Meet Barnabas – the Apothecary’s Informant

When I open the Witches’ Cafe for Halloween photo shoots on October 17th, you won’t be the only visitors.  I have staff members who shall also be in attendance – including this talkative bird.

Meet Barnabas – the Apothecary’s Informant

Every corner of the Witches’ Café has a story, but none chatter more than the mossy cage in the rafters. Inside sits Barnabas – once a sleek, sharp-eyed raven, now nothing but bone and feathers long gone.

The Spy Raven

In his living days, Barnabas was no ordinary bird. He was trained by the witches themselves to spy on rival potion makers, slipping through keyholes and perching on chimneys to eavesdrop on their recipes. He returned with whispered secrets and scraps of forbidden knowledge, rewarded with thimbles of pumpkin brew and morsels from the witches’ table.

The Poisoned Whisper

But a raven who listens too closely risks hearing things not meant for mortal ears. Barnabas lingered on one whisper too many – words soaked in malice and dark intent. By the time he returned to the Café, his feathers had fallen and his sharp eyes dulled. Only bone remained, his voice forever warped into a cackle.

Gossip for Sale

Now Barnabas perches in his mossy cage, offering half-truths and riddles to anyone who’ll buy him a sip of pumpkin brew. He delights in mixing fact with fiction, secrets with lies, until no one is quite sure what they’ve learned. The witches tolerate him with a smirk – after all, even false gossip can be useful in the right hands.

A Familiar Voice in the Rafters

Visitors to the Café sometimes shiver at the sound of his dry, rattling caw. Children dare each other to ask him questions, though few are brave enough to take his answers seriously. Yet he remains a fixture of the Witches’ Café, part spy, part trickster, and entirely impossible to ignore.

So if you hear a voice above your table whispering about the fate of your fortune… remember: Barnabas never tells the whole truth.