What the Witch Left by Ruth Chew Read Free Book Online Page B

as a witch.”

L ET THE MAGIC CONTINUE….
Here’s a peek
at another bewitching tale
by Ruth Chew.

     
     
     
     
     
     
Excerpt copyright © 1973 by Ruth Chew.
Published by Random House Children’s Books,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

“What do you keep in here, Katy?” Louise walked over to the tall chest of drawers in the corner of Katy’s room. The chest was dark and old and covered with scratches.
    Katy put down the black jelly bean she was using for an eyebrow pencil. “I’m not supposed to touch the stuff in that chest. My mother stores things in it.”
    Louise pulled open the top drawer. The smell of mothballs filled the air. “Isn’t that the sweater you wore last year, Katy? And here’s your tweed skirt.”
    Katy shut the drawer. “They’re too small for me,” she said. “And I told you Mother doesn’t want me going into the chest. Do you want to get me into trouble?”
    Louise looked out of the window atthe pouring rain. “I’m bored,” she said, “and I’m your guest, Katy. It’s your duty to amuse me.” She opened the second drawer. It was filled with old sheets and blankets. “It won’t hurt to look at the things,” Louise said, “not that they’re all that interesting.”
    The third drawer held a lot of old handbags. “I sometimes play with those,” Katy admitted, “but I always put them back just the way they were, so Mother won’t notice.”
    The bottom drawer was locked. “The stuff in there belongs to Aunt Martha,” Katy said. “She left it here ages ago when she went on a trip.”
    “Where’s the key to the drawer?” Louise wanted to know.
    “I think Mother hid it in her night table,” Katy said. “I found a key there one day when I was looking for some Scotch tape.”
    “Your mother isn’t home,” Louise said.
    Katy grinned. She ran out of the room and came back a few moments later with a little key. It was worn and old, but it fitted into the lock of the bottom drawer and turned easily.
    Katy opened the drawer. Louise reached in and took out a little round mirror with a curly handle and a tarnished silver frame.
    “We have to remember exactly how the things fit in,” Katy said.
    “Of course.” Louise put the mirror on the floor and lifted a pile of cloth out of the drawer. When she shook it, the cloth unfolded. It was a long bathrobe with a big floppy hood. The cloth was worn thin in places, but it was still brightly colored in a strange pattern.
    “Great for playing dress-up,” Louise said.
    “We’re only going to look at the things, not play with them,” Katy reminded her. She saw something that looked like a rolled-up pair of faded nylon stockings. “I wonder why Aunt Martha would leave these here.” She picked them up. They turned out to be a pair of flesh-colored gloves. Katy put them on. They fitted perfectly. “Look, Louise,” she said, “aren’t these funny?”
    “Aren’t what funny?” Louise asked.
    Katy stretched out her hands. “The gloves,” she said.
    “I don’t see any gloves.” Louise put down the bathrobe and pulled a pair of battered red rubber boots out of the drawer. “Your aunt never throws anything away, does she?”
    Katy looked at the gloves again. They were the same color as her hands. She couldn’t see them, and she couldn’t even feel them.