Chapter 25
25
Dora watched from the door as Lenny and Sephy walked along the garden path. Hades was on one of the thick branches of the twisted hazel tree, pacing up and down.
Dora stared up at him. ‘I know, I feel the same, I feel terrible.’
He kept on hopping up and down and didn’t answer. She felt truly awful. There was a chance she was letting Lenny go face Corwin all alone and, judging by what her aunts had told her, that wasn’t a wise decision. Lenny didn’t even turn to wave when she left, which stung Dora even more than she expected. Her aunt was mad and she didn’t blame her but she hadn’t wanted her to go, she had wanted to go herself and was just as mad at the pair of them.
Lenny hugged Sephy and took the van keys from her, pushing Sephy back in the direction of the house.
Dora went back inside and rushed up the stairs to knock on Lucine’s door. A faint voice called out, ‘Come in, my dear girl.’
Dora stepped into the room where the smell of death lingered in the air and she knew it was bad.
Lucine patted the mattress. ‘Come, child, tell me what worries you so.’
She rushed to sit on the bed next to the beautiful woman who was her mum, a mum she’d never known existed, and felt a rush of emotions – love, sadness and anger – all rolled into one giant ball that lodged itself inside her chest.
‘I feel so bad about everything, that I don’t remember the past, that I’ve let Lenny go back to London to face that evil man when it should be me.’
Lucine took hold of Dora’s hand, her grip much stronger than she expected. ‘I know how conflicted you are, and I know a lot of things, it’s just the way I am. You are honourable, brave and courageous, Dora, the way you always have been. Of course you feel as if you needed to be the one to go to London, but none of this is your fault, you always were a complete innocent in all of this. Life was never meant to be this hard and the choice is yours whether you decide to carry on with the suffering or enjoy every precious minute. The hanging times were horrific, and no one knows that better than us English women, but they are over to a certain degree. Time has moved on thankfully or at least it has for everyone except Corwin.
‘You need to make a choice and live for the moment, stop burying the torch of pain deep inside your heart for I fear it’s this that is keeping your memories blocked. I think once you open up and accept who you really are then all of this uneasiness, the confusion and amnesia will leave and, in their place, you will see your true self and the woman you are. I am so proud of you; I always have been and always will be. Maybe this lifetime you are not meant to remember who you really are and there could be a very good reason for that.
‘I love you more than life itself, Dora, and I am always by your side. You only have to close your eyes and think of me. I will be there, in the beauty of a summer’s sunset, the sweet smell of a rose as you pass one by, the cool air on your skin, the fire in your heart, all of them will keep me in your mind as they keep you in mine. All I ask is that you be kind to your aunts and accepting of their quirky ways, that you give Ambrose a chance and that you tell Corwin if you have to face him that he will never defeat us, ever. This is where you belong. It’s where we all belong, no matter what destiny throws in our way; we were born in Salem, and we are supposed to live all of our lives here. This place is magical, made even more so by the fact that those foolish Puritans tried to wipe it away before it even began, which instead only made it far stronger.
‘You have to find my book, Dora. I know you did a brave thing when you and Ambrose hid it, but we’ve never been able to find it. If you really want to try and help put a stop to this blasted curse, I know the answer is in there. I never told Lenny or Sephy this, but I fell in love with your father the moment I saw him riding his horse through the village. It was like an invisible electric force that jolted us both out of our heads, and I have never known anything like it. He followed me home; I had been leaving the meeting house and he asked if he could walk me back.’
Lucine smiled to herself. ‘He was magnificent, Dora. He was dressed in brightly coloured clothes, he had the greenest eyes and the most impudent of smiles, my heart didn’t stand a chance. Every woman in the village square watched as he bowed to me and introduced himself. He was a sight to behold, and I knew that he had taken my heart and there was no getting it back. He stayed for a week before he was chased out of town by those Putnam’s. That John Putnam was one of the angriest men I have ever met, who sent word to Sheriff Corwin that he needed to do something about him.
‘We had the most glorious time, Dora, he talked about magic as if it was real, and nothing to be scared of. He showed me things that could have got him hanged if it had been anyone else. He could turn toads into rabbits, could make a wizened, dead bush bloom again – which is where your love of flowers comes from. He could tell the future, but he said he would do no such thing around the Puritans for he knew that they would cast him out and call him the devil. John Putnam told everyone he had bewitched me, and I suppose in a way he did, but I was in love and he was a good man, he was born far too in advance of the times we lived in.’
‘Does he never live again, like we do?’
Lucine shook her head. ‘Maybe he does, I don’t know, but on that day he was cast out of the village and told never to return he warned me what was going to happen. He said that the girls in the village were up to something and that we were all in grave danger. He asked me to leave with him and even though I only lay with him the once he must have known I was pregnant with you, before even I did. I refused, I couldn’t leave my sisters, and so he gave me the book. It was so old, so heavy, and it felt as if it held every secret in the world. He told me that I would need it one day to save my soul and that he would come back to me when he could so we could be together. He never did.
‘I looked inside the book and was terrified by what was inside of it. I knew that if the Reverend Parris or any of those damn Putnams ever set eyes on it, we would hang for it so I put it out of sight. I used to tell you stories about a magical book when you were little but I never showed it to you. Then one day I found you lying on the floor with the book, and you were tracing your finger along the pages, tiny blue crackles of light bouncing off your fingertips. I was terrified and I hid it away and made you promise not to touch it ever again. That night when they had already arrested us and Ambrose came to save you, the only thing you chose to save was the book. I think that deep down you knew that one day we would need it. That day has come, Dora, we do need it and you and Ambrose must try and remember where you hid it. It might just save all of our lives and send Corwin to hell where he belongs.’
‘Why did my dad never come back for you if he loved you so much?’
‘I think that day he was chased out of town by Corwin he didn’t get any farther than the outskirts of the village. It was an angry mob of men, riled up on ale from Ingersoll’s Ordinary and fear that he had corrupted one of their own. I don’t think he stood a chance; I know he came to some terrible harm that day, Corwin has always hinted at it but never come out and admitted it, but I know that in my heart the only thing that would have kept us apart was death. I’m tired now, my darling, talking takes its toll. I’m going to rest. Please go and speak to Ambrose, try to locate that book. It’s the only thing that might save us and keep this with you.’
She passed a small, linen pouch to Dora.
‘What’s inside it?’
‘Some of Sephy’s famous black salt and crystals for protection, you need all the help you can get my sweet girl.’
Tears fell down Dora’s cheek as she kissed Lucine.
‘I love you, Momma.’
Lucine squeezed her hand, then let go as she rested her head on the pillows, her eyes closed and a smile on her face.
‘I love you more, Dora. Now go find Ambrose before I get the damn cat and the bird to stop you from leaving this room. It’s hard to let you out of my sight now that I have you here again.’
Dora swiped at the tears with her sleeve and stood up. She felt a wave of grief for the woman in the bed, but she also felt a strong sense of duty that she was doing the right thing. She might still not know much about herself, but she knew one thing: she would find Lucine’s book and have her day with Corwin to put a stop to all of this for good.