Chapter 14—The Water Fountain

Their hearts thundered as they stepped up from the basement. The stairs creaked loudly with every step. Jesse flashed the light upward to reveal a rusty iron latch hanging from a faded green door. When everyone was close behind, he turned off the flashlight, lifted the latch, and cracked open the door. He peered around and saw a long hallway with pale yellow walls. Sunlight poured in and washed away the grim mood of the root cellar. All he could make out were the family pictures hanging from the walls and a long rug covering a shiny oak floor. Putting a finger to his lips, he stepped inside and motioned for the others to follow.

They could hear the sound of flowing water coming from their left and tiptoed like burglars toward it, all the while glancing over their shoulders. No one appeared. At the end of the hall, they stepped into a large kitchen where an iron cook stove glowed with the slow burning wood inside. It felt warm and welcoming. Two large windows overlooked the front porch, and a line of mature olive trees filled the distant horizon. Uncertain what to do next, the friends stood still in the kitchen. The house seemed empty.

"Où est Le Nez?" Juliette whispered, glancing around for her dog.

"No idea. Look at that." Jesse pointed to the waterfall on the opposite side of the room. "Strange object for an old place like this; it looks...unnatural here. But the house doesn't seem creepy." He shifted the pack off his shoulders and set it down.

The group moved closer to the waterfall and stared at the stream flowing in a never-ending cycle. The waterfall knew it was being watched and, in response, churned out a vaporous mist that floated back and touched their faces. Inside the mist a vision began to take shape. It was the witch. She was running toward the trees, arms in the air, chasing the red wolfhound. And the hound was chasing Le Nez.

Juliette let out a horrified scream, and leaving the mirage behind, bolted out the kitchen door, leaped off the porch, and raced into the grove after the witch and her dog.

"It figures she would do this," Aimée said. "We'd better go before she gets hurt."

"Did you notice that Le Nez's tail was wagging?" Jesse asked as he grabbed his pack. "That's just plain weird." He threw the pack over his shoulders and stuffed in the flashlight, but hung onto the poison as witch defense.

"W-what happens here is always w-weird," Daniel said. He shut the door and ran across the porch after the others.

Jesse hoped he wouldn't have to use the poison vapor, but couldn't imagine another defense against a witch with supernatural powers. He worried that solving the mystery of the sorceress and the red wolfhound would bring injury—maybe even death.