Gertie and Bat did learn to get on better together. Gertie
managed to put up with some of Bat’s complaining and swearing, but she didn’t
let him get away with too much. Bat learned that a gloved hand over his mouth
shut him up entirely and got wool up his nose, so he knew not to push his luck
too far.
        Still,