The Thirteenth Witch
Chapter One
by Raine Monday
**Images by Dall-E 3

Lydia's left foot hurt. Frowning, she stopped, attempting to make her foot more comfortable in the RedRock Ladies' deluxe size 8 hiking boot she'd purchased just days before at Hiker's Trail Sporting Goods in Chicago. "Stupid Chicago, stupid sporting goods store not knowing about stupid women's feet!" she muttered as she attempted to get her foot comfortable again.

"You okay, babe?" Thomas asked, pulling up next to her. Thomas wore the same boots he'd always worn since high school. Men didn't have to worry about stupid hiking boots; they'd hike with freakin' cardboard strapped to their feet if you let them.

"Yeah, my foot hurts. Probably these new boots."

"Probably those new boots," Thomas echoed. Then he started walking again.

"Funny man," Lydia said.

Deciding not to let a little discomfort ruin their trip, she inhaled the clean air of the Coast Range Mountains in Oregon. Specifically, they were hiking Mary's Peak in the Siuslaw National Forest. The terrain, while not as tough as some of the hikes they'd been on, was still beautiful, with Douglas fir and pine trees surrounding them.

"God, it's beautiful here," Lydia said.

"Thank you," Thomas gave her a grin.

"Pfft. You know, one of these days, I tell ya, one of these days," Lydia 'wound' her arm as if getting ready to throw a punch.

"Boom, right in the kisser?" Thomas asked, pulling her into his arms.

"Yes, Mister."

Thomas chuckled, giving her a soft kiss. His heavy beard scruffed her smooth skin. She loved his beard, loved how he took charge, his confidence, his easy-going manner. She loved him.

Thunder rumbled in the distance. "Think we'll get to the summit before that sets in?" Lydia asked, looking off into the distance.

"Yeah?" Thomas scratched his reddish long hair. "Maybe?" He tugged at his beard. "Probably?"

"That's what I like to hear," Lydia said, starting hiking again. "Yeah, Maybe, and Probably."

"I aim to please," Thomas said, following her up the mountain.

They'd left Chicago and the trail of tears behind them. Things had not gone well for them as a young couple. Thomas worked long hours at a factory he hated, and Lydia worked endless days teaching middle-school science. And then there had been the baby…

She sighed, shaking the funk out of her head. No, she was not going to go down that rabbit hole. But Thomas had been her rock, her reality. He'd been so sensitive, kind, and forgiving of her emotional outbursts. It was time to put all that in the past, move onward and upward, which led them to the Oregon coast in search of a home.

After viewing nearly ten possibilities, the couple was overwhelmed with the home-buying process. With their cash reserves running out, and time edging away until Lydia needed to find a fall job, the couple decided some fresh air would clear the decks and help them make a decision on which home to purchase.

It was down to four possibilities. Well, five, if you counted the double-wide on an acre near Oysterville. She'd been so certain about her needs, her list for the perfect home, but all the homes that were perfect were out of their reach financially, and all of the homes that were in their financial range didn't have one or another of the items on her list! It was infuriating, as if the gods, or God above, were conspiring against them.

Reading her mind, as he always did, Thomas said, "You know, the four-bedroom on Peach Street didn't have the third bedroom, but we could always rough out the basement."

"God, I hate it when you read my mind!" she laughed. "Yeah, I was just thinking about that. But it doesn't have enough natural light."

"We could always saw a hole in the roof."

"I'm back to the duplex on Vine. I know it's out of our price range, but we could always rent out the other—"

"And deal with tenants? What if we get people like your roommate?"

Lydia sighed. It was old territory. Her roommates in college all smoked pot and never took the trash out. The house was rank and trash-filled, except for her bedroom.

"We'll be careful in the selection, Doofus," she said.

Thomas sighed, shaking his head, not saying anything, which said everything he needed to say.

"Okay, alright, I get it." She started walking up the trail, trying not to limp from the pain in her foot.

The first sprinkles of the storm blew into their windswept faces as they climbed the summit. Lydia had put on her orange windbreaker she'd stowed in her backpack and shivered a bit as they looked to the west.

"Can't see the ocean. Can you?" Lydia craned her neck as the wind blew raindrops into her exposed face.

"Nope," Thomas said. "But we made it!" He pulled her into his arms.

Lydia snuggled in, trying to wrap his body warmth around her. "Guess we should head downhill before the full storm hits."

Lightning split the sky, and thunder roared.

"Think we're a bit too late for that," Thomas said. They turned around and started to go back down the way they came.

If it wasn't enough, Lydia's foot had gone from hurting to Hurting with a capital 'H'. She limped, trying to ease the pain as the rain turned from a sprinkle into a downpour driven by the wind.

Sliding and slipping down the muddy trail, the couple found the path cut off by a wide river of water rushing across their trail. "This way!"

Thomas shouted, following a ridgeline. The rain was so heavy and the terrain so steep, Lydia feared she'd slip and fall and tumble down the mountain, ass over teakettle. The amount of tension she had to put on her left foot was nearly unbearable, and she thought for sure she must have a giant bruise or, God forbid, maybe even a broken bone. If anything, the storm intensified with rain and wind driving straight into their faces.

Thomas grabbed her hand. "Back here!" he shouted. "There's a little cavern!"

Lydia nodded, shivering, hopping on her good right foot as she could hardly stand on her left. Thomas held out a tarpaulin he always carried in his backpack and wrapped it around her shoulders. "C'mere, my little burrito."

Lydia shivered and huddled into his arms. "I really need to sit down, Señor."

Thomas kicked a stump over from an ancient deadfall and set it up, brushing the worst of the water off. "Here you go, milady."

Lydia sat, sighing, glancing around the cavern. It wasn't much, just an overhang, but it would do in a pinch. Although, with this heavy downpour, the rain could also be sluicing through the topsoil and bring the whole thing down—

Stop that, she told herself. No, no landslides here.

"How long do you think this will last?" Lydia asked.

Thomas shrugged. "Forever, orever, rever, ever..." he echoed into the distance.

"Jackass," Lydia said. "For real, though, my foot is killing me. How long?"

Thomas looked out at the sheeting rain and up into the grey sky. "No telling. It wasn't supposed to rain today at all."

Lydia nodded, looking into the back of the cavern. There were some ancient scrawls back there... unless it was graffiti. "What's that?" she pointed at the scrawls.

Thomas made his way to the back of the cavern. He had to navigate through the scree carefully; it was very loose and rocky.

"Huh," he said. "Some graffiti... and what looks like, I dunno, cave drawings. They can't be real, can they?"

Lydia got up and limp-hopped over to him. "The monster inside my mind is about to explode..." she said, reading one of the phrases.

"What?" Thomas asked.

"That," she pointed. "That's what that says."

Thomas shook his head. "Lydia, it's all just scrawls. There are no letters there."

"Sælicbrook abideth in both," she read. "Sælicbrook... hmm," she thought. "Sælic"—she gave that some thought—Happy? Silly? It didn't make sense. "Brook" seemed to imply a town of some sort, or a stead, or a home... "Sillyhome?"

Thomas stared at her. "Lyds?"

Blinking, she turned to him. "Hmm?"

"How did you know that language? It's not even written in English; it all appears like scribbles."

"Don't be silly. I can read it perfectly well..."

She stared at the letters. When had she learned to read the runes? Wait, that wasn't right; they weren't runes at all. They were...

Her head started to hurt right between her eyes. "Whoa," she said, stumbling back to the stump. She felt like she'd been on a roller coaster ride, or a Ferris wheel, or a boat of some kind.

"Are you okay, baby?"

"Yeah, I'm motion-sick for some strange reason." She put her head between her knees and tried to quell the sickness in her stomach.

Thomas stood near her, ever the rock, patting her back. "You'll be okay."

She took a few deep breaths and nodded. "Sounds like the rain's stopped."

Thomas nodded, walking to the front. "Looks like it's at least cleared up a bit, though it will be night soon. Can you walk?"

Lydia nodded, getting up again, and nearly falling as she put weight on her foot. "Maybe not."

"Here, let's see. Take your boot off."

Lydia sighed, feeling ridiculous. She'd paid a lot of money for these boots. She unlaced the laces and gingerly slid her foot out.

Thomas clicked on a flashlight—because, of course, he had one—and shone it down on her foot. The area at the base of her big toe was swollen and red, and her toe looked like it had slipped underneath the second toe.

"My foot looks deformed," she said, trying to wiggle her toes. They ached, and her big toe felt like it was on fire.

"I don't see a blister or anything, but we need to get that looked at," Thomas said.

She nodded.

"Here, give me your boot." Thomas took her boot and stuffed it into his magical backpack. She didn't know how he crammed all that stuff in there, but he always had a handy book, first aid supplies, flashlight, compass, toilet paper—the works. He was always prepared.

"Put your arm around my neck, and we'll get you out of here," he said, standing up.

Gratefully, Lydia stood, lifting her left foot into the air, and putting her left arm around Thomas's neck. They began a shuffle walk out of the cavern and down the mountain.

As they left the cavern, the glyphs on the wall sparkled a bit, then winked out.

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