Part 28 In which Jack is independent

Marlot woke up to an unseasonably cold morning, bundled up in her blankets she sleepily shuffled into the kitchen, relit the fire, and hung the tea pot over it. “Jack! Are you hungry?” there was no answer. Marlot listened for any sounds of movement coming from behind his closed door but she heard nothing. Knocking she said “Come on Jack, it’s time to get up. Are you warm enough, we might need to find you another blanket if the nights are going to be like this,” But there was no answer. “Jack?” she asked as she pushed open the door. The room was full of odds and ends left over from its days as a storage space. Most of it had been moved out after Jack was made but there was still quite a bit they needed to go through, although it looked like Jack had been hard at work without her, setting up his new home. A witch can collect a lot in nearly two hundred years. Jack’s bed was crammed into the back corner nicely made up with no golem in sight. Marlot chewed her bottom lip, where could he be, she wondered.

The witch sat down in the window seat so she could get a good look at the garden, but he wasn’t there either. “Jack!” she yelled out the door, hoping for, but not expecting, and answer. “Jack! Where are you?!” Jinx rubbed up against Marlot’s leg and meowed.

“I’ll feed you in a minute, I need to find Jack.”

It had been almost a month since the trip to the village and every couple of days Marlot had noticed some of the village men walking along the edge of the wood and looking toward the cabin. She wasn’t worried, her garden wall had at least a century’s worth of spells on it to ward of any unwanted visitors, or any visitors at all, unless they were specifically given permission to cross.

Her real worry was the golem’s fondness for being outside. He had been trading off between fairy tales and Marlot’s spell book for weeks, usually reading them under his apple tree where she could see him. Had he wondered beyond the wall, or had those men found a way in?

The witch tried to spend the rest of the day pretending she wasn’t worried about Jack. She pulled a book off the shelf and curled up in the window seat, but Jack and the beanstalk lay closed in her lap as she stared blankly out the window. Jinx eventually crawled into her lap on top of the book and nuzzled her until she scratched his head.

“Maybe he went somewhere with Lilly,” she said to the cat, “that would explain why she hasn’t come by yet today. Or it could just be because she was here yesterday.” Jinx started to purr oblivious to anything she was saying.

Near noon she saw something move in the trees but it turned out to be nothing more than a deer, she tried to busy herself around the cabin but Jack was so good at keeping it clean that there was precious little for her to do and she always found herself back at the window.

Marlot started dinner as the sun began to set behind the trees, she was so lonely without the golem around and she realized for the hundredth time that day how much she depended on him now. She was stirring the stew when the door opened behind her. Jack’s lopsided smile was lit by the flames of the fire. Marlot froze for a moment before running across the small space between them, throwing her arms around his neck.

“Marlot, why are you crying?”

She didn’t realize she was, “I was that worried about you my silly scarecrow.” Was her answer as she dried her face on a sleeve, “where have you been all day?”

“You were worried?”

“Of course I was.”

“But I only went to the village.”

“And you didn’t feel the need to tell me?”

Jack pulled away from her looking puzzled, “But I thought I wasn’t your servant.”

“You’re not, what does that have to do with anything?”

He has stopped smiling, a defensive look glinting in his eyes, “I didn’t realize I needed to ask permission to go to the village.”

They both stopped and stared at each other for a moment, then Marlot took a deep breath and held his hands in hers, remember that he doesn’t know everything, he is only a few months old, go easy on him, her sensible self said. “Jack, you don’t need to ask permission to go places, but it is polite to tell people where you are going so they don’t worry about you, or at least know where to look if something does go wrong. Do you understand?”

He thought it over for a moment and then looked her in the eye, “I’m sorry Marlot, I didn’t mean to worry you, but I wanted to get you a present.”

Will he ever cease to surprise me, she thought “Really? For what?”

“Your birthday.”

Part 27 In which the sky is the limit

Telling Lilly and Jack her story had actually strengthened the trios friendship.

“So you actually have a broom stick that flies and everything?” The young woman took a careful sip of that hot tea Marlot had just given her.

Jack was across the table from Lilly flipping through the pages of Marlot’s beloved spell book, “I’ve never seen it.”

“Of course you have Jack,” Marlot placed a cup in front of him after putting almost as much sugar in it as there was tea, “you use it to sweep the cabin.”

“You actually use it to sweep.” Lilly said appalled.

“Of course, it is a broom after all.”

Lilly muttered to herself, “Of course what a strange concept, using a flying broom to sweep the floors.” She eyed the ordinary looking broom stick and then turned to Marlot, “Can I try it?”

“Afraid not, the rider must be able to use magic.”

“Then can you take me for a ride, I would love to fly?”

“I don’t know if it can carry two people.”

Jack was busy trying to stop Jinx from drinking his tea, with one hand holding back the cat and the other holding the cup in the air he said, “It can’t hurt to test it, we will probably need it to get to the solstice meeting anyway right?”

“I hadn’t really thought about it actually, but yes, you are right.”


Marlot had almost forgotten just how much she loved to fly, although it was odd to have a passenger, especially one who held on so tight Marlot feared that she would be squeezed to death. “Lilly, you don’t need to hold on so very tight, I won’t let you fall.”

“But I’ve never flown before, it’s scary being up this high.”

“Not many humans have, it’s thrilling isn’t it?”

“Terrifying actually, can we land now?”

“If you wish.” Marlot dropped in a gentle dive and came in for a near perfect landing walking with the broom for the last few steps. Lilly on the other hand toppled off the back the moment her feet got near the ground and fell over onto her back staring up at the sky.

“Was it fun?” Jack smiled down at his terrified friend.

“No, I don’t know how she can stand it.”

Marlot was still on the broom hovering a few inches off the ground in a circle around her friends. “Stand it? I love it, I really should fly more often, you want to give it a try Jack, we will have a long way to go next month and I don’t want to test your nerve at the last minute.”

The golem jumped at the chance to fly and with his arms wrapped tightly around Marlot’s waist they took off much higher than she had gone with Lilly. Jack, much to her delight seemed thrilled and whooped, he let go with one arm and held out his hand so he could feel the wind blow through his fingers. “Marlot this is amazing.”

She felt a shy smile on her face and laced her fingers through the hand that was still around her waist.

Part 26 In which Marlot tells her story (part 3)

At the festival Marlot snuggled up to a slightly drunk Peter, it was all too easy for her to pour the contents of her potion bottle into his tankard of mead. The effect was immediate. One swig of the spiked drink and it was Peter trying to impress Marlot.


She was seated on his lap, he had been playing cards but a single whisper from Marlot made him turn his full attention to her. “I love you little witch.”She quivered with joy as she repeated the sentiment. “You are so beautiful,” he breathed in her ear then kissed her with so much passion it made even the trees blush.


Marlot continued to feed him the potion once a day for the next couple of months but eventually it seemed that the spell didn’t hold up as it had. She would bring him his lunch complete with a apple soaked in love potion and he would sneer at her and call her names, eventually he would have to eat the entire apple before he would even warm up to her. After a few more months she had to increase the dosage to twice a day, once with lunch, the other with dinner. Eventually it increased further to breakfast lunch and dinner. Marlot started to grow nervous, what was she going to do next, feed it to him every hour.

One day Marlot had to hurry home and left her love’s lunch with him rather than eating with him like she usually did.


Now witches always have an escape route and that afternoon when the angry mob was at her door Marlot grabbed her spell book and broom stick then flew as fast as she could out the window.

“What happened?” Lilly asked leaning closer.

“I was able to piece together later that Peter had grown tired of eating apples all the time and when his friend said he was hungry Peter happily handed over the juicy red fruit. Needless to say Peter’s spell wore off about the same moment his friend declared his undying love for me. It didn’t take any of them long to realize what was going on and after tying up their love struck friend they came after me. I finally realized that Peter had never loved me, nor was he ever likely to.”

“I love you Marlot.”

“I love you too Jack. But you see Lilly, magic can’t solve all of your problems, it usually just causes them.”

Lilly sat back, appearing to absorb all that she had learned. “Did you ever go back and try to explain things?”

“Once, but it didn’t work, all I got was that part of the story I wasn’t around for.”

“Maybe you should try again, apologize, and explain to them like you did us.”

“Too late, I’m sure they are all dead by now.”

Lilly sat up in alarm while Jack looked vaguely curious. Lilly stumbled over her words in alarm, “Wh-what did you do to them?”

“I didn’t’ do anything,” Marlot said defensively, “time did, that all happened a long time ago.”

“How long?”

“Let me think, about a hundred and sixty years.” Marlot winked at Jack.

“What!” Lilly actually fell off the window seat in shock. “How old are you?”

“I’ll be one hundred eighty-seven in a few weeks.”

‘One hundred eighty-seven’ Lilly mouthed the number from the floor, “that is unbelievable.”

“I’m immortal.”

“But you look so young.”

Marlot rolled her eyes and scratched the top of Jinx’s head until he started to purr. Jack rolled his eyes too and helped Lilly to her feet, “weren’t you listening, she stopped aging when she was really young, why would you expect her to look any older?”

Part 25 In which Marlot tells her story (part 2)

“Oh Peter, Peter. I have been looking all over for you.” The little witch smiled up at the man she thought to be her one true love.

“Marlot? Right?”

“Yes.” She grinned unable to believe that he actually remembered her name. “You know how you said that you wouldn’t want an old witch as your wife.”

“Yeah, what of it, I have a card game to get to?”

“Well, I performed the ritual, now I will always be as you see me now. Will you please go to the festival with me?”

“Wait, you mean you will never get any older?”

“That’s right, I will be young and beautiful forever.” She beamed knowing she was moments away from her happily ever after.

“So you are saying that you will always be a pretty little girl while I have to get old and wrinkled. You really want me to go through the ridicule of telling people that the girl who looks young enough to be my daughter is in fact my wife! Are you soft in the head or something?”

Marlot felt a hurt and anger she had never experienced before fill her up inside as raw power flowed through her and crackled along her skin like static, there were even tiny violet lightning bolts sparking in her hair. At least Peter had the good sense to look frightened and with some mumbled excuse about cards he ran as fast as he could from her.

All the raw power started making her feel light headed and a little nauseous. Marlot had to get rid of it somehow or it could destroy her from within. She touched her hand to a tree growing in the village center and it was reduced to little more than cinders at her feet after only a few moments. She stared at the place where the tree had been feeling sorry for the beautiful bit of nature that was no longer there. I will make him love me, she thought, if it’s the last thing I do.

Back in her flat Marlot pulled out her favorite spell book, the one that listed every spell, creature, and potion ever known. It was a gift from her mother when she turned sixteen and had been her constant companion ever since.

She idly flipped through the pages hoping to come across something that would make Peter love her.

“It’s kind of like what I did when I decided to make you Jack, I just happened to come across golems in the book.”

“So it wasn’t like you said, ‘hum, I would like to make a golem today’ you actually had no idea until you were so bored and lonely that you started playing with that book? You are silly Marlot.” He smiled up at her.

“What are you trying to say you little scarecrow?” she wasn’t sure if she should be offended or if he was only teasing, but he looked so cute with his lopsided smile and mischievous eyes that she couldn’t be mad at him.

“I’m just saying that I’m glad you are a silly witch Marlot, or I would have never been here.”

“Marlot, will you get back to the story, you two are making me sick.”

Marlot smiled up at the young woman on the window seat next to her a wicked glint in her eye then she rubbed her nose against Jack’s making the little golem blush like she had never seen him blush before. It only hurt a little, she was using her magic to help her nose heal faster from the break and it seemed to be working. “Okay Lilly, back to the story.”

“A love potion, that’s it! I will use a love potion to make him mine forever.” The little witch didn’t bother reading exactly how the potion worked, or the limitations to the spell. Marlot didn’t have much of a store of potion ingredients so it took a couple of weeks to gather everything she needed. It was all ready in time for the summer solstice festival.