“What other things must I look for to recognise a witch?" I asked.
      "Look for the nose-holes," my grandmother said. "Witches have slightly larger nose-holes than ordinary people. The rim of each nose-hole is pink and curvy, like the rim of a certain kind of seashell."
      "Why do they have such big nose-holes?" I asked.
      ”“asked.
      "For smelling with," my grandmother said. "A REAL WITCH has the most amazing powers of smell. She can actually smell out a child who is standing on the other side of the street on a pitch-black night."
      "She couldn't smell me," I said. "I've just had a bath."
      "Oh yes she could," my grandmother said. "The cleaner you happen to be, the more smelly you are to a witch."
      "That can't be true," I said.
      "An absolutely clean child gives off the most ghastly stench to a witch," my grandmother said. "The dirtier you are, the less you smell."
      "But that doesn't make sense, Grandmamma."
      "Oh yes it does," my grandmother said. "It isn't the dirt that the witch is smelling. It is you. The smell that drives a witch mad actually comes right out of your own skin. It comes oozing out of your skin in waves, and these waves, “stink-waves the witches call them, go floating through the air and hit the witch right smack in her nostrils. They send her reeling.

Chapter 2: “How to Recognise a Witch