The Whitby Witches 1 - The Whitby Witches Read Online Free PDF

over the stones. 'So,' she whispered to herself, 'he sees the fisher folk also.' A slow smile spread over her face.
    Jennet waited for them at the top of the steep flight of steps. 'Did Dracula really live here?' she asked nervously.
    Miss Boston chuckled. 'Dracula is but a character of fiction. His creator, Bram Stoker, came here in 1890, a dozen or so years before I was born. Mind you, the black dog was a grisly creature of legend he borrowed from the locals—the Barguest. As big as a calf with fiery red eyes, it was supposed to stalk through the streets of Whitby at the dead of night. Anyone who heard it howling was doomed.'
    Jennet shivered. 'That's horrible. Miss Boston.'
    The old lady sighed. 'Really, Jennet, you must stop calling me Miss Boston; I gave up lecturing a long time ago. My name is Alice.'
    'I can't call you that. It doesn't sound right.'
    'Then how about Aunt Alice? Will that do?'
    Jennet simply smiled in reply and slid her hand automatically into Aunt Alice's.

    The seagulls woke Ben up; for a moment he wondered where he was and then he remembered. Hastily, he pulled his clothes on and ran downstairs to the kitchen, where he found Jennet finishing off a boiled egg.
    'Those seagulls are a bit loud, aren't they, Jen?' he said chirpily.
    Jennet blinked at him wearily. 'It's seven in the morning,' she answered grumpily. 'I'll never get used to this.'
    'Where is she?' asked Ben, heaving himself on to a stool.
    Jennet emptied the eggshell into a pedal bin and rinsed her plate under the tap. 'She went out ten minutes ago. Says she always goes for a walk before breakfast.'
    'Where's mine?' demanded Ben hungrily.
    His sister poured some milk into a bowl of cereal and passed it to him. Ben picked up a spoon; it was an odd colour and he sniffed it suspiciously.
    'It's nice here, isn't it, Ben?' said Jennet as she watched him munch his breakfast.
    'Um,' he agreed, with his mouth full.
    'I hope we can stay here for a while; she's a nice old lady. I feel a bit funny calling her "Aunt" though.'
    The latch on the front door rattled and Aunt Alice stepped in looking windswept and rosy. She stayed in the hall to hang up her hat and coat.
    'Don't like these spoons, Jen,' hissed Ben, waving his in the air.
    'Shush! They're probably made of silver and very old—behave.'
    Aunt Alice entered, undoing the top button of her blouse. 'There,' she puffed. 'I like to climb the hundred and ninety-nine steps, whatever the weather. Blows the sleepy cobwebs away, it does.' She bent down and opened the door of an old-fashioned refrigerator. 'Now,' she mumbled, 'will it be kippers today or scrambled eggs? Kippers it is!'
    Ben liked the smoky smell of the kipper but the taste was too strong for him—he preferred fish fingers, and said as much. Aunt Alice roared that he would get no fish fingers from her as long as he stayed in Whitby. He could eat fresh fish or none at all.
    Twenty minutes later, she was dabbing the corners of her mouth with a hanky and praising the art of a Mr Bill Fortune. 'Well now, children,' she addressed them as she pushed the plate away, 'what do you intend to do today?'
    They shrugged and looked at her blankly.
    'Explore?' suggested Jennet. 'If you don't mind, that is.'
    'Why should I mind, child? I hope you enjoy yourselves. I shall want to know what you have discovered when you return.'
    'Oh,' said Jennet disappointedly, 'aren't you coming too?'
    Aunt Alice raised her eyebrows. 'Certainly not, I have far too much to do. You can look after yourselves—you won't get lost in a small town like this.' She rose and scraped the kipper bones into the pedal bin, then washed her plate with Ben's breakfast things. 'Now I think you ought to brush your teeth, don't you?'
    Jennet was the first one down from the bathroom and she took her coat from the peg in the hall. 'When should we come back. Aunt Alice?'
    'Oh, whenever you like, dear. I have to go out myself.'
    'But how shall we get in if you're not here?'
    Aunt Alice came