A level 1 Oxford Bookworms Library graded reader. This version includes an audio book: listen to the story as you read. Written for Learners of English by Rowena Akinyemi. Witches are dangerous. They can kill you with a look, or a word. They can send their friend the Devil after you in the shape of a dog or a cat. They can make a clay picture of you, then break it . . . and a few weeks later you are dead. Today, of course, most people don't believe in witches. But in 1612 everybody was afraid of them. Young Jennet Device in Lancashire knew a lot about them because she lived with the Witches of Pendle. They were her family . . .

Word count 5,730

Witches are dangerous. They can kill you with a look, or a word. They can send their friend the Devil after you in the shape of a dog or a cat. They can make a clay picture of you, then break it . . . and a few weeks later you are dead. Today, of course, most people don't believe in witches. But in 1612 everybody was afraid of them. Young Jennet Device in Lancashire knew a lot about them because she lived with the Witches of Pendle. They were her family . . .

Milkmaid Rhoda Brooks cannot control her jealousy of Gertrude - a beautiful woman who has just married a rich farmer. So when Gertrude appears in her dream she cannot help but reach out and grab the arm of the woman she wishes she was. As Gertrude's arm begins to wither away in real life and no physicians are able to give her a solution, she must turn to a conjurer. Considered one of Hardy's most successful short stories, 'The Withered Arm' is unmissable for those who enjoyed the suspense of Edgar Allen Poe's 'A Tell-Tale Heart Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was an architect by trade, but he is best remembered for the major contributions that he made to the literary world. He wrote both novels and poetry and was famed for his pessimistic outlook. The most notable of his works include 'Jude The Obscure', 'Far from the Madding Crowd', and 'Tess of the d'Ubervilles'. His gloomy prose is ideal for fans of Dickens, Defoe, and Keats.