Witches Teeth: Gretchen's (Mis)Adventures Season One, #4

By P.A. Mason

The last time Gretchen thought about tooth fairies she was a kid, but now she has an unwanted night visitor fixated on her chompers.

 

When she learns that witches teeth are a valuable commodity, Gretchen draws a link between the realm of tooth fairies and her missing Great Aunt Esme.  Her spellbook knows something, and Gretchen is determined to uncover the truth.

 

Nobody who ventures to the fairy realm ever returns, and the treaty forged between their worlds is long forgotten. But what lurks in their forests is gaining hold over fairy territory, and two youngsters are held hostage.

 

Sinister shadows. Tangled webs. Sticky hives.

 

Gretchen's first promise is to save the children, but seeking answers to her Aunt's fate hangs in the balance. 

 

Check out these witchy short reads each month for a new spin on a classic tale.

• Language: English
• Publisher: P.A. Mason
• Release date: Nov 2, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393894377

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 P.A. Mason

All rights reserved.

First Edition

Editing services provided by CJ Skye

Cover design by P.A. Mason

ASIN: B08BWB3HFS

Gretchen’s (Mis)Adventures

Season 1, Episode 4

Witches Teeth

P.A. Mason

For all the folks who thought fairies stealing teeth under

the cover of darkness was creepy. It is.

CHAPTER 1

Gretchen winced and put a hand to her cheek. It was impossible to concentrate on what Lord Pelican was saying. His jowls wobbled, and it sounded like he had something important to say, but her tooth stole all her attention.

And this is the most vital part, Lord Pelican chimed. But even as he spoke a fish leaped over their lily-pad table, and he darted his head out and caught it in his beak with a-

Hey! Gretchen sat bolt upright in bed with a hand to her cheek.

A small fairy hovered over her bed and illuminated her bedroom. Gretchen snatched at the string in her mouth and winced as it pulled on her tooth. The fairy went to make off, but Mulligan swatted it with a paw, a transfixed look in his eye.

What in tarnation do you think you’re doing? Gretchen spat out the string and sprang out of the bed.

The fairy, though winded, leaped up from her bedspread and launched into the air, avoiding Mulligan’s ill-timed pounce. Before Gretchen could close the door, the fairy slipped out, and she watched as it ducked up her chimney out of sight.

Gretchen winced and ran a tongue along her gum to check for damage. Aside from the taste of blood, everything seemed in order, and she turned to her feline who sniffed around her hearth.

Fat lot of good you are, she snorted. Why is there a fairy buzzing around trying to play dentist?

With Mulligan providing no reasonable excuse, Gretchen shrugged on her robe and set the kettle to boil with shaking hands. A nice cup of tea with a little yarrow to stop the bleeding. Gretchen stood unmoving in the middle of her kitchen. Her tooth. That fairy was about to steal her damn tooth!

As she waited, she sat at the table and put her head in her hands. Sleep crept up on her, and her mind lulled. Teeth and fairies. And pelicans.

The kettle whistled and brought her out of her reverie. She bustled about, lit some candles, and prepared her favorite teapot. She filled it with boiled water to let it steep and sunk into her favorite chair by the fire, eyeing the chimney askance lest the fairy decide to come back and finish the job. With eyes as wide as saucers, she sat in a quiet vigil until the first sounds of birdsong came from the gardens, with the dim light of dawn followed close behind it.

Estelle, she announced, standing up. She’ll tell me what’s going on.

Mulligan lay sprawled on her bed as she dressed. He gave a yawn and stretched at her disruption. With a muttered curse about his inferior hunting skills, she snatched her pouch from its hook and buttoned her cloak against the chilly morning. Striding out to her garden with determination, she clicked her fingers at her broom and was soon airborne, heading to the Fairy Godmother’s house.

Although only a few fields over, Estelle’s house was worlds apart from Gretchen’s own humble abode. Instead of medicinals and vegetables, flowers of every color in the rainbow crowded close to her whitewashed brick walls, in bloom no matter what the season. Gretchen landed around back where she was less likely to scuff up the pristine lawn and stomped up to the back door to shake the chimes that served as a doorbell.

Gretchen waited a full three minutes, seething, until the door opened a crack and the perpetually vague-looking fairy peered out and settled her half-moon spectacles on her nose.

Oh, is that you, Gretchen? Early for a visit, but I’ve not long put the kettle on. She swung the door open and pulled her shawl close around her shoulders.

I seem to have a fairy problem. Gretchen scraped her boots before she entered the cheery kitchen. The tooth kind.

Oh? Estelle tittered nervously and fetched two dainty teacups. Can’t say we mix much, us godmothers and those little creatures.

So, you wouldn’t have any insight as to why I had a fairy trying to give me an involuntary extraction while I slept? Gretchen narrowed her eyes, as Estelle’s wing twitch gave her away.

Oh, dear. She readied a floral painted tea tray and set it on the table. I guess things must be getting dire.

Dire? If I’m getting assaulted in my bed in the middle of the night, I’d say they were worse than dire. What do you know?

Estelle settled on a stool across from her and poured tea with a dreamy look on her face. Gretchen gritted her teeth while she waited for the aging fairy to gather her thoughts and drummed her fingers on the table.

You do know what the fairies use teeth for, yes?

Fairy dust. Everyone knows that. Though I’ll never understand why it’s called fairy dust and not kiddie-teeth dust.

"You could grind children’s teeth all day and never get fairy dust, dear. It’s just