(from Treasure from the Past ~ one of the 3 holiday mysteries)
“Oh, be careful! Don’t go any closer!”
Honey the Great Dane paused and turned in surprise at the frightened voice. The speaker was one of several dogs who were standing behind her, their eyes wide and anxious. But they weren’t looking at her—they were looking at something beyond her, farther down the riverbank.
Honey turned back in the direction she had been heading and tried to see what they were looking at. The flat, grassy bank of the river ended a few metres ahead, rising sharply in a steep slope. Honey followed the line of the slope upwards, squinting in the sun. At the very top of the slope, overlooking the river, stood an old house. But it was nothing like other houses she had ever seen. Strange, onion-shaped domes rose from its roof and long, narrow windows pierced its high walls, which curved and overlapped one another like an antique puzzle. It looked like something from a fairy tale. Honey shivered. A creepy fairy tale.
“They say a witch lives up there.”
Honey turned back again to see her friend, Suka the Siberian Husky, weaving through the group of dogs and coming up to her. Suka’s blue eyes weren’t scared, though—they were sparkling with excitement—and she looked up at the old house with relish. Honey wondered what neighbourhood gossip Suka had collected about this place. If there was one thing Suka loved doing, it was telling stories—the wilder, the better.
The Husky flicked her fluffy tail and added eagerly, “I heard that she has claws for hands and eats children for breakfast!”
“For kibble’s sake, not another of yer stupid stories, is it?” growled Tyson the Jack Russell Terrier as he came up to join them. Honey smiled to herself. As the most down-to-earth of her friends—in this case literally, with his short, stubby legs and compact body—Tyson could always be relied on to call a bone a bone.
“It’s true!” Suka insisted. “The local dogs were telling me about it—some of them live nearby and walk their humans here regularly. They’ve seen an old woman come out of the house; she always wears black and she has these creepy claw hands. They even say—” Suka lowered her voice dramatically, “—that the house is guarded by a huge, black bear who obeys her commands.”
The dogs behind them nodded, wide-eyed, hanging onto Suka’s every word. All except one scruffy mongrel who pushed his way out from the back of the group and trotted up to them with a cheerful chuckle.
“Mate, that’s the dumbest story I’ve ever heard,” said Ruffster the mongrel mutt. He scratched his one upright ear. “There ain’t no such thing as ghosts and witches.”
“Fine, if you’re so brave, you go up there and check it out then,” challenged Suka. Her blue eyes lit up. “In fact, let’s all go! C’mon, it was supposed to be a big adventure visiting these gardens for the first time, but so far, we’ve just been hanging around the humans, doing nothing... It’s getting a bit boring.”
Honey looked up at the old house, then turned and looked the other way, back along the riverbank to where the flat, grassy area widened out again. That was the main part of Riverside Gardens and it looked like lots of people had decided to take advantage of the lovely spring weather this Easter weekend—the space beside the river was dotted with couples and families stretched out on cushions and blankets. A group of children holding baskets were walking around the flower beds in an Easter egg hunt. Every so often, one of them would cry out with glee and pounce on something, then stand up holding a colourful egg to be added to the basket.
Honey’s gaze drifted over the scene until she found one group of humans she recognised: they were sitting on a blanket by the water’s edge, talking and laughing as they handed things out from a picnic basket. “What about our humans?” she asked.
“Oh, they can still see us,” said Suka carelessly, already starting forwards. “Anyway, we’re just going to the top of the slope—we’ll be back down in a moment.”
“Wait, let’s get Biscuit to come too,” said Ruffster. He turned towards their humans and barked, “Biscuit! BISCUIT!”
A black and tan shape emerged from behind the picnic basket and hesitated, then moved reluctantly towards them. Biscuit the Beagle gave them a reproachful look as he arrived, his nose covered with icing sugar. “I was just finally about to grab a doughnut, you know. It took me ages to get near the picnic basket without my Missus noticing.”
“Mate, you’ve already sneaked two sausage rolls, a piece o’ pie, and three cookies.” Ruffster eyed the Beagle’s podgy belly. “If you keep eatin’, you’re goin’ to burst like a balloon.”
Biscuit sniffed indignantly. “I’m not—”
“Do you think you can help us, Biscuit?” Honey interrupted hastily. “We’re going to check something out and we need your super nose.”
Biscuit turned to her, his chest swelling with importance. “Of course! What do you need me to track?”
“A witch!” Suka called from the foot of the slope, grinning back at them.
“A... a witch?” Biscuit looked uneasy.
“That’s just Suka’s wishful thinking.” Honey chuckled. “I’m sure there’s really nothing up there.”
As they reached the top of the slope, however, Honey began to change her mind. Up close, the house looked even more strange and fantastical. Its high walls were a deep salmon pink, trimmed with white cornices and rising in staggered layers so that the whole house looked like a multi-tiered cake with white frosting.
“This house looks like some kind o’ weird birthday cake with bobbles on top!” laughed Ruffster, gazing up at the onion domes rising from the roof. “No way a witch would be livin’ in somethin’ like this.”
“Witches can live in all sorts of places,” said Suka darkly. “My Boy has a book called Hansel and Gretel and the witch in that story lives in a beautiful gingerbread house.”
“Ooh, do you think we can eat this house too?” asked Biscuit eagerly.
“Can ya never stop thinking about yer stomach?” growled Tyson.
“Well, I—”
Suka suddenly stiffened. “Shhh! Look! What’s that?”
They all froze. From the shadows at the side of the house, a dark figure suddenly appeared and lurched towards them. Black rags seemed to float around the body and a pair of angular arms stretched out menacingly, reaching forwards with claw-like hands. In spite of herself, Honey felt her heartbeat quicken and her breath come faster. Was Suka right? Is this the witch?
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