The Cauldron Cup

By Kathryn M. Holgate

Are witches real?
Can cats talk?

Find out when you visit Witchworld and meet dizzy Dottie Doolittle.

Dottie’s all a dither after a storm accidentally delivers an invitation to attend the prestigious final of the witches’ national game Witchball in the presence of scary witch queen, Her Royal Witchiness Queen Skirty Ma’am!

If you enjoyed The Witches by Roald Dahl, you will love this hilarious book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing
• Release date: Dec 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781786455277

Kathryn M. Holgate

I am a retired art teacher living in West Yorkshire with my husband, and son and large ginger cat called Garfield. I started writing short stories when my daughters went to university; many of them featured cats, and Garfield is the inspiration for Dottie’s cat Amber.Although four of my stories have been read by BBC Radio Leeds, The Cauldron Cup is my first children’s book.

Book preview

Chapter 1.

The Invitation

It was a windy night in Witchworld. Many windows flapped open along Oak Avenue before noisily banging shut again. Some stayed closed but rattled annoyingly. Together, the wind and rain slashed leaves from the branches of trees and made the tree house sway from one side to another in a scary way.

What a wild night! exclaimed Dottie Doolittle as she watched her ginger cat Amber cover her ears with her paws. The gas fire spluttered, crackled and went out. Amber gave a woeful meow, and Dottie re-lit the fire.

Enough of this nonsense! Losing patience with her troublesome windows, she pointed her magic wand in their direction. The windows closed instantly. About time!

The little witch bent down to tickle Amber’s soft ears – My sweet girl – and then nearly jumped out of her skin when the windows crashed open again, flapping their insolence. She pointed her wand at them for a second time, and they obediently slammed shut.

Thank you! That is quite enough, she said crossly. However, the spell wasn’t strong enough to ensure they remained closed. Dottie had to repeat it again, and again. She knew she needed to be wearing her spectacles to form a strong spell, but she didn’t know where they were. Eventually, she gave up and went to fasten the windows together with a piece of string.

Sorted, she told Amber, who was rolling about by the hearth, basking in its warmth, and didn’t seem to care at all about the windows.

Dottie went to sit in her favourite chair, looking out at the windy night, which was when she noticed a piece of white paper stuck to the outside of the windowpane. Even with her spectacles, it would have been too far away for her to read. She shut her eyes and tried to ignore it, but the sound of it flapping against the glass soon got on her nerves.

When she couldn’t stand it any longer, she stomped angrily across the room to untie the string, but she had done too thorough a job, and her stubby little fingers couldn’t undo the knots.

Oh, goodness me! Now I need a pair of scissors from the kitchen drawer – and my spectacles!

She quickly formed a come-hither spell, which brought the scissors so fast she had to duck to avoid them hitting her on the head, but she didn’t hear them land. She found out why when she stood up and discovered the scissors were dancing and pirouetting neatly like a ballerina in time to the noise made by the wind.

Very cross indeed, Dottie grabbed at them, but they dodged out of her reach. She tried again and overbalanced, nearly falling over as they flew around the room with her chasing after them. The sight of her leaping around caused much entertainment to Amber, who watched with huge, round eyes from a safe hiding place. Luckily, she wasn’t a magical cat so couldn’t share with anyone else her mistress’s strange antics trying to catch the very wayward scissors.

Out of breath from the chase, Dottie clapped her hands, and what would you know, the scissors settled on the windowsill! Picking them up, she was at last able to cut the string and open the window.

There! Dottie said, finally holding the troublesome scrap of paper, but when she went to put it in the bin, it stuck to her fingers. She tried to pull it off with her other hand only to find it was stuck to that one too.

All of a sudden, as though it meant to snatch the paper back, a strong gust blew the window wide open. Dottie gasped at the cold, wet shock of the wind in her face as she battled to shut the window again. Wrapping another piece of string around the handles, she tied a big knot and tugged the string tight.

At last, the window was shut, but the troublesome paper now floated all around the room with Amber chasing after it and trying to bop it out of the air. It drifted up in the hot air from the hearth and settled precariously on the mantelpiece. Before it could fall into the fire, Dottie snatched up the paper, only then noticing there was something written on it.

It said:

Dottie Doolittle looked down at the card with its blue border and gold crown emblazoned in the top,