Great beginning for a promising tale! I love your descriptive imagery, ie:
'The cold autumnal wind howled around the trees, sounding like some primeval beast on the prowl.'

And.
'.her long ash blond hair falling in waves over her shoulders and her stick thin body hunched up over her book.'

There are other beautiful examples of good descriptive writing, too, that carry your story along very well.

:-)

a solid, promising start to an unusual story

I really like it so far. Usually witches use lighters because of the sulfer...can't wait to see what happens.

Hi Roz,
This sounds cool. Can't wait to see what you do with it. I forgot to count the kids. Are there 13? At least I *think* that's how many you need for a coven. Looking forward to more. Niere