The Employee

Throughout my career, I have met many intriguing people. But no one will ever compare to the first employee I ever hired. I may as well start from the beginning. I was much younger and had just graduated medical school. I had been the only girl in my class and not many people believed that I could become a doctor. Still, I wasn’t about to give up on my dreams, so I settled in a small country town and opened up an office. I was the only doctor in town, so my practice became quite busy. After a few weeks, I decided that I needed an assistant. With the little money I had, I took a carriage to the printing press office and requested an advertisement space. On my way home, I was stopped by Alexander Wilson, a medication merchant. I’d already told him about my problem, for he knew a lot of people with his job.

“Miss McCarter, I’ve solved your predicament!” he called out as my carriage stopped.

“Great! Who is it?” I excitedly replied.

“Well, her first name is Vanessa, but I’m not sure of her surname,” he said in an odd tone. I nodded and was about to respond, but I was interrupted.

“She will come to your office tomorrow. Good day, Doctor.” He pulled his hat brim down and shuffled away.

Now what was that about? I wondered as I signaled for the driver to go. I was very enthusiastic for my new secretary coming tomorrow. But I couldn’t help but think about the strange way Mr. Wilson had acted when Vanessa was mentioned.



I was with a patient when I heard soft knocking at the front door. I went to let my visitor in, a young woman with curly, black tresses and yellowish-green eyes. Her fingernails were painted red and she was wearing a black cloak. I welcomed her in and brought her back to the reception room.

“Vanessa, correct?” I questioned.
She nodded vigorously, “Yes, Doctor McCarter.”
“It’s great to have you, but I have a patient right now. Could you please wait here until I’m finished?”

“Yes, ma’am,” she acknowledged as she sat down.
Feeling satisfied, I returned to my patient. When I was finished, I showed her out and went back to Vanessa. On my way, I noticed a large, flat object under her enormous bag. Ignoring my curiosities, I asked her if she had a surname.
“My surname? Well, I suppose I didn’t give it to you yet. My full name is Vanessa Witchington,” As she spoke the last part, I saw a strange gleam in her eyes. Very strange, but a name is just a name, of course.
I nodded and replied, “Would you like to get to know the office better?”
A whimsical look crossed her eyes. “I already know it, Doctor McCarter.”
Overlooking the smart-aleck comment, I replied in a serious tone. “Vanessa, you need to know how to do your job. Just let me show you how I want it done.”
With an unpleasant grin, she chirped, “I already know how, Doctor!”
By now, I had a terrible headache and was quite irritated, if I do say so myself. I forced a tight-lipped grin and darted back to my office. It’s horrible to think, but I was hoping she would mess up so I could teach her about respect.

A few minutes later, I came out to see little Jonathan Brown and his mother seated and already signed in. Vanessa must have done it without me telling her! I beckoned for them to follow me and passing Vanessa, I gave her a praiseful look. She must have asked Mr. Wilson what to do when she saw him last. She couldn’t have known otherwise. As I led them back to the little room, I glanced into the reception room and was confused at what I saw. I couldn’t show my surprise to a patient, so I kept walking down the hall. As soon as Johnny’s appointment ended, I showed them out. Vanessa looked up to wave goodbye, but quickly went back to studying her book, which I soon realized was the large object under her bag. I went into the her room and went over to what I had thought to be a washing basin in the middle of the floor. As I got closer, I realized that it was a cauldron! Suitable for the witch-type, the black pot was heated and had white steam rising out of its lid. Completely appalled, but somewhat intrigued, I quietly took off the lid as I heard a shrill voice behind me.

“What are you doing?” Vanessa’s cackling voice rang out


“I didn’t know what it was,” I retorted.

“Well, it’s um, my lunch,” she answered.
I nodded in understanding, but I was suspicious. The liquid in the pot was bright blue with yellow specks. I’d never seen anything like it. I wondered why anyone would eat such a thing. Despite this, when I pulled out leftover soup for lunch, Vanessa ladled it into a bowl.


The next day, I came in earlier so Vanessa wouldn’t have to wait outside until I could come unlock the door. But amazingly, she was already inside!
“Did I leave it unlocked?” I asked.
“No, Doctor, you gave me a key,” She held up a strangely shaped, copper key that I had never seen before.
“Don’t be silly, of course I didn’t,” I protested.
“You did, ma’am. I’m quite certain,” She stared at me with a forceful look and her yellow eyes seemed to be glowing. I forgot what I was doing and where I was, like I was in a trance.
Hazily, I said, “Now I remember. I did give you a key.” I shook myself and began blinking rapidly.
“You remember? Oh, I did it!” she squealed.
“Did what? I hope it wasn’t any tricks on me!” I shouted angrily.
Her eyes got big and innocent. “Oh no, I’m just surprised you believed me.” she uttered nervously.
I looked her up and down, hoping she caught the doubt in my eyes. The rest of the day was just as strange, if not stranger. At noon, I took out more cold stew and Vanessa ate more of her “soup”.
“What exactly is that, Vanessa?” I asked.
“It’s supposed to increase your abilities.” she said absentmindedly.
“What abilities?” I questioned.
Her eyes stopped on mine for a second, puzzled. “You know, make you smarter and such,” she said.
“Sure,” I agreed, though I was still confused. No wonder Alexander Wilson had acted so odd that day. This girl was so peculiar.
Vanessa was seated at her desk once again when I arrived the next morning. She was too busy reading to acknowledge my hello. I went into the reception office to hang up my coat. Her pot was there again, but it was empty now. I checked my schedule for the day. My only scheduled appointment was at 11:30 for the Johnson triplets, who had severe stomach flu. Yuck.
With not much to do, I sorted patient files for most of the morning. At 11:45, the three boys moped through the door, followed by their weary mother. Mrs. Johnson signed them in with Vanessa while I took the boys back to the exam room. I checked the boys and prescribed a medication all while avoiding getting thrown up on. As I led them back down the hall and out the door, I noticed the lock on Vanessa’s door was turned. Once they were gone, I stormed back to the door and unlocked it. I turned the knob and flung open the door.
“Huh!” Vanessa gasped. Crash! A glass jar fell to floor as she spun around. She had bent over her cauldron, which was now over boiling and making a terrible mess. “I-I can explain!” she stuttered.
“I’d hope so! What is going on here?” I yelled.
“I was just making a little tonic I read about,” Her eyes begged for forgiveness.
I let out a deep, annoyed sigh and slowly backed out of the room. “That’s fine. Just fine. Clean it up.” I fled for the back room and slammed the door behind me. Why was she always causing me troubles? I simply couldn’t bother myself with her anymore! She was a bother and I would have to get rid of her.

I came into the office the next morning ready to fire Vanessa, but a patient came in right after I got there. I went back to the exam room and was about to start the appointment when a scream and loud sobbing interrupted us.
“Please wait here, ma’am,” I said before running down the hallway. Vanessa was bent over a boy who was laying on the lobby floor. A mother was sitting in a chair weeping into her hands. I sat down beside Vanessa to see what was wrong. The boy was Mikey Emerson from down the street. A long skinny cut ran from the middle of his forehead to his cheek and he had a deep scrape on his chin. They were both bleeding terribly.
“Vanessa, go get some gauze,” I ordered. She didn’t budge. Instead, she put her bony finger on his cut. “Vanessa, now! This is a serious injury!”
“Shh. . .quiet. Doctor, would you get into my bag and bring me the jar labeled curing?”she calmly asked.
“What?” Mikey’s mother and I yelled at the same time. She buried her face in her arms again.
“Please, Doctor. After all, this is a serious injury,” Vanessa reasoned.
Indignant, but with no other options, I raced to the reception room and grabbed Vanessa’s handbag. I rifled through it until I found the jar that read, “curing elixir”. Whatever it was, I hoped that it could help Mikey.

I twisted the lid off the jar and handed it to Vanessa. She carefully poured some of the goo onto Mikey’s face and rubbed it around. As I gazed on in shock, the cut closed on it’s own, leaving behind only a faint scar. The scrape turned light pink until only a small scab remained. She snapped her fingers and a towel appeared. I was so horrified, I couldn’t speak. She wiped up the blood from his face.
“Mrs. Emerson, I believe your son is all better now,” she said with a satisfied smile.
Mikey’s mother got down to the floor and pulled her son into her lap. “Oh my,” she whispered after examining her son. “How?” she questioned with aghast.
“Vanessa, that’s-” I dropped my voice to a whisper. “Witchcraft!”
“Oh, I don’t care what it is! I won’t tell a soul!” Mrs. Emerson promised.
Vanessa blushed. “Thank you, ma’am.” She turned towards me with an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Doctor. I wanted to try out my new potion so badly.”
“That’s fine, Vanessa. Mikey’s okay and that’s all that matters.” I sent her a stiff smile to show that while I was happy, I still expected an explanation.
Mrs. Emerson seemed to notice my hostility and stood up to leave. “Thank you again. That was truly amazing, Miss Vanessa.” She held out her hand to her son, who had sat up and was feeling his scar in bewilderment. “Come Mikey, we’d better get home.” After they’d walked out. I turned to Vanessa, about to say something, but she interrupted me.
“Doctor, let me explain. It’s about time I stopped keeping things from you.” She cleared her throat and held out the elixir jar. “As you saw, this is a healing potion. I made it yesterday in my cauldron, which you saw as well. I got the recipe from my spell book.”
“Spell book?You mean the hardback book you’re always reading?” I asked.
She nodded and led me back to the reception room where she picked up the book to show me the cover. It was a plain, black cover until she said an incantation and words appeared on the front.
“A guide to sorcery,” I read. “Student edition.”
“See doctor, I am a witch. I’m studying to go to a training school. But I took this job because I needed money to apply to the school. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, and I’m sorry that I was always bothering you.” She gave me a sad look. “In a few weeks, I’ll have the amount I need to go to the school. The semester starts in a few days, but I can wait until I earn all the money. Then, I’ll be out of your hair for good.” She looked down at her feet.
I stared at her for a minute then pulled out my change purse. “How much do you need?” I asked.
She looked up and started to protest. “Oh, Doctor, I couldn’t do that,” she argued.
“Vanessa, I want to help you in any way I can.”
She smiled gratefully. “Thank you, Doctor. I need twenty more dollars.”
I pulled out twenty five dollars from my purse and handed them to her. “Twenty for school, five for good luck,” I beamed and was surprised to feel tears forming at the back of my eyes. “Goodbye, Vanessa,” I said as I hugged her.
“Goodbye, Doctor, thank you for everything.” She looked up at the clock on my wall. “I’d better be going. But I almost forgot.” she concentrated on a spot on the wall and tapped her foot two times. “There, your patient is all taken care of, and she’s home and happy.”
“Umm, thank you. . .” I said in surprise.
“No problem, see you soon, Doctor.” And with that, she snapped her fingers and disappeared in a cloud of pink smoke.



It wasn’t until a week later that I was finally able to speak to Mr. Wilson again.

“Mr. Wilson, it’s good to see you!” I called out as he pulled up to the curb in his automobile.
“How are you, Miss McCarter?” he asked.
“Wonderful, although I’m looking for another secretary. Vanessa went off to school. She’s very strange, yes?” I inquired.
“Oh, yes,” He nodded vigorously. “In fact, she scares me a bit! It was hard to find someone who would take your offer, so I had to settle with her. ” He looked down at his watch. “Oh no, I’m running late. Goodbye, Miss McCarter.” he said as he started up his engine.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Wilson, but I was just thinking that since I need a new assistant, you might be up for the job of finding me another?” I asked innocently. I was able to catch a glimpse of the sickly green look on Mr. Wilson’s face as he pulled away and drove off. Just the thought of it made me chuckle the whole way home. Yes, indeed, in all my years, I’ve never encountered such an interesting and intriguing individual as Vanessa Witchington. Perhaps there is more to a name than just a name. . . .