Chapter 3

Diana had guests tonight. She had twelve guests, all female and all in the process of taking their clothes off, down to the very last stitch. Twelve plus Diana equalled a Coven! The sinister side of Diana, which Fortescue admired, was to the fore tonight!

Diana had discovered an ancient parchment in the attic of her old cottage and had translated its archaic Latin into modern idiomatic English. It was a detailed set of instructions for raising the Spirit of the Old Wood.

Even in these days, tales of the Spirit of the Old Wood made superstitious locals give the whole area around Diana's house a wide berth. Old women still scared the wits out of their granchildren by telling stories of lovely young village maidens disappearing when on thetr way to lovers' trysts in the Old Wood and not being seen again for years until they re-appeared, deranged and broken shadows of their former lovely selves.

Diana was only an amateur Witch. A dilettante sorceress. Truth to tell she had too much money, too much time on her hands and too little idea of how to use her time and money constructively. Her twelve friends had all been picked especially for this occasion and all were pretty much as frivolous as their hostess. None of these silly, but likeable, young ladies had the slightest idea what they would do if the Spirit of the Old Wood DID materialise!

Francine was not one of the Coven. Diana had from the first excluded her best friend. Miss Francine was too fond of dominating any gathering, and Diana wanted to be in charge tonight. After all, whose parchment was it anyway? Hers! And, more than that, she didn't want Francine wittering on to the rest of her friends about her newly acquired yen to be a slave. Diana was ashamed of Francine at certain times - like now, for instance!

Meanwhile the slaver ship had landed and a party been despatched to pick up the latest batch of carefully selected female slaves. An hour later, as the Coven marched out into the dark Old Wood, shivering more from excitement than cold, the batch (five of them, including Francine) were being stowed away in the hold, unconscious and blissfully unaware of the horrible fate that awaited them in the furthest reaches of Outer Space.

It was at this point, as Diana was chanting the Latin invocation to raise the centuries dormant Spirit of the Old Wood, that the careless and incompetent Captain fell clumsily against the Control Panel, switching off the cloaking device and bathing the Old Wood in a light as bright as a Midsummer day. Thirteen terrified young ladies emerged from the wood manifestly seized by pure terror and made for the shelter of Diana's cottage. Six cats could also be seen making for safety, well ahead of the humans, and looking every bit as scared as the demoralised Coven.

When Diana had told them they were to become Familiars for the evening, the cats had reacted with their customary sangfroid. Diana was good to them and had promised several mouth-watering treats as a reward. But the bright light and howling siren-like noise (the alarm and public address systems had also been activated by the clumsy oaf of a Captain), had caused the six pussy cats to lose all interest the evening's occult enterprise. All they wanted was to hide under Diana's bed.

The Lady Fortescue saw her mistress leading the rest of the pack by a large and widening distance. Diana was very athletic and her naked young body was moving with a wonderful rhythmic grace, even in her fear, as she rapidly approached her home. The rear of this train was brought up by Dolores, whose plump chubbiness was not built for either speed or grace, as her floppy, flabby breasts threatened to strike her under her fat chin with every gasping step. The rest of the group were strung out behind their leader, some of them lovely girls, but none as bewitching as the fair Diana. The Lady Fortescue screeched with laughter at the sight and the group became more terrified than ever. The six cats disappeared through the half open front door after some confusion, as all tried to pass inside at once. The sight of her six companions spitting and hissing in their anxiety to be first to make it to safety made her laugh more loudly than ever.

Soon all members of the routed Coven and their panic-stricken Familiars were inside and collecting their wits. Diana spoke first. She was the Leader, after all!