Hallowe’en is upon us so that calls for a little piece about witches. I’ll take an extract from Gingerbread Children.

By the side of the Bursar’s bed lay the head of her broomstick. The shaft of the broomstick was in the Bursar’s clasped hands, being slammed down repeatedly onto the bed. Generations of concussed mattress mites dropped under the bed in heaps too small for the eye to see.
…

The Bursar came to a sudden stop, with her hands still tightly grasping the shaft of the broomstick above her head. Breathing hard, jaw thrust out and lips pulled back, she glowered at Dominica. There was rage in her heart, a dangerous glitter in her eyes and a cat swinging on her gown.
‘Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t strike you down where you stand,’ she snarled.
‘Because I am unarmed.’
‘Not good enough. Try again.’
‘Because you can’t use a witch’s broomstick to harm another witch.’
‘Not a broomstick any more. No broom. Just a stick. Last chance.’

To find out more please read Gingerbread Children by Carol Carman. Available from us, libraries and bookshops. And also Kindle – look out for a very special offer on 31st October!