Angelica Blackwine (short story)
Let me finalise that by handing you the last one from that publication! Here's a fantasy witch story. Meet Angelica Blackwine.
A pile of boxes and crates were in front of the house on the corner.
Samantha saw them, as she came back from grocery shopping. It pleased her to know the house would be inhabited again; it had been on the market for over a year. Not many people wanted to live in a house where an old man had died. The man had lived very much on his own, and passed away in his sleep, but still.
It was a bit odd, because she didn't recall anyone coming to look at the house, nor had anyone in the street talked about a new occupant of the place.
She parked her little car, and as she was unloading her groceries, Mrs Trudeau from across the street came outside and hurried over.
"Did you see that?" she asked, pointing at the pile of boxes.
"It's kind of hard to miss, isn't it?" Samantha smiled at the woman.
"It is. It is also spooky," Mrs Trudeau said. "I never saw a mover's truck pull up to unload everything."
"Ehm." Samantha frowned. Nothing escaped Mrs Trudeau. "Then how did all that get here? And... why is it out in the open like this, with no one keeping an eye on it?"
This wasn't a bad street, but sometimes folks could drive past, who would seize the moment, and a few boxes, when no one was looking.
Mrs Trudeau also had no idea who was going to live in the house, but according to her and her analysis of the boxes, it had to be a weird kind of person. "It's mostly chests with padlocks, and... who would need four brooms?"
"Maybe a professional housekeeper?" Samantha had no idea. "Well, nice talking to you. I need to get this inside. Herbert will be home soon, and after a day of doing construction work, he's always hungry."
Mrs Trudeau understood, even though she was eager to continue sharing her conspiracy theories, and her suspicions about various folks. "Very well then, dear. We'll talk again."
* * *
Herbert came home and lifted his wife off her feet, as usual. No matter how tired he was, he stuck to that ritual which ended in a kiss.
"Did you see those boxes outside?" she asked after being on her feet again.
"Boxes?" Herbert looked surprised. "What boxes?"
"In front of the corner house. You know..." Samantha pointed at a wall. "There, from old Mr Davies."
"There were no boxes," Herbert said. He was so confident, Samantha walked to the front door to check the street. There were no boxes.
"Okay. This is weird. There were boxes when I came home. Mrs Trudeau saw them too."
Herb stood next to her. "This is enough for me to believe you."
"Why?"
"Mrs Trudeau sees lots of things," he reminded her. "Remember the UFO she once saw, which was a wheel hub hanging from the street light?"
"Hmm, yes. True. But there *were* boxes and stuff in the-" Samantha stopped talking as a woman in her thirties appeared in the street. She could only have come from the house next door.
"Who's that?" asked Herb.
"I bet that's the new neighbor," Samantha said, "and I'm going to find out who she is."
Quickly she made her way to the front door, opened it, and stepped outside. The woman was still there. "Hello," Samantha said.
"Oh. Hi." The woman turned to her.
She wore strange clothes, Samantha thought. The style reminded her of witch clothes, but not really. A long, wide dress, green and brown leaves in the fabric.
"I'm Samantha Brown. I live here. Welcome to the neighborhood, I guess. You live next door now?"
The woman smiled. "Yes. I do. Nice to meet you. I'm Angelica. Angelica Blackwine."
"Blackwine? Not a name I heard before," Samantha said. "Oh, this is Herbert, but he prefers being called Herb."
"Hello, Herbert who prefers to be called Herb," said Angelica.
"Hello, and welcome," Herb said. "I hope you feel at home soon."
Samantha noticed the woman's short hair didn't have a particular color. It was black in places, grey in others, and there were even white streaks in it. White and grey? Was she older than she looked?
"I thought to introduce ourselves, since we're next door neighbors now," Samantha said. "If there's anything we can help with, let us know."
"I gladly accept your offer," said Angelica. "Thank you so much. If I can be of any service, I will happily assist you too." She looked at the ground, as if she was looking for something.
"Is something missing?" Herb asked.
"In fact there is," said the odd woman, "but I'm sure I will find it."
The strange thing about this was there was nothing on the ground. No box, no basket, not even a piece of paper.
"Good luck finding it," Herb said. "And if you can't find it, maybe we can help you out."
"I truly appreciate that, Herbert. I should say Herb. But I doubt you could help me out with this." Angelica smiled again, and as she did so, Samantha had the sudden urge to close the door.
"Why did you close the door?" Herb was puzzled.
"I dunno. It was as if I had to..." Samantha shrugged. "Let's get dinner started."
"Good idea."
They went into the living room. Samantha continued to the kitchen, while Herb headed back to the window for another glimpse of Angelica Blackwine. She was no longer there.
* * *
A few days later, it was Saturday afternoon, Herb and Samantha had set up their garden set on the small lawn. They loved their garden, with the many flowers, and also the garden gnomes Samantha had collected over the years.
"There's something odd going on there," Herb said, pointing at the next door garden. Angelica's garden. The two gardens were separated by a low fence and some plants, and usually they could look over and have a talk with the neighbors. They hadn't had such a talk in a long time, but now there was a neighbor.
Instead of seeing the garden, there was a strange shimmer hovering over the fence.
"That's... weird." Samantha got up. "Why didn't we notice that before?" She walked closer to the shimmer. Behind it, she saw movement. "Hello? Is someone there?"
"Oh. Hello." Angelica's voice sounded loud and clear. "Yes. I am here."
Herb joined his wife and touched the shimmer. "That's cold," he reported.
"Yes. Don't touch it, it's cold, and it can freeze your skin," Angelica said. It was strange to hear her but not really see her. The shimmer only showed a vague, green area, which had to be the garden on the other side, and a pale shape moving around. That had to be the neighbor.
"Is this...thing yours?" Samantha asked.
"Yes." A shorter answer was hardly possible.
"What is it?" Herb held a hand close to it and felt nothing. Only touching the shimmer was very cold.
"It's for your safety," Angelica reported, as they saw her vague shape move around some more.
"Safety?" Herb frowned.
"Yes. You know what that is, don't you?" The pale shape came closer, and suddenly Angelica's head peered out of the strange barrier. She didn't seem to be bothered by the cold. "I know many people have problems with nudity, and I always work naked, so I decided to put up this screen. For your safety. So you don't have to see me nude."
"Ehm." Samantha raised her eyebrows. "You mean you're... not wearing clothes?"
"Yes. That's what naked means. At least for me."
"But why?" Herb was part curious, part wondering.
"It's more comfortable. And I'm not very good with garden things, so I don't get sand on my clothes. Skin is much easier to clean."
"Okay, that makes sense," Herb agreed. "But... what *is* this shimmer thing?" He pointed at it.
Angelica frowned for a moment. "Nobody told you?"
"No. We've never seen anything like this before," Samantha said.
"No, I mean, nobody told you about me?" Angelica looked a bit worried.
"Nope. A few days ago we saw your luggage in the street, and suddenly that was gone. Which is something weird too." Samantha hoped to get an explanation for that.
"Oh. Drat. That is not good. And that's not what I mean about nobody telling you about me. You see, I'm a witch."
"A... witch." Samantha had read about Pagan people calling themselves witches, but she'd never read or heard about those folks creating ice-cold barriers over fences. "You mean, like, the kind in fairy tales?"
"No. I'm the kind..." Angelica looked back at something. "Give me a moment." She disappeared. Samantha and Herb saw her shadow move left and right, then heard something fall over. Angelica uttered some very non-witchy curses.
"I wish I could see what's going on there," Herb said.
Samantha slapped him. "Staring at a naked woman, huh? Not happening. You'll have to do with me."
"But you're not naked," he joked, which earned him another slap.
At that moment, Angelica's face appeared in the shimmer again. "No, you're not, and that's a pity for you. For both of you." For a second it looked as if she was biting her lip. "I heard you want to see my garden. I might allow you to look, but you'd have to be skyclad too."
"Sky-what?" Samantha thought she'd heard that wrong.
"Skyclad. Naked, as people say," Angelica explained. "My plants are used to me being nude. I don't know how they will respond to clothing, so if you want to come and see, you will need to undress in my living room. Or the kitchen. Or the hall. Anywhere except the garden."
"Ehm." The couple looked at the witch, then they looked at each other.
Samantha grinned. "I don't think so..."
Herb hesitated for a moment, then agreed with her. "Thanks for the invitation, but... no thanks."
"That's clear then," Angelica said. She wished them a nice day, her head vanished, and left them staring at the haze over the fence.
"Naked. Imagine that," Samantha said.
Herb sighed. "Yeah. That *is* kind of weird."
"Hey, don't tell me you want to see her naked," Samantha asked. She had a grin on her face, but there was a serious undertone in her voice. As he didn't respond immediately, she frowned. "Do I need to worry about you, husband?"
"No," Angelica's voice sounded through the barrier. "He's curious, that's all. It's smarter to come over and see me, and notice I'm nothing special. That's the best thing to do, trust me."
"Did you hear me?" Samantha turned to the barrier.
"Of course." Angelica's face appeared again. "It blocks vision, not sound. I can do that too, if you want."
"Why doesn't that barrier block sound?" Samantha asked.
"I'm a witch, not a fortune teller," Angelica explained. "If something bad happens, I want to hear it in time."
"Oh. I guess that makes sense." Samantha felt a bit puzzled now.
"But what do you expect to hear?" Herb asked. "Dragons approaching?"
Angelica blinked a few times. "Dragons don't exist. No, this is a house on a corner. Imagine someone in a motorized vehicle coming towards my garden and breaks through the fence. It would be good to hear that."
"Oh. Of course." Herb nodded.
The witch disappeared from view again.
Samantha looked at the garden seating arrangement. "I'm sitting myself down here. This is why we came outside." She did as she said, and her husband joined her.
After a few minutes, she commented their own garden could do with some maintenance as well. "Remember we talked about that, a few weeks ago?"
"I do." Herb had been the one to bring it up then, to rearrange some of the plant groups. "It's still early enough. I could go and change in the garden clothes... After the drinks, of course."
"Very smart. Stay hydrated," Angelica commented from her own garden.
"I like that plan," said Samantha. "It's just..."
"Just what? Did you change your mind?" Herb looked at her. She'd been so happy with his suggested changes.
"No. It's your garden clothes. I didn't manage to get them really clean," Samantha admitted. "Some of those stains are so stubborn..."
"I told you," Angelica reminded them. "Skyclad. A shower fixes everything."
Samantha growled. "Can you please stop listening in?"
"Okay, okay."
The barrier changed color, from a hazy white to a faint pink.
"Your pink is ugly!" Samantha called out. There was no reply. "Good."
Herb finished his drink and got up. "I'll go change."
"Okay. But..."
"But?" He turned to look at her.
"If you soil those clothes even more, they'll never be clean anymore." Samantha hated dirty clothes, and doubly so when they were still smudgy after being washed.
"I can put on something else."
"What? You don't have old stuff, apart from those old winter things, and those are too warm for this weather," she reminded him.
"Right. Then it's the smudgy stuff after all," Herb said, and walked to the backdoor to enter the kitchen. He turned. "Unless I do it the witch's way."
Samantha looked up from her phone. "Sure, you can do- wait, what?" She put her phone on the small table next to her. "You don't mean..." Without saying another word, she pointed at the hazy barrier.
"Yes," Herb said. "That saves a wash." He started to like the idea, just for once. For the thrill of it.
"But..." Samantha looked around. "What if someone sees you?" she half-whispered.
"And who might that be?" he asked, walking back to her. "Angelica is closed up in there, the house is behind us, and the other side is blocked by the huge conifers the neighbors set up."
"You're not serious," Samantha said.
Those words made him even more serious. "Come on, honey, what's the harm in it?"
"If you're really going to do that, I'm going inside," Samantha threatened.
"I can't stop you," said Herb, pulling his shirt over his head.
"You're... unbelievable!" She got up, grabbed her phone, and hurried inside.
* * *
Herb was somewhat stunned to see his wife race off like that. She'd seen him naked before, and he knew no one could see him if he took off his clothes here. As if to prove that to himself, he dropped his shirt on the chair, then got out of his shorts. Even his socks ended up on the small pile, after which he took a deep breath. He was nude, in his own garden, and he was going to do some gardening.
Careful, as he wasn't used to walking barefoot, he went to the little cabinet which made up his garden tool shed, grabbed what he thought he'd need, and got to work.
He worked to get the first group of plants out of the ground, making sure to keep the roots intact, then dug up the second group and moved those to the opened spot. Before putting them in the soil, he put the other ones where he planned them, got up and walked back a little. From a distance he was better able to see if the idea would work.
"Hmmm." He spotted another opportunity, to make this even better.
Again he got to work, feeling good about the progress he was making, and after more than an hour, he felt his work was done. He also felt his back, which was a good reason to stop for now.
"Sam, come, have a look. I like what I did, I hope you do too," he called out to his wife.
Samantha appeared a little later, keeping her hands around her eyes, in an exaggerating way making it clear she did not want to see him. "Oh!" she said in surprise. "That is really a lot better." She walked over to where he'd been working. "That is weird."
"What is?" Herb was already pleased she'd come out. Her persistent refusal to look at him was a bit strange. Oh, wait, right, he was naked. He'd actually forgotten that, and realized now how comfortable he'd been, moving around, crawling left and right. His hands and knees showed the signs, but that was something for the shower. Exactly, he recalled, what the woman next door had said!
"It's as if you did much better than the previous two times you wanted to change something here," Samantha said, as if she was pondering this out loud. "As if your heart was into it more."
"To be honest, it did feel differently," he said. "As if I could feel what I was doing. Following something in the ground, which told me what to put where."
"That sounds… so unlike you." Samantha turned and looked at him. "Are you sure you didn't talk to her?" She pointed a thumb at the hazy, pink barrier. She was glad it was still that weird pink shade. That meant the woman couldn't hear them.
"I'm sure. I didn't even think of her," Herb said. "I was doing my garden stuff here. That's all." He noticed clearly how she was staring at him. All of him.
"Your knees are so dirty," she pointed out.
"But not the pants," he said. "I can wash that off." He looked down at himself and saw the smears all over him. "I'd better get to that."
Before he could move, Samantha said, "No. No, Herb. Wait a bit."
He didn't understand. "Wait for what?"
"Not sure," Samantha said, "but… for some reason you don't look weird."
"I beg your pardon?" She'd never called him weird before, but expressing her feelings about him now, with those words, was odd.
"No, I mean… the way you look now." Samantha looked confused now. "I never thought I'd say this, but it's… natural. Normal. You know what I mean?"
"Ehm. Not really, but… perhaps I do." Herb pondered her words. "You mean me being naked here, right?"
"I do." Samantha raised a hand to the collar of her shirt. "Maybe I should…" Her insecurity made her drop her hand again. "Or not?"
"Why don't you try it?" he said. "Really, there's nothing to it. Herb walked over to her, kissed her, and then pulled her shirt up, over her head. She let him do it. "There. Step one." He reached behind her, undid the bra clip and soon the bra was on the chair, with the T-shirt. "Do you want me to help with the rest?"
Samantha stared down at her breasts for a moment, fighting the urge to cover them with her hands. Why, she wondered. Why would she do that? Herb had seen her naked before, and…
She took off her skirt and undies, and stood there, in front of him, her heart pounding, unsure what to do.
"Okay. Come." Herb took her by the hand and guided her into the garden, to the spot where he'd been busy. It surprised him a little she actually followed him.
As they slowly moved along, he pointed out what he'd done, how he'd done it and what he hoped it would look like when the soil and plants had settled.
"And here, look," he said, kneeling down. She did the same, looking at what he pointed out. "Here's an open spot now, because I had to take out some old plants. They were at the end."
Samantha knew which ones he meant. They'd talked about those plants before. "That's perfect, Herb," she said. "We could get that little statue we saw at the garden center and put it here."
"Exactly." He beamed at her sudden spark of happiness over that small detail. He put a hand on her thigh. A smudgy, soiled hand. "Oh. Look. Now you're as dirty as I am."
"Oh…" She looked at the smear on her leg. "You're worse, mister."
"And do you notice being naked now?" he asked. He had to. He'd not noticed it for a long time, after getting to work on the garden. Only when she came out, dressed, had it occurred to him again.
"Ehm. Now you mention it…" Samantha looked at him. "I'd forgotten." She realized it had only taken mere minutes.
At that moment, they heard a soft gong chime.
"Hello? Are you there?" It was Angelica's voice. "I've removed the sound block for a moment. I'm almost done in my garden, and I'd like to invite you over for some tea, if you want."
Samantha and Herb got up.
"That's very nice of you," Samantha said. "We're mostly done here as well. In the garden. Herb did some wonderful work."
"How nice!" Angelica's head appeared through the haze. "Oh?" She smiled a big smile. "I had not expected that."
Samantha's cheeks immediately burned, and she hid behind Herb. Herb didn't seem to mind.
"Would you mind if I come over to look at your garden?" Angelica asked.
"Do we?" Herb looked behind him.
"Ehm…"
"She already saw us," Herb said.
Damn, she thought. That was true. "But we didn't see her yet." Samantha knew that was a very weak comeback, but it was all she could think of.
"If that's all…" Angelica's head disappeared, and a moment later, part of the haze and the fence disappeared. The witch stepped through. "Here I am."
Samantha peeked around her husband, and somehow she felt ashamed about that.
Angelica wasn't a skinny person. Not even a regular person, Samantha saw. The woman looked clearly overweight, and a few big, oddly colored scars on her belly and a leg screamed for attention.
Samantha fought her curiosity and worry, and stepped next to Herb. "Hi, Angelica," she said. "Nice to meet you, I guess." Her eyes moved between the witch's face and the strange opening which now connected the two gardens.
"Nice to meet you too," Angelica said, "and don't worry about that. I'll close it up. I just thought this was easier than putting something on and going through the doors and the street."
"Uh-huh." Herb was also a bit concerned about this way of coming over. He pointed at the opening. "I hope you're not going to make a habit out of that."
Angelica laughed. "No, of course not. So, what did you do to your garden?"
Herb felt good about that question, and pointed at the area he'd been working on. "I was just showing Samantha how it looked, and she had this idea for a small statue we saw somewhere. It would fit great there."
Angelica walked over to the spot and knelt down. "Hmm."
"Hmm what?" Samantha was suddenly intrigued about this person, who didn't make any deal about either of them being nude.
"Hmm I may have something for you to put there," the woman said, looking up at them. "You can come and have a look. If you don't like it, you can always go to your somewhere and acquire the statue you like." She got up. "Come, have a look at my garden, and I'll show you a few statues which might fit that spot." As she spoke, she walked to the strange opening and went through.
"Do you think we should?" Samantha asked Herb.
"Yes. We've come this far, let's take that next step," he said, taking her hand.
Together they went through the fence.
* * *
Samantha stopped dead in her tracks, making Herb bump into her. "Oh my god…" She stared at the beautiful insanity around her. Herb was also lost for words.
"Welcome to my garden," said Angelica, proudly smiling. "It's not finished yet."
"I don't care," Samantha said, stepping forward a little bit. She looked at the tiny rivers snaking through the yellow grass, the fairy statuettes with their moving wings, and a few floating balls in various sizes and colors. "This is…" She tried to find a word that would give meaning to her astonishment. "Incredible. Insane. Amazing. Fabulous."
"Pretty awesome," Herb said, not afraid to admit it. "I've never seen anything like this."
Angelica beamed, hearing all that. "Thank you. I haven't shown this garden to many people. Most of them are a bit scared of me. It's quite sad witches have a bad name, because we don't mean any harm. Well, usually."
Herb asked what she meant by usually, and learned there were some rotten apples, even among witches.
"Good thing there aren't many, and they tend to stick to themselves," Angelica added. "And I'm with the good ones. I'm also very happy you decided to come over and see my garden." She gave them a short tour and explanation of the various objects, and where they came from. The trip through the garden ended with them sitting in garden chairs, drinking tea.
"Thank you so much for all of this," Samantha said. "If you ever want to come over and have tea with us, or coffee, just let us know."
"I will, thank you." Angelica smiled. "I will be skyclad, though, like you are now. I hope you'll keep up the practice."
Samantha looked at Herb, who nodded. "I think we will…" She looked at his legs. "And now we should go home. My husband looks as if he's worked in the garden."
Angelica walked with them, to the opening in the fence. "If you want to come over, just be undressed and say I'm a friendly visitor. Then the passage will appear."
"Thank you again, Angelica." Samantha wished she had the nerve to hug the friendly witch, but thought that would be weird. They were naked, after all. She stepped back into their own garden, and Herb was right behind her.
"Enjoy your day," Angelica said, and after that, the passage vanished.
"This was… unexpected," Herb said.
"Really." Samantha looked at his naked body, and found it to be okay. "Now you need that wash, mister. You're dirty."
"Yes, ma'am."
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