Page 49 of Enchanted in Time
He licked up every last drop of the potion. Nothing happened.
“Why isn’t he changing?” Hannah asked.
“It takes a moment,” Mirabelle muttered, her eyes fixed upon him intently. “It’s about to happen—it’s almost there!”
“Do you feel anything yet?” Hannah asked Maximilian.
“Yes,” he said, “I’m feeling warm. In my belly and my chest. There’s a tingling and fizzing sensation.”
He was surrounded by a shimmering, flickering reddish light. Hannah watched him carefully. Soon he would be the prince again. Maybe they could walk to the castle and spend the afternoon together before she returned. Just for today.
The light grew stronger and engulfed him completely.
“It’s almost there,” Mirabelle mumbled.
The bear prince let out an earsplitting cry. He roared so loudly that the birds in the trees around them flew off, and there was rustling in the undergrowth, as if all the animals and magical creatures were fleeing. He let out another roar that was even more piercing, more animal-like. He lashed out, turned, spun around, fell to the ground, and reared up. Again, he roared, and it sounded even louder and more dangerous.
“Does this mean the animal in him is disappearing?” Hannah asked. As she watched him, the sight gripped her heart. She could see that he was in pain. Hopefully, it would be over soon. She wanted to ask Mirabelle some more questions when she noticed her conniving look. The old woman’s malicious grin spoke volumes.
“What have you done? What kind of potion is this?” Hannah cried.
The old woman gave a hideous laugh. She rose up to her full height and raised her gnarled hands in the air with a menacing gesture. A storm arose and swirled around her, blowing aside the cloth she had been wearing on her head. Long, gray hair covered with dust was whipping around her gaunt and haggard face.
“It’s finished!” she cried. “The transformation is complete!”
“Transformation?” Hannah cried. “But he’s still a bear! He was supposed to turn human again!”
Once again, Mirabelle laughed maliciously. “I should help him turn human again? When he took everything from me?”
The bear let out a loud roar and bared his teeth. He looked at Hannah. Where was the sea-green color of his eyes? Where was the human being in him? Hannah saw only the animal. His eyes looked dark and dangerous. He growled and showed his sharp canine teeth. Then he reared up again and stood on his hind legs. He was so huge that Hannah backed away.
“Now he’s a bear through and through!” Mirabelle shrieked. “The potion has made the change go quicker!”
“Friiiiiiiiiedaaaaaa!” Hannah screamed as loud as she could. “Friiiiiiiiiiedaaaaaaaa!”
The potion in the cauldron shimmered, and soon her neighbor’s pointy, mouselike face appeared. “Hannah, my dear, what’s wrong?”
“Mommy, is that you?” It was Emi’s voice.
“Watch out behind you, Mom!” yelled Marco.
The bear lunged at Hannah and tried to strike her with his paw. Hannah leapt to the side, and the paw missed. The bear roared once more. Quick as a flash, Mirabelle pulled out one of the burning branches from the fire beneath the cauldron and swung the flaming branch at the wild beast. The bear raised his paws, growled, and fell down on all fours. Then off he ran, into the dark forest depths.
“Mirabelle! What have you done?” cried Frieda. There was a threatening sound in her voice that Hannah had never heard before.
But the old woman merely sneered. “What will you do? You’re not even here!” She raised her hands and pointed them at Hannah. Was she a sorceress after all?
“Mirabelle, wait, you don’t know—” Frieda cried.
But her words were lost on the aged one. “Darkness and shadows, come and?—”
“Run, Hannah, run!” Frieda screamed. “Run far away from there!”
Hannah turned as white as a sheet. She took a few steps back and stumbled over some scattered branches but didn’t fall. One last look at Mirabelle’s hysterical, smoldering eyes and raised hands was more than enough. She turned and ran as fast as she could—into the dark and menacing woods.
18
Emi and Leon were huddled on the couch next to Frieda and sobbing as they clung to her. Marco was also sitting beside them and nervously tapping his foot. His voice broke through the quiet as he whimpered, “What’s going to happen to Mom?”
