The Witch Hunter

by Candace Adams

  “What nonsense will you be getting into today, woman?” he asked, giving me a nasty look. “Heading back where you came from hopefully?”

  “John!” Matthew grimaced, dropping his arms to his sides, he took a step towards the man. “That is entirely uncalled for. Taryn is my guest and you will treat her as such. I will not tolerate your brash words with her.”

  “More like your bewitcher,” John had ceased to smile and was glaring back at Matthew with defiance.

  “Another remark like that from you and our friendship will be dissolved.” Matthew seethed anger from every pure and John wisely backed off, stepping back and turning his face away. Matthew couldn’t see his face from where he stood, but I could, and the scowl he maintained scared me.

  “I can defend myself, Matthew.” I stared at John as I spoke, daring him to object.

  “Nonsense. It’s not proper.”

  I rolled my eyes at him. It wasn’t in my best interest to defend myself any further. Even though I was biting my tongue to tell him how I felt about what was proper and what was not. For the sake of my life, I bit my tongue until I tasted copper in my mouth.

  “She is going to be joining us today and you are going to be a proper gentleman to her. She is going to speak to the child and see if she can get anything useful out of her.” He looked directly into John’s eyes.

  “Seems like you may need a woman’s touch with her, given the circumstances.” I added. John was uninterested in anything I had to say on the matter. The far off look had returned to his face, I surmised he had gotten tired of us and went back to daydreaming about drowning people. Disgusting. How Matthew ever got tied up with him was beyond me.

  “Bread, Taryn?” Matthew asked as he handed me a thick slice slathered in delicious hand turned butter.

  “Thanks.” I took a big bite and melted a little inside when the rich velvety goodness hit my tongue.

  “Eat fast. We have to get going. I won’t be held up waiting on you.” John took a few slices, shoved one in his mouth, and headed for the door. His footfalls echoed off behind us before I spoke. “He really has no regard for human life, does he?” I asked Matthew. I desperately wanted him to take off his rose-colored glasses and see John for who he was.

  He wore a sad smile on his face when he looked at me. “He is just very devoted to his job.”

  “You always protect him. You make excuses for every bad thing he says and does. When does it stop?”

  “He's my friend. He has always stood up for me.” Matthew finished his slices, took a deep drink from the wine bottle. “I didn’t protect him when he insulted you.”

  “That’s because you’re a true gentleman.” I smiled in spite of myself. My stomach fluttered as I realized, the one thing Matthew would not bend on was my honor.

  John and Henry were deep in conversation when we stepped out of the inn. They spoke in low, hushed voices that made me suspicious of what they were conversing about. They stopped talking as soon as they saw us. Henry turned away quickly and patted one of the horses on her long silky neck. John grinned at us, showing just a bit of teeth, “Henry has informed me that we only have the two horses available today. The carriage has a cracked wheel, so I’m sorry Taryn, but you will have to stay behind.” My blood began to boil. I opened my mouth to protest, and likely give him more than a big piece of my mind, but Matthew stopped me before the words could rush out.

  “Nonsense. She will just ride on my mare with me.” He took the reins out of John’s hands while he stood there with his mouth open like a guppy.

  “Close your mouth, John. Bugs will fly in there,” I smirked at him giving him his attitude right back to him. He slammed his jaw shut and frowned at me indignantly.

  “You know, Matthew, we can handle the girl on our own. Taryn doesn’t need to worry herself with it. I’m sure there is something else that would suit her fancy more, like shopping or something. The castle is no place for a decent woman.” I didn’t miss his emphasis on the word decent.

  “If I didn’t know any better, I would say you’re trying to get rid of her,” Matthew said.

  John cleared his throat, “Oh no, I just wouldn’t want to bore her, that’s all,” he said dipping his eyes and bending forward at the waist. He did his best impression of a man with something meaningful to say but his lies wafted off of him like a foul smell.

  Matthew gave me an arm and swung me up onto the mare behind him. I put my arms around his waist and felt the beast’s massive girth between my legs. I had to hike my dress up to fit over the horse’s back without tearing.

  “She rides like a man too.” I heard John say quietly behind us.

  I blushed and pressed my face to Matthew’s back so John wouldn’t see. I should have thought about riding sidesaddle. “How do you suppose she would ride sidesaddle while mounted with me?” Matthew asked. Truth be told, I had never actually been on a horse before and I was a little terrified. I held Matthew’s waist in a death grip and plastered my body behind his like a second skin.

  “Don’t let me fall,” I whispered to him.

  He put one hand over mine and reassured me with his touch, “I wouldn’t dream of it love. Just relax.”

  The ride to Colchester Castle was both terrifying and exhilarating. The up and down motion bouncing on the back of the horse made me feel like I was going to slip off at any moment, but I didn’t. Once I got comfortable enough to open my eyes, and I started looking around, I actually forgot that I was afraid. The road was beautiful, tree-lined, with no pavement or asphalt to be seen. Just trees and little hovels off the path set far away from the road with curlicues of smoke billowing from their stone chimneys. A plethora of animals, chickens, goats, and a few cows and horses were also present. It was such a remarkably beautiful place that for a moment, it took my breath away.

  Through the trees ahead of us, I began seeing glimpses of the castle proper and within a few moments, the immense beauty was fully visible. I gasped when it came into full view.

  “Quite a sight, isn’t she?” Matthew said to me.

  “It sure is.” On my travels through Europe, I saw a lot of castle ruins, and a few intact castles, but seeing it as it was built to be seen was something else altogether. It struck me that even now, the castle was already a few hundred years old, but it was magnificent.

  We pulled up to the gate beside John and waited while the guards pulled the heavy iron gate open for us to pass through. A stable boy rushed to us and helped me down from the horse gently.

  “Thank you,” I said as I ensured my dress was back as it should be.

  “My pleasure, Madam.” He took the reins from Matthew while he dismounted, and hurried off with both horses.

  John was off like a whip already chatting with the guard in front of the tower entrance. “Have the villagers been notified of a public swimming today?” he asked. He still had that shit eating grin plastered to his face. In my time, people would see him for the sociopath he is, here, they thought he was a hero. But I promised Matthew I wouldn’t speak out while I was here. But oh, how I would like to wipe that look off his face.

  “Yes, Sir,” the guard said. “Public announcement went out this morning. I imagine there will be a great turn out for it.”

  “Very good,” John said. He had switched to full business mode and was no longer concerned with me being there. “Bring the witch, Joan Fern, up to the interrogation room.”

  “As you wish, Sir,” The guard rushed to obey his orders, he disappeared into the darkness of the tower.

  Matthew faced me, “While John is getting everything prepped, how about we go see the girl?” I was eager for anything that got me away from his partner.

  I nodded my head in agreement and even managed to smile. “Ok, let’s go,” I said to him.

  The stairs leading down to the holding cells were thick slabs of quarried stone, the walls of the stairway were made of the same material and were very cold to the touch. I had learned while visiting ruins years ago that the st
one they used to build with was limestone and it didn’t offer insulation from the elements. They had started double layering outside walls with straw and mud between the two layers to help block the cold from coming in. These walls either didn’t have that straw layer, or it just really didn’t noticeably help. Although I really didn’t have much to compare it against.

  We reached the bottom of the stairs and the hall before us branched off left and right. I waited for Matthew to lead the way. “The right goes to the large cell where we are keeping all those accused. It shouldn’t really be called large though, it’s barely big enough for the eight women to all lay down at night. To the left are the individual cells, used to house one person at a time. The interrogation rooms are above us.” He headed to the left, and I followed him eagerly. Although I was very curious to see the group of women to the right as well.

  He paused a few cells down and took a large key from his pocket. Moving around him, I saw the little girl laying upon the slab bed with blankets all wrapped around her. Her thick hair was fanned out around her. She faced the wall and I thought she must be asleep because of how still and quiet she was, like a little doll. She didn’t move a muscle as he unlocked the door and opened it with a loud screech. But then, she couldn’t hear the racket it made anyways.

  He held the door open for me and I ducked under his arm into the tiny cell. I touched the girl on her shoulder, and she leaped up, frightened. I put both hands up, showing her my empty palms so she knew that I meant no harm and she settled back on her pallet immediately. She looked into my face curiously.

  “Hello,” I said very clearly so she could watch my mouth as I formed my words. “Is your name Charlotte?” I asked. Her eyebrows were cinched together closely as she watched my mouth, but she nodded eagerly once she deciphered what I asked her.

  “Is Joan Fern your mother?” I asked.

  Another nod yes.

  “How old are you?” The little girl took my hand and tapped my palm nine times with her little finger, “You’re nine?”

  A big smile and a nod. I glanced at Matthew, standing in the doorway. He was smiling back at me and it gave me confidence.

  “Are you doing okay in here? Have the guards been kind to you?” she didn’t respond to that. Maybe it was too many words?

  “Have you had food?” I made a motion with my hand like I was putting food in my mouth and she pointed to a tray on the floor with an empty glass and some crumbs on it. Ok good, she wasn’t starving.

  I didn’t know what else I should say to her or ask her. I wanted to make sure she wasn’t being treated poorly, under the circumstances, and it seemed that they were treating her as well as they could be. I was appalled by her physical condition, however, but I doubted the guards, Matthew, or John had any control over how she looked. Her clothes were very ill fitting, and she wore no shoes. A pair of ratty looking slippers were nearby. Her hair looked as if it had never been brushed out in her nine years of life. It was tangled and matted all the way to the root, almost all of it would need to be cut away. Even her hands and feet were caked with dirt. Being in a jail cell seemed like it might have been an upgrade from the life she was living prior to being brought here. I didn’t know anything about her mother, but this child had clearly been neglected.

  “Taryn, we have to get back upstairs. I have to be present when they bring Joan Fern out,” he said, purposely avoided mentioning the swimming as if the girl would hear him. I looked back at the girl. For all the filth, she had a beautiful face with large green eyes, and I repressed the urge to take her in my arms and squeeze her.

  “I will come back to visit you, ok?” I asked her.

  She nodded and threw her scrawny arms around my neck. My heart ached for her. I hugged her back, hoping desperately that I would be able to come up with a solution for her that wouldn’t end in a life of hardship and suffering for her.

  Matthew locked the cell back up behind me and the little girl curled back up on her little makeshift bed.

  “She’s such a sweet girl,” I said as we walked away. “I really hope nothing bad happens to her. She’s had it rough enough already. It looks like no one has ever taken the time to take care for her properly.”

  “The child really seemed to take a liking to you,” he said. “I can see why though. You are perfect in every way,” he winked at me.

  “Oh yeah? You only say that because you are stuck with me.” I playfully shoved him and he pretended to fall off balance.

  “Am I? What if I just go put you back in the middle of that road where I found you?”

  I feigned shock. “You wouldn’t dare!”

  “You’re right. I wouldn’t. I want you all to myself.” He kissed me before he pushed the door open, before anyone would see. Sunlight poured into the stairway like a river overflowing a dam when he opened the door to the outside. I shielded my face while my eyes adjusted to the sudden onslaught of brightness.

  “Where are we supposed to go?” I asked following behind him, admiring the view of his backside in his trousers.

  He pointed to a path that led to the rear of the large open courtyard in the middle of the castle. “Colchester Pond is just there, through the trees. There should be a lot of people assembled. People always turn out in droves to see if a witch will sink or float. It always surprises me.

  “Have you ever seen one float?” I asked curiously.

  “It’s far more likely that they drown, but yes. I have seen a few who refused to sink,” he said casually. “I don’t think you will be seeing any drowning today though. Joan Fern is as guilty as they come.”

  I pondered that, turning it over in my mind. “How do you know, though? What has this woman done that is so different from what any innocent person would do?”

  He stopped walking, and looked in my eyes as he gathered his thoughts. “When this witch looks at you, the world stops turning. It’s like she gets into your soul. She sees what it is you care about, she sees your sins, and she knows how to use it against you. When we brought the woman in for questioning, it took John and myself to hold her down to get the shackles and rope on her. She looks to be almost sixty years old but is stronger than any of us separately. How would you explain that?” he asked me.

  “Adrenaline,” I said.

  “What?”

  Oh yeah. They don’t know about adrenaline yet.

  “Adrenaline is a chemical your body produces when you are under a great deal of stress. It causes you to be able to perform feats that you would not usually be capable of. It can make you run faster and lift things much heavier than you are. When it is surging, you could even continue to fight after being mortally wounded.”

  “I don’t know about that. But there is also the fact of the dried herbs hanging from the ceiling all around her home. She was clearly brewing potions there. And she dug her nails into my calf. The wound was gone the very next day.”

  “Maybe it just wasn’t as bad as you thought it was,” I shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe it wasn’t even your blood? She could have already been bleeding when she put her hand on you, then it would have been just washed away.”

  “It was a lot of blood,” he argued.

  “Maybe it wasn’t even blood?” I said.

  He sighed heavily, “You can find logic or reason for anything, can’t you?” He gave me a smile even though I knew I was frustrating him.

  “I believe in science. I think one should always exhaust every other avenue before one decides something is paranormal. In my experience, most things have a logical explanation.”

  “I will never get over how strangely you speak. It doesn’t make any sense to me, but it always sounds lyrical.”

  We followed the path around to a clearing with a large pond situated in the middle. Around the water, milling about, were around thirty townsfolk, John, guards, and their prisoner. Her body was bound up tight with thick corded rope with her hands tied firmly behind her back. John locked eyes with Matthew and nodded. Matthew tilted his hat to him an
d he had the go ahead to commence with the brutality.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Sam

  “What did you see?”

  I nearly fell out of my chair; the voice broke through my concentration like a hot knife through butter. I spun in my seat and faced the woman who stood casually in the doorway with her steely green eyes fixed on me expectantly.

  “You! What are you doing here? This is my house.”

  I leapt to my feet and took a defensive stance. The woman was the same person who had been in the restaurant when Taryn disappeared.

  “I know you saw something when you tried that spell. What was it? I need to know.”

  “Lady, you don’t need to know shit. You’re in my house, being creepy as heck, you don’t get to ask me anything. What are you watching me or something? Don’t you have spells to cast, or best friends to steal someplace? What do you want with me?” I was far too busy to deal with her. I don’t know how she got into my house, but she could see her way out.

  “My patience is wearing very thin with you. Now tell me what it was that came to you in that vision, or you will very much regret it,” she stepped towards me and her eyes took on an unearthly glow.

  “Ok, ok, fine. Holy crap, chill already.” I sat back down and leaned on my knees. “I didn’t see much. I saw Taryn laying on the ground naked and a man holding a knife. That was it. Would you mind telling me if my friend is dead? Because that looked pretty ominous.”

  I swallowed the lump that had formed in the back of my throat. The last thing I would do would be to let this bitch see me cry.

  “She is not dead,” the woman grinned. “That dagger you saw was not meant for her.”

  I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding, “Then who was it for?”

  “Her time will come. Make no mistake about that.” She evaded my question, side-stepping my demands like they were a waste of time. I hated the snide look on her face, if I could do magic, I would find a way to destroy that look on her face.