Chapter 6

Xīsà didn’t wake up until the early afternoon, the sun bursting through the window beside the bed.

So hungry…

She tried sitting up only to find herself pinned down by the chubby arms of a child hugging her tightly. Xisa frowned grumpily at the girl with golden locks sleeping next to her. She looked around for Maisha, but the witch seemed to have disappeared. Just as she was about to clamber out of the bed, she felt something move against her ankle… and Yùzān was tucked under her shirt… she ripped off the blankets and leapt away, startling Morg awake as well. When she turned back to look, she felt her heart drop to her stomach- slithering menacingly up Morg’s drowsy body was a bright green snake, its black forked tongue flicking past a pair of needle-like fangs.

“Wha-” Morg grumbled, her eyes still shut even as she began sitting upright.

Xisa stood there for a second, stunned. Then, after checking to make sure Yùzān still sat snugly under her shirt, she sprinted out the door, slamming it behind her.

Towering pines surrounded the hut in all directions, lacing the crisp, cool air with the scent of evergreens and pine needles. Directly in front of the house in a little clearing sat a garden, filled with pumpkin and squash vines, eggplants, tomatoes, and all sorts of other vegetable plants, as well as several different fruit trees. Maisha looked up from where she crouched in front of a twirling vine, a tiny pumpkin bud held gently in her palm. She wore a simple off-white dress and a wide brimmed straw hat. The voluminous hair overflowing from beneath the hat looked as unrestrained and wild as the pumpkin vines, and the mud and dirt smeared on her hands and bare feet blended into the lighter shade of her skin in such a way that Xīsà thought she might have sprouted out of the garden.

Xīsà ran over to Maisha, pointed desperately at the house and made a snake motion with her arm. By some miracle, Maisha actually understood. She laughed and let out a low whistle. The green snake from before slithered out an open window and started heading their direction. Xīsà took several steps back, absolutely terrified, and pulled out Yùzān, cupping the pale green frog safely against her chest. Snakes could eat frogs, you know!!

The green snake twisted up Maisha’s extended arm, then draped itself across her shoulders. Seeing this, Xisa recalled a scene from the night before, when a green snake had similarly slithered its way onto Maisha’s shoulders. Maisha briefly spoke to the creature with a stern voice, as if scolding it, then stretched out a finger to scratch its chin, perfectly at ease. With the same finger she then pointed at the frog in Xīsà’s hands, then at Xīsà, then at the snake, then at herself. Then she turned back to the vegetable plants, picking off little bugs. All the while, the green snake kept itself wrapped around Maisha’s arm and shoulders, both of them looking rather content.

Xīsà wasn’t really sure what Maisha was trying to convey with all the pointing, but seeing her so relaxed around the snake, she let herself relax as well. With Xīsà’s grip loosened, Yùzān wriggled its way out of her hands and hopped on top of her head, his favorite perch. Xīsà crouched down next to Maisha and watched her pick away bugs, slugs, and blemished leaves. Bugs she tossed back toward the woods, slugs she put in a bucket, and leaves she put in a pile behind her.

Xīsà started mimicking Maisha’s actions, clearing away bugs and slugs. Though she wasn’t sure why Maisha left the bugs alive, because this way, they would just come back again. Better to feed them to Yuzan. They continued on with these menial tasks, moving through the pumpkin plants onto what Xīsà thought might be carrots, then another vegetable, and another and so on until the whole garden had been pruned and cleaned and they returned to the hut. Maisha gave Xīsà a basket of vegetables to carry while she herself carried back the jar of slugs. Xīsà looked at the writhing mass of slimy creatures and made a face. What would Maisha want with a jar of slugs? She thought even Yuzan would want nothing to do with those things.

Back inside, Maisha lit a fire in the fireplace with a snap of her fingers. Xisa cast a glance at the bed nearby. It seemed that Morg had gone back to sleep. How someone could sleep so much, Xisa was unsure. She followed Maisha into the kitchen.

Xīsà watched the elder witch place the jar of slugs on a shelf, realizing that the jars and bottles filling the shelves and cabinets in the kitchen all held similarly strange contents; snake skins, animal bones, cat whiskers. Xisa shivered when she spotted a jar brimming with an assortment of eyes, all different shapes and sizes, their gazes following her as she moved.

Maisha took the vegetables from Xīsà with a smile, then first washing her hands, began washing the vegetables. Seeing Xīsà looking somewhat lost, she handed a cutting board and a knife to the little girl and made a chopping motion. Xīsà looked at the small knife in her hands, unable to help but feel a little delighted. Her parents would never let her help with anything. She was the ‘cursed child.’ Of course if you gave a ‘cursed child’ a knife, they would hurt someone. If you let the ‘cursed child’ cook something, the whole house would burn down.

She sat down at the table and from there, carefully chopped whatever vegetables Maisha handed to her. She chopped everything terribly unevenly, but Maisha praised every chopped vegetable as a job well done. Xisa was ecstatic. Such was the tranquil scene Sōngbǎi found when she brusquely walked in with a wooly Himalayan wolf trailing by her side. As soon as the two came into view, Ua gave a surprised flick of the tongue and burrowed his way into Maisha’s clothes, only peeking out of her sleeve every now and again. Xisa gaped at the giant creature while Maisha huffed angrily,

“Come on, this is still my home, you can’t just keep barging in without warning!”

Sōngbǎi paused, realizing she really had just barged into Maisha’s home thrice now without invitation or even knocking. She turned on her heel in a panic, not knowing how else to remedy the situation but to go back, start over, and knock at the door. Seeing the usually stoic and ill-tempered woman actually turn around to leave, Maisha rushed over.

“Ah wait, wait,” she exclaimed with a hint of laughter in her voice, “it’s fine haha, I didn’t actually mean for you to leave, come, come sit down beside Xīsà and give her someone to talk to.” Maisha turned to look at the wolf by Sōngbǎi’s side, “And you’ve brought Báigǔ!” she exclaimed as she pressed Songbai into a chair beside Xisa.

“Mmn,” Songbai affirmed.

“Does Báigǔ… like fish?” Maisha asked.

“Of course she likes fish,” Sōngbǎi frowned. Baigu’s ears perked up at the mentions of ‘fish,’ her tail gently waving back and forth.

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“Great!” Maisha said, clasping her hands together happily, “When I saw you were gone when I woke up, I thought you must have left for good. But I see you only left to bring back your familiar!”

“Guess you’re not so lucky,” Sōngbǎi muttered, her arms crossed.

“Nonsense! Together, we walk a fortuitous path, I’m sure of it!”

“Hm.” Songbai replied gruffly, though the corners of her mouth quirked up slightly, “I would have been better off leaving for good.”

Maisha fiddled with the tarot cards in her pocket as she stared at the grumpy witch sitting at her table.

“Well why don’t you stay with us for a couple of days? I still don’t know a lick of Mandarin, and it would be great to have help wrangling these two while they settle in!” she cajoled, drying her hands off with a towel. Songbai made no reply, her hooded eyes half closed as if in thought as she gently scratched the ears of the wolf beside her. Seeing as the woman hadn’t outright denied her proposition, Maisha felt rather pleased with the silent response.

Walking over to the kitchen table, Maisha took up the cutting board of chopped vegetables and wandered her way over to the fireplace, dumping the remaining ingredients into the cauldron with the already simmering fish. Xīsà curiously watched the two of them with her dark gaze, wondering what they might be talking about. Sōngbǎi’s attention turned to the little Chinese witch. Her long black hair hung around her, stringy and messy, partially hiding her pitch black eyes and ghostly emotionless face, draping down her shoulders. Though she had been sitting normally when Sōngbǎi walked in, she now crouched in her chair looking very much like a frog.

“If you stuck that one on top of your house, I doubt any demons or other such unsavory creatures would dare to approach,” Songbai said, gesturing at Xisa with her chin. Maisha looked over her shoulder at the girl perched on her chair like some sort of crouching predator and beamed.

“Ha! Our little witch’s scowl could send even the demon king running with his tail tucked!” Maisha praised, “She would definitely make a good gargoyle- no! She’s much cuter than even gargoyles, she… she could be in her own category!”

Songbai nodded solemnly. Indeed she could be in her own category. Gargoyles were cute, but this child was much cuter! Songbai reached out a hand, wanting to tousle Xisa’s hair, but wound up only patting her head awkwardly.

Xīsà realized the conversation had suddenly turned to her and, having no idea what the two witches were saying about her, worried that she was being scolded. She studied herself and realized she had been crouching in the chair again. With a light cough, Xisa immediately unfolded herself and sat normally, blushing hotly behind a curtain of hair. Why did she have this damn habit?? Did she sit like this last night without realizing it, too??? Her father had always gotten onto her for it but she couldn’t help it, it was a habit she did without thinking! She felt so embarrassed!

She didn’t have time to feel embarrassed for long, however, as she was abruptly swept into the air, Sōngbǎi hugging her tightly and shaking her back and forth. Yuzan leapt off his perch on Xisa’s head and settled himself safely on the table, wanting nothing to do with such excitement.

“Hmmm, Xiǎohá, I’ve decided, I’ll call this little gargoyle Xiaoha!”

“Eyy! What are you doing!” Maisha exclaimed, “Put her down, you can’t give her a hug before I get to! And why are you the one naming her?! I’m the one who nursed her back to health for the past week!” Maisha, wielding a wooden spoon, left her station by the cauldron of simmering vegetables and fish and began chasing Sōngbǎi, who hummed happily even with her usual stoic look still partially stuck on her face. Poor Xīsà could only hang on for dear life, too weak to struggle out of Sōngbǎi’s arms as the elder witch dodged Maisha’s onslaught of attacks by running around the sparse furniture in the hut.

“And why Xiǎohá, what’s Xiǎohá?” Maisha interrogated.

“Xiǎohá means ‘Little Frog,’” Songbai said matter-of-factly. Maisha paused in her pursuit and made a face that said ‘well actually that's not a bad name for her at all!’ before continuing her chase.

At some point, Maisha finally caught up to Sōngbǎi, bapping her on the head with her spoon and ordering her to let poor Xīsà down. Unable to defend herself with both arms wrapped around the girl, Sōngbǎi had no choice but to release her before whipping out her fan. The two adults suddenly became engaged in a swordfight- spoon vs. fan! Xīsà was feeling a little exasperated, having been unable to understand much of what was going on, simply wanting to eat. She slinked back to the kitchen, searching for some sort of utensil to tend to the vegetables with. After several tries, she found a utensil drawer. Two spoons, a butterknife, and a single chopstick. Xīsà opted for the longer of the two spoons and crossed the hut to stir the simmering mixture of veggies over the fire.

With all the ruckus, Morg finally roused herself from her slumber and slunk over to Xisa’s side, staring at the bubbling soup. Xisa stared at the girl’s sullen face, feeling a bit sorry. She assumed Morg must still be thinking about her family. Xisa knew quite well that family could be a difficult and complicated thing… Without thinking, she reached out a free hand and patted Morg on the shoulder. Morg stared at Xisa with watery eyes and quivering lips before tackling her with a hug and letting out a series of sobs, snot messily dripping out her nose and onto Xisa’s shirt. Xisa froze when her fellow little witch clung to her, vowing to never comfort this girl ever again for fear of the consequences.

“Ah, you’re awake!” Maisha exclaimed.

“I didn’t realize she was still here!” Songbai exclaimed almost simultaneously. Maisha scoffed,

“Tch. Where else would she have gone? Back to Maryland with her parents? Run off into the woods?”

Songbai, unable to think of a comeback to Maisha’s sarcastic remarks, resorted instead to bapping Maisha on the head with her fan one final time.

“No, you’re right, Songbai,” Maisha said seemingly in response to the bap on the head, “she probably does have some things she wants to bring back from home. Clothes and the like.”

Songbai rolled her eyes at the nonsensical, one-sided conversation. Maisha strolled up to Xisa and the bubbling cauldron, dipping in her wooden spoon before taste testing the soup.

“Ah! Perfect!”

Maisha sank into a thoughtful silence as she began scooping soup into bowls and passing the hot dishes to her fellow witches. When all four of them had gathered at the table, Baigu laying at their feet and gnawing on a hunk of fish that had been set aside earlier and Ua presumably still hidden in Maisha’s clothes, Maisha finally spoke again.

“Morg, would you like to visit your parents soon? We can finish sorting everything out with them and bring back some of your belongings.”

“Finish sorting things out?” Songbai scoffed, “Is that some sort of euphemism for making sure your bewitchment held and those two aren’t running around town announcing their daughter is a witch?”

Maisha grimaced internally at Songbai’s statement, wondering if it was really luck that had brought her fellow witch to her door, or something else. Morg sniffed at the soup, seemingly unperturbed at the fact that Maisha had bewitched her parents. Maisha relaxed slightly.

“Let's go tomorrow, then. How does that sound?” she said gently to the young witch.

Morg heaved a sigh and nodded, picking at her soup half heartedly before pushing the bowl away altogether. Xisa stared at Morg’s abandoned soup, wondering if she could have it. As if reading her thoughts, Morg actually pushed the bowl towards Xisa. Seeing an opportunity, Xisa sneakily switched Morg’s bowl for her own empty one and promptly began drinking the hot dish.

“Xiaoha! If you want more soup, there’s plenty still left in the pot,” Songbai scolded in Chinese, making Xisa jump. The young witch set Morg’s half empty bowl back down and blushed, feeling a little guilty. She snuck a glance at Morg’s still dejected face and suppressed the urge to pat her shoulder again. Families really were complicated.