Witchbane

Chapter 48

Chapter Forty-Eight

RUE

Appoline shook visibly as she greeted Jem and me, her black cat circling her before leaning against her legs. I explained about Pierre taking Grandmama home and about Aunt Sorrel and the others being held in the Witchfinder’s interrogation cell at Mont Orgueil Castle.

‘I can’t bear to think of them in that horrible place.’ She pressed her hands to her face. ‘And poor dear Sorrel. That man is a blight on our island and to your family in particular.’

‘He is,’ I agreed, holding my fear in check. ‘I daren’t think what he is doing to her at this moment.’

‘Evil is as evil does,’ she said quietly, shaking her head. ‘He dares accuse us of consorting with the Devil, but I’ve never known anyone as cruel as him.’ She laid a hand upon her heart. ‘Dear Ophelia, such a relief that she at least is at home and safe.’

‘Grandmama wants us to assemble as many of us as are still free and cast the spell to banish the Witchfinder’s memory of my aunt forever. She said you would know what to do about the finer details.’

Appoline wrung her hands together thoughtfully.

‘She is right.’ She paced back and forth making sounds as if she was in conversation with someone else.

She stopped and clapped her hands. ‘Yes, we can do this.’ She raised a finger and frowned.

‘The only problem is there are only the three of us, as far as I know, and we will be casting the spell without your aunt or that man present.’

‘Won’t that make the spell weaker?’ I asked, knowing how important it was that this spell worked on the first attempt.

She picked up her black cat and hugged it to her. ‘It’s too dangerous for us to attempt to go anywhere near the castle. We can’t help anyone if we too are arrested.’

‘What shall we do?’

She shrugged. ‘We need blood,’ she said matter-of-factly.

‘Whose blood?’ Jem asked, clearly shocked.

She looked at him in surprise as if she hadn’t noticed him standing in the room. ‘Rue’s.’

‘What?’

‘Hush, Jem,’ I said, irritated by his interruption. ‘We have to get this right.’

He folded his arms and closed his mouth.

Appoline lowered the cat to the floor. ‘As Sorrel’s niece, you are the closest person available to us.’ She sighed. ‘We need the Witchfinder’s assistant’s blood and will have to find a way to take this from him. By force, if necessary.’

‘Because, as his son, he’s our closest connection to the Witchfinder,’ I said almost to myself. I doubted he would even consider taking part in the spell, let alone allow Appoline to take his blood, and I said so. ‘I could ask him, I suppose?’

She threw her hands in the air. ‘If we are to save your aunt, and most probably you too, Rue, we have little choice but to involve his son. You must find him and persuade him to do this for us.’

I thought back to the pleasure of our kisses, hours before in the woods, but it was one thing to have feelings for someone and another entirely to expect a Witchfinder’s assistant to help witches cast a spell – and one against his father at that.

‘I’m not sure he’ll agree to see me,’ I said, remembering his warning that I should stay away from the castle.

‘Maybe someone else should ask him.’ I thought of Iris and how one of the men had seemed to be a relation of hers – one of the Witchfinder’s men who clearly hadn’t known she was a witch.

‘What about Iris? She has connections within the Witchfinder’s office. ’

Appoline sighed sadly. ‘It seems that he has taken the knowledge of her membership of the coven extremely badly. The man arrested her.’

I gasped.

‘Yes, it’s very unfortunate that he was one of those who raided our gathering.’

‘Poor Iris.’

‘We will do all we can to help her. Now, though, we need to hurry and cast this spell. There is no time to lose, Rue. You must find that assistant fellow and persuade him to do as I ask.’

‘I’ll do it,’ Jem said, surprising us both.

‘It’s too dangerous, Jem,’ I said, grateful for his offer but fearful of his involvement, especially as he resented my affection for Theo.

‘I don’t see that there’s any other option,’ he insisted.

Not wanting to waste further time, I relented.

‘Fine,’ Appoline said, looking satisfied. ‘Before you go, I’ll give you a few tools to take.’

She hurried out of the room and soon returned carrying a bag. She set it down on a table and slowly took items out of it, describing how they were to be used.

She withdrew a small silver dagger from a leather sheath. ‘This is very sharp. You must take care not to cut too deep.’ I winced at the thought of cutting myself or Theo. She opened her hand and drew it over her palm just above her skin. ‘You only need a small amount of blood.’

She replaced the dagger and then took a small phial from the cloth bag. Uncorking it, she placed it on the table and then took out a small silver bowl-shaped spoon.

‘Hold this against the side of each hand when the blood runs and then pour what you’ve collected from the two cuts into the phial. Secure the top and bring everything back to me. Understood?’

I nodded, not looking forward to doing this but happy to be able to help my aunt. ‘Leave it to me.’

She replaced everything in the small bag, tied a string around the top to secure it and handed it to me. She took me by the shoulders and stared into my eyes.

‘You must make this happen, Rue. If Theo Le Cerf refuses to speak to Jem, then you must do it. We have no other option. Use whatever powers you have over the man to make him listen. We are running out of time and your aunt’s life depends on you.’

Terrified by such responsibility, I swallowed.

‘While you’re doing this, I’ll gather everyone who either wasn’t arrested last night or has been released.

We are somewhat depleted in numbers but there’s nothing I can do about that.

We’ve cast powerful spells before without the thirteen of us being together.

We’ll go to the manor and prepare for the spell with your grandmother. ’

‘I’ll meet you back there then,’ I said, hoping that when we did cast the spell our number would somehow be increased by my mother’s spirit.

‘Take my horse and cart,’ she said. ‘It’ll be much quicker.’

I left, sick with nerves, frightened that I might make a mistake. Jem and I mounted the cart and set off.

‘Thanks for offering your help, Jem,’ I said. ‘I know how you feel about Theo.’

Now that I was alone with him again, I decided to try to clear up a few things between us. We had always been close, like brother and sister. I didn’t like the distance that had grown between us. ‘I’m sorry for how things have been lately, Jem.’

He smiled at me. ‘I’m sorry too.’

There was something in his tone that was different, but I didn’t know what. ‘Is anything troubling you, Jem?’

He stared at me thoughtfully before looking away. He stilled, then his mood seemed to lift suddenly. ‘No. In fact I’ve been waiting to share some news with you.’

I was intrigued. ‘Well? What is it?’

‘I have been mulling over the thought of proposing to Beattie,’ he said, sticking out his chin proudly.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about my childhood friend marrying the woman who had made the accusation against me. I was at a loss for words.

He turned to look at me and I averted my eyes, not wanting him to witness the resentment I felt towards her and was battling to hide.

‘I haven’t made my mind up yet.’

From the slight change in his tone I was uncertain whether this was a good thing or not, but then I decided I didn’t want to be the reason he didn’t ask her. ‘Because of what she did, do you mean?’

‘Because of her jealousy when she saw us together.’

‘I hadn’t realised she had seen us.’ I tried to think when it might have been.

‘She has.’ He sighed. ‘Twice when I was bringing you home on the cart, and she was at the festival.’

A thought occurred to me. ‘Is that where you met her?’

His head lowered as it did when he was cagey about something. ‘No, I met her a year or so ago, but it was there when I realised she liked me.’

I recalled how he had left the festival with me and brought me home, and I wondered how that might have looked to someone with feelings for him. ‘Has she said anything about me?’

‘No! Why would you ask that?’

It was an unexpectedly defensive reaction. ‘I only meant to gauge how she felt about us being friends.’

‘Ah, that. Well, she struggled about me being close to the daughter of a lord.’ He seemed at odds with himself.

‘I have always seen you as my closest friend.’

He nodded. ‘I explained about us growing up together, and that you’ve only ever seen me that way.’

There was something in the way he spoke that sent a pang through my heart. I rested my hand on his arm. ‘It’s true, Jem,’ I said gently. ‘But the dearest friend I could have ever wished for.’

His expression brightened a little. ‘That’s something, I suppose.’

I decided to change the topic. We both knew my grandmother had always thought it best to keep me close to home when I was growing up, which had meant that, unlike most children, I hadn’t forged many friendships.

I thought of Iris now in trouble with her cousin. ‘I think it’s time I began to make some friends outside the family. Iris is my age.’

He frowned. ‘You’re wittering, Rue. I know it’s because you’re frightened about the outcome today.’

‘You see,’ I said, smiling at him. ‘You know me well.’

‘As you do me.’

I reflected on the night before. ‘Oh, Jem. I must be successful today.’

‘I’ll be there to help if you need me.’

I recalled my mother’s spirit warning me not to trust someone and the discovery of Jem’s closeness to Beattie, and I wasn’t sure how far I could rely on him to be there for us.

‘Is that who I think it is?’ Jem said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I stared at the road ahead and saw a black horse with an unmistakable rider trotting briskly towards us. My stomach flipped and my heart lurched.

‘Theo?’ I tried not to panic. What if Theo refused to listen to me, or, worse, not do what I needed him to do?

‘It’ll be fine,’ Jem said. ‘You can be very persuasive when you choose to be.’

I knew he was trying to encourage me, but he wasn’t wrong. I could be persuasive when I wanted something badly enough. What Jem didn’t know was that I called on my mother’s powers to guide me and bolster my own. Touching the blue ribbon bound around my right wrist, I calmed slightly.

There had never been a time when I needed her help more than today.

‘You’re right, Jem. I can make this happen.’

‘I think he’s seen us.’

Theo’s face lit up and I knew Jem was right. I waved at him, hoping to hide my nervousness. What I was about to ask him was strange and possibly unsettling for anyone doing his job.

He drew up alongside us and doffed his hat to me and then to Jem. He looked exhausted and angry.

‘We were coming to find you,’ I declared, deciding to get straight to the point of our journey.

He listened intently while I explained what I needed from him. Rather than refuse, or even try to argue, he simply nodded.

‘I’ve just left the dungeon where my father is interrogating your aunt.’ He swallowed. Evidently something had happened there to shock him.

‘He’s not hurt her, has he?’ I asked, clenching my fists.

‘I’ve warned him not to, but he clearly loathes her and I’ve no idea how long he’ll refrain from taking action against her.

’ Warrior stamped one of his front hooves and Theo patted his neck.

‘Steady, boy. I was coming to find you and ask if there was anything you or your friends might be able to do.’ He looked awkward at making such a request.

I needed to make the most of his agreement to take part in the spell. ‘Then we should hurry back to Thistlebury Manor and meet up with the others.’

‘Others?’

I wanted to trust him but still wasn’t sure of him. If I could get him to the manor house, where Pierre and Jem would both be, as well as such members of the coven as Appoline had managed to gather, I would have all the support I needed if Theo should turn out to be the danger in our midst.

‘Yes, my grandmother and Pierre are waiting there, hopefully with a few of my aunt’s friends.’

I saw a dawning on his face. He smiled. ‘Rue, I’ve come to realise that the people who are supposed to be working for the greater good are the ones I should really be questioning.

I’m happy to trust you and do whatever you need me to do.

’ He looked behind him. ‘I’ve no idea if I’m being followed.

We need to get to the manor as quickly as we can. ’

I didn’t answer that I had also had an epiphany.

Nothing could make me want to hurt Theo now, not even his father’s utter cruelty to my family.

Just as his father had used my mother to avenge himself on Aunt Sorrel for not loving him, I had vowed to use another innocent – Theo – to pay his father back for what he had done.

What a senseless and shameful thing to do.

I wasn’t a child any longer. I now understood the repercussions of one person’s blind resolve for vengeance. It didn’t benefit anyone.

Theo had shown how much he cared for me by finding my father and bringing what was left of my family back together. His kindness had wiped out my need for revenge, and for the first time in ten years I finally felt liberated from my hatred of his father.

There were other ways to fight the Witchfinder’s evil without hurting a truly decent person and that’s what I would focus on.