The 5th Witch by Graham Masterton Page B

village with a population of fifteen retards and twenty-three goats.”
    Dan checked his watch. “Look, I really have to call headquarters. They should have the preliminary results of the autopsies by now.”
    But Annie lifted her finger to her lips and said, “ Ssh! ”
    Suddenly there was a soft, shifting sound. Dan looked down at the map and saw that the salt was swirling across it like a spiral star. It went around faster and faster, and as it did so the spokes of the star spread wider.
    “I never saw it do this before,” said Annie. “Usually, it all gathers at one point.”
    Instead, the salt separated into four small piles—one in Brentwood, one in Santa Monica, one in Silverlake and the last one in Laurel Canyon, in Beverly Hills.
    “Laurel Canyon, that’s where the Zombie lives,” Dan frowned. “But what are these other piles?”
    Annie stood up, went to her desk, and opened a small woven sewing basket. She came back with a paper pack of needles and drew one out. She laid it carefully on top of the pile of salt on Laurel Canyon, with its point in the center of the pile. Without any hesitation, without Annie touching it, the needle rose and stood vertical.
    “There,” she said. “That proves it. Your Haitian woman is a witch.”
    She laid another needle on the pile in Brentwood. Instantly, the same thing happened: the needle stood by itself and stayed balanced on its point.
    “What does that mean?” asked Dan. “There’s another witch there?”
    Annie laid needles on the third and fourth piles of salt. They both stood erect.
    “We have four witches,” she said. “And very charismatic witches, too.”
    “Four? Jesus, the Zombie wasn’t kidding when he said that magic was coming to town. Here, let me check these locations.”
    He took hold of the needle hovering above Laurel Canyon and used it to puncture the map. Then hecleared away the salt and made an X with his pen. He did the same with the needles over Santa Monica and Silverlake.
    He was about to mark the Brentwood location when Annie gripped his hand. “Stop, Dan—be careful! Look!”
    She was right to warn him. The needle was glowing a dull red—and, as they watched it, it began to glow brighter and brighter, until it was white hot. A thin wisp of smoke came out of the map, and the little pile of salt began to crackle and jump.
    “This witch knows that we’ve found her,” Annie said.
    “What?”
    “She knows that we’ve found her. She can probably taste the salt and feel the prick of the needle.”
    The salt turned blue and green, and began to jump even more violently. Then, with a flaring noise, the entire map burst into flame and flew into the air. It floated nearly as high as the ceiling before it was burned into nothing but black ash. It fell, crinkling and glowing, back to the rug. Dan stamped on it to make sure that all of the sparks were extinguished.
    Annie said, “My God. That is one powerful witch. I never knew that there was a witch with that much influence, not in L.A. I don’t know why I never felt her before.”
    “Maybe she wasn’t here before. Maybe she only just arrived.”
    “This is very strange,” said Annie. “It’s worrying, too. I can’t believe that it’s a coincidence, four witches all appearing at the same time. Especially four witches as influential as these.”
    “Could be that they simply decided to hold their annual convention in L.A.”
    “No…witches are very reluctant to travel to other places except when they’re called for, especially if theyhave to cross salt water. Your Haitian woman must have been specially invited by this Zombie guy. The question is, who are the other three witches, and who invited them? Especially the one who set fire to my map. She’s the strongest, by far.”
    Annie picked up the four needles from out of the ashes and held them tightly between finger and thumb. “You know, I feel very strongly that there’s a connection between these witches, that they’re