Hocus Pocus: Rising of a Little Witch

Chapter 19: A Troubling Past

   At 6:30 am, Mallory's phone alarm went off and woke both of us up.
  She groaned quietly before sitting up and crawling out of bed. She stumbled over me and the mattress on the floor and mumbled an apology as she made her way to her bedroom door. I got up and followed her downstairs and into the kitchen. I sat down at the table while she put a pot of coffee on.

"Help yourself to whatever". She said groggily, motioning to the fridge and pantry before leaving and going back upstairs to get ready for work.
   I found myself a mug that I assume was hand painted by one of her kindergartners and waited until the coffee was done. After I poured myself some, I sat quietly in my chair and stared out the kitchen window at the view in the back of the house. The sun was beginning to rise and created a beautiful pink and orange sky around the mostly barren trees. I calmly sipped my coffee and appreciated its beauty.
No more than ten minutes later, I could hear even more movement upstairs telling me that at least one of the sisters was up. However, as I heard footsteps descend the stairs, I could tell that it was all three of them.
Sarah was the first to enter before Mary and  then Winnie.
"Good Morning" I said, smiling up at them.

"Good morning" Sarah responded before joining me at the table. Winnie and Mary did the same.

"What is that you have there Kaytrina?" Winnie asked, eyeing the mug I was putting to my lips.

"Coffee" I responded, taking another sip.
"Kinda like tea but different".

"Yes Coffee was around in our time. We have never had it but we hath heard of it from the men who traveled to Boston."  Winnie responded.
   From the corner of my eye, I caught Sarah smiling to herself when Winnie said the word men.
I smiled slightly.
"Well there's coffee in the pot over there if you wanna try it. Just make sure to leave some for Mallory."

"Yes, leave some for Mallory" Mallory said as she once again entered the kitchen.
She was now wearing a light grey sweater with tight black pants and sperrys. She had her hair pulled back into a low messy bun that was loose enough for some of her hair to hang down and frame her face. She grabbed a travel mug out of one of the cupboards and poured about half of the pot's contents inside. Charlie came scampering into the kitchen after her and began meowing and circling her legs. She smiled.
"Hi bubus" she cooed softly and grabbed his food container.
She walked over to his bowl and poured some kibble in. She briefly crouched down and stroked his back as he devoured the food. She then stood and gazed over at the clock on the oven.

"How the hell is it already 7!?" She cried and hastily grabbed her mug.
   She quickly moved to the pantry and grabbed what looked to be a granola bar before turning to us.
"I've gotta go. I'll be back around 4."
She stepped over to me and kissed the top of my head. I smiled and scrunched up my nose.
"And where exactly is thou going?" Winnie asked quizzically.

"Oh god here we go" I thought.
Mallory paused. I could tell she was nervous too.

"To my job." She responded slowly.

"Job?" Sarah asked quietly to herself.

"And what is thy job?" Mary asked this time.
A panicked look spread across her face and I knew right away that she had no idea what to say.

"Just make something up Mal! " I pleaded in my head, wishing she could hear me.

"I'm a uh...teacher". She confessed. She was truthfully a terrible liar so she usually didn't even try, especially when she had to make one up on the spot.

"Who does thou teach?" Winnie asked, clearly very intrigued. She definitely knew it had to be children.
Mallory hesitated.

"My uh...students!" She answered before quickly saying
"Ok I gotta go. See ya!"
With that she grabbed her keys and her bag before bolting out the door that led to the car port. She didn't even grab her damn coat. That's how much of a rush she was in to get out of that situation.