Swamp Witch

A young woman survives an attempt by her father to kill her by feeding her to alligators a few days before her eighteenth birthday. The alligators turn on the father as a mysterious middle-aged woman who has taken refuge in the swamp rescues her. The story is about the relationship between the two women. It follows the younger one's return to her farm, her growth and her eventual rescue of the older woman.
Returning the favor of having been rescued, the younger woman rescues the older one and her sister, who are threatened by people who are intimidated by their special abilities. The story reads quickly and would be suitable for high school students as well as adults.