~

 

“Who knew there would be snow?” Eliza grimaced at the veil of white that had suddenly descended outside the car windows and was as close to a blizzard as she ever wanted to get.

“Anyone who watched the weather report?” Nancy offered from the back seat.

“Who watches the weather report?” Eliza tossed back over her shoulder with a snort of contempt for the idea.

“Oh, I don’t know, anyone going on a long drive to the airport,” Nancy berated her.

“Well,” Eliza grimaced once more.

“I don’t think we’re going to be able to go much further in this.” Ashley hated to say it, but they needed to find somewhere to pull in and wait it out.

She had a rock in her stomach and doom sitting on her shoulder. Not to mention the other voice of doom in the backseat.

“But the plane?” Eliza was wide-eyed and despondent.

“Isn’t going anywhere in this weather!” Nancy grumbled and then sighed. “But, that’s a good thing. It means we won’t miss it.”

“So we’re stuck here?” Eliza didn’t like that idea.

“In the middle of nowhere,” Ashley agreed.

“And where is nowhere?” Nancy asked, taking a moment to nose out the window and seeing nothing but snow. “I have this insane need to look up a place before I visit it, being a witch and all.”

“I have no idea where we are,” Ashley admitted.

“You’re the one driving!” Eliza challenged her.

“It’s a straight road. I just kept going. But, I haven’t been able to see a road sign in quite a while.” Ashley hated to admit it, but she’d been daydreaming about sandy beaches – just a little – just enough not to bother looking out at the road signs.

Who needed to pay attention to their surroundings when the nice, polite lady in the little box on the dashboard told her where to go next?

“How can you drive without looking at signs?” Nancy asked, flummoxed at her friend’s admission.

“Straight road – turn when there’s no more road or the map lady tell me too – easy…”

“That’s not good,” Eliza said.

“State the obvious,” Nancy grumbled from the back.

“Okay, your haircut doesn’t suit you,” Eliza tossed back over her shoulder and heard her friend gasp, shortly before she felt the sting of a zap that could only have come from a giant bee or her friend’s magic.

“You don’t have to be mean about it,” Nancy hissed, reaching up and trying to smooth down her short hair that was sticking out in all directions from her head. The shocking pink at the tips of the black spikes was a simple, yet nice touch, or at least she’d thought they were.

“Says the witch that just zapped me,” Eliza grumbled.

“Look! A wall,” Ashley pointed, but the others couldn’t make it out, no matter how much they craned their heads forward and squinted, all they could see was the snow.

“We’ll take your word for it,” Nancy said with a huff as she tossed her body back against the seat.

“A wall is good – a building would be better,” Eliza shrugged.

“Patience is a virtue,” Ashley berated her.

“Hmm, Eliza and virtue – nope, not seeing it.” Nancy snorted a chuckle.

“Maybe there’s an Inn,” Eliza offered back as she ignored her friend’s comment.

“I know it’s Christmas, but I don’t think any of us qualify to be the Virgin Mary, that would definitely be a Christmas bloody miracle,” Nancy snorted another chuckle.

“You certainly don’t!” The witches in the front said in unison.

“Moving on,” Nancy warned them.

 

~

~

~

 

“What do you mean there’s no room at the Inn?” Nancy scowled at the man behind the desk, but he was unfazed by her death glare. Still, she had to try.

“I have a wife and three daughters, and that look in your eye doesn’t worry me at all. Water off a duck’s back, I’m afraid,” he offered back.

“I know something that rhymes with duck, and we’re well and truly fu…” Eliza grumbled.

“But, it’s snowing out there,” Ashley offered him a sweet smile.

“As I said; a wife and three daughters,” he offered back to her.

“Not even a broom closet?” Eliza asked.

“Not even a cat box,” he leaned in and whispered over the top of the large counter.

“Well, is there anything else that’s even remotely close that we might be able to get to?” Ashley asked.

“Up the mountain,” he motioned toward the front door as if directions were just too much of an effort for him.

Ashley slapped her palms down on the desk in front of him, and he did jump in place a little before he brought his attention up to her.

“Could you at least phone ahead and see if they have room?” Her tone said it wasn’t a question, and the look in her eye had changed to one of sheer bloody-mindedness.

The man eyed her for one long moment, and she didn’t blink. She was prepared to use magic if it came to it.

“Of course,” he offered back, raising just one eyebrow as he reached for the phone. He knew when he was beaten, and he figured she was a mean-spirited one.

Ashley huffed as she turned away. She wasn’t about to spend any more time in the damn car than she had to. She’d sleep on the Inn’s sofa if push came to shove, and she’d like to see them get her out of the door.

“You’re in luck,” the receptionist announced, and all three witches turned back expectantly. “It’s a small cabin that they hadn’t planned to use this Christmas, so it’s not guest ready — and beggars can’t be choosers, but they say it’s yours if you want it.”

“We want it!” All three witches said as one.

“They want it,” he said into the phone. He replaced the receiver and offered them a smug smile. “You’re welcome.”

Nancy had the urge to zap the man. Yes, he might have found them a room for the night, but he still didn’t have to be so damn smug about it.

 

~

~

~

 

There were squeals — there was definitely panic inside the car — and everyone was talking over everyone else with bright ideas about what to do as the tires refused to grip anything beneath them, and the car started to slide backward down the steep mountain road.

One unanimous screech went up when something hit the rear end of the car, and they were jolted in the seats. Then they were moving forward again.

“What’s happening?” Nancy demanded as she spun around in her seat and squinted out of the back window. “It’s a big pickup truck!”

“Good to know we weren’t lifted up in an alien’s space beam, or anything,” Eliza offered back.

“Well, we’re going forward and not backward, and that is the main thing!” Ashley said, relieved.

“Let’s just hope that whoever he is he’s the friendly type, and not about to push us off a cliff or anything,” Eliza said, and Nancy smacked her on the back of the head. “Hey!”

“Do you have to be so bloody pessimistic about everything?” Nancy demanded.

“I’m the pessimist?” Eliza snorted. “That’s like saying Ashley hates wine…”

“Not an alien, but someone who is trying to kill us anyway?” Nancy took a moment to think about it. “Yeah, I’d say that’s not very helpful. Not full of warm fuzzy feelings and Christmas cheer.”

“Okay, Christmas cheerleader girl, crawl back into your happy place and ignore the fact that we are in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of a blizzard, and being pushed uphill by — who knows who,” Eliza offered back, raising the shrill-like quality to her voice just enough to make the others grimace.

“Maybe it’s the abominable snowman,” Nancy sneered.

“Maybe he wants to make snow-babies with you,” Eliza tossed back with equal amounts of sneering.

“The point is we’re going forward, not backward – it’s an improvement on Ashley’s driving,” Nancy snapped.