Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
THEO
Rue was lying. I was stunned yet relieved not to have been speaking when it dawned on me. I would never have known if Pierre hadn’t come into the room and pursed his lips at her as if to warn her.
I couldn’t believe it. She was strong and determined but there was something so innocent about her wide-eyed, sweet face that I struggled to believe her capable of such deception. If she was fooling me about this, then what did that mean?
I looked from Pierre to Rue, trying to detect any sign of guilt for attempting to fool me.
I could see none at all. Had she fooled me about everything?
Had Rue tricked me and made me fall in love with her?
Or was I being over-cautious and imagining things?
I hoped my feelings for her hadn’t led me down the wrong path.
Could the unthinkable be true? Was Rue a witch after all?
I needed to leave the room before I said something I shouldn’t and made more of a fool out of myself than I had already.
I turned to walk out of the kitchen. ‘Show me where you found this,’ I ordered the militiaman, whose name I now knew to be Garnier.
‘It was in the attic.’
‘I’m aware of that,’ I snapped. ‘I need you to show me exactly where it was.’
My mind raced as I led the way, taking the stairs two at a time. I could hear Garnier’s heavy breathing as he followed me but didn’t care, I needed to get up there and find a reason not to suspect one of the women in this family.
How could I have been so careless as to allow my heart to open for a witch?
If indeed she was one. I squeezed the crystal in my hand wishing it were sharp instead of rounded.
To feel physical pain right now would be a blessing; easier than coping with the torment in my aching heart.
Would that woman have accused Rue without cause?
It was possible. Jealousy often made people behave in ways they ordinarily might not consider.
I reached the attic and walked inside. There was a subtle flowery smell in this otherwise dusty room where everything seemed as if it were forgotten.
A shard of light streamed through a tiny split in the roof and shone directly onto an area of the floor near where I was standing. I peered down at it, seeing that the dust had been walked over – not just once or twice where Garnier had stepped during his search.
‘What is it?’ he asked from further into the room.
He went to retrace his steps and join me but at that moment I knew I must stop him if I had any hope of saving Rue, should she be innocent after all.
My mind might be in a turmoil but I had no intention of making rash decisions out of hurt or disbelief.
‘I thought I saw something, but it’s nothing.’ I pointed towards the furniture behind him. ‘Show me where you found this.’ I held up the crystal.
‘It was over here.’ He pointed in a different direction.
I walked over to where he was standing and holding up a corner of a covering. Then, looking inside, I imagined Rue’s hand hiding this piece of evidence that would be enough for me to deliver her to my father for questioning.
I motioned for him to lower it. He was waiting for me to speak, so I asked a question I assumed he would expect. ‘Have you checked the other furniture for more like this?’
‘Every one of them, but there was nothing else in any of them.’
‘Good,’ I said without thinking.
His expression immediately changed. ‘Why is that a good thing, sir?’
Damn, I thought, mentally kicking myself for speaking so carelessly. ‘I beg your pardon?’ I asked, to gain a little time to come up with a credible answer.
‘You said it was a good thing we found nothing further.’
I glared at him. ‘Are you questioning me?’
His eyes widened. ‘No, not at all.’
Not wanting to be unfair to the man, who was only doing his job, I raised my hand to stop him speaking. ‘I meant I was impressed you were so thorough as to check the other pieces.’
His mouth opened into an O and he stood up a little straighter. ‘Thank you, sir.’
I cocked my head in the direction of the door. ‘Seeing as there’s nothing else of note here, we may as well leave.’
I waited for him to go before manoeuvring between the furniture to have another look at the patch of floor the sun had shone onto. I needed to be certain I wasn’t mistaken before deciding what action to take next.
I heard the militiaman descending the staircase and crouched to check the floorboards once again.
The area had definitely been disturbed. I stood and saw the shadow caused by the sun’s rays highlighting the area near where the dust had been cleared most. It appeared to be a circle.
Was I imagining this? I moved to another area where the shadow wasn’t as dark and saw I was right.
Had the women here been up in the attic recently casting spells?
Fear struck me as if my skin had been pierced.
I had been raised to fear witches as well as despise them.
I recalled many fireside stories from my youth about witches cavorting with the Devil, casting spells to cause the death of livestock or crops belonging to people who crossed them, or making women barren.
My father also told terrible stories as if he had experienced them himself, of witches having the power to enter someone’s home through tiny holes, or change their shape into that of an animal.
How many sleepless nights had I spent cowering in my bed, unable to sleep for fear of nightmares about witches and what they would do to me should they put a curse on my family.
I reflected that witches were always ugly, pinch-faced crones with black eyes and talons for nails.
Was that why I hadn’t imagined Rue or the women in her family capable of such atrocities as those I had grown up hearing about?
Was I that naive? Or was it just that I had spent so many years living in Norway with rational relations who never spoke of these things and chose instead to share stories of mountain adventures or took me on hikes to witness the magnificence of the fjords?
I squeezed my eyes closed, wishing I could deny the truth, but try as I might, I couldn’t ignore that something had taken place up here.
What other reason would people have to come up to this dusty, muggy place?
If only there were children living in the house – I could assume they had come to the attic to play.
I was going to have to face this horrible truth, whether I liked it or not.
‘Theo?’
I jumped, hearing Rue’s voice, and turned to find her standing in the doorway watching me.
How had she come up here without me hearing her?
I hated to think she might have been watching me.
No, I reasoned. She must have only just arrived.
If she had passed the militiaman on the stairs he would surely have acknowledged her in some way and alerted me to her presence.
Or was there another way in here? My heart raced and I realised if that was so, others could have used that way to escape unseen. Damn my mind for devising these continuous torments and making my job worse by the second.
‘Theo, is everything all right?’
Hearing her say my name for the second time, I went to answer, but before I was able to she looked down at where I was standing and her face paled.
I tried to remain calm and not give in to my troubled thoughts, but my mouth opened and I couldn’t hold back. ‘Have you been lying to me all this time?’ I asked, willing her to come up with a reasonable excuse so that I could continue to trust her.
She glanced behind her, then stepped into the room and quietly closed the door.
‘Theo, please listen to me.’
She wasn’t going to deny it.
I gasped, stunned. I glared at her, hurt beyond all measure. ‘Why?’
It was a ridiculous question. I knew full well why she had lied to me, but even so it didn’t reduce the pain my discovery gave me. She didn’t trust me at all. Maybe she was right not to?
Suddenly she was next to me, and I felt her cool fingers take my hands.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she whispered. ‘I never wanted to lie to you. I promise that if there was any other way I would have told you.’
I looked into her turquoise eyes. Was that how she had bewitched me? Why hadn’t I seen through her until now?
‘Theo, let me explain. Being a witch isn’t what you’ve probably been led to believe.’
I couldn’t listen to any more deception. Did she think I was stupid or did she simply enjoy playing with me, fooling me with her sweetness?
I snatched my hand from hers and moved away from her. ‘Stop. You have nothing to say that I wish to hear.’
I glared at her again, furious that the woman I loved with all my heart could be so utterly different from what I had imagined. Our eyes locked. My lips were drawn to hers and for a moment I felt compelled to kiss her. No. She was a witch. She had lied to my face.
Whether I liked it or not, Rue was the enemy my father had suspected after all.
I hated that he was right about this. I had a job to do, and if I was a true Witchfinder’s assistant I should make an immediate arrest. I looked her in the eyes again and felt my heart break. The woman I loved could never be mine.
‘Theo, please let me explain.’
‘You’re a witch; I know that now. What else is there to say?’
‘But Theo—’
I pushed her hand away, furious, devastated, broken. ‘No.’ I walked past her to leave the room, then stopped and turned. ‘And do not presume to use my given name again.’
She gasped. I didn’t wait for her to respond but left the attic before my resolve to banish her from my heart and mind dissolved.