Speaker 1: Hey, parents, The Curse of Buttley's Hedge is a fun
and spooky story created for kids ages six and up,
but we know every child has different comfort levels, so
we recommend checking the episode description for any potential scare factors.
You know your kid's best, so use your best judgment,
and now onto the story.
Speaker 2: For as much as it hath pleased Almighty God of
his great mercy to take unto himself, the soul of
our dear brother here departed, We therefore commit his body
to the ground.
Speaker 3: Sarah watched as the new Reverend Howell lowered the coffin
containing the good Reverend Brown into the deep, dark hole
in the ground. She had never known anyone who had
died before, and was finding the experience quite disconcerting. When
her mother had told her about Reverend Brown's passing, her
first thought was that he must have drunk the tonic
that Goodie Black had sent him. She ran straight to
the church, but found that no one was there, not
the reverend, not the doctor, not even any worshippers. The
one thing she did find was the unopened bottle of
tonic sitting on the reverend's kitchen table.
Speaker 4: Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, insure
and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 5: Amen. Amen.
Speaker 3: Her best friend Rachel reached out to take Sarah's hand.
Speaker 5: Do you want to come over to my house? Well,
Sala might have had her piglets by now, No, thank you, though.
I think I'm going to pick some flowers for the
reverend's grave. Are you sure? Yeah? Some other time? Okay?
Speaker 3: Sarah didn't really feel like playing. She didn't really feel
like picking flowers either, and she knew she'd have to
go pretty far to find any that were still blooming
this late into the crisp autumn weather, but she did
feel like walking and being by herself. Sarah walked all
the way to the edge of town and then kept
going past the Norris farm through the tunnel of old
oak trees. She walked past the Black house, being careful
not to look at it. She just kept turning the
same questions over and over in her mind.
Speaker 5: Did Goody Black actually cares Farmer Norris or is she
just trying to scare him into leaving her alone? Did
the tonic have saved Reverend Brown or what have hurt him?
Could Goodie Black really be a witch.
Speaker 3: Sarah was deep into the thick forest of birch trees
before she realized she hadn't picked a single flower, and
it was already dusk. She should really be getting home.
Sarah looked all around, trying to find the animal that
made that noise. All she could see were trees and
rocks and ferns, and a pair of yellow eyes glinting
from behind a fallen log. Without thinking, Sarah turned and
started running. She dodged through trees, jumped over rocks, trampled ferns,
and just when she could see the last of the
lingering daylight through the branches straight ahead, her toe caught
on a root and she fell hard. Sarah knew she'd
hurt herself, but she didn't have time to think about it.
She had to get out of that forest before whatever
that thing was caught up with her. She pushed herself
back up and onto her feet, and then she fell
right back down again. Her ankle wouldn't hold her weight.
She couldn't even stand, let alone run. Sarah searched through
the trees behind her, looking for those yellow eyes. Had
it chased her? Was it stalking her? Now? Sensing she
was too injured to run again. Sarah didn't have to
wonder for long. The yellow eyes appeared in the distance
and slowly crept closer to her. It was a full
grown wolf, and it was sniffing the air like it
was hungry and ready for supper. The wolf crouched down,
ready to pounce. Sarah closed her eyes and embraced herself
away e beast. Sarah opened her eyes and stared in disbelief.
Goodie Black was standing right behind her. She held a
lantern in one hand and was swinging it at the wolf.
The flickering light made her white hair and crooked nose
even more terrifying than usual, and even the wolf seemed
unsure what to do. I said, Away, Goody Black took
a heavy step toward the wolf and glared at him.
Then her black cat stepped around Goody's skirts and arched
its back. The wolf must have realized it didn't stand
a chance against Goody and her cat, and it returned
sulkily to the forest. Are you all right, child, oh
Goody Black?
Speaker 5: Thank you. I was sure that that wolf was going
to have me for supper.
Speaker 3: Being eaten seems to be something of a recurring fear
for you. Sarah blushed, remembering how she begged Goody Black
not to eat her when she found her trespassing at
Black farm.
Speaker 5: Not usually, It's just that I fell and gave my
ankle a turn, and I tried to run away.
Speaker 3: But there there, let's have a look. Goody Black stooped
down to Sarah's level and reached for her foot. Instinctively,
Sarah pulled her ankle back, hesitant to let Goody touch her.
Don't fret, I'll not harm you. Sarah looked at Goody
Black's face in the lantern light. It was twilight now,
and Sarah knew that wolf wouldn't have gone very far.
She can either accept Goody's help or risk being a
wolf's supper. The choice was harder than it should have been,
but slowly Sarah straightened out her leg. Goody's touch was
surprisingly gentle, but Sarah couldn't help but WinCE when she
pressed on the spot just above her ankle bone.
Speaker 5: Eh.
Speaker 3: I don't think it's broken, but I'm sure it's very painful.
If we can get you back to my farm, I
will be able to help you. I don't think I
can walk, not yet, not yet. But with plantain leaf
both fresh and green. We'll heal the skin and keep
it clean. Sarah noticed for the first time that Goody
Black was whole, holding a large basket filled almost to
the brim with leaves, twigs, flowers, and mushrooms. She pulled
out a few large, bumpy leaves and wrapped them around
Sarah's ankle. Pausing for a moment to think, she looked
at Sarah and pointed to the ribbons in her hair.
May I nodding? Sarah untied three ribbons and handed them
to Goody Black, watching curiously while she wrapped them tightly
around her ankle to keep the leaves in place. Maybe
it was the distraction, maybe it was the leaves, or
maybe it was her relief at not being eaten alive
by a wolf. But suddenly her ankle wasn't quite so painful.
How does that feel better?
Speaker 2: I think?
Speaker 3: Come on, then, the distance is short, but so is
the leaves work. Goody Black helped Sarah to her feet
and watched as Sarah tested her ankle. It didn't feel good,
but she thought she could just about manage a short walk.
It was slow going between the stooped old lady carrying
a lantern and a heavy basket and a young girl
with only one properly working ankle. Goody's cat seemed impatient
and kept walking ahead, only to double back and meow
at them when they didn't keep up. Does a cat
have a name mouser.
Speaker 5: That's not a name, that's a job.
Speaker 3: Many names come from jobs. My husband was the blacksmith.
His family were all blacksmiths as far back as anyone
can remember. Eventually people shortened it to black.
Speaker 5: I never really thought about that.
Speaker 3: It was dark by the time they reached Goody Black's house,
and Sarah was grateful for the lantern. She wondered what
time it was and whether her mother was looking for her.
Speaker 5: I shouldn't stay long. My mother will be worried.
Speaker 2: Not long, not long.
Speaker 3: We'll put a poultice on that ankle, and you'll be
right as rein soon enough. Sit there and put your
ankle up on that stool. In the poultice, Oh Willow's
bark yarrow, comfrey root. I'll teach you how to make it.
Speaker 5: My mother has tried to teach me to bake a
hundred times, and I'm hopeless at it. I can never
remember what goes with what.
Speaker 3: I'm no good at baking either. But if you can
remember a simple healer's verse, then you can cure aches
and pains.
Speaker 5: A healer's verse.
Speaker 3: Ay, It's how my mother taught me, and her mother
taught her. What I will teach you goes back generations
before most people could read or write. How does it go?
From willow's bark, where pain doth hide?
Speaker 5: Take?
Speaker 3: What thus the ache inside? For swelling, sore or bleeding?
Speaker 5: True?
Speaker 3: The yarrow leaf will see you through. With plantain leaf,
both fresh and green, to heal the skin and keep
it clean. And comfrey root for bones that break will
help the flesh to swiftly wake. Mix these well with care,
and might a poultice pressed by day or night. Let
Nature's balm, so pure and neat, ease your pain from
head to feet. As she spoke the name of each ingredient,
Goody poured pattered herbs from her collection and placed fresh
plantain leaves from her basket into a small bowl. She
added a little water from a nearby bucket and mashed
them into a thick paste.
Speaker 5: Is there anything in there that's dangerous?
Speaker 3: Most things can be dangerous if you don't use them properly.
A bit of sulfur can heal anything from an open
wound to a stinky foot. But mind you don't put
it too close to an open flame unless you like
having your eyebrows singed off. Now your poultice is dunezie.
Just spread this onto a clean cloth and wrap it
around your ankle. Goody Black carefully untied Sarah's ribbons and
removed the plantain leaves, then pressed the cool poultice to
her swollen ankle. The relief was almost immediate, and Sarah
felt her whole body start to relax. As Goody leaned
over Sarah's ankle, her gold locket swung forward and glinted
in the lantern light. Sarah tensed up again, remembering what
Farmer Norris had told her about Goodie Black poisoning her
husband with something she kept in that locket.
Speaker 5: That's pretty lockett. What are you keeping it?
Speaker 3: Even an old woman is entitled to some secrets.
Speaker 5: There.
Speaker 3: That's better, isn't it? Now? Try saying the verse with me,
From Willow's bark, where pain doth hide.
Speaker 5: From willow's bark, where pain doth hide.
Speaker 3: Take what soothes the ache inside.
Speaker 5: Take what soothes the ache inside?
Speaker 3: For swelling soul the yarrow. A couple of hours later,
Sarah was hobbling home carrying Goody's lantern and a small
sack full of dried herbs and bumpy green leaves. By
the time she reached her front door, it was almost midnight. Sarah, Oh, Sarah,
where have you been? The whole town is out looking
for you. Mother Alder grabbed Sarah and hugged her so
tight she could barely respond, I'm all.
Speaker 5: Right, mother, I just fell and hurt my ankle. I
couldn't walk at first, but Goody Black found me and
gave me this stuff to put on it. She said,
I'll be better in a few days.
Speaker 3: Sarah thought it was best not to mention the part
where she was almost attacked by a wolf, or her
mother may never let her out of the house again.
Oh bless that woman. I'll have to go around and
thank her tomorrow. In the meantime, let's get you off
to bed and off that ankle, young lady.
Speaker 5: Yes, mother.
Speaker 3: Sarah didn't sleep well that night. Every time she managed
to drift off, she'd have a terrible nightmare and wake
up sweating. First, she was being chased by a pack
of wolves with golden lockets, for eyes and ferns for faces.
Then she was trapped in the churchyard and couldn't find
her way out, And when she tried to shout for
Reverend Brown, no sounds would come out of her mouth.
But the worst one was when she dreamt she was
at the bottom of a deep, dark well and the
walls were too slippery to climb. She could see Rachel's
face at the top, but Rachel just ignored her Rachel Chill.
That time, she didn't wake up sweating. She woke up
with a chill that she couldn't shake. It was mid
morning by then, so Sarah decided to give up on
sleeping and make a fresh poultice for her ankle. Hobbling
to the kitchen, Sarah opened the window and breathed in
the fresh morning air. Then she got out her little
sack of herbs and started reciting the poem Goody Black
had taught.
Speaker 5: Her from Willow's bark, where pain doth hide? Take what
soothes the ache inside? For swelling so or bleeding, True,
the yarrow leaf will see you through the plaintain leaf,
both fresh and green, to heal the skin and keep
it clean.
Speaker 3: Sarah concentrated on putting just the right amount of each
ingredient into her bowl, just as Goody had shown.
Speaker 5: Her and comfort.
Speaker 3: If she weren't so focused on her task, she might
have noticed Rachel approaching the open window, and she might
have stopped her rhythmic chanting of the Healer's Verse. But
as it was, Sarah didn't notice Rachel until she heard.
Speaker 5: Rachel, it's not but it looks like you're a witch.
Thanks for listening to the Curse of Botley's Hedge. Be
sure to tune in next time for our final episode
next Tuesday, but we'll find out what happens to Sarah
and Goodie Black. If you're liking this story, be sure
to share it with a friend, and as always, stay spooky.
Speaker 1: The Curse of Botley's Hedge was written, produced, and performed
by the Warren Family. Sound effects and music provided by
Epidemic Sound. The main title theme was written by Arthur Benson.
Please be sure to follow us to get notified when
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you next time.