DIANA WYNNE JONES
Earwig
and the
Witch
ILLUSTRATED BY
PAUL O. ZELINSKY
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
About the Author
About the Illustrator
Credits
Copyright
Back Ad
About the Publisher
At St. Morwalds Home for Children it was the day when people who wanted to be foster parents came to see which children they might want to take home with them.
How boring ! Earwig said to her friend Custard. The two of them were lined up in the dining room with the bigger children. Earwig thought this whole afternoon was an utter waste of time. She was perfectly happy at St. Morwalds. She liked the clean smell of polish everywhere and the bright, sunny rooms. She liked the people there. This was because everyone, from Mrs. Briggs the Matron to the newest and smallest children, did exactly what Earwig wanted. If Earwig fancied shepherds pie for lunch, she could get the cook to make it for her. If she wanted a new red sweater, Mrs. Briggs hurried out and bought it for her. If she wanted to play hide-and-seek in the dark, all the children played, even though some of them were frightened. Earwig was never frightened. She had a very
strong personality.
There were noises from the playroom next door, where the babies and toddlers were lined up, too.
Earwig could hear people crying out, Oh, isnt she sweet! and Oh, just look at this little ones eyes !
Disgusting! Earwig muttered. What cheek! Earwig liked most of the babies and all the
toddlers, but she did not think they were made to be admired. They were people, not dolls.
Its all right for you, her friend Custard said. Nobody ever chooses you.
Earwig liked Custard best out of everyone at St. Morwalds. He always did exactly what she said.
His only fault was that he got scared rather too often. She said soothingly, You never get chosen either. Dont worry.
But people hover over me, Custard said. Sometimes they almost choose me. Then he added, very daringly, Dont you ever want to be chosen and go to live somewhere else, Earwig?
No, Earwig said firmly. But she wondered about it. Might it just be fun to go and live in an
ordinary house the way other children did? Then she thought of all the numbers of people in St.
Morwalds who all did exactly what she wanted, and she realized that in an ordinary house, there
would only be two or three people, or six at the most. That was far too few to be interesting. No,
she said. Anyone who chose me would have to be very unusual.
Just then, Mrs. Briggs came hurrying through from the playroom, looking flustered. The bigger
ones are in here, she said. If youd like to follow me, Ill tell you the names and a little bit about each child.
Earwig had only time to whisper warningly to Custard, Remember to cross your eyes like I taught
you! before a very strange couple followed Mrs. Briggs into the dining room. Earwig could see that they had tried to make themselves look ordinary, but she knew they were not, not in the least. The woman had one brown eye and one blue one, and a raggety, ribby look to her face. It was not a nice face. The woman had tried to make it nicer by doing her hair in blue-rinsed curls and putting on a lot of purple lipstick. This did not go with her brown tweed suit or her bright green sweater. And none of
it went with her big red hat or her sky-blue high-heeled boots.
As for the manthe first time Earwig looked at him, he looked like anyone you might pass in the
street. The second time she looked, she could hardly see him at all. He was like a long black streak in the air. After that, every time she looked at the man, he seemed taller, and taller still, and his face seemed grimmer and more frowning. And he seemed to have long ears. By the time the man and the
woman were standing in front of Custard, Earwig was almost sure that the man was nine feet tall and that he did have two somethings sticking up from his head. The somethings could have been ears, but Earwig rather thought they were horns.
This little boy is John Coster, Mrs. Briggs was saying. Earwig was glad she was not Custard.
His parents were both killed in a fire, Mrs. Briggs explained. So sad!
Custard usually scowled when Mrs. Briggs said this kind of thing. He hated people saying his life was sad. But Earwig could see he was so frightened of the strange
couple that he could not even
frown. And he had quite forgotten to cross his eyes.
Before Earwig could nudge Custard to remind him to cross his eyes, the strange couple lost interest in him. They moved on to stand in front of Earwig. Custard went white with relief.
Mrs. Briggs sighed. And this is Erica Wigg, she said hopelessly. Mrs. Briggs never could quite
pin down just why it was that nobody ever wanted to take Earwig home with them. Earwig was
skinny. Her front teeth and her elbows stuck out rather, and she insisted on doing her hair in two bunches that stuck out, too, just like her elbows and her teeth. But Mrs. Briggs had known far worse-looking children who seemed to be wanted by everyone. What Mrs. Briggs did not know was that