Bratch smiled wide, cracking the dry gray ridges of her lips. "Better get the cackle out now then!" And with excited wide eyes and shoulders jumping the up-and-down, the hag stood stopped in the not-a-path and took in deep swallows of air. Then, pushing her neck back so her teeth faced the sky, Bratch let loose a cackle that shook the tree branches and popped the clouds, sending thin arrows of rain down on the countryside. The screech lasted much longer than a human breath, and left a lingering fearsome feeling in the air. Abuzz with the wicked glee of shrieking, Bratch lowered her head and said, "I'll get to the sneakies and the slippy creeping past the trees. Now's time to enjoy a cackle while we's too far out for any peopley—"<br/><br/>Bratchwitch snapped her giant jaws shut and whipped her neck toward a patch of brambles behind Witch Higgens. A patch of brambles that had just rustled with the clumsy movement of whatever animal or person was trying to hide behind it.