The Witch's Voice Read online

  Wanda had always felt a little guilty about enjoying such a huge blessing that others in her signing class never could. And now she could speak as well. But she had no intention of losing the only people who had shown her any consideration and devotion. She squeezed Lydia’s hand. “I don’t want to be kicked out of the community.”

  Lydia sighed, reassured. She didn’t want to lose Wanda. They arrived at Wanda’s house. It was Nantucket style, with warm beige shingles and dark brown shutters. Wanda’s father had called it a barn—perfect for a large family. Wanda often thought such an inviting family house deserved a better family than it had been saddled with.

  Everyone was at home, even though they had come up with a multitude of excuses as to why they wouldn’t be able to drive her home from the hospital. They looked up as she entered, not looking terribly excited.

  “Well, let’s hear it,” her stepbrother demanded.

  “Is it as squeaky as it was when you lost it?” her stepsister asked.

  Her stepmother chimed in, “It’s probably a bit scratchy and sore after the operation. Make yourself some soup if you need to. I’m sure you’ll want to get back to work ASAP. There are bills to pay.”

  “Well, go on now. Let’s hear the voice that has been blessedly silent for ten years,” her stepbrother said.

  “Jack, stop being such a jerk.”

  Wow. That’s not exactly what she intended to say. It was just one of the multitude of random retorts that played out in her head over the years, and now it had just popped out in a Did I just say that out loud? kind of way. Oh, well. He deserved it.

  All three members of her stepfamily were left open-jawed. Not just for the cutting remark, but the deep honey silk voice that delivered it.

  “What happened to your voice?”

  “It got fixed. Bit of an improvement, wouldn’t you say? Now, if you’re implying that you didn’t bother fixing me anything to eat, I’ll go see what I can find.” Wanda had to admit to herself that the resentment of her family’s ill-treatment was bubbling to the surface just a little bit.

  Her stepsister seemed miffed. “It’s a very misleading voice. It makes you sound mysterious and intriguing, when in fact, you were always so shy and always talked about such boring things.”

  Wanda was incredulous. “Is this really the welcome home committee? Pathetic.”

  Her stepmother drew in a sharp, angry breath but managed to summon some extreme restraint. Attacking Wanda while she was in this mood would not be a wise idea. Unfortunately, the house, owned by her late husband, was now in Wanda’s name.

  As Wanda started for the kitchen, she scolded herself. She should have known better. She was hoping for a glorious new beginning to her life, only to be told after ten years of silence that what she had to say was still of no interest to anyone.

  *****

  The original plan had been for Wanda to take a full week off work for recovery, and more if she needed it. But she was fine—no convalescence required. And she certainly didn’t want to pass a week spending the entire day around her stepfamily. She dropped into Holloways to let her supervisor know that she was available immediately.

  Her supervisor was immediately enthralled by Wanda’s new voice. “You know, I can tell you have great leadership potential. One of the shift supervisors is moving out to Seattle in six months. She already gave me a heads-up. I think that you would do very well in that position. You’re someone who would be taken very seriously. You just have that quality about you.”

  “What about the others who have cashier experience? Wouldn’t they be first in line for promotion?”

  “No. None of them really has the maturity and the judgment that are required in this position. All you need is a month on the cash registers and you’ll be up to speed. And after all, you have been here for ten years. That’s plenty of seniority and I don’t think there will be any complaints. But may I say, I’m so pleased that your operation went well. Who knew that there was such a lovely voice to be uncovered?”

  Wanda didn’t point out that her lovely voice was not really so much uncovered as it was installed. She’d suffered all the full disadvantages of her voice loss. Why resist the advantages of her new asset?

  Wanda got her schedule set up and decided to take a walk through town, since this had now turned into a precious day off. Perhaps she’d even wind up at the beach and have lunch at one of those cute little seafood cafés. As she was strolling down the streets, a kindly middle-aged woman fell in step with her. It was Delphine Sykes, one of the nicer and more empathetic members of Oyster Cove’s witch community and the intermediary whom Lilith Hazelwood relied on to communicate with the new transplant witches.

  “Forgive me for intruding on your thoughts, my dear. My name is Delphine Sykes. I am somewhat connected to your transplant physician.”

  “Oh, pleased to meet you. I am Wanda Macomber.”

  “Oh, that voice! That one-of-a-kind voice. I never thought to hear it again.”

  “Hear it again? What do you mean?”

  “It belonged to Lilith Hazelwood, an old acquaintance of mine. Did you know who she was?”

  “Lilith Hazelwood? Isn’t she the one that people used to talk about? I know it sounds silly, and I don’t mean to be disrespectful, seeing as she was a friend of yours. But . . . and I don’t really believe in witches anyway, but that was the rumor.”

  “She was most definitely a witch. As am I. But most importantly, she was the most powerful witch I ever hope to encounter in my lifetime. And now you have her voice. And the power of her voice.”

  Wanda eyed Delphine warily. Did she just call herself a witch? “Well, it certainly is a powerful voice. Very deep and lovely, if I do say so myself. Feels a little strange to say how lovely my own voice is.”

  “No. Not just lovely. Powerful. The power of command. Which you now possess. I don’t think that you can exercise it over a witch of any substance. But over other mortals, you can command them to do your bidding. It’s one of the greatest and most terrifying powers that we possess.”

  “What are you saying? That I can tell people to do things and that they’ll do them? That’ll be the day.”

  “Give it a try. There are plenty of people around. Tell someone to do something—something that they wouldn’t ordinarily want to do.”

  Right that moment, a man was walking by with a steaming cup of coffee from one of Wanda’s favorite coffee houses, Café Au Lait. With a shrug and a skeptical smile, she stepped in his path. “Give me your cup of coffee.”

  The man handed her his cup of coffee without a beat. He looked a little disgruntled, but he continued on his way.

  Wanda’s mouth dropped. “Wait! Wait! Come back here.” He came back immediately. “Take your coffee back.” He took it back gratefully with a nod and headed back down the street.

  Wanda shook her head at Delphine’s triumphant smile. “That was weird. But, I think I just caught him off guard. He may have been an extraordinarily generous person. I don’t think that really proves anything.”

  “Try again.”

  An elderly woman was coming in their direction walking a very tiny pampered poodle. As she passed, Wanda stopped her. “Ma’am, give your dog.”

  Wanda quickly found the leash in her hand as the disturbed and confused woman continued on her walk, sans dog. An alarmed Wanda quickly restored dog and owner. This was pretty freaky. But to be sure, she needed one final test. It came in the form of a middle-aged couple. They looked like tourists, with a handful of shopping bags.

  “Excuse me. Set down your bags and do the Macarena.”

  Immediately, the handbags were dropped on the sidewalk, and the hapless couple started pointing and clapping and gesturing and swiveling hips, putting on a Macarena clinic. Wanda could no longer have any doubts about the awesome power of her voice.

  “You can stop now. Please. Stop.”

  After the flustered couple had gathered their bags up and scurried down the street, Wanda turned to D
elphine in amazement. “What does this mean? Am I a witch? I don’t think I want to be a witch. No offense.”

  “None taken. I understand that it’s rather a shocking turn of events. Perhaps the doctor should have informed you.”

  “Perhaps? No question about it—he definitely should have. I need to have a word with that man. Right now. And Ms. Sykes, I think I’m going to have some questions later. And by later, I mean soon.”

  “You can find me at my jewelry boutique. Delphine’s. I know, I know. Somewhat egotistical. But easy to remember, don’t you think?”

  As Wanda watched Delphine walk away, her head felt ready to explode. How could she, of all people, have a witch’s powers? And what was that going to mean—for her life, for her future?

  *****

  “Doctor Svenson, is there something that you forgot to tell me about my new vocal cords?”

  “No. They sound like they’re working very well. Are you experiencing any problems?”

  “Sit down, Doctor. Stand up. Sit down. Stand up. Sit down. Stand up. Do you know why you’re following my orders?”

  “Not really. But I am getting a little bit tired. Why do you want me to keep sitting down and standing up so much?”

  “That’s not the right question. I really could care less about your sitting down and standing up. The question is, why did you do it? What made you do it? And you know what the answer is?”

  “Because you’re very charming and I’m a very easy-going man who is used to being ordered around by his daughters.”

  Wanda shook her head. “Because I have Lilith Hazelwood’s voice, and you and everyone in this town—probably everyone in this country, if not the entire world—has to do exactly what I tell you to. Hmm. I wonder if this would apply to someone who doesn’t understand English. Probably not.”

  “Ahh, I see that you have found out about Lilith Hazelwood. Which means you have spoken to Delphine Sykes, yes?”

  “That would be correct.”

  “And now you think you have some kind of power to tell anyone what to do and they have to obey. My dear Wanda, that sounds very unlikely. It is beyond the power of anyone else who has received—”

  “Who’s received what? Something from Lilith Hazelwood? There are others, aren’t there? Who are they? Did anything happen to them like it happened to me?”

  “First of all, I’m not at liberty to discuss the particulars of my patients. It would be a violation of their privacy. In the second place, perhaps you have misunderstood or overestimated the extent of your new abilities. I won’t deny that new abilities were to be expected. But this sounds rather extreme. Frankly, impossible.”

  “Doctor, did you ever learn the Macarena?”

  “What? That silly dance? Yes, my daughters insisted, and I used to humor them a lot more than I do now. I haven’t thought about that in years. That is one thing you’re never going to catch me doing.”

  “Do the Macarena.”

  Maybe it was cruel. Maybe she shouldn’t have enjoyed it so much. But it was the funniest thing Wanda had seen in a long time. It filled her with the giggles. And perhaps the doctor deserved it a little bit for doubting her word. He was, after all, the man who’d put witch parts in her.

  “All right. All right. I believe you. But I’m not a young man and this can’t be good for me. So would you be so kind—”

  “Stop.”

  The exhausted doctor sank into a chair.

  “Now that we have that worked out, you said there were others. I really need to know about the others. I need to understand what’s happening to me.”

  “As I told you, Wanda, there are privacy issues. You must understand.”

  “Show me the files of every transplant patient who has received Lilith Hazelwood’s organs,” Wanda ordered.

  In less than sixty seconds, she was flipping through the files that she had requested while Dr. Svenson shook his head. “Gillian Swann. She’s an artist, isn’t she? And wow, is this the same Margo who owns the movie house? They get great foreign films. I mean, I was always able to go to any type of film. But when I wanted to go to a movie with my friend Lydia, who’s deaf, it was nice to always have a movie with English captions. Very cool. But . . . this is information about the surgeries. It doesn’t say anything about special powers. Why not?”

  “Because I don’t want those records to be found by anyone. I don’t want anything bad to happen to them. I don’t want them put under observation or studied like rats. I don’t want them being treated like they are freaks. And, on a more selfish note, I don’t want to get in trouble. Not while I’m in the middle of such a glorious medical project. So much good has come of it. I hope you will agree.”

  “I am starting to see the upside. But it certainly does raise some ethical issues, doesn’t? I don’t think that I would appreciate someone being able to tell me what to do.”

  “I certainly didn’t.”

  “You needed a demonstration. I don’t mean to make a point of forcing people to act against their best interests. Unless . . . Doc, I’ll see you later.”

  “Okay. Be good.” As Wanda closed the door, Dr. Svenson shook his head. “I need to put a sign up on my door that says Doctor Frankenstein and be done with it.”

  *****

  Wanda knew exactly who needed the next demonstration of her voice’s power. She marched straight to Holloways and was determined to wait as long as she needed to for the right person to come along—the battered wife. She stopped in the store almost every afternoon. Wanda suspected that it was her tiny little break from the bleak reality of her violent marriage. She didn’t have long to wait.

  It was unclear whether or not the woman knew that Wanda had not previously been able to speak. But she was certainly startled to be approached by her today.

  “After you’ve finished shopping, you’re going to take me to your home,” Wanda demanded.

  “Oh, okay, of course,” the young woman readily agreed. She did look a bit troubled though. Her husband wasn’t at home, but he never liked her to invite guests.

  The home was very small, with a sweet elderly lady taking care of the two young children of the house, a six-year-old and a two-year-old. The young woman, whose name was Teresa, thanked the elderly woman, who went back to her home next door.

  “My husband will be home in about half an hour,” Teresa said nervously. “He’s not big on guests.”

  “Why don’t you introduce me to your two young fellows here?”

  “Well, this is Timmy, and this is Petey.”

  Petey was the younger one and very gregarious. He went to give Wanda a big hug. She could see that the older boy had some dark bruises on his arm. She reached out and touched his arm gently.

  “Those look pretty nasty. How did you get them?”

  Timmy looked at his mother sharply. Petey chimed in, “Daddy boo-boo.”

  “Tell me, Timmy. Did your daddy do this?”

  Timmy nodded sadly.

  “Right. But it’s never going to happen again. That I can promise you. Now, have you got anything to drink around here? Earl Grey? Constant Comment? Lipton will do, in a pinch.”

  “Of course. Let me go heat up some water for you.”

  It was in the middle of this pleasant afternoon of tea, with the children slowly warming up to her, that’s Teresa’s husband Eddie arrived, a burly, sour-looking man.

  “Who’s this?” Eddie eyed Wanda with distaste and his wife with irritation.

  There were so many ways to handle this. Wanda had run through a multitude of options in her head. She could order Eddie to be nice to his wife. To stop hitting his family. To stop threatening them and to behave more thoughtfully. The problem is, it wasn’t his true nature. And his family deserved a whole lot better.

  “Eddie. Pack your bags. All your personal belongings. Leave everything behind that your wife needs for the house. Put your boxes in the mail to any address you like. Family. Friends. But you need to leave. Today.” She glanced at Teresa. “Just on
e family car, right?”

  Teresa nodded.

  “Eddie, after you’ve gotten your things together and mailed your biggest priorities, you’re going to leave Oyster Cove tonight. You will never return to this town, and you will never return to this house. You will never see the three people in this room again unless they choose to contact you. You will take the evening train to Boston, go to the airport, and get on a plane. Take it anywhere out of the state.” Again, Wanda looked over to Teresa. “Where are his relatives?”

  “Indianapolis.”

  “Great. Buy a one-way ticket from Boston to Indianapolis. You have three hours to get things together. Get moving.”

  Teresa was holding her breath. Was this woman insane? Couldn’t she see how big and dangerous Eddie was? What was he going to do? Why was he going to the bedroom? She followed timidly. He began emptying his drawers and pulling out large sections of clothes from the closet. Plus two suitcases, which he grumpily began to fill. What was happening? Teresa tiptoed quietly back to the living room, where Wanda was letting Timmy show her how to play Chinese checkers. Dazzled, Teresa joined them. Wanda squeezed her hand. The nightmare was over.

  *****

  Wanda couldn’t deny that helping Teresa and her boys had felt great. It also inspired another radical thought. It was time to engineer something that should have happened a very long time ago.

  She entered her house amidst the usual afternoon activity—video games, television, and fashion magazines. The novelty of her newly acquired capacity for conversation seemed to be thoroughly lost on them. They never initiated a conversation with her. Not really. Not much beyond, “Did you pick up anything for dinner?” They were such a sorry, poor excuse for a family.

  “I know that you all have relatives in Orlando. Which is a great city for employment, I would hope. Big hotel industry. Theme parks. I don’t imagine you’ll have much trouble finding work. Conveniently, none of you has any employers to notify or give notice to. So, I need you to pack up all your things and make plane reservations for yourself—I’ll cover the expense—and get out of my house. You have twenty-four hours.”

  They fumed. But they packed. They ranted. But they packed. They griped. But they made the reservations and packed some more. Wanda watched it all with great satisfaction. And then she remembered a message that she needed to deliver that couldn’t be accomplished by phone.