The Brixen Witch Read Online Free PDF Page A

Very badly. Can you help me find a cat?”
    Rudi had the feeling he would regret asking his next question, but curiosity got the better of him. “And why do you need a cat?”
    “To eat the mouses,” said Susanna Louisa. “Mama says we have too many and she can’t catch them all herself and Papa is no use so we need a cat.” She took a breath. “A hungry cat would be best.”
    Rudi scratched his head. “Zick-Zack has plenty of mice to eat around the barn, so even if you could catch her, I don’t think she’d be much help. What about Old Mistress Gerta? Doesn’t she have a house cat? You could ask her.”
    Susanna Louisa shook her head. “I asked her already, but she says no. Says she’s got mouses too and can’t spare her cat.” The little girl blinked a teary eye. “I’ve asked everyone. Everyone says the same thing. Everyone has mouses.” She hung her head, let the stone fall from her hand, and began trudging homeward.
    “Wait!” called Rudi. He pulled on his boots, closed the door behind him, and fell into step beside her in the dusty lane. “What do you mean, everyone has mice?”
    Susanna Louisa shrugged. “That’s what everyone says. I say we need to borrow a cat, and everyone says no, we can’t spare the cat because of the mouses.”
    “You’re sure you’ve asked everyone?”
    Susanna Louisa nodded. “I saved you for last. Because you only have that nasty mean ZickZack, and I didn’t want to try and catch her. But Mama is near going mad. She told me, ‘Don’t come home without a hungry cat in your arms, Susanna Louisa, or you’ll be sleeping with mouses in your bed tonight.’” And Susanna Louisa stoppedwalking, stood on her tiptoes, and whispered to Rudi, “I don’t want mouses in my bed.”
    Rudi stopped too. The little girl looked so forlorn and worried that his heart melted.
    “What if I help you catch the mice?”
    “You?” said Susanna Louisa, and her face brightened. “Do you know how?”
    “Well …,” said Rudi, not quite ready to admit his shortcomings to an eight-year-old, “I’m sure it can’t be that hard. We’ll go back to my house and get a bit of cheese. Then we’ll set some traps, and poof ! No more mice.” He smiled down at Susanna Louisa, but resisted the urge to pat her on the head.
    “Oh, no,” said the girl solemnly. “We’ve tried that. For days. It does no good. It seems the more we trap, the more come out of hiding. Under the floorboards, amongst the thatch, in the wood pile. It’s a regular mousie party!”
    Now they had arrived at the tanner’s cottage. Susanna Louisa’s house.
    From inside, Rudi could hear scuffling and cursing and muffled thwack ing. Then the door opened and two black rats scurried out, followed by a large, red-faced woman waving a broom in their wake. The rats vanished under the house, and the woman narrowly avoided smacking Rudi with the broom.
    “Oh!” she exclaimed, straightening herself and tucking a lock of hair under her cap. “Good afternoon, Rudi. What brings you here this sweaty day?”
    Rudi kept his eye on the mistress and her broom. “Susanna Louisa,” he said quietly, “those were not mice.”
    But Susanna Louisa was nowhere to be seen.
    Mistress Tanner shook her head. “She’s gone to stand on a rock in the middle of the stream. Poor child thinks rats can’t swim.” And Mistress Tanner plopped down on her doorstep, rested the broom across her lap, and bit her lip.
    “Mistress?” ventured Rudi. “Susanna Louisa says your … problem might be worse than usual?”
    Mistress Tanner sighed and wiped her eyes with her apron. “It’s the time of year for them, I know,” she said. “What with the warm weather and the abundance of smells. Still, this is worse than anything I’ve ever seen. The smith next door says so too, and the miller, and the baker, and everyone. It seems the vile things are overrunning Brixen. It’s not a good sign.” She yelped, and reached under herself, and pulled a young