The Pumpkin Tree Witch Chapter 1

Once there was a man and his wife who lived in the small town of Farmers Creek in rural Maine. It would snow every winter and everybody walked about in snow boots, and in the summer bright green leaves sprouted from park trees as people headed to their picnics. Their names were James and Julie Wormwood. And they had just been married for a couple years though they had known each other for what seemed like forever.

They both worked in Farmers Creek as teachers, which could claim a population of only 15,000 people. Their school house was one of the oldest in the country, and was therefore sort of small. It had only two classrooms, but that worked just fine so James and Julie could have lunch together each day. They loved being teachers, and they loved children, and you could almost say that everything in their life was perfect except for one small thing: they had no children of their own.

For the past two years they had made monthly appointments with the local doctor to try to figure out why Julie could not become pregnant. And each month the doctor shook his head as he still couldn't find out what the problem was. So they went about their lives hoping that eventually, one day, they would be able to have a child.

Their lives changed when one bright October day a well known traveling saleswoman stopped in town. She was dressed in purple and was in her late forties, and was thin and active, and she wore hats which were somewhat pointed. For years people in Farmers Creek had fondly nicknamed her, "the Witch", although everybody knew her name was Ms. Anderson. This was due in part to the fact that her hats almost looked like a witches hats.

Every year in October she would travel door to door in Farmers Creek selling a variety of specialty foods she made, such as pumpkin juice preserves, caramel dipped licorice sticks, chocolate coated plums and cactus fruit punch. This Saturday Ms. Anderson came to the home of James and Julie Wormwood, James had gone out to go fishing and Julie was alone working in the garden. Ms. Anderson knocked on the door, and when there was no answer, she walked around to the back yard and found Julie pruning her fig tree.

"I thought I'd find you here Julie, I have some fresh pumpkin juice coming in next week if your interested", said Ms. Anderson, who knew that Julie had enjoyed the pumpkin juice for years. Julie turned around with the fright as she hadn't even heard Ms. Anderson approach her.

"Oh my! You startle me Ms. Anderson, I'm not in the mood for pumpkin juice this fall", said Julie with a shrug as she slung down her garden spade. Before the arrival of Ms. Anderson she had been in deep thought about her plans to raise a family, and how they weren't going very well. Usually working in her garden had provided her a lot of comfort, but today is felt more like work than a hobby.

"Something the matter dear?" asked Ms. Anderson, she had never seen one of her most loyal customers this despondent.

"No, well yes . . . James and I have been trying to have a child for the past couple years, and we've been met with nothing but frustration! I don't suppose you're carrying a magic potion in the basket that could help me", joked Julie.

Ms. Anderson smiled as she knew the rumors about her been a witch circulating around town for years. Though the fact of the matter was, she did have something that her basket which could help Julie. She crouched down next to Julie in the garden and whispered to her, although telling her a secret.

"I know how hard you and James have been trying to have a child . . . and while I don't have any magic potion, I do have a special seed which could help you", whispered Ms. Anderson as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a silver locket shaped like heart. She opened it up and inside of it was what looked like a large seed, only it was purple in color and seemed to glitter in the early morning light.

"What's this?" asked Julie and she picked up the seed in her hand. As she regarded the purple object as her mind was filled with wonder. She felt as though the seed was actually talking to her and asking to be held in her hand

"This is a very magical seed", explained Ms. Anderson. "I want you to place it under your pillow for a week, dream about what your child would look like, and then bury it in a special place in your garden."

Julie's laughed. "I need a child not another plant" she said as she gestured around her over grown garden. "This plant will help you", said Ms. Anderson with a wink, "when it first sprouts you will know you are pregnant, and when the first purple pumpkin appears you will give birth. However, you must keep the tree free from harm until the child is 19 years of age. This is what is called a Pumpkin Tree and it will grow tall and strong, just as your daughter will grow."

Julie stared with astonishment at Ms. Anderson. On one hand she believed that her friend might be a little bit eccentric, but on the other hand she was willing to try anything to have the child.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt", said Julie with a shrug as she pocketed the purple seed. Ms. Anderson smiled and then added, "there is one more thing, if you use the seed, then your child, though she will be the daughter of you and your husband, she will also be a witch and will have certain magical abilities."

Julie laughed out loud. "I hope that was just a joke!" she said as she returned to gardening. The thought of having a little daughter dressed up like a witch was enough to bring a smile to her face.

"No it's not, so remember what I said and I will return when you are pregnant to remind you once again." And with that last comment Ms. Anderson left the home of James and Julie Wormwood. Julie stared at the odd traveling saleswoman and she walked away from her.

She did plant the strange purple seed, more for luck than out of any belief that it would work. Months later she was working in her garden and had forgotten all about the seed she had planted when she noticed a purple shoot sprouting up where she had buried it. She had forgotten to water the seed, but apparently it was growing just fine.

Then she threw up and felt very sick. She called her husband James and they rushed to the doctor who told her that she was pregnant after running some tests.

At last, thought Julie with happy joy! She would now have the child that she always wanted. A couple days later Ms. Anderson stopped by. "Hello Julie. I knew from the face of the moon that you had become pregnant."

Julie was amazed. "It all happened just like you said it would, when the pumpkin tree sprouted its purple shoots I knew I was pregnant!"

Ms. Anderson smiled, she was glad that she been able to help Julie but she also took the time to remind her to be careful with the pumpkin tree, and that any harm which occurred to it could potentially harm her daughter.

Julie had not told James about the magical purple seed that she had gotten from Ms. Anderson. When she did, James was surprised, "I almost don't believe it! Does this mean our daughter will be a witch?" James was thrilled to be having a child, but was a little upset that apparently there were some strings attached.

"Yes James", answered Ms. Anderson, "but she will be Julie and your daughter only. If later she wants to learn about witches I will be able to teach her. However, it will be until she is 19 years old when she learns that she is a witch and has magical abilities." Ms. Anderson then explained how the witches had, over hundreds of years, given magic pumpkin tree seeds to couples who wanted to have a child.

This relieved James somewhat and he was happy that their daughter, whom they had decided to name Penelope, would be a normal girl. He and his wife spent the weekend building a strong fence around the purple pumpkin tree to protect it. As Julie progressed in her pregnancy, the pumpkin tree sprouted tall with strong branches and a few shiny green leaves. When Juile finally gave birth, about eight months later, a dark purple pumpkin with silvery blotches appeared underneath the pumpkin tree, just as Ms. Anderson had said.

Julie and James rejoiced at the birth of Penelope, and for the first ten years of her life she was quite a normal little girl. One day in September, when Penelope's mother was away, she was out playing in the garden while her father went inside to fix her lunch. When he did not return Penelope walked back to the house.

The door was locked!

She looked inside and saw that her father was passed out on the floor of the kitchen. And worst of all, there was a fire on the stove. Being a brave little girl Penelope knew that it would be up to her to save her father before their house burnt down.

A raven suddenly perched on her shoulder and whispered into her ear, "Pull a branch off your pumpkin tree and use it to fly inside!" Its voice sounded faint like the breeze, but she understood every word. Penelope knew that she would one day become a witch, and that she had to be careful around her pumpkin tree until then, but she also wanted to save her father. So she broke off a branch of the tree, jumped on it, and flew up through open window on the second story of her house and flew down to the kitchen. She opened the door and dragged her father out of the house with the branch's help.

She rested and was relieved to see that she had not been hurt by following the raven advice. Her father woke up and was amazed when he heard Penelope tell him what happened. For years James had had epilepsy, which meant that occasionally he would have a seizure and lose consciousness, he would have to make sure that his wife never left him and Penelope alone again. He scolded her for taking a branch off her pumpkin tree, even though she did it to save him, and made her promise not to do it again.

"But it worked out fine didn't it?"asked Penelope. Her father said nothing and took her inside the house to look in the mirror. Her face was the same but a strand of her hair had turned white!

Ms. Anderson stopped by the next day and examined Penelope. "Truly your daughter must be the most amazing witch I have ever seen!" exclaimed Ms. Anderson. She explained that normally when a branch is pulled off a young witch-to-be's pumpkin tree that it makes them sick, sometimes violently so, but that Penelope's pumpkin tree had grown so strong and powerful that only a streak of hair, over her left eye, had turned white. Ms. Anderson had never seen such a young witch be able to fly on a pumpkin tree branch, which is where witch's get their broomsticks, and she stared at wonder at Penelope as she tried to imagine just how powerful the young witch could become. But she was most impressed with how she had saved her father, the young girl had a strong sense of helping others as well.