Chapter 44
THEN
‘If Meg were here, she would tell me not to do this.’ Emory’s voice was tight, too controlled.
Charles tried to raise his head up to speak to Emory, to persuade him that he was mistaken, that he, Charles, was innocent of whatever Emory was trying to accuse him of, but the pistol pressed down on him, and he could not get the words out.
His heart was pounding and he had never experienced a terror like this before.
‘Emory! You are not thinking straight. She bewitched you, isn’t it obvious—’
‘Silence!’ Emory’s shout was like another pistol shot. ‘Meg was not a witch. You knew that. She was innocent. I do not know what you tried to do to her, but you caused her death. Her death. And our child’s death.’
‘Don’t be a fool!’ snapped Charles. ‘If she was with child, it was the spawn of Satan.’
It was the wrong thing to say.
‘You know very well that she was with child. You saw her stripped naked, no doubt in front of the entire village. You would have seen it; it was obvious.’ Emory’s voice hitched on an angry sob.
‘Meggie was nothing more than a woman. A woman who helped people. A woman who helped you!’ There was a breath near Charles’ ear as he felt Emory lean down and whisper to him, his brother’s lank, filthy hair tickling his skin, the smell of death and bloodshed clinging to him.
‘You disgust me. You sent her to her death. You killed her.’
And then, to his surprise: ‘Stand up.’ Emory kicked him in the ribs. ‘Stand up and face me like a man, you coward. Let me look in your eyes while I beat you to death or slit your throat. Or torture you the way they tortured her. A gunshot is too good and too quick for you.’
Charles cursed and struggled to his feet, his fists clenched. He would not go down without a fight.
In fact, he would not go down at all.