Chapter 43
Chapter Forty-Three
THEO
Time dragged as Garnier and I hunkered down and waited for the coven to make an appearance. If they even came tonight. Part of me hoped I wasn’t wasting my time. Then again, I wasn’t looking forward to their arrival in case Rue and her family were among them.
As I sat on my coat, leaning against the gnarled trunk of an oak tree, I tried to imagine what might happen.
Would I arrest Rue as I should already have done with the evidence I had on her?
Or were my feelings for her still too deep, despite knowing she was everything I had grown up to loathe.
Did I have it in me to lock her in a cell to be dealt with by my father? I had no idea.
What I did know was that, as the sky darkened and dusk came, my determination to see this plan through to the end was weakening.
Damn you, Rue, I thought, furious with her for being a witch and with myself for being foolish enough to fall for someone like her.
My father had brought me up to believe that if something seemed too perfect, it was usually a lie, or a trap. This was possibly both.
Had she bewitched me? I wondered for a second time. Possibly. I was usually a good judge of character, or so I had always believed. Maybe I was no different from the fools I looked down on who forgot everything at the sight of a pretty face and an impudent smile.
Garnier’s elbow nudged my ribs. ‘What?’ I asked, irritated with him for interrupting my thoughts.
He raised a finger and looked to his left. ‘Do you hear them?’
I listened, hearing only my own heartbeat, it was racing so fast. I was about to say no, then heard Sorrel’s unmistakable voice followed by Rue’s delightful laughter. She certainly isn’t being forced to come here, I told myself. She sounds far too happy for that.
I cursed under my breath, hating that my hopes not to witness the women from Thistlebury Manor joining their coven were now dashed.
Garnier beamed at me triumphantly. I wanted to hit him and wipe away the excited smirk on his face.
Even if he didn’t know or feel anything about these women, he knew as well as I did what would become of them should they be found guilty.
I couldn’t understand anyone enjoying such a prospect.
I glared at him, but he didn’t seem to understand my anger.
Our hiding place gave us a perfect view of everything.
It had been a good choice, I thought miserably.
We watched silently as the women gathered sticks, chatted amiably and lit a small fire.
Then, taking one of the sticks they hadn’t used, one of them walked around the fire, dragging the stick in the ground to form a circle.
I couldn’t tear my eyes from Rue and the scene in front of me, fascinated to watch as they set down two candles, each in a small holder, then lit them.
Everyone seemed to know exactly what to do without instruction.
A stoneware jar was taken from a small sack and a concoction poured into a small basin. It was all very strange.
I tensed as Rue stepped forward and placed two bunches of herbs and then several crystals neatly with the other offerings. I wanted to shout at her to stop. To run away and never come back. But that wouldn’t achieve anything.
An owl hooted, and although the other women continued with their preparations, Rue glanced up into the dark sky and frowned, then looked over in our direction.
She stared towards the tree that I was crouching behind.
My breath caught in my throat. Why was she staring?
Surely if she had seen us, she would warn the others?
I saw her eyes moving, but only slightly as she seemed transfixed by what she saw.
It took everything in me to remain absolutely still.
All I dared move was my eyes, and even then I felt as if she would spot me doing so.
Clouds must have moved and released the bright rays of the moon, which now shone directly on the clearing where the witches were gathered.
I realised it must also be shining on the place where we were hiding.
I tensed. Look away, I pleaded silently. Look away.
I breathed a sigh of relief when she finally did so. I don’t know why I was so concerned about her seeing me, because once their spell had been cast I would be quick to make myself known. Why was I hesitating?
I felt Garnier’s gaze on me. ‘Sir, should we go for them now?’
It was a sensible enough question. We had more than enough evidence to arrest all of them.
‘Sir?’
I tensed, not ready to take that step. But I needed a reason for our delay. I whispered, ‘They are in no rush and I want to see exactly what they do first.’
‘Why?’ he asked, clearly confused.
I didn’t answer but recalled Rue’s insistence that their practices were not as I imagined.
If that was true then surely now, when she wasn’t aware of my presence, was the perfect time for me to witness exactly what their spells did entail.
To see whether they were the evil crones my father had always insisted.
‘We let them set up their spell.’
He didn’t argue and we watched in silence as an older woman took a mirror from a bag and placed it down with the other objects.
‘Who has the paper with his name written on it?’ she asked.
Rue’s grandmother held something up in front of them all. ‘I do.’
‘Good,’ said the woman I assumed was their leader, or maybe high priestess. ‘Read it to us and we will begin.’
‘By the light of the moon we ask the spirits of our ancestors to wipe her name from the memory of Elias Le Cerf.’
What did she say? I looked at Garnier, who seemed as perplexed as me.
I slid my hand into the smaller branches in front of me and pulled them back slightly to make sure I missed nothing. Rue had her eyes closed and was holding hands with the women on either side of her.
I saw Rue’s grandmother walk up to Sorrel and place her hands lightly on either side of her face. ‘We need to make this happen tonight. Everything is ready.’
Sorrel nodded. ‘I am ready for you to wipe me from his memory.’
They were talking about my father. I should move and stop them immediately, but I wanted to hear more.
‘You’re doing the right thing, Sorrel,’ a younger woman said. I missed her following words because Garnier gasped and went to leap to his feet.
I grabbed him and pulled him down, hoping the women had been too involved with what they were doing to notice us.
‘What in the name of all that’s holy do you think you’re doing?’ I asked, then realised I had covered his mouth with my gloved hand, so he could not answer. I slowly withdrew my hand keeping my steely gaze on his. ‘Tell me quietly.’
He stared at me in shock, all previous amusement gone. Then he covered his eyes with one hand and I realised he was humiliated by something.
‘What is it?’ I couldn’t understand why he was behaving so oddly.
He cocked his head towards the women. ‘The young woman who just spoke is my cousin Iris.’ His voice was shaky. ‘Iris can’t be a witch.’ He looked up at me. ‘Can she?’
I didn’t like to reply that she seemed to be at ease with these women in this woodland setting. I decided to make him focus on the orders we had been given, hoping his training as one of my father’s men would have given him some measure of control over his actions.
‘We must do our job, Garnier. If your cousin is a witch, as she appears to be, then she must not be your focus.’ I softened my voice. ‘We are both at odds with what we do here today but need to do our job.’
He gave a resigned sigh.
No one spoke for a few seconds. Or maybe they did and I was struck deaf by the strangeness of the situation.
Someone rang what sounded like a tiny bell and the women became silent. They stepped into their places, all of them entranced.
‘Let us begin before we run out of time.’
I stared at Rue. Suddenly her eyes darted in my direction. I held my breath. Did she know I was here after all?
As if in answer to my thoughts, there was a sound of branches snapping behind me somewhere. It wasn’t me she was looking at but someone or something else. I tensed.
‘Arrest these women,’ I heard my father order, as four or maybe five men darted forward, parting bushes and branches as they charged at the women.
‘Run,’ one of the women shouted.
Another screamed as one of the men barged into her. She staggered and ran into the flames.
Rue looked around her then made for her grandmother. She went to take her hand, but Ophelia Tredwell snatched it back. ‘Run. Get away from here. Now!’
Desperate to help her, I broke cover and raced forward, the chaos of screaming women and bellowing male voices filling the air as the witches fought frantically for their freedom. I heard my father’s voice bellowing orders, but ignored him, determined to get Rue away from him.