By Julie

When Luna woke, her dress was dry. She was still hungry, though. She opened her eyes to the unpleasant surprise of an unfamiliar room. In fact, she was lying on an unfamiliar couch, her head resting on an unfamiliar pillow, and an unfamiliar young face was peering at her. The face had a rather pointy (but of regular length) nose, curious blue eyes, a slim figure, and blonde hair that curled at the ends. It was the small witch’s face.
Luna yelped in surprise, finding her voice box had been unfrozen, and jumped off of the couch. “Witches!” she shrieked. “Sh! Keep it down! If you’re too loud then Misty will do away with you!” the young witch whispered. “Misty!” Luna whispered, frightened. “Who is Misty?”
“The sternest one of us. The one who tried to cast the memory spell on you. I’m Basil,” the girl offered. “There’s also Mallory and Eve and Midnight and Dawn.” Luna scoffed and yelled, “I don’t care about the members of your frightful witch coven!” The girl’s eyes widened. “Well, I can do spells too, you know. I know a very effective silencing spell. And we’re not at all frightful, nor all of us witches, or a coven. You see, we’re rather quiet and would never hurt anybody. Midnight happens to be a warlock. And you need seven members to be a coven, while we only have six since Ewe vanished. That was years ago. So we aren’t Coven Mulberry anymore.”
“Coven Mulberry? As in, the city Mulberry?” Luna asked in a loud, frightened voice. “Well, yes. We’re on the outskirts of the city.” Mulberry was only a few miles from the orphanage. She might be able to escape and run back home. “Don’t think about running,” Basil warned her. “Misty and Mallory will come after you with a memory charm, and trust me, those don’t feel good. Witches fly four times faster than you can run, you know. You must be hungry…”
“O Earth’s great spirits, let me tell
“And cast a finger-licking spell:
“Give this hungry girl some food,
“For whatever she is in the mood.”
It only took seconds for a lacy napkin to fly off the mantle, unfold itself in the lap of Luna, and suddenly hold a lapful of the most wonderful foods Luna could ever imagine: fried chicken, buttered string beans, a can of peaches, and a generous slice of blueberry pie. In minutes, it was gone. It seemed as soon as Luna took her last bite, footsteps sounded down the stairs. “Sounds like Mallory,” Basil whispered with a frightened look on her face. “If she finds you in her favorite spot… up in the kitchen, take your napkin and scrub the counters!” On her way out of the living room, Luna stumbled over… air? She glanced back and patted the air to find a solid nothing. It hissed at her. “Ah! It’s an monster, and it’s an invisible one too!” Luna whispered as the footsteps grew louder. “No, silly, that’s Peg, my shadow cat. Look closer. Now, scoot! She’s almost down!” Luna scrambled up and over to the kitchen. It smelled strongly of onions and garlic and different herbs, because they were in strings hanging from the ceiling. It was just like an ordinary kitchen in an ordinary house, Luna observed as she wiped down the counters. Into the living room came a thirty or forty year old witch with bright red hair and black eyes, wearing a black robe trimmed with dusky purple. Luna glanced at Basil to find hers was trimmed with green. She looked back at the older witch. Was this Mallory? She actually looked pretty okay… for a witch, anyway. With a startled glance, Luna spotted the outline of a shady gray cat, almost as if made from smoke, trotting along after the witch. A shadow cat? Luna peeked closer at the carpet in the living room to find another smoky cat shape. So that was Peg, Basil’s cat. Did all witches own these creatures?
“You can come out now! It’s not Mallory, just Eve!” Luna tiptoed back into the living room. “This is Eve, my mother, and her shadow cat Gem. I’m sorry I forgot to introduce before, but this is my own shadow cat Peg. Gem is short for Gemini, by the way, and Peg is short for Pegasus. You know, I think it’s time for breakfast.” At that, three other witches and a warlock seemed to float down the stairs. Luna let out a yelp and ran back into the kitchen. Being in a house with five witches, a warlock, and six shadow cats was too much for one day.