M. Rug Sunshine

On the morning of my tenth birthday the village woke up to find&#8230;

&#8230;the sign of the three witches nailed to the old oak tree.

Cassie

The Three Witches lived in the forest across the stone bridge.

Sometimes, after school, we&#8217;d dare each other to run across the bridge and back.

But we’d all heard the stories of those that had crossed and never come back.

Dad said that in the olden days, when every other village was burning or drowning their witches, ours were protecting us.

They turned away guns and famine and the whims of kings.

They kept us safe… I guess that&#8217;s why we called them  the kindly ones.