‘Can’t move? What do you mean, can’t move?’
Janet sounded as irritated as Greg.
‘He means I can’t move!’ Max wailed, her arms flailing as if she were about to fall as she unsuccessfully tried to raise her feet from the floor. ‘I’m rooted to the spot!’
‘Max, you can’t be roote–’
Greg was interrupted yet again by yet another loud creak, this time coming from just behind him.
He spun around.
‘The door! The door’s closing!’
Both he and Janet lunged for the door, trying to catch it before it swung completely shut.
But they were too late.
The door slipped from their urgently grasping hands like it was covered in thick oil.
It slipped back into the closed position smoothly and securely.
Greg whirled around, his face red with anger.
‘Max!’
*
‘I tell you! I honestly couldn’t move!’
‘Well you can move around well enough now Max!’
‘Yes, but I couldn’t! I really don’t know why, honestly.’
‘It’s true.’ Lee came to her defence. ‘When she said she couldn’t move, I tried to pull her along with me. But it was like her feet had been glued to the floor.’
‘That will be the feet that don’t seem to be stuck to the floor anymore, right?’ Greg snarled sarcastically.
‘The slippers; it must be the slippers!’ Janet pointed at the wicker slippers that Max was still wearing.
‘Yes, yes, of course!’ Max cried.
Leaning on Lee’s shoulder for support, she lifted a foot clear of the floor and reached down to take off the slipper.
‘It’s stuck!’
‘Stuck? What do you mean, stuck?’
‘Are you having trouble with English these days, Greg?’ Max snapped angrily. ‘I mean I get the damned things off my foot!’
‘Oh this is ridiculous!’
Kneeling down by Max’s raised foot, Greg took a hold of and pulled aggressively on the slipper.
It wouldn’t move. It stayed firmly welded to Max’s foot.
‘You must have wedged them on, just to make sure it looked like they fitted you,’ Greg said accusingly.
‘I didn’t wedge it on! They fitted perfectly!’
‘I think she’s telling the truth,’ Janet said, moving one of her own feet so that it was alongside one of Max’s. ‘See, her feet are actually smaller than mine.’
‘Smaller?’ Lee’s face creased in puzzlement. ‘But weren’t Max’s feet–’
‘I’m smaller than you!’ Max suddenly wailed, noticing that Janet seemed slightly taller than her. ‘And look at the sleeves of my blouse! I’m shrinking!’
Even though she held out an arm, her hand almost disappeared beneath the long sleeve.
Everyone swapped bewildered, worried glances.
‘The potion!’ Max wailed once more, rushing towards and up the stairs as if she urgently wanted to get away from everyone. ‘The potion wasn’t supposed to work like this!’
*
Chapter 21
Greg bounded up the stairs after Max.
‘Stay here,’ he said to Janet and Lee. ‘She just needs calming down.’
Lee was incensed that Greg had assumed that he should be the one to help Max. Then again, he couldn’t really think what he would say to her, so there wasn’t much point arguing about it.
Even though Lee managed to quickly suppress his anger, it simmered beneath the surface, showing up in the tightness of his face, the slight bugling of his eyes.
‘You know Lee, you’ve changed since I knew you; and I think I know why you’ve changed.’
‘Oh?’
He didn’t say it as if he were curious to know what she meant. He said it harder, blunter, as if it were a warning to stay out of his private life.
Janet ignored the warning.
‘I’ve seen this sort of thing before, you know? How someone you fancy keeps you hanging on? Every time they think you’re finally getting over them, they give you hope again. They like having someone they can fall back on, someone who can boost their confidence when they’re feeling low.’
‘And who’s this someone you’re referring to, I wonder?’ Lee said bitterly, nastily. ‘I mean, you being such an expert and everything, who is it that you think is keeping me hanging on, eh?’
‘I think it’s obvious,’ Janet said.
‘Obvious? Yeah, it’s obvious all right. It’s obvious that, deep down, she’s just a little girl, right? A little girl who craves security, who isn’t anywhere near as confident as she makes out she is. So she drags me down just so she can always feel good about herself.’
‘If you know that, why are you still chasing her?’
‘Because I know the real Max! No one else does, see? Everyone else, including Greg, thinks she’s this overly-confident, ridiculous flirt, who you can kick back at without it hurting her. But she hurts all right, hurts badly. And I’m the one who’s here to help her when she’s hurt.’
‘If you put it like that, I suppose–’
Lee whirled on her.
‘Yeah, I put it like that Janet, thanks!’
Even as he said it, he regretted his anger, his bitterness.
Why should he be angry with her for speaking the truth?
Because although he knew it was true, he didn’t want anyone else knowing it.
But then, how many people knew it?
Everyone, that’s who.
‘I’m…I’m sorry Janet. If you must know, I just can’t give her up. It’s like…like how she was rooted to the spot just then, right? That’s me. Rooted. She’s everything I ever wanted.’
*
‘Go away! I don’t want you seeing me like this!’
As Greg entered the main bedroom, Max swiftly turned her back on him. But he could still tell that she was crying.
‘Look, Max, I don’t know what the problem is, but we both know it’s no use crying like a little girl–’
‘A little girl?’
She spun around to face him, her face wet with tears, her brow furrowed in anger.
‘Is that what you think I look like Greg? A little girl?’
‘What? No, of course not! I meant–’
‘You meant you’ve noticed my breasts have shrunk, right?’ she spat furiously, pushing her chest forwards and using her hands to mould her breasts. ‘You’ve noticed I’m getting younger and younger!’
Her anger had transformed into a frightened wail.
‘Oh Greg! When will it stop? I just wanted to be a little bit younger, not keep on getting younger!’
‘Getting younger? Max, I don’t know what you mean–’
‘The potion Greg! The potion was supposed to make me look eighteen again! Not fifteen or whatever age I’m going to end up at!’
‘Why would you mix a potion to make you look younger? You looked fine–’
‘Looked fine? Don’t give me that, Greg! I’ve seen the way you’re enamoured by that little flirt! What’s she got that I haven’t got, eh?’
‘Janet? That’s not because she’s younger than you Max! She’s just so sweet and innocen–’
‘Sweet? So you’re saying what, Greg? That I’m not “sweet”? That I’m what – bitter, eh?’
‘You know what I mean.’
‘No, I don’t know what you mean!’
‘Look, I get it, Max! You’re upset because you think your potion’s gone a bit wrong, yeah? But look at Lee, how he looks like a little kid just because he’s got my shirt–’
‘I haven’t changed clothes Gre–’
‘Er, everything okay up here?’ Lee said as he and Janet sauntered into the room.
‘No, everything isn’t okay, thanks Lee, if you mus – arrgh! What’s that?’
Something had dropped onto Max’s shoulder. It bounced off, then fell to the floor.
‘It’s one of the straw figures,??
? Janet said, peering at it more closely. ‘Like one of those on the slippers.’
Lee looked up towards the ceiling where the figure had fallen from.
‘So where did it come from – watch out, there’s another one!’
The new straw figure fell straight to the floor. A third seemed to emerge from out of the many shadows created between the ceiling’s crisscrossing wooden beams. Then a fourth, a fifth, a sixth.
‘Where are they all coming from?’ Greg wondered uneasily as more and more straw figures tumbled around them.
‘Let’s just get out of here, can’t we?’
Covering her head, Max dashed through the raining straw figures towards the bedroom’s doorway.
‘It’s a pity these damned things weren’t falling when that door opened,’ Greg growled as they all followed Max through the doorway. ‘Maybe then she’d have managed to run rather than just standing there!’
*
Chapter 22
‘That’s it!’ Max breathed heavily. ‘We need to get out, no matter how we do it!’
‘That’s a bit rich, coming from someone who refused to use an open door!’
‘That wasn’t me!’ Max insisted. ‘That was these godforsaken slippers.’
‘The slippers you’ve still got on, right?’ Greg refused to let up on his taunting.
‘Yeah, because I still can’t get them off, Greg!’
‘What do all these straw figures mean?’
Janet had picked up one of the fallen figures as they’d fled the room. Now she twirled it around in her fingers thoughtfully.
‘They’re just the same as the ones on the slippers.’
‘Who knows?’ Greg said reaching for the figure and taking it off Janet. ‘Perhaps they’re, you know, the souls of people who’ve been trapped in this house before, and they’re still alive!’
He prodded the figure in its stomach.
It sighed.
Everyone jumped back in surprise.
‘Wait, wait! It was probably just trapped air,’ Greg quickly pointed out. ‘I was only kidding about them being real people! I was just trying to point out how ridiculous we’re getting here, letting our imaginations run wild!’
‘So the front door opening, that was just our imaginations, right Greg?’ Max hissed, glowering at Greg.
‘Sure, sure it was…’ Greg sounded like he was stalling for time, trying to work out an explanation for the way the door had opened them closed. ‘Yeah, yeah, of course! The oil! The door slipped out of our hands because it was covered in oil, right?’
Janet nodded in agreement.
‘Sure, but I don’t see how that explains the way the door opened and shut on its own!’
‘The workmen, right? They’ll have come across all these wooden doors and windows in the house that haven’t been looked after right for years, right? So what do you do to wood that’s dried out? You oil it right! More or less drench it in linseed oil or whatever it is they use, so the wood can soak it all up!’
‘And that makes it magically open does it?’ Max sounded unconvinced.
‘The wood will expand, which is why the doors and windows are stiff and won’t open!’
‘But it did open Greg!’
‘But we’ve got wood that’s probably completely dried out! The soaking up of the oil isn’t uniform; it’s still soaking into the wood, making some areas it moves into swell, areas it’s briefly flowing out of shrink again. It’s like the wood’s alive, really. It’s moving; so that’s why it opened then shut fast again!’
‘It’s possible I suppose.’
Even though he seemed to be agreeing with Greg, Lee pulled a sceptical face.
‘And the figures? The figures falling from the ceiling?’ Max still wasn’t convinced by Greg’s explanation.
‘Oh Max! What’s wrong with you? They were prob–’
‘What’s wrong with me? Look at me Greg! I’m sixteen heading on twelve!’
‘You’re imagining it Max! You’ve got it into your head your potion’s going to work, so you’re just pulling yourself in, shrugging up, making yourself look smaller without realising you’re doing it.’
He scrunched his neck and pulled in his arms so that his shirt suddenly seemed too large for him.
‘I most certainly am not “shrugging up”! I’m–’
‘Getting hysterical Max! The figures, right? They were probably just fixed to the ceiling’s beams, using string that’s gradually rotted until it wasn’t strong enough to hold them all.’
‘Erm, I can’t remember mum ever putting them up there,’ Lee said doubtfully.
‘They were probably good luck charms, or something,’ Greg persisted.
‘What sort of crazy house have you got here Lee?’ Max turned on Lee. ‘All these bloody fairies, these bloody witches!’
‘The house has always been fine!’ Lee said defensively. ‘I lived here for years, remember? It’s the slippers; it’s only since we discovered the slippers that all these weird things have started happening!’
He pointed down at the slippers on Max’s feet.
‘We could burn them,’ he suggested. ‘Then we might be able to get out of here.’
‘There are four figures on the slippers.’ Janet indicated the slippers’ straw figures. ‘What if they represent us?’
‘Yeah, what if we still can’t get out?’ Greg pursed his lips, an expression that seemed to signify that he didn’t fancy taking the risk. ‘We might end up burning with them.’
‘Well I’ll certainly end up burning with them, won’t I? Max stormed. ‘Because I still can’t get the damned things off, can I?’
*
‘Look, it might be for the best if we don’t try and leave just yet anyway.’
‘And just how did you come up with that idea Lee?’ Janet asked incredulously.
‘Well, your mum and dad’s bound to raise the alarm pretty soon, right? And it gives Max time to have another look at her potions and see if she can figure out how to reverse whatever it is that’s happened to her.’
Lee wasn’t quite sure if Max had got younger or if, as Greg had suggested, she was just so bewildered by everything that was happening to them that she’d lost her poise, her confidence. She seemed diminished, somehow, like Greg’s continual rebuffs to her advances had really brought her low, sapping her self-belief.
Even as Lee mentioned the potions, Max appeared to instantly brighten up.
‘That’s right! There must be something in that book that will reverse everything!’
‘Oh Max! Come on!’ Greg scoffed. ‘You’re not really falling for all this mumbo-jumbo?’
‘I suppose we’ve got to wait until help comes anyway,’ Janet said. ‘So where’s the harm in Max continuing to mix her potions if she believes it can help her?’
‘Hah, so when did we all start believing in potions, in witches’ spells?’ Greg laughed bitterly.
Max was already opening the book and moving her ingredients around the table.
‘Well I might as well get some benefit from these bloody slippers!’
*
Chapter 23
Max whisked through the book, looking for the potions she needed.
This time, she thought, I’ll make sure it’s a potion with a real benefit.
Here’s the reversal potion; yes, I need that of course.
But here’s another I need.
One I should have mixed right from the start!
The thing is, who should I use it on?
Greg’s enamoured with that innocent little minx, isn’t he?
Fool!
Can’t she see she’s only got eyes for Lee!
God knows why.
And Lee, he’s still holding out for me, bless him!
Some hopes!
Hah!
Sooo…
Should I get Lee to drink it?
Making sure, of course, that the next person he sees is sweet little Janet.
Not me, of course!
/> Oh no; that would only make things worse, wouldn’t it?
Or should I just use it on Greg?
Then make sure, naturally, that the first person he sees is me!
I’ll have to work on that one! Come up with an answer while I’m mixing the potion.
Yes, yes; I’ll go for the powerful love potion, thank you very much!
*
‘So, do you think it’s the house? Or the slippers?’
‘Probably neither, Janet,’ Greg replied confidently. ‘It’s our imaginations, playing tricks with us.’
‘Well, if that’s the case, I’ve got to give full credit to our imaginations for coming up with all these things.’
Lee raised the bottle of beer he was drinking in a mock toast.
‘Max certainly seems to think it’s either the house or the slippers, Greg.’
Janet glanced back towards the kitchen, where they’d left Max happily mixing her potions. They were sitting on the sleeping bags they’d laid out across the living room floor.
‘Look, even if it is the house, or the slippers, it’s not like they’re really causing any harm, are they?’
Greg handed out some of the pie he’d been cutting into.
‘I mean, it’s more like a child, just playing with us, isn’t it?’
‘Yeah? Like a child plays with a fly? You know, once he’s bored, he starts pulling its wings off?’
Lee accepted the paper plate of food with a worried scowl.
‘Lee!’
The shout came from the kitchen.
‘Lee, could you just come and help me please?’
*
‘Sure Max; what do you want?’
Lee eyed the herbs and potions laid out across the table suspiciously.
‘Could you just try a potion for me?’
She gave him the wide, imploring eyes. The gentle touch on the shoulder.
It usually worked.
He would do just about anything for her.
But drink a potion?
A potion that was supposed to do what exactly?
‘Er, drink it you mean?’
‘Of course I mean drink it, silly! They’re perfectly safe; look, I’ll prove it!’
Picking up one of the potions, she drunk it quickly and smoothly.
‘There. See? Now I want you to drink this one, but not just yet; drink it when you – what? No no no!’