Wee Free Men Read Online Free PDF

it, sometimes on the dough. It was just the place to revive a weak lamb that had been born on a snowy night and was near death from the cold. That was how it worked. No magic at all. But that time it had been magic. And it didn’t stop being magic just because you found out how it was done.

     

    “Good, but still not exactly witchcraft,” said Miss Tick, breaking the spell again. “Anyway, you don’t have to have a witch ancestor to be a witch. It helps, of course, because of heredity.”
    “You mean like having talents?” said Tiffany, wrinkling her brow.
    “Partly, I suppose,” said Miss Tick. “But I was thinking of pointy hats, for example. If you have a grandmother who can pass on her pointy hat to you, that saves a great deal of expense. They are incredibly hard to come by, especially ones strong enough to withstand falling farmhouses. Did Mrs. Aching have anything like that?”
    “I don’t think so,” said Tiffany. “She hardly ever wore a hat except in the very cold weather. She wore an old grain sack as a sort of hood. Um…does that count?”
    For the first time, Miss Tick looked a little less flinty. “Possibly, possibly,” she said. “Do you have any brothers and sisters, Tiffany?”
    “I have six sisters,” said Tiffany. “I’m the youngest. Most of them don’t live with us now.”
    “And then you weren’t the baby anymore because you had a dear little brother,” said Miss Tick. “The only boy, too. That must have been a nice surprise.”
    Suddenly, Tiffany found Miss Tick’s faint smile slightly annoying.
    “How do you know about my brother?” she said.
    The smile faded. Miss Tick thought: This child is sharp . “Just a guess,” she said. No one likes admitting to spying.
    “Are you using persykology on me?” said Tiffany hotly.
    “I think you mean psychology,” said Miss Tick.
    “Whatever,” said Tiffany. “You think I don’t like him because my parents make a fuss of him and spoil him, yes?”
    “Well, it did cross my mind,” said Miss Tick, and gave up worrying about the spying. She was a witch, and that was all there was to it. “I think it was the bit when you used him as bait for a slobbering monster that gave me a hint,” she added.
    “He’s just a nuisance!” said Tiffany. “He takes up my time and I’m always having to look after him and he always wants sweets. Anyway,” she added, “I had to think fast.”
    “Quite so,” said Miss Tick.
    “Granny Aching would have done something about monsters in our river,” said Tiffany, ignoring that. “Even if they are out of books.” And she’d have done something about what happened to old Mrs. Snapperly, she added to herself. She’d have spoken up, and people would have listened…. They always listened when Grannyspoke up. Speak up for those who don’t have voices, she always said.
    “Good,” said Miss Tick. “So she should. Witches deal with things. You said the river was very shallow where Jenny leaped up? And the world looked blurred and shaky? Was there a susurrus?”
    Tiffany beamed. “Yes, there certainly was!”
    “Ah. Something bad is happening.”
    Tiffany looked worried.
    “Can I stop it?”
    “And now I’m slightly impressed,” said Miss Tick. “You said, ‘Can I stop it?’ and not ‘Can anyone stop it?’ or ‘Can we stop it?’ That’s good. You accept responsibility. That’s a good start. And you keep a cool head. But no, you can’t stop it.”
    “I walloped Jenny Green-Teeth!”
    “Lucky hit,” said Miss Tick. “There are worse than her on the way, believe me. I believe an incursion of major proportions is going to start here, and clever though you are, my girl, you have as much chance as one of your lambs on a snowy night. You keep clear. I’ll try to fetch help.”
    “What, from the Baron?”
    “Good gracious, no. He’d be no use at all.”
    “But he protects us,” said Tiffany. “That’s what my mother says.”
    “Does he?” said Miss Tick. “Who from?