Druscilla's Halloween (Carolrhoda Picture Books)

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Did witches

always ride brooms?

No! In fact, long, long ago, witches crept about on tiptoe. On Halloween, they would scare children and cast spells . . . but always from the ground. No witch ever thought of flying— no witch until Druscilla. Druscilla was an old witch with the loudest, creakiest knees anyone had ever heard. But she was determined not to let anything spoil her element of surprise. One Halloween, after many failed attempts at sneaking up on unsuspecting villagers, Druscilla made a discovery that changed the course of witch history.

ages 5–9

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c s illa’s u r Dalloween

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ions by Lee t a r t s illu

T Car O lrh O da B OOks

White

Minneapolis • New York

Text copyright © 2009 by Sally M. Walker Illustrations copyright © 2009 by Lee White All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review. Carolrhoda Books A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. 241 First Avenue North Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A. Website address: www.lernerbooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Walker, Sally M. Druscilla’s Halloween / by Sally M. Walker ; illustrated by Lee White. p. cm.  Summary: In the time when witches tiptoe about to have their Halloween fun, ancient Druscilla knows her creaking knees will prevent her from being sneaky and sets out to find a silent conveyance for herself, her cat, and her jack o’ lantern. ISBN: 978–0–8225–8941–9 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper)  [1. Witches—Fiction. 2. Old age—Fiction. 3. Halloween—Fiction.] I. White, Lee, 1970– ill. II. Title. PZ7.W153845Dru 2009 [E]—dc22 2008041163 Manufactured in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 – DP – 14 13 12 11 10 09

eISBN: 978-0-7613-5699-8

In memory of Nancy Peterson— Librarian, first reader, friend —s. m. w.

to

Gene, Ken, and Machiko —l. w.

Once upon a Halloween, a million spells ago, witches prepared f or a spine -chilling night . They scooped out pumpkins and carved scary faces.

They gulped potions that grew extra warts on their chins.

While their cats practiced hissing, the witches honed their cackling skills, with petrifying results. Last but not least, they moussed the hair on each cat’s back, so it stood up spikier than ever.

In those days, witches sneaked silently on foot, spooking and spelling. So before they crept toward the townfolks’ homes, they practiced walking on tiptoe.

All of them but ancient Druscilla, the ricketiest witch of all. She slumped on the floor of her mountaintop house, moaning as loudly as the wind in the trees. “Woe is me. What shall I do?” Druscilla wailed to the rafters. She slapped her knees angrily and stood up.

SNAP!

! K AC

CR

Druscilla covered her ears. “Hush, you treacherous

old knees.

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A E

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! K

PO

P!

You’re robbing me of the element of surprise.”

She limped to the door and glared down at the town. Her cat Drizzle wound himself around her legs. “I must think fast. I won’t let noisy knees spoil my plans.”

SN

! K

AP

!

C A R

! K A E R C

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An earsplitting HEEEE-HAW pierced the air. Druscilla grabbed her jack o’ lantern and a rope. With eyes like steel, she said, “Come now, Drizzle. I have an idea.” Druscilla shambled out to the field.

P!

CR

EA

K

!

! P O

! P A SN

! K C

A R C

Her uproarious knees sent squirrels scurrying into the trees. Rabbits dove into their holes. Fireflies turned off their lights.

P

Druscilla’s donkey rolled his eyes.

Druscilla tied the rope around his neck.

Carefully balancing her jack o’ lantern, she pulled herself up onto the donkey’s back. She cackled triumphantly. “Come, Drizzle. We have work to do. Giddyup!” The donkey didn’t budge.

Druscilla kicked her heels. Nothing. She kicked some more. He still didn’t move. She squeezed her eyes shut, pinched her nose tightly and forced herself to add, “Please?” Still no luck.

“Okay, pal. You asked for it.” She closed her eyes and chanted, “Swiftly, silently gallop I say, Carry me quickly to town today!”

But the donkey was too stubborn to fall under Druscilla’s spell. He brayed again and sat down. Drizzle leaped as the jack o’ lantern rolled. Druscilla slid to the ground with a groan.

Druscilla struggled to her feet.

P! O P ! K A E CR

RACK! C ! The noises bent the blades of P A

SN

grass and echoed off the hills.

But Druscilla smiled when she saw her wheelbarrow. With an o-o-o-f that came all the way from her toes, she heaved herself and her jack o’ lantern in. Drizzle settled on her lap. Druscilla closed her eyes and chanted, “Swiftly, silently wheelbarrow roll, Soon my spells will take their toll.” The wheelbarrow rolled downhill, zigzagging wildly. Before Druscilla could chant a stopping spell . . .

! h as

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C

Spitting mad, Druscilla shook her fist at the town. “Don’t count me out! I have not yet begun to fright!” Druscilla hobbled homeward.

! P O P ! K A E R C ! SNA K P! CRAC

When her chickens heard her coming, they shivered so hard their feathers fell off. The wind swirled them up around Druscilla. She smiled another witchy smile. Quickly, Druscilla took off her cape and filled it with feathers. “Drizzle, we have work to do.”

Druscilla smeared her arms with paste. She patted feathers onto them until her arms were covered from shoulder to fingertip. Druscilla cackled and flapped her arms. She rose to the kitchen ceiling. Circling once, she kicked open the door and flew outside to try her wings.

Her cries of success turned to tears when a dark cloud burst and rain soaked her chickeny wings. A downpour of feathers fell to the ground as the rain washed away the paste. Druscilla landed just in time.

“Even if the wings had worked, there would have been no seat for you. But we can’t give up now,” she told Drizzle. Leftover feathers dotted the kitchen floor. Druscilla shook her head and picked up her broom. Just as she swept her first sweep, she thought an interesting thought.

Druscilla closed her eyes and chanted: “Eye of toad, tail of bat, A fine, flat place to seat my cat. Handle thin, handle long, Perfect to hang my pumpkin on. Blood of worms, wings of bees, A quiet flight for noisy knees. Up and down, around the room Get up and fly, you beautiful broom!”

The broom rose into the air. It hovered, waiting, in front of Druscilla.

“Drizzle, it’s time we were swept off our feet!” Druscilla grabbed her emergency backup jack o’ lantern and hung it from the handle. She perched herself behind it. Drizzle leaped on and growled a happy growl.

.

do or th e

ou t sk ed

y e th , h s oo h w y a s d l u o c ou y e r Befo

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hi

The rest is history.

Druscilla’s silent ambush became a witchy legend. That long-ago Halloween night, Druscilla successfully scared each child—only as much as he or she wanted to be scared—just as she had planned.

And at the next worldwide witch council, the witches took a vote:

Tipt oe vs. Broomsticks.

Broomsticks

won by a landslide.

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Sally M. Walker

is the author of more than 50 books for children, including the 2006 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal winner, Secrets of a Civil War Submarine: Solving the Mysteries of the H.L. Hunley. When Sally was a little girl, one of her favorite pastimes was making mysterious potions from twigs, leaves, berries, and other ingredients. To her dismay, none of them made the family’s broom fly. Sally lives in DeKalb, Illinois, with her husband and three cats.

Lee White’s first illustration job was to create a picture for a billboard along Highway 101 in San Jose. He has since learned that he likes illustrating children’s books much better! An honors graduate of the Art Center College of Design, he lives in Portland with his wife, Lisa, and their three crazy cats. Druscilla’s Halloween is his eighth book. Cover illustrations © 2009 by Lee White

t Carolrhoda

Books

A division of Lerner Publishing Group 241 First Avenue North • Minneapolis, MN 55401 www.lernerbooks.com Printed and bound in U.S.A.