Chapter 1
Chapter One
THEO LE CERF
Before I turned the corner from the stables where I left my stallion, Warrior, I felt the stamping of feet through the ground.
Noisy laughter rang in my ears as villagers danced to fiddles, flutes and at least two drums. I stopped to watch by the last house before the village green, my mood rising as I let their merriment envelop me.
It was a long time since I had felt this carefree. I was determined to join in the fun.
I pulled my hat down further onto my head, glad that I hadn’t allowed my concern about attending the Stanthorpe’s May Day celebrations deter me from coming.
Anyway, I reminded myself, my attendance at the fair had been my father’s decision.
As the local Witchfinder, and now my employer as well as my parent, he insisted that one of the things I must do was mingle with the locals.
‘The more they learn to trust you, Theo, the easier they will open up to you. It’s by keeping up with local news that you’ll discover anything underhand going on that villagers often keep to themselves,’ he insisted.
Now, watching the pink-cheeked faces of those dancing, as men spun their partners around, their arms linked, I was glad I had come along.
I might have only been his assistant for the past six months, since he determined it was time I return to Jersey from living abroad with my maternal aunt and uncle in Norway, but it hadn’t taken long for me to discover how suspicious people were of the Witchfinder’s son, despite not knowing me at all.
‘They’ll struggle to trust you simply because of your father’s work,’ my mother explained one day when I confided how difficult I had found it, having spent my youth making friends easily, to now be seen as someone to fear.
I missed the luxury of anonymity and people not knowing my father’s profession.
Here, on the island of my birth, I was once again back to being an outsider and greeted with false affection and wary politeness.
I leant against a granite wall and watched the carefree dancers, musing how I had yet to witness any witchcraft.
I struggled to understand my parents’ beliefs and why they so easily gave in to their superstition.
My father seemed only too readily willing to see the worst in people and believe many of them practised sorcery, certain that this was a danger he needed to extinguish.
As their only living child I knew they relied on me to follow in my father’s footsteps.
Unable to bear disappointing them, I relented and gave in to their wish for me to keep up our family tradition.
Thankfully, apart from one incident when I was made to witness the strangulation and burning of a witch’s body a decade before, I hadn’t been party to anything too unsavoury yet.
I knew from experience, though, that my father for some reason found a distasteful enjoyment in seeing fear in people’s eyes.
We were different in many ways and this, as far as I was concerned, was the greatest of those differences.
Today, yet again, I fought my regret that I didn’t have a sibling to take my place, forcing me to feel obliged to follow my parents’ ambitions for me. One day I would even need to take over my father’s position in the town. I dreaded that time coming and prayed it wouldn’t be for a very long time.
The music stopped momentarily, only to then continue with a similar lively tune. Once again the people danced.
‘Keep dancing, Jem.’ The most beautiful girl I had ever seen, with long auburn hair cascading down her back, laughed. It was a joyous sound and for a moment everything else around her vanished, even the music.
Her light-hearted insistence to her companion brought me back to the present and I watched with envy as she grabbed hold of the man’s hand and pulled him towards the other dancers.
He didn’t seem all that reluctant to go with her, as far as I could see.
In fact, I mused as I watched him, he looks extremely happy to be with her. I didn’t blame him.
I surmised she must be a few years younger than me, eighteen or nineteen. I watched her full lips part in a wide smile as he gave in and swung her around, her thick, shiny hair flying out behind her as they danced, his delight obvious.
My breath caught in my throat and it was as if someone had punched me hard in my chest. She was the most easy-going, exquisite woman I had ever seen.
I had heard my cousins talking about love at first sight but thought them silly and fanciful.
For the first time in my life, I understood what they meant.
I stared at her, enthralled by the sheer joy emanating from her as she flung her free arm wide and closed her eyes, her rosy lips parted, face tilted up to the sunshine. She was enchanting.
I wondered why I hadn’t ever seen her before. I didn’t come to the village often, but I would have remembered her vividly if our paths had crossed before now.
The tune ended and the dancers slowed to a stop, many bending over to catch their breath. Not her, though.
‘Once more, Jem. Please.’
Jem laughed. ‘No. I promised your grandmother we wouldn’t be out for too long. We should be thinking about going home now.’
What was this man to her? I wondered. Her intended, probably. They clearly knew each other well and were comfortable in each other’s company.
Movement nearby distracted me. I turned to my right and caught three women whispering behind their hands, their eyes darting from me as soon as I spotted them.
My mood dipped. I tugged my hat lower to hide as much of my hair as possible.
I knew of others on the island with fair hair, but taking after my mother’s Norwegian colouring, with her pale gold hair and light blue eyes, marked me as different from everyone else, especially as people now knew me to be the Witchfinder’s son.
If I had looked more like him, with his dark brown hair and brown eyes, I would find it easier to be less noticeable.
I moved away from the women.
Seeing the man Jem shake his head and step away from the group of people by the maypole, I saw the disappointment on the beautiful woman’s face and felt compelled to go to her, to dance with her. It was out of character for me to be this open but for some reason I couldn’t help myself.
She didn’t notice me approaching until the last minute, when Jem stiffened, standing up straighter as I passed him.
Her eyes met mine and for the first time I saw they were turquoise.
My thoughts vanished as I gazed at her. Noticing her frown in confusion, I pulled myself together and forced a smile, bowing as the music began again.
‘Would you care for a dance?’
She glanced at Jem who was tapped on the shoulder by a young woman. A hint of mischief crossed her face and she nodded. ‘Yes, I’d like that.’
I took her in my arms before she could change her mind and together we skipped and danced with the rest of the revellers. Her warm back against my arm and her hand in mine were wonderful, then she looked up at me and smiled.
Joy washed over me. I had never been this happy.
‘Is this not the best fun?’
I laughed. ‘It’s the most fun I’ve had in a very long time.’
Forever, I thought, but didn’t say, not wishing to show her too much enthusiasm.
I whirled her around, both of us laughing and enjoying ourselves.
We narrowly missed a staggering drunk as we took a turn around the maypole, but on the next time around he seemed to fall towards us.
I shielded the girl by hurriedly turning so that the man fell against my back, and I only just managed to keep my footing.
The music stopped to unappreciative groans and grumbles.
‘That’s a shame,’ she said quietly. ‘Thank you for protecting me.’
‘It is of no matter,’ I assured her, glad to have been helpful. I noticed she was breathless from the exertion of dancing to one tune after the other and, eager to get to know her better, suggested, ‘Shall we take a brief break from the celebrations?’
She stared into my eyes as she considered my question, then glanced over to her friend, who seemed happily engaged with several others nearby. ‘I don’t see why not. All that dancing was rather tiring.’
Surprised by her agreement, I took her hand and led her away from the dancing to where several benches had been set out. It was in the open, where she could still be seen by her companion, so I didn’t think anyone could think that us speaking would be compromising for her in any way.
‘Shall we sit here?’ I indicated one of the benches that had some shade over it.
She nodded and sat down, fanning her face with her right hand. ‘It’s so hot today, and probably not the best weather to be dancing outside.’
I laughed, reaching to remove my hat to fan myself, then thinking better of it. ‘Would you like me to fetch you a cider?’
She beamed at me with a mixture of relief and delight. ‘That would be wonderful.’
A couple of minutes later, I handed her the pottery tankard and sat next to her. Not usually given to shyness, I struggled to think what to say next. I drank the cool, sweet liquid to give myself a moment to think of something.
‘This is delicious,’ she said wiping a drop of the amber cider from the side of her mouth. ‘I don’t often come into the village for these occasions, but I’m glad I did today.’
‘I’m happy you did too,’ I admitted. ‘Are you from near here then? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around before.’
I wasn’t sure but I thought I saw a slight cloud cross her face before she responded.
She took another sip of her drink. ‘I don’t recognise you either.’
Aware she hadn’t answered my question, I tried again. ‘Are you visiting family? Maybe you’re with your cousin?’
She smiled. ‘No, Jem’s my friend. We’ve known each other since we were babies. He’s the one who suggested we come out today.’ She gave a brief laugh. ‘He thinks I should be more sociable.’
I agreed with her friend, relieved to have discovered he was that and nothing more romantic to her. ‘You often keep yourself to yourself then?’
She wrinkled her nose and shrugged. ‘I suppose I do.’
I was eager to know more but suspected she was not about to share her private life with me. ‘Is your family home far? Might I walk you home after the celebrations are over?’
She studied my face. I was unsure if she was trying to work out whether to trust me.
She then turned and looked over her shoulder towards where Jem was laughing with friends, before facing me once again.
‘It’s not too far,’ she said thoughtfully as if making up her mind.
Her expression softened. ‘I suppose it would be all right, but I’ll need to let Jem know, so he can follow us if he wants to. ’
It was more than I had dared hope for and I beamed at her. ‘We should finish these to keep our thirst quenched for our walk back then.’
She laughed, her turquoise eyes twinkling with amusement.
I wasn’t sure what I had done to deserve this perfect afternoon, but nothing had ever prepared me for feeling this way about another person.
She was so unlike any other woman I had ever met, and I felt like the luckiest man alive to have her permission to walk her home and have time alone with her to get to know her better.
We finished our drinks. I took her tankard from her hand, our skin touching unexpectedly as I did so.
My breath caught in my throat and I heard her breathe in.
Our eyes locked and for a moment everything about us blurred.
Music seemed muffled and all I could focus on was her beautiful eyes, widened in surprise, and the way her lips parted just a touch. I was in love.
I held both tankards in my left hand and took her hand closest to me in my right. I drew a breath to speak when I felt a thump on the side of my head. An apple fell onto the grass in front of me and along with it my hat.
‘You don’t belong here,’ a male voice shouted from somewhere in the crowd.
Gasps filled the air and I felt the coolness against my skin where the girl’s hand had been before she wrenched it from mine. For an instant I couldn’t discern what might have happened.
‘Your hat, Mr Le Cerf.’ The man selling the cider was holding it out for me to take.
I muttered my thanks as I took it, passing the tankards to him. I turned to speak to the girl again but instead of gentleness emanating from her unusually coloured eyes, I saw something else entirely. Hatred. Pure loathing.
‘That’s the Witchfinder’s assistant,’ I heard people begin to whisper.
I quickly covered my hair with my hat, aware she must have seen it. They all had done.
‘Please,’ I began, desperate to find a way to take things back to how they had been between us a short time before. ‘I don’t want you to think…’
I saw Jem turn from the woman he had been with and place his arm around my dance partner’s shoulder protectively as he glared at me. ‘Leave her alone.’
I was about to speak, but he pulled her away, leaving the other girl glaring after them.
I went to follow him, but the cider maker shook his head. ‘No point, sir. She’s not going to listen to anything you have to say. Not now she knows who you are. Best leave her be for both your sakes.’
I had no idea what he meant, but the tone of his voice was one of certainty. I watched her leave with Jem and realised I hadn’t even thought to ask her name.