Page 28 of The Book of Unwritten Stories

‘Arnie, is he magical because he knew about me before I did?’

‘Arnie is… I don’t know how best to describe him.’

Lenny turned to Dora. ‘Think of him as Shrek.’

‘Lenny, that is not a nice thing to say.’

‘What, he’s an ogre underneath, always has been, always will be. There is no way to sugar coat that. His mask is a good one, he cloaks himself very well.’

Dora laughed. ‘Now I think you’re both being mean to me and being a little too sarcastic.’

Sephy shook her head. ‘No, he is an ogre but the image you see of ogres on the TV screen is not what they really are. They have had a raw deal over the years with their portrayal and yes, some of them are as mean as a hornet’s nest but those kinds keep to themselves, live solitary lives in the woods or mountains and avoid human contact. Arnie is a sweetheart, very kind natured and a happy ogre, thanks to his mom who was just the same.’

Dora was dumbfounded by this revelation and could not tear her gaze away from Sephy’s. ‘Brandon, is he an ogre too?’

‘Definitely not an ogre, he is a shapeshifter although much more intellectually evolved than a lot of them. I mean some of them are out there wandering around on all fours and can’t decide between looking like a cross between a werewolf and a human. They are not as advanced as Brandon. He is very astute and an exemplary specimen if ever there was one.’

‘A shapeshifter and an ogre.’ Dora’s voice was incredulous at these revelations. ‘Big foot?’

‘As real as you and I, dear, they avoid human contact too.’

‘Can’t say that I blame them, I mean the human race leave a lot to be desired.’ Lenny winked at her and she smiled back.

‘Wow, that’s a lot.’

‘Just think of it as having the blinkers removed from your eyes. Mortals are fed so much bullshit, always getting told that they imagined things, that these things don’t exist and anyone who dares to speak out often get labelled as weird, crazy, a little bit out there.’

Tapping on the window made Sephy turn around.

She opened the window and crossed her arms. ‘Just where do you think you’ve been, Hades? It’s getting late and I was worried about you and what is that smell?’ She leaned towards him sniffing. ‘How did you burn those feathers?’

Hades hopped over to the sink, and Sephy ran the tap until it was lukewarm. He hopped under the spray and began to clean himself.

‘Urgh, that’s disgusting, bird. Are you not supposed to be doing that outside?’ Lenny was glaring at him.

‘I don’t know what is going on with you, Hades. I hope you’re not in any kind of trouble.’

Sephy was watching him. He turned to her and gave a shake of his head, spraying droplets of water everywhere.

‘You’re not huh? I don’t know if I believe you. How did you burn yourself?’

Hades hopped out from under the water and shook himself once more, then began to preen his feathers, completely ignoring them.

TWENTY-ONE

SALEM VILLAGE, 1676

The cow had broken the fence in the night and got into the vegetable garden. When Lucine looked out of the window she had cried out loud at the sight of May happily chewing on the patch of carrots that Seraphina had lovingly sown by hand and was now a trampled mess of upturned carrot stalks. Still in her nightgown, Lucine ran outside barefoot. The air was cool still and the ground cold on the soles of her feet, but she had to stop May before she caused more damage. ‘May, you must stop this at once. Bad girl.’

She screamed at the beast as she ran towards it, the water inside of her veins as icy-cold as her bare feet on the hard earth. Seraphina was going to be so mad with her, this would be all her fault.

‘Well now, if that is not a sight to behold at this time of the morning.’

Lucine turned her head to stare at John Hadden, in fear. ‘This is all your wrong doing, John Hadden. Look what the cow has done. She has broken the fence and is eating her way through my sister’s vegetable garden. She is going to be furious with thee.’

John looked at the cow, then at Lucine and began to laugh. A loud, roaring laugh that seemed to come from deep inside of his belly.

Angrier than she had ever been in her life, Lucine bent down and picked up a half-eaten carrot, launching it through the air in his direction. It hit him squarely on the nose, the shock and pain so unexpected that he yelled out loud. One hand cupping his injured nose, he jumped in shock then reached for her arm.