The door creaks open, and standing in all his finery is my brother. I scrunch my eyes in a bid to remember what I called him. His name still eludes me, but memories of him do not. He was my protector then – I was sure of it.
I wonder if my presence here is making him remember too. Yet, he probably thinks I am casting a spell on him. False memories of a family he would rather forget. He doesn’t talk, but walks closer, and circles around me.
‘Bethany, you say you are my sister, but all I see is a witch. A powerful witch who can sink my ship with all my crew aboard.’
‘I mean you no harm. If you would only give me a chance to explain, I will tell you everything I know about our mother.’
‘Explain, explain why the skies are red this morning. I see it too, the warning. It tells me you are dangerous. Your friends are of no use to me if we are in a middle of a storm, so I advise you to speak the truth.’
‘The truth . . . the truth is I am your sister. Our mother’s spell made us forget. I know you remember too.’
‘I only remember what you choose me to remember. The little red wagon, we shared because it was the only toy on the ship. I used to pull you across the deck, and you would giggle.’ He shakes his head, as if to stop his memories. ‘All lies of your making.’
‘No lies . . . the truth is I was to be married. Our mother needed to steer me away from the sea, and from being a pirate. It is the reason she lived on the land. I remember a battle. Ships, the smell of burning all around me. Someone saved me, and I was near to death. It is then I have only memories of my farm.’
‘No, these memories are false, and mark my words witch, if the weather changes, you will all be thrown overboard.’
Writer Ravenclaw 