Amy pushed up the window screen. She climbed onto the sill. Wispy moved closer to her. Amy sat down on the broom, facing the blue bristles. She held tight to the stick. Without a sound the little blue broom flew out of the window.

She soared over the peach tree. Then she flew higher and sailed over the roofs of the houses.

Amy looked down. Far below she could see the lights of Ocean Parkway. The broom was so high now that it made Amy dizzy. She closed her eyes.

When she opened them the moon seemed even brighter than before. There were no lights from the city now. They were flying over a dark forest. Deep inside her Amy had a funny feeling. Where was the broom taking her? She had to keep telling herself that she was not afraid.

In the bright moonlight Amy saw that the ground below was getting hilly. As they flew along the hills were taller. Amy noticed that the tops of some of the hills had no trees growing on them. They were sharp and rocky. They must be mountains.

Wispy headed for the highest mountain of all. She flew down. It seemed as if they were going to crash into the rocks.

Amy opened her mouth to scream. But instead of crashing into the mountain the little broom flew into the open mouth of a dark cave. It was blacker in here than anything Amy could remember. She couldn’t even see the broom she was riding on.

It was cold in the cave. Amy wished she had a bathrobe over her thin summer nightgown.

For a while they flew on in the darkness. Then, far ahead, Amy saw a dim light. Wispy seemed to be slowing down. Amy could see the shape of the broom now. Soon she made out the rocky walls of the tunnel they were flying through. Wispy flew slower and slower. She stayed close to one side of the tunnel and kept stopping as if to look at what was ahead.

The light was getting brighter. It had a red glow. Now the air was warmer. The tunnel was coming to an end. Ahead of them was a very big cave.

The blue broom landed on a rocky ledge. Amy got off. The ledge ran all around the cave. It was high up near the ceiling and was all in shadow.

The light came from a huge fire that blazed in the center of the cave. Around the fire was a crowd of people. Some were dressed all in red. Some in white. Some in black. And they all had brooms to match. One or two were sitting on their brooms.

Unlike the way Amy sat on Wispy, they sat on the bristles of their brooms, with the sticks pointing up in the air. They all wore hats. And the hats pointed up in the air too.

Amy was in a den of witches!