Snippet no 2

Saffron might have looked like Dolly Parton with a twist, but she had the mind and tactical ideas of General Patton. And that is exactly what Susan feared as she stepped back from the mirror to allow her mother and the extra visitor the space of the vestibule as they arrived from Second Dimension. Gatsby had moved away from the mirror as well, and taken up a seat on one of the steps of the staircase. His huge yellow eyes were watching the happenings of the hall, with a small conceited cat smile.

Susan almost groaned out loud as she saw who the other visitor was – her aunt Hyacinth. To have to deal with Saffron was bad enough, but to have to tangle with aunt Hyacinth at the same time…well, maybe she should just beg for mercy here and now. But no wars can be won by begging for mercy, so Susan tried to find those positive, happy thoughts inside her, as she stepped forward to greet the visitors.

“Mother, aunt Hyacinth,” she said, with a smile in place on her lips. “What a pleasant surprise to see you here, I hope the journey here was not too troublesome?” She almost winced inwardly as she helped her aunt with her coat; it smelled heavily of moth balls and sulphur. Hmm, maybe aunt Hyacinth had been dabbling in dark arts again. Susan readily abandoned these thoughts as she hung up the coat, and was presented with Hyacinth’s hat. Ah, Hyacinth’s hat. Now that was something different, even for the Second Dimension. For some reason, Hyacinth’s hats were always …different. Eccentric, one might say. This one was a black satiny one, with a stuffed…vulture as its crowning glory. Susan swallowed as she met the unnervingly alive gaze of the stuffed vulture, and she could not be quick enough with hanging up the hat.

She turned to gaze over her mother and her aunt, both prime examples of witches in their best years. Well, to be honest, a witch was always at the prime of her years, so it did not really matter what actual age she was. Her mother was somewhat on the plump side, but still managed to look impeccable at all occasions in her designer clothes. (Designers from the Second Dimension, of course. Saffron would never even be able to think the thought of wearing something a ….human..designer had made.) Hyacinth on the other hand was tall and gangly, and wore a mismatching collection of clothes that seemed to have come from the trash bin somewhere. It was hard to believe that the two women were actually sisters, but alas, Susan thought, they were, and they were her family.

“Susan,” her mother started, with a faint disapproving tone in her voice. “You are not wearing…human clothes again, are you?”

Susan sighed. Oh, it would be one of those visits.