THE WITCH WINS
by BobH
(c) 2011
Note: This tale is a 'What If?' based on the story 'Merry-Go-Round' by
Dale Ribbons and Eric, with their permission. The 'What if?' in this
case being "What if the witch had won?", hence the title. There are a
couple of points where, inevitably, it incorporates chunks of dialogue
from their tale, though these have been recast so that they are now
seen from the other person's pov.
This is a standalone tale so you don't need to read 'Merry-Go-Round',
but why wouldn't you? Naturally, it also contains spoilers for that
story.
********************************
1. Merry
I opened my eyes and smiled. I was back where I belonged. And this
time I was staying.
Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I padded over to the
antique full-length mirror and admired my magnificent body. I was
tall, with long legs, a shapely rear, slim waist, and firm, perfectly
proportioned breasts. Long hair cascaded down over my shoulders,
framing a face that a movie star might envy, what with its full,
luscious lips, tiny nose, and large brown eyes. I sighed with pleasure
at the sight.
"Well hello again and good morning, sexy!" I said, grinning. "Mama's
back and she's never leaving you again!"
Leaning forward, I kissed my reflection.
"Merry?" said a voice from the bed. It was Tim, my seriously-handsome
husband. I had woken him up.
"Yes," I laughed, "yes I am. Now and forever."
"Someone's very happy this morning," he said, smiling at my obvious
joy.
"Why wouldn't I be?" I replied. "I'm young, I'm beautiful, and I'm
married to a gorgeous man who's fantastic in bed."
"Well, I don't like to boast," he said, giving that adorable, lop-
sided grin of his, "but I can't really argue with your assessment."
Smiling, I threw back the covers, leaving him naked before me.
"Looks like someone's glad to see me," I purred.
"Always," he replied, reaching out and pulling me onto the bed. He
rolled over on top of me and we kissed long and passionately until he
came up for air, grinned at me and started working his way down my
body. With consummate skill he tongued my nipples erect, nipping at
them with his teeth and getting me very, very aroused. Moving down
over my belly with gentle kisses and caresses, he came at last to my
pussy. I was holding my breath as he slowly parted the lips, fingers
moving into that wonderful wetness, easing back the hood of my
clitoris, his head dipping between my legs as his tongue took over.
When it came to sex, Tim was a maestro and his tongue played a
symphony on my clit until I could hold it in no more and screamed out
his name as I climaxed in great, rolling waves of ecstasy.
"Oh, Tim!" I croaked, still coming down from my orgasms as he crawled
up beside me and took me in his arms.
Now *that* was the way to start the day. I felt like the luckiest girl
in the world. Alas, we couldn't cuddle for long because it was a
weekday and unlike my husband I had a job to go to. While Tim made us
breakfast I got dressed then sat at my dressing table and did my make-
up. I never tired of looking at my beautiful face and could quite
happily have spent hours applying cosmetics and admiring it. What a
vast improvement on the face that used to stare back at me from the
mirror!
After we'd eaten breakfast, Tim drove me down to the railroad station,
and we shared a lingering goodbye kiss until it was time for me to
board the train for Boston. Fortunately our little town - Hawthorne -
was on a commuter line so the service was regular and reliable. I
remembered the station being built back in 1833 when the railroad
eventually reached us. I was deeply suspicious of it at first but it
had proven a definite boon to the town.
As he did every day, Tim stood on the platform waving to me until the
train was out of his sight. Ah Tim, so sweet! He would spend the day
as he always did working on his comic strip 'Mr Amazing'. He thought
his talent lay in his writing and drawing abilities, but though he was
undeniably gifted in those areas his truly exceptional talent was as a
lover. I'd anticipated enjoying sex with him, but he had exceeded my
every expectation. Somewhat to my astonishment, he had awakened a
sexual appetite within me I had never known was there and taken me to
levels of ecstasy I'd never imagined I could reach. I'd had to share
him with my body's previous tenant these past few months, but not any
more. Now he was mine and mine alone.
Tim was convinced a Hollywood studio would see the potential of 'Mr
Amazing' if he could only bring it to the attention of the right
people and I decided I would help him. I was owed favors by some
surprising people and it was time to call in a few of my markers. I
wanted to do something nice for Tim, and as his wife what was good for
him was good for me.
His wife. It should still feel a little strange thinking of myself as
Mrs Tim Macintyre, but it didn't. It felt right. Very right. My first
time in this body I had not been confident of my ability to play that
role and so had fed Tim my special 'tasty treats', which were designed
to magically lull any suspicions he might have and to bind him to me.
Later, annoyed by my own uncertainty, I had dispensed with them. Which
turned out to be the right thing to do. I soon realised I had never
needed them in the first place.
In reflective mood, I reached into my purse and pulled out a photo of
the ladies of the little husband-swapping group I had formed. Of
course, our group was different to others of its kind in that we
swapped our husbands by swapping our bodies. They were a motley group,
but you can only work with what you have. There had been five of us at
first: the town sheriff, Victoria 'Tori' Bulwark, thuggish and corrupt
but useful for getting things done; Sophia Hampshire, the wife of the
mayor and one of the wealthiest people in Hawthorne; her French maid,
Mimi; her sister-in-law, Susan Hampshire, whose husband Sophia was
secretly in love with; and our town librarian, the almost painfully
plain Natalie Greenwood, who until I woke up this morning had been me.
Meredith Macintyre had become our sixth member just over four months
ago. Now she was Natalie Greenwood.
And she always would be.
The way the club worked was that every month, on the night of the full
moon, we would all switch bodies. The others all had a geas on them
that not only compelled them to live the life of the body they found
themselves in and prevented them from talking to outsiders about the
club but also from telling each other which of them was in which body.
Six days later we would wake up back in our own bodies. Everybody was
supposed to get a turn being everybody else, but I had been keeping
Meredith's body for myself. She had had her six days in each of the
other bodies in turn, and this morning had woken up in mine, the body
she would now be waking up in every day for the rest of her life.
My office was a ten minute walk from the rail terminus in Boston. If
the weather was bad I would take a taxi, otherwise I wouldn't dream of
doing so. After so many years where I might as well have been
invisible for all the attention I attracted, now I turned heads. I got
admiring looks wherever I went and I loved it. On that ten-minute walk
I revelled in every lustful glance and occasional wolf-whistle.
"Morning, Jill!" I said to the pretty receptionist, as I stepped out
of the elevator and into the offices of Johnson & Co. We occupied the
whole floor and it was a pretty standard open-plan collection of
cubicles save for the glass fronted offices in each corner occupied by
the partners, one of whom was me. Once in my office, I sat down,
turned on my computer, and surveyed the contents of my desk while
waiting for it to boot. My eyes alighted on a framed photo of Tim and
me. I smiled at the memories it brought back.
It was taken on our wedding day and showed Tim in a smart suit and me
in a simple dress. Of course, at the time it was taken it was not me
but my predecessor who was Meredith Macintyre - or Meredith Kelly, to
use our maiden name - but as part of the body-swap spell I had access
to all her memories. This was how I was able to effortlessly take over
her life and to do her job. She however did not have quite the same
level of access to my memories. It wouldn't do for her to know my
magickal secrets after all.
We had been married by a Justice of the Peace, I remembered, and so
had not had the big wedding I had dreamed of since I was a little
girl. Business problems at the time and the heart attack that had
followed -with all the attendant medical bills - had meant my father
was in no position to pay for his daughter's wedding. If only great-
grandpa Jack Kelly hadn't lost the family fortune in 1929 in the Wall
Street Crash!
So Tim and I had essentially eloped and got married on the cheap. My
predecessor regreted that, and so did I. I'd been married several
times down the centuries, yet I too had somehow missed out on the big
wedding.
"Got you your morning latte, Meredith," said Sharon Hodge, my PA,
marching into the office. In the process of placing the coffee in
front of me, she somehow managed to lean forward enough to give me the
sort of view of her impressive cleavage she usually reserved for her
girlfriends. I wasn't interested, but it amused me that she wanted to
flirt with me. I liked being desired. More importantly she was a
first-class PA and she had a cynical, bitchy sense of humor that I
really appreciated.
"OK," I said, sipping my latte, "what's the first thing we need to
tackle...?"
That evening, before boarding the commuter train back to Hawthorne, I
visited Victoria's Secret. Being as thin, flat-chested and angular as
it was, my old body had always looked ridiculous in lingerie, the
very opposite of sexy, but since I'd upgraded I couldn't get enough of
it. Now when it came to lingerie I was like a kid in a candy store.
Never having had much in the way of breasts before, I'd developed a
particular fondness for pretty bras. but, really, it was all
wonderful. I loved wearing sexy lingerie, and Tim loved seeing me in
it. I stocked up on all manner of delightful items but was
disappointed that neither the Newbury Street nor the Huntington Avenue
stores had the particular teddy I had set my heart on. Fortunately,
they could order it and get it mailed to me directly. I was assured it
would be with me before the end of the week.
When I got home, Tim was still at the drawing board in his studio,
working to meet a deadline. He was so focused on what he was doing he
didn't notice I was there until I kissed him on the cheek.
"Oh hi, honey!" he said, clearly pleased to see me. "I've got maybe a
half-hour to go here and then I'll be finished for the day."
"Half hour will be perfect, Tim." I kissed him again, then left for
our bedroom.
A half-hour would give me just enough time to get ready.
After a quick shower, I sat at my dressing table and did my make-up.
The effect I was going for was 'wanton slut', and I think I achieved
it. That done, I laid my Victoria's Secret purchases out and started
to dress. First I put on the garter belt; then I carefully rolled a
stocking up each of my frankly world-class legs and attached them.
Next came the studded choker at my throat, and the long opera gloves I
rolled up each arm. Large earrings, each a small curtain of fake
diamonds, and six inch heels (do *not* try to wear these outside the
bedroom) completed the outfit. My glistening red lip gloss and the
light sparkling from my earrings constrasted nicely with the black of
everything else.
It had been a half hour, so I sashayed into Tim's studio and leaned
seductively against the door frame.
"Hello, lover," I said, affecting a breathy little Marilyn Monroe
voice. Tim's eyes went wide.
"Holy hell, Merry!" he said.
"I know!" I laughed, coming over and sitting in his lap. I could feel
him growing hard and wiggled my bottom into his crotch appreciatively.
"I feel like I should be quoting Mae West on the subject of guns," I
said.
"God, it's like it's my birthday all the time lately," he said,
caressing my breasts and making my nipples very hard, "and I have a
new present every day!"
"I'm all for you having me every day, Darling!" I giggled.
And have me he did.
That was pretty much a typical evening for us all that week. On
Wednesday I lunched with my mother, who travelled into Boston from
their home in Worcester for our meal. Relations had gotten strained
between Mom and my predecessor, but I was taking steps to repair them.
It had been a long, long time since I'd had a mother and father. Now
that I had them again I was going to make sure things between us were
great. For all their problems, I liked being part of a family, and you
rarely get a second chance at something like this. Tim was delighted
to see us patching things up too, which was a bonus.
I bumped into Natalie Greenwood the following day, the only time I saw
her all week. I got a call from the post office to say a package had
turned up addressed to me from Victoria's Secret. It was a nice
evening and Tim was busy in his studio working hard to beat a
deadline, so I decided to stroll down to the post office and pick it
up. I put on a black miniskirt and matching knee high, stiletto heeled
boots before heading out. Not the most sensible attire to take a walk
in perhaps, but they say if you got it you should flaunt it - and I
definitely had it. At the Post Office I signed for the package then
opened it to check it contained the teddy I'd been expecting, which it
did. As I was leaving the building I almost collided with Natalie, who
was entering it.
I greeted her gaily. She responded frostily.
Looking at her I found myself already distanced from that body, found
it strange to think it had ever been mine. Natalie was painfully thin
with no breasts to speak of, several inches shorter than me and -
physically, at least - several years older. She did not look
comfortable in her skin, but that was OK. She didn't know it yet but
she would have the rest of her life to get used to it.
Unable to resist the temptation, I opened the package and held the
teddy up against my body.
"I can't wait to show this and wear this for my Tim! I just know he
will just love me in it - don't you?"
Laughing, I walked away leaving Natalie fuming behind me. Teasing her
like that had been great fun. She would be expecting to wake up back
in this body in two days time. Boy, was she in for a surprise! And the
other ladies of the club weren't going to be happy, either. Each of
them, having not yet had a turn at being Meredith Macintyre, would
have been expecting to wake up as her on that last round of swaps.
When they were back in their own bodies they were going to be furious
and, thinking she was me, they were almost certainly going to take it
out on the town librarian. I chuckled as I imagined the scene.
Two days later, I didn't have to imagine it.
The phone rang early that morning. It was Tori. She sounded nervous.
"There's been a disturbance," she said.
"A 'disturbance'?"
"Yes, the ladies of the club forced their way into Natalie Greenwood's
home and confronted her about not getting their turns in your body,
and Sophia pulled a gun on her."
"A gun? Oh my. What happened."
"Well, I disarmed her and Natalie, pretending to be you, threatened
them and ordered them out."
"Pretending to be me. So you know that it's me in this body?"
"Well, yeah. I figured it out when we confronted Natalie."
"So you actually all summoned up the courage to go to her home and
stand up to her while thinking she was me? I'm surprised. I hadn't
realised you were all feeling suicidal."
"Wh...what are you going to do?" asked Tori. I could hear the fear in
her voice.
"This time, nothing. Everything is going so well at the moment that
I'm feeling very generous, but I want you to pass along a message to
the other ladies. They need to know that if they try and stage this
sort of mutiny again the consequences are likely to be severe. Have
you got that?"
"Yes, Meredith," said Tori, quietly.
"Good. It would be terrible if an accident were to befall any of you."
No sooner had I put the phone down, Than I heard the doorbell. Our
maid answered, and a few seconds later announced:
"It's Natalie Greenwood for you, ma'am."
"Thank you," I said. "Tell her I'll be with her in a minute."
I checked my hair and make up and smoothed down my skirt, making sure
I looked perfect before walking through to the parlour to greet my
visitor. She looked terrible. More terrible than usual, that is. Her
too-pale face was long, plain and unmemorable with small eyes, thin
lips that stretched over somewhat protruding teeth, a long nose, weak
chin, and frizzy hair that I knew from bitter experience was almost
unmanageable. That was how she always looked, but now she was clearly
upset as well.
"Not feeling well, Natalie, my dear?" I said, sympathetically. "Tori
told me about the trouble you had earlier. That's a shame. I mean, we
all knew Sophia was a little unstable, but nobody expected this."
"Knock it off," she said, "I've had enough of this cat-and-mouse crap,
Natalie. I know you're the witch. I also know your stories of being
descended from town settlers are lies. You *are* one of the town's
settlers!"
"If you can't call me by MY name and be polite I will ask you to
leave, Natalie," I said, my voice cold. "So what's it to be?"
I smiled, watching her tremble with fury but slowly bringing it under
control.
"I am sorry, 'Meredith'," she said, trying hard to sound contrite,
"please accept my apologies."
"Now that's much better, dear Natalie." I laughed. "Wow. You are
smart, Natalie. I don't think boring old 'Euripides' had figured that
one out. I believe he was getting wise to me being a sorceress,
though. That was another reason for me to move on. So, how did you
figure it out?"
"Well, 'Merry', there was your portrait, and then your photo albums.
Your supposed grandmother Vivien looked just like you... the same as
her grandmother, Rachel, and so on. I checked the town records. Every
so often one of your ancestors would suddenly die, and an heiress
would show up soon after. The question is why? Why? If you are
immortal, then why steal my body?"
"Well, that's the thing. I'm not really immortal. I know ways of
keeping myself young and vital, but they don't last." I sighed. "Poor
dear Natalie, haven't you noticed how lethargic that body, your body,
is yet? That's the effect of my spells wearing off. Don't worry; you
won't suddenly turn into a crone. That only happens in movies and
stories. Not in real life. You'll just age and die like any normal
person."
"So all this business with the club was practice runs?"
"Yes, partly. You see, I had to build up the power for the switch to
be permanent. The club ladies unknowingly did that. They're such
fools! Then I had to find the right person. And you were it. You
have...had such a lovely body, and now it's mine. So kind of you to
trade!"
I laughed softly and ran my slim hands down my body.
"I've never been so happy! And Tim is such a wonderful husband, so
sexy and cute." I smiled ruefully. "You know I really do love him. I
didn't expect that! I may even share my youth secret with him, and
keep him forever!"
"I won't let you get away with this, Meredith!" she shouted angrily.
"Oh, and now you start with the clich?s! Get real, Natalie. I'm a
sorceress who has been around ten times longer than you! What can you
do, who can you turn to? The other club members can't help
you...they're too afraid and they have no real power! I've planned
things well, dear Natalie. No, witchcraft cannot touch me."
I put my arm around her shoulders.
"Face it, dear Natalie. There's nothing you can do. So why don't you
go home to your dull as dishwater husband, and life as a librarian,
and forget what you've lost? It will be less painful for you that way.
I know you think I am evil and some kind of a monster but it's not
true."
"Tim loves me more than he ever loved you," I said, with quiet
passion.
"It's a lie!!"
Enraged, Natalie threw herself at me, but being weaker than me her
attack was totally ineffectual, and with a single shove I pushed her
to the floor.
"If I was as evil as you think I would just kill you, but I'm just too
nice. It won't be too bad for you, Natalie. Really, it won't. I'm not
a monster, you know. You'll enjoy living the quiet life as a charmless
librarian with a dull husband and life. That won't be too bad."
"You know what I think, 'Meredith'," she replied, climbing slowly to
her feet and facing me squarely. "I think the main reason you're
keeping me alive is that you want to rub it in. That every day you
want me to remember that you're living my wonderful life and I'm stuck
in yours, in this poor excuse for a body."
She was right, of course.
"Would I do such a thing, I ask you?" I said with a laugh, my voice
full of obviously feigned disbelief. "Well, I hear my husband coming.
Drop by any time, Natalie. We're always glad to see you."
Tim came in and said, "How's my favorite librarian?" to Natalie. He
kissed me and put his strong arms around me. I returned his kiss and
embrace enthusiastically.
Natalie walked off, her shoulders slumped in defeat.
"Oh, Natalie," I called after her from the arms of my handsome
husband, "Tim and I are having a dinner party next month. Just a
little shindig to celebrate the full moon...you know why. I'd like you
and your delightful, distinguished husband Sam to come. In fact, I
insist on it, Natalie! Tim and I won't take no for an answer."
"Is she oK?" asked Tim when she had gone. "Only she seemed a little
down."
"She is a bit down, yes, poor dear," I said. "It's girl stuff, nothing
you need concern yourself with, but I think talking things out with me
has cheered her up a little bit. I hope so, anyway."
"She's lucky to have a friend like you, Merry."
"Yes, I suppose she is."
I looked up at Tim, who was gazing at me adoringly. I loved it when he
looked at me like that, and at such moments there was nowhere in the
world I would rather be than in his arms.
"I don't know why," I purred, smiling at him seductively and walking
my fingers up his chest, "but after that exchange with Natalie I
really want you to carry me off to bed and make wild, passionate love
to me."
"God, Merry!" he said, grinning, "I don't know where this recent
appetite for lots of sex has come from, but I love it! Your wish is my
command."
That adorable man then swept me off my feet and carried me off to our
bedroom, a trip that took longer than it should have because I had my
arms around his neck and we were locked in a long, passionate kiss the
whole way. God, but I loved my life!
Later, laying totally sated in Tim's arms and feeling tired but very
happy, I thought back to my conversation with Natalie and the matter
of Sam 'Eurypides' Greenwood. I'd suspected Sam knew I was the
sorceress, and while Natalie hadn't confirmed this she hadn't denied
it either. If he did know, that could be a problem. He was sharp
enough to have noticed the change in his wife every time someone else
was inhabiting the body of Natalie Greenwood, but as yet he had not
tried to tell anyone else about what we were doing. He believed we
were all willing participants, but if he discovered his new wife
wasn't, and knew I was the one behind our game of body-swap musical
chairs, this might change.
And I couldn't allow that.
I didn't know how likely a scenario this was, but I hadn't survived as
long as I have by taking unnecessary risks. My geas on the women of
our little club prevented them discussing the body-swapping with
anyone who didn't know about it. I realised I needed to place Sam
under the same geas as them, one that would prevent him from revealing
what he knew to outsiders and from making any hostile move against me.
While I was at it, I would put him under another one, too. I wanted
Natalie to accept her new life and new identity because then my
victory would be complete. Which meant I not only wanted Sam not to
say anything that would delay this - I wanted him to encourage her to
do so.
Having made the decision, I reached out with my mind and laid the geas
on him there and then. With someone I didn't know well the process
would have been much more involved, but I was married to Sam for
twenty years.
Now that it was done, I nestled up against Tim and sighed contentedly.
It really didn't get much better than this.
And then it did.
*
2. Natalie
By the time I climbed into my Avalon and pulled away from the witch's
Maple Street house, from what had been Tim's and my home, I was too
upset to drive back to the house I now shared with Sam Greenwood. Sam
had already been very sympathetic and understanding of my plight and
the last thing I wanted to do was dump any more of my troubles on him,
at least not while I was in this state. So instead, I drove up into
the hills overlooking Hawthorne, parked my car, laid my head on the
steering wheel, and sobbed my heart out. It was gone, all gone. I'd
lost Tim and I was going to be stuck in this wretched body forever.
I don't know how long I was there but, eventually, I pulled myself
together and drove back to the house that was now home and to the man
who was now my husband.
"My God, what's wrong?" said Sam when I got back. One look in my eyes
was enough to give him his answer.
"Oh, no!" he said. "That's still Meredith in there, isn't it?"
I nodded silently and he took me in his arms, holding me gently as,
between sobs, I told him everything.
"I can't believe she could do this to you!" he said shaking his head.
"What can I do, Merry?"
"What can anyone do?" I answered. "But you'd better start calling me
Natalie. That's who I am now. Meredith Macintyre lives on Maple with
her husband Tim!"
It was in a daze for the next couple of days as I absorbed the full
enormity of what had been done to me. Eventually, with great effort, I
pulled myself out of it. Yes, a terrible wrong had been done me, but
it could have been much worse. I had only lost my beauty. If others
could survive the loss of limbs, disfigurement, and disability then I
could survive this. Tim had been taken and if, as I was going to have
to accept, I was never getting him back, there were far worse husbands
I could have ended up with that Sam 'Eurypides' Greenwood.
If this was going to be my life then I needed to 'try it on for size'
and see if I could be Natalie Greenwood without it killing me. So one
night I seduced Sam. He enjoyed it and so, somewhat to my surprise,
did I. I'm not sure what he thought - probably that I was 'going
native' - but this was something I really needed to do. Still, as hard
as all this was for me it probably wasn't easy for him either. His
wife of twenty years had revealed herself to be a witch and had
abandoned him for another man, leaving me behind in her place.
"I know I've been a burden to you, Sam," I told him one morning,
"Please forgive me."
"There's nothing to forgive," he said, looking like he wanted to say
more but couldn't find the words.
I came to a decision. If I was stuck as Natalie I didn't want to be
alone.
"Sam," I said, "I want you know if we can't get me my former body
back, I am prepared to be as good a wife to you as I can."
Sam said nothing. He just smiled,and kissed me. Taking his hand, I led
him off to bed to our bed. Sam wasn't the sexual athlete Tim was, but
the sex was nice and afterwards I felt safe, secure and protected. It
might have been an illusion, but if so then it was one I desperately
needed right then.
I woke the next day feeling pretty awful and looking worse. Something
I'd ate the previous night had clearly disagreed with me. Given this,
I wasn't too thrilled to get a phone call from Meredith.
"Hope I didn't wake you," she said, "but a special meeting of the town
council has been called. I have an announcement the whole town is
going to love. I insist you be there, Natalie."
"Of course, Meredith," I replied. "Anything you say."
"Naturally. Well goodbye, darling. Give my regards to your husband."
"Who was that?" asked Sam, coming in for breakfast and seeing my face.
"The wicked witch of the west," I replied. "She's called a council
meeting for tonight for some big announcement she's making. She
insists we be there."
"Then we had better be," said Sam. "There are consequences for
disappointing her. Which reminds me, there's something I've been
meaning to ask you."
"Yes?"
"It's that research you did, discovering she's almost three hundred
years old and has claimed to be her own descendants many times down
the years."
"What about it?"
"I need you to give me a copy. I want to follow up on it."
"OK, but what are you hoping to find?"
"I'm not sure yet, but knowledge is power. There may be something in
her past we can use against her."
"How?" I said, exasperated. "As we figured out last night, she's laid
a geas on you that appears to prevent you from seeking to harm her
either in word or deed."
"And we're pretty sure that she defines harm in this case to include
any attempt to restore you to your true bodies, yes, I know. But
within those limitations there might still be something I can do. I
won't know until I've checked it out."
I shrugged my shoulders. As plans go this wasn't one that held out
much hope, but as Sam said it was pretty much the only one available
to us.
At midday, all the great and the good of Hawthorne were gathered in
the council chamber. I had no idea what this was all about but now
that everyone else was here I was sure Meredith would be making a
grand entrance. And so she did.
The witch swept into the council chamber looking like a catwalk model
in a new fur coat and sexy, high heeled boots that I recognised as
Gucci. She had seriously upgraded my wardrobe since becoming Meredith
Macintyre. But then, it was beginning to seem like everything about
her was an upgrade on me. Her hair shone and her perfect, beauty queen
face, was positively glowing. As she began to talk, it was clear she
was bubbling over with excitement. No one could take their eyes off
her.
"I have such great news, everyone!" she announced to the chamber. "I
especially wanted to let you know, dear Natalie, as you've been such a
help to my husband from time to time, that I've managed to get him a
huge Hollywood contract for Mr Amazing! It's going to be a major
Hollywood movie. It will help our town as well, with all the
publicity. And some of the movie will be shot here!"
The crowd erupted in cheers and applause, congratulations poured in
from all sides, and my heart sank. Tim was beside her, face beaming,
his arm around her waist.
I wanted to leave then and there but I knew better than to depart
before Meredith had had a chance to gloat. Sure enough, twenty or so
minutes later, after she had circulated and basked in all the thanks
and appeciation directed at her, she contrived to get me alone for a
little girl-to-girl 'chat'.
"What was that about?" asked Sam after Meredith moved on, his face a
picture of concern.
"The usual," I replied, bitterly. "She said this proved Tim was better
off with her, that I didn't deserve him, and how happy they both were
together."
"Oh, Merry!" he said.
"'Natalie'," I corrected him. "She's Merry now and I have to accept
that, however much it hurts. Could you take me home now please, Sam?
Only I don't think I can bear another minute of this."
Having stolen my life I didn't understand why Meredith then took such
obvious glee at rubbing it in. Why torment me like that?
I was in a daze, after the meeting and Sam, clearly concerned,
suggested we should go for a walk to clear our heads. It was a crisp
Saturday afternoon so I agreed. Unfortunately, who should we see on
our stroll than Tim and Meredith, who were also taking a walk. Not
that they even noticed us. Walking hand-in-hand, they only had eyes
for each other.
Seeing them like that, so young and beautiful, so clearly in love with
each other, was more than I could take and I started crying.
"Maybe she is right, Sam. Maybe she's right that Tim loves her more
than he did me! Maybe she's a better Merry than me! She got him a
million dollar Hollywood contract. Maybe I should just accept the
truth that she's a better Merry than I was and let her live my former
life, and I should just make do with this one."
Sam said nothing, but took me in his arms and hugged me tightly,
comforting me.
When we got home Sam poured us both a drink, which calmed me down
considerably. Looking at him curiously, I finally asked him about
something that had been puzzling me for a while.
"You were married to her for twenty years," I said. "What was she like
in the beginning? Did you love her? Did she love you?"
"Those are big questions," he said with a sigh, "questions I've been
asking myself since you discovered just how old she really is."
He took another sip of his Scotch, summoning his thoughts.
"When she arrived in town and became the new librarian I was naturally
curious about her. Her parents had allgedly divorced when she was a
toddler leaving her to be raised by her father. We now know this is
total nonsense, of course, and she's a dead ringer for her allegedly
dead mother because they're the same person. We got talking,
discovered we had a love of the same books, started dating and,
eventually, we married. Oh, I can't claim ours was a great, passionate
romance. No, it was two lonely people finding each other. But I
thought we loved each other. I loved her anyway, at first."
"At first?"
"She was always emotionally distant and sex between us was always
perfunctory, then it dried up altogether. I don't think she enjoyed
sex very much."
"That's certainly changed," I said, bitterly.
"Yes, well, I think part of the problem was that she had pretty major
body-image problems. She may have had a taste for designer clothing
and done the best with what she had, but she clearly didn't like the
way she looked. She didn't like it at all. So, anyway, eventually our
marriage became one of little more than mutual companionship, which I
think is what she wanted all along. She hates being alone."
"Can't fault her for that," I said. "Who would choose loneliness over
being with someone?"
"Indeed," he replied, staring wistfully into his glass.
"Sam," I asked, "how old am I supposed to be?"
"Forty-two," he replied. "You were twenty one when we wed, and we've
been married twenty one years."
"And now you know the truth, how old physically would you say this
body actually is?"
"About ten years younger than that."
"That's what I think, too," I said, "and that makes sense. If you
figure the witch stopped her body from aging any further when she was
in her early thirties - and if you figure she can pull off maybe
twenty years in an identity before people start to ask themselves why
she isn't aging, then it makes sense she'd claim ten years either side
of her physical age to stretch it out as long as she could."
"That's logical," said Sam, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "And it
means that even without all this body-swapping, she would have been
leaving me pretty soon anyway."
When I woke on Sunday, I thought back over the events of the previous
day. Sam had said nothing when I suggested I should just accept the
witch is a better Merry than I was, let her live my former life, and
just make do with this one. Was that the geas preventing him from
speaking against her or did he agree with me? I couldn't tell,
unfortunately. Yet, looking at things logically, it was the only
sensible thing for me to do. My life had been stolen from me by a
powerful witch and she was keeping it. It was a bitter pill to
swallow, but I had to accept that fact and move on if I was to have
any hope of future happiness at all. I looked over at Sam, asleep
there on the pillow next to mine, and smiled. I didn't love him but he
was a good man. If anyone could help me through this, could help me
accept I would be Natalie Greenwood until the day I died, it was him.
And accept it I would.
Which is not to say I still didn't have anger and frustrations that
needed to worked out.
On Monday I called a meeting of the ladies' club at Susan's house
which, since they still believed me to be the witch, they could hardly
refuse to attend. From the things the witch had said I knew she
couldn't have stolen my body without their help. The monthly swaps had
built up magical energy somehow until the swap was permanent. So I
decided a little payback was in order. I won't go into the details,
but suffice it to say I managed to put a fright in each and every one
of those bitches. It wasn't nice, but it was no less than they
deserved.
3. Merry
"Natalie, darling," I said "you simply must come to dinner on the
sixteenth, it's the night after the next full moon. Just a few
friends, nothing fancy. Cocktail dresses will be fine. I won't take no
for an answer."
"Sam and I will be glad to come," she replied, "so nice of you to
invite us, Merry dear."
I frowned. There was something in her voice, something...unexpected.
"No, it's only for us girls," I said. "My, Natalie, you sound far
happier than the last time we talked."
"I am, Meredith. I'm not happy, but I've grown content with things as
they are. Only a fool makes their lives miserable while pining for
things that are gone forever."
Was she telling the truth, I wondered, and if not then what was she up
to? It was impossible to tell over the phone; we would have to meet in
person.
"My, you are a good little girl! I'm so glad to hear it. It would be
tragic if an accident would have - well. Tell you what, come to my
office around twelve and we'll do lunch today."
"I would be delighted. See you at noon," she said, then hung up.
Hawthorne was twenty miles from Boston so she would have to take the
train, but I knew Natalie would come. My invitation to her had not
been a request.
At noon, I watched from my glass-fronted as she entered the offices of
her former workplace and walked over to the receptionist. Sharon my PA
happened to be in my office with me, as did Kathy Collins, one of our
trainee secretaries.
"It's so sad," I said, smiling, "she might be wearing expensive
clothes but she really doesn't look good in them. It's like her body
just can't be made to look elegant or stylish."
"I know," laughed Sharon, "and oh dear, that face! Nature has not been
kind to her, poor cow."
Kathy was giving us a disapproving look.
"Yes?" I said, raising an eyebrow.
"You shouldn't be so mean about her," said Kathy, hotly. "She's a real
person with real feelings and it's not her fault she's plain and
unglamorous."
"Oh, like little miss barbie doll would know anything about that!"
sneered Sharon.
"I was a fat kid who wore glasses," said Kathy, "so yeah, I do
actually."
"Thank you, Kathy," I said. "That will be all."
When she had left, I did a quick check of my hair and make-up then
grabbed my coat and went out to greet my visitor.
"Natalie, so good of you to come," I said, all smiles. Taking her by
the arm, I led her to the elevator. In the street, thanks to my long
legs, Natalie almost had to run to keep up with my strides as I led
the way to Luigi's, the Italian restaurant where I ate lunch most
days. Making her have to scurry after me like that amused me no end
and I was in a great mood by the time we were being seated by the
waiter. I was the center of male attention and pretty much every man
in the restaurant looked me up and down appreciatively at some point
during our meal, while completely ignoring Natalie, of course. Which
was only to be expected, and the way things should be. As a beautiful
woman, such attention was my due.
Turning to Natalie, I focussed the full force of my mind on her. She
looked close to fainting, as if the gaze I was subjecting her to was
reading her mind and soul. Which in a sense I was. Oh, I couldn't
really read minds but I could feel intent. If someone was lying to me
or meant me harm, I would know. After a few seconds I relaxed. Her
change of heart appeared to be genuine.
"Sorry for doubting you, dearest Natalie, but it's a question of
better safe than sorry. It's good to see that you are sincere in what
you said about being content and not trying to recover what is
unrecoverable. I just hate dishonesty, don't you? By the by, as you
probably suspected, you will not change with anyone at the full moon.
That part of our little game is over, but the others will. I know you
have impersonated me to the others. I love it! It is vastly amusing!"
I looked at Natalie appraisingly
"You accepting who you now are doesn't come as a total surprise to
me," I said. "I'm entirely comfortable in this body now. It feels
natural, right and proper that this is who I am, and the face I see in
the mirror every morning is the one I expect to see. I remember being
you, of course, but I no longer remember what it *felt* like to have
any body but this one, and I'm sure the same is true for you."
Natalie looked uncomfortable.
"It...it is," she said, uneasily. "But I don't understand. Why should
that be?"
"I'm sure a psychologist would say it's our mind's way of coping with
the change, an adaptation we make. But they would wrong. The real
reason is fate."
"Fate?"
"Yes," I said, "fate. Believe it or not there really is such a thing
as destiny - and as a sorceress I would know. From the moment you were
born your destiny was leading you here, to Hawthorne, and to our body
swap. Now you have the body you were meant to have, and are the person
you were always destined to become. Me too, of course. I really must
thank you for taking such good care of my beautiful body, Natalie, and
I hope you enjoyed it while you were keeping it ready for me. I know
you're upset it's gone but what you should be feeling is grateful to
have had the use of it for as long as you did. If you think about it
you must see you were never it's owner, not really. It was always
mine. You were merely its custodian until I was able to take permanent
possession of it and assume my rightful place as Meredith McIntyre and
you could take yours as Natalie Greenwood."
"No, that's not true!" said Natalie. "It can't be, it mustn't be!"
"Oh, but it is!" I insisted. "Of course you miss having my magnificent
body and wish you still saw my beautiful face in the mirror rather
than your own. I understand that, and I sympathise. But in reality the
face you see there now, the face of Natalie Greenwood, is your true
face. At long last you're who you're supposed to be and finally seeing
the real you. I know it doesn't seem like it now, but this is a *good*
thing. Our body swap was both inevitable and necessary, and everything
is now as it should be. Haven't you wondered at how quickly we've
become comfortable in these bodies or how soon you accepted the new
status quo?"
"I didn't want to make myself unhappy pining for a body and a life I'm
never going to get back. I accepted this is who I am now because it's
less painful that way."
"Oh Natalie, I know that's what you honestly believe but the reason
for your swift capitulation, and why we became so comfortable in these
bodies so quickly, is because our sprits recognised they were where
they were supposed to be, that they were finally home. It would not
have happened otherwise."
Natalie shook her head slowly, trying to deny the logic of my words,
but I could see I had planted real doubt in her mind.
"And then there are our husbands," I continued. "You have to know I
make a better wife for Tim than you did. I don't deny you made my Tim
happy in your way, but he deserved better and now he has it. Even you
can see he's happier with me. He told you himself how much his
marriage has improved since moving here, and he regularly compliments
me on how much better I've gotten in bed. Tim always had a larger
sexual appetite than you did but in me he has someone with a love of
sex that matches his own. And anyone who spends any time with us at
all can see how besotted we are with each other. When I told you he
loves me more than he ever did you you probably thought I was just
being cruel, but can you honestly now deny it?"
Natalie bowed her head. I could see she wanted to, but she couldn't.
Anyone with eyes could see the strength of our love for each other.
"I've really enjoyed our lunch date," I said, and I had. "With the
library being shut on Wednesdays we should do this every week. In
fact, I insist on it."
*
The annual Tri-City ball and auction to benefit the local churches'
food pantries had come around again and this year Tim and I were
elected king and queen by acclamation. Saying I was easily the most
beautiful woman there was not vanity on my part but a simple statement
of fact. I looked spectacular in a designer strapless gold gown from
Paris. And I *loved* the fact I was able to wear a strapless gown. On
my old body there would have been nothing to hold it up. When Tim and
I took to the dance floor all eyes were on us and we moved with grace
and elegance. The auction went well, and by the time we returned home
I was positively buzzing. Tim, however, looked serious.
"What is it, darling?" I asked.
"Now that we have money there's something I want to do for you, Merry,
something I always promised myself I would if we ever got rich."
He took my hand and looked into my eyes.
"I know you wanted a full wedding with the big dress and all your
family and friends around and it's always been a deep regret of mine
that because we didn't have much money back then we had to settle for
a Justice of the Peace."
"I got you," I said, "which means I hit the jackpot, big wedding or no
big wedding."
"I feel the same way about you, my darling, but I want us to renew our
vows so that I can finally give you that big wedding."
It was something I had ever considered doing, but Tim then did
something that made up my mind for me. Getting down on one knee, he
took my hand in his and said:
"Meredith Macintyre, will you marry me?"
He didn't realise it but this was the first time he had popped the
question to me. Only one reponse was possible.
"Yes, Tim, oh yes, my darling!" I said, tears welling.
How did he do it? How did this delightful man keep finding ways to
make me love him even more? We embraced, and as we were kissing I
realized what was needed to make my wedding perfect.
"I want to do this properly so we'll need a year to plan it," I said,
"and I want Natalie to be my Maid of Honor."
"Wow, offering her a big role like that is very generous of you,
Merry," said Tim, "but do you think she'd accept it?"
"Trust me, my love," I laughed, "she won't be able to refuse!"
Oh, this was going to be truly delicious! Natalie would have to watch
and smile as I walked down the aisle on her father's arm and married
Tim, would have to listen to everyone congratulating us, and would
have to see me star in the big wedding she had always wanted for
herself. I don't think I could have come up with a more exquisitely
perfect torture for her had I wanted to.
The folowing morning, I told Tim it was time we got around to a task
we'd been putting off for months. He agreed, and we set to it.
"Wow, it sure is dusty up here," said Tim. "You were right, Merry.
We've put off tidying the attic for way too long."
Most of what was in the attic was junk, the detritus people hide away
that gets deservedly forgotten, but there were one or two items we
could do something with. This was a nice bonus, but it wasn't the
intended purpose behind my suggestion.
"Tim, look at this," I said holding up an aged, ornately carved wooden
box no bigger than my hand.
"What is it?" said Tim, as I opened the lid and pulled out an old and
rather ugly metal amulet.
"An old piece of cheap jewellery, I think," I said, handing it to him.
As he touched it we both felt a strong jolt of energy shoot through
our fingers, like a large static shock.
"Owwww," said Tim. "What the hell...?"
As he was speaking, so a small, hidden drawer sprang out from the
bottom of the box. In it was a piece of folded paper, which Tim
reached over for and opened to reveal some writing.
"What does it say?" I asked, and Tim read it out:
"If a man and a woman should grasp this amulet, And if their love be
true and their hearts be pure, Then shall their aging be stayed for
two hundred years and sixty, And the power of the amulet shall be
spent."
"It has to be some sort of joke!" I laughed.
"Probably," said Tim, "though from the look of it it's been in this
attic a very long time."
Actually, I had bought the amulet and box in a Boston flea market only
last week, and the jolt we had felt had been a harmless little spark
of magic.
"Well if it has stopped us aging, lover," I said, "it'll be at least a
decade before we start to be able to tell."
"Yeah," said Tim, shaking his head and laughing. "I'm embarrassed I
actually took it seriously for a second there."
I was pleased. That little bit of theatre had gone exactly as planned.
I'd told Natalie I might share the secret of eternal youth with Tim,
and now I was. I loved him, he loved me, and I wanted our love to
endure forever. I would soon cast the spells that would stop this body
from aging any further, and this time those spells would include Tim
as well. The spells took a lot of energy to maintain but I was now
powerful enough to keep them up for another person, too. At least for
the two hundred and fifty to three hundred years they work on a given
body. Then we would need new ones. Because of the business with the
amulet, Tim would believe our continued youth to be a lucky accident
and so have no reason to believe his wife was a sorceress, just like I
wanted.
*
4. Natalie
"Pregnant?" said Sam, looking shocked.
"I'd been feeling sick and thought I was coming down with something,
but Doc Hooper says there's no doubt. Looks like you're going to be a
father, Sam."
"How do you feel about this, Natalie?" asked Sam, his eyes searching
my face. Not being able to tell, he was clearly uncertain as to how he
should react to the news.
"Happy, Sam," I said, giving a little smile, "I feel happy."
Then that kind, wonderful man took me in his arms and we kissed.
"I'm so glad," he said. "You deserve your happiness more than anyone I
know."
"And you?" I said. "How do you feel about becoming a Daddy?"
"I'm ecstatic," he said. "I always wanted a child. My former wife told
me she couldn't have children, that that body was infertile. Looks
like she was wrong."
"Maybe," I replied, "and maybe not. I wonder how she'll react when I
tell her tomorrow?"
"Oh, that's right, I'd forgotten. Tomorrow's Wednesday so you have to
go into Boston for your regular audience."
*
5. Merry
"Pregnant?" I said, not quite sure how I felt about the news.
"Yes," said Natalie. "Sam said you'd told him this body was infertile.
Apparently you were wrong."
"No," I said, involuntarily giving a little shake of my head, "I
wasn't. Either as a side-effect or by design, the spell I discovered
that stops a body aging also suppresses fertility. When your body was
bound by the spell it *was* infertile. Now that it's no longer bound
and has started aging again it looks like fertility has returned.
Interesting. I had no idea that would happen."
Looking at Natalie, I actually felt a twinge of jealousy, something I
never ever expected to feel towards her. They say expectant women look
radiant and she really did. She was as plain and unprepossessing as
always but there was a definite glow to her that hadn't been there
before. I always knew not being able to have babies was part of the
deal of course, and I had reconciled myself to that fact and decided I
didn't want children anyway. Now I wasn't so sure. Natalie took a deep
breath.
"There's something I want to ask you, Meredith," she said. "Sam and I
were wondering if you and Tim would agree to be our baby's
godparents."
I am rarely rendered speechless, but I was then. Frowning, I searched
her face for any sign of subterfuge. I found none. I was saved from
having to respond immediately by the wine waiter arrived at our table
with the wine list. Taking my time, I pondered the implications of
Natalie's offer. As I did so I had a sudden moment of piercing
insight, one of those rare moments that comes maybe two or three times
in a lifetime and changes you forever. I saw my life for what it was
and realised what a fool I was being. There was only one thing to say.
"Of course, Natalie," I smiled. "We'd be delighted to be the
godparents. And we'll be the best godparents any child has ever had."
And I meant it.
"Oh, and waiter..." I said, "I think this calls for champagne."
Natalie looked surprised.
"That's...very generous," she said.
"Nonsense," I laughed, "this is wonderful news and we're going to
celebrate it properly."
"Well, in my condition I probably shouldn't have too many glasses."
"Oh, yes, of course not, but a couple won't do any harm. Plus, I have
some good news of my own."
"Yes?"
She looked at me expectantly and I found myself suddenly nervous. It
now mattered to me what Natalie thought.
"It's Tim," I said, "he asked me to marry him."
She looked puzzled.
"But you're already married?"
"Yes, but Tim wants us to renew our vows, to have the big wedding we
couldn't afford first time around. And I want to. The idea had never
even occurred to me before he proposed it, but as soon as he had I
wanted it so badly I could taste it."
Natalie's expression was unreadable.
"I know you must be feeling conflicted about this, and I'll understand
if you refuse and won't try to force you," I said, "but it would
really mean a lot to me if you'd agree to be my Maid Of Honor."
And - though I wouldn't have before we sat down to eat - I meant that,
too.
Natalie was silent for a while, thinking it over, then she looked up
and gave me a little smile.
"Yes," she said, "yes, I think I will."
After lunch, and after seeing Natalie off at the train station, I
returned to my office feeling oddly content. I think we both knew our
relationship had changed profoundly in that restaurant, and I could
not have been happier about it.
"So," said Sharon, on my return, "how did the meal with horse-face
go?"
I looked at her, wondering how I could ever have found her amusing and
feeling vaguely ashamed of myself.
"I'll thank you not to speak about my friend like that in future," I
said.
Looking shocked, she stammered something in reply before hurrying out
of my office. Kathy had overheard the whole exchange and was trying to
supress a smile.
"Kathy," I said, "could you step into my office for a minute, please?"
She did so, closing the door behind her.
"Yes, Mrs Macintyre?"
"Call me Merry, please," I said. "I think I need a new personal
assistant and I was wondering if you would take the job...."
*
6. Natalie
They were all there at Sam's funeral, my daughter Susan and her
husband, my granddaughters and their spouses (a husband for one, a
wife for the other), and my great-grandsons, along with what seemed
like half the population of Hawthorne, all gathered to see that
wonderful man laid to rest. His had been a long and a full life they
said, and ninety-three an impressive age to reach, and I suppose
they're right. But after forty-one years together, I was devastated by
his loss. She came to see me after the service, of course, that slim
young woman dressed all in black, her features concealed by the net
veil that was part of her hat. I'd heard the murmured speculation from
the other mourners as to who she could be, but she had slipped away
before anyone could approach her. I knew who she was of course, and
was expecting her visit.
"Hello, Merry," I said, answering the doorbell.
She pulled her veil back to reveal that familar beautiful face. It had
now been hers longer than it had been mine, and she looked as young
ever.
"Hello, Natalie," she said, stepping forward and hugging me gently,
being careful not to hurt my aged bones.
I moved into the main room, supported by my walking frame and,
somewhat clumsily, manouevered myself into my favorite armchair. Merry
sat on the arm of the chair opposite mine and fished cigarettes and a
lighter out of her purse.
"Do you mind?" she asked.
"No, go ahead," I said, watching as she lit up.
"That's new," I said. "How long have you been smoking?"
"About a decade now," she said, blowing a long stream of smoke towards
the ceiling. "I started ten years after we left Hawthorne. I'd never
smoked before and decided I ought to try it. With a life as long as
mine has been you need to try new things now and again, develop new
hobbies, interests, and habits."
"I smoked in my modelling days," I said. "I quit soon after Tim and I
met."
"Yes, and at first he wasn't happy about his wife starting up again,"
she chuckled, "but he's come around now."
"So how have you been?" I asked. "Susan still misses you."
"We miss our goddaughter, too," she replied, genuine regret in her
voice.
I believed her. She had promised me she and Tim would be the best
godparents any child could have, and they had been. They had taken
Susan with them on their trips around the world and showered her with
gifts and with love.
"We'd pushed it as long as we could in Hawthorne," said Meredith,
taking a long drag on her cigarette. "Even gradually dyeing our hair
grey and adopting the movements and mannerisms of older folk, too many
people were starting to notice we weren't aging like they did. We both
love Hawthorne and we miss it, but I think we miss Susan most of all.
How is she doing these days?"
"She's a Senior Vice-President in her company now, but I think what
she's most looking forward to is taking early retirement in five years
and to spending more time with her grandchildren."
"That bit I envy her," said Merry, wistfully.
We talked for a little under an hour, and then she left. We hugged for
a long time at the door, both of us knowing this was probably the last
time we'd ever see each other. Afterwards, back in my armchair I went
over our conversation and smiled. We had been two old friends catching
up and reminiscing something that would have been inconceivable to me
once upon a time. I could still vividly recall my feelings the day Sam
told me the results of his researches....
"I think I've pieced it all together now," he had said, taking a sip
of his wine. "It's all there in the official history of Hawthorne and
in the town's archives, spread across dusty diaries and unpublished
memoirs that have sat there mostly undisturbed for all this time. As
you know, the Pierces were one of the town's founding families -
Abraham and Sarah, and their twin daughters, Mary and Natalie. The
sisters were not identical twins. One was extremely plain, while the
other was considered one of the great beauties of her day. Needless to
say, the pretty sister was the favoured daughter and she took great
delight in rubbing her less fortunate sibling's nose in that fact and
in mocking her at every turn. Her beauty meant she was courted by the
most eligible bachelors around, and she eventually married the
handsome, dashing son of one of the richest families in Boston, and
moved away. Her sister never married. She remained a spinster all her
life, the dutiful daughter who looked after her aged parents until
their deaths."
"That explains a lot," I said, thoughtfully.
"Doesn't it, though? We know that at some point she got involved with
the dark arts and, judging by your apparent age, that she was able to
stop the clock on her body somewhere in her early thirties. About ten
years after this her parents passed away and she left Hawthorne. A
decade or so later her cousin, Esther, showed up. People at the time
noted the remarkable resemblance between the two but given Esther was
still in her twenties and her cousin would have been in her fifties by
that point, she was accepted at face value. And so it began, the long
line leading to the present day."
"So I'm paying for the sins of Mary Pierce?" I said.
"Oh, no. Mary wasn't the pretty sister. Natalie was."
"I don't understand."
"Think about it," said Sam. "The last time Mary Pierce returned to
Hawthorne again under a new name was over twenty years ago, and the
name she chose was that of her hated sister, Natalie. That suggests
she expected to be passing it on to someone else eventually, someone
who would become the surrogate for her long-dead twin and who she
would torment under that name. She was certainly planning ahead."
"I never thought I'd say this, but I actually feel a little sorry for
her. Imagine carrying around all that pain, all that envy and
resentment for so long. And I was the one unlucky enough to end up as
the stand-in for her sister."
"I'm sorry, my love, but luck had nothing to do with it," said Sam.
"She specifically targeted you."
"What? But why? Why would she do that?"
"That's why my researches took me to Boston. I'd hoped I was wrong,
but I wasn't. The man Natalie Pierce married was Edwin Kelly, your
ancestor. And there's more."
"More?" I said, still reeling from his revelations. "How can there
possibly be more?"
Sam took out his cell phone and opened his photographs. He scrolled
through them until he found the one he was looking for.
"The Kellys bequeathed all their papers and a large endowment to
Boston Public Library," he said, passing the phone to me. "They also
donated a painting of Edwin and Natalie that still hangs on one of the
walls. This is a photo I took of Natalie's portrait."
Even before I looked at the photo, I knew what I'd see: Natalie was a
dead ringer for Meredith Macintyre.
"When Mary saw you for the first time it would have been like seeing
her hated sister reborn. When she swapped bodies with you it must have
felt like she finally had the one that should have been hers all
along."
"God, so that was why she's been so mean to me," I said, shaken.
"There's one final thing, though I have no idea how significant it is,
or if in fact it's significant at all," said Sam, "and that's the
coincidence of names."
"The coincidence of names?" I said, puzzled. "What do you mean, Sam?"
"With them sounding so similar, every time Tim calls her 'Merry' she
may well be hearing it as her original name, 'Mary'."
Here in the present, an old lady sitting in her favorite chair and
warming herself by her hearth, I can still remember my shock at that
particular revelation. That was the one time when I considered what
had happened to us might actually be fate. I soon dismissed it, of
course.
"So what do we do now?" I had asked.
"Now we become her friends," said Sam.
"What?"
"Think about it. We now know what drives her, the thing that turned
her into the person she is, and we can use that. Whatever we may feel
about her she's an incredibly powerful witch, potentially a human WMD.
There's no possibility of us defeating her so we have to turn her away
from the dark side."
"How do we do that."
"Like I said - we become her friends. Oh, I know it will be hard, but
we have to do it. We have to somehow find the person within her that
she has the potential to be. And in order to do that we need to
forgive her."
"Forgive....?! Sam, she stole my body, she stole my husband, she stole
my life!"
"I know," he said, gripping my shoulders, "and I know this will be
particularly hard for you, but we have to do it. And since she can
sense our feelings it has to be as real as you can make it. You have
to somehow find it in your heart to genuinely forgive her."
Somehow, I did. They say that if you pretend to be something long
enough you can become it for real. My forgiveness was real enough for
Merry to sense it and accept it, but it wasn't fully real for me, not
at first. I knew her attutude towards me had changed that day in the
restaurant, all those long years ago, but it took almost another year
for me. It was seeing her in the big dress at her wedding and looking
so radiantly happy that did it for me. It meant so much to her, and in
that instant I understood her, accepted what had happened, and finally
forgave her. After that we became friends, real friends.
And, as Sam predicted, we turned her away from the dark side.
7. Merry
From the window that formed one wall of the honeymoon suite in the
orbital hotel I could see the Earth beneath us in all its verdant
beauty. Now that most of the major environmental clean up had been
done and climate change arrested it was home to twelve billion souls.
In the gyres of all the major oceans were vast aquatic farms that
produced much of the protein needed to feed that many mouths. They
were big enough to be seen from space, and in fact the main Pacific
farm was passing by as I watched. Sometimes, my life amazed even me. I
had come of age in the time of the horse and buggy. The commonplaces
of my life today were things no one could have dreamt of back then.
Not the least of these was my current body.
I had once used sorcery to swap bodies, but in this age of wonders
that was no longer necessary. Now they could grow a mindless clone of
your old body, rapidly age it to whatever age you wanted, then
transfer your consciousness into it. Nor did it need to be an exact
copy of your old body. The clone could be customised to an amazing
degree. None of this came cheaply, of cour