Now the undertow was fearsomely strong. Erasmus caught me up and we held on to each other, staggering through the last yards of the channel, fighting to stay upright. At last we were out! We dragged our filth-sodden legs through the last of the slime and scrambled onto the stony bank of the river. Erasmus set Nipper down on a large, flat piece of rock at the water’s edge and wrapped his jacket around him. The boy looked pale and tired and I feared for his health. He should not have been out of bed, let alone putting himself through such experiences as the one he had just endured.
Everything was suffused in an eerie twilight. There were many boats on the water. Some were workaday barges and tugs and ferryboats plying their trades, others were pleasure boats, taken out presumably as vantage points from which to watch the effects of the solar eclipse. I searched the scene for Tegan.
“Where are you?” I whispered. “Tegan, where are you?” And then I saw it. A gaily painted boat with banners, festooned with flowers. A less likely vessel for Gideon—and for his evil purpose—you could not imagine. I squinted through the fading light. There were men rowing, and musicians, and I could make out the twins, and there! Tegan!
“I see her! Oh, Erasmus! I see her, and Gideon standing next to her!”
27
I was taken aboard the boat just as the light started to change. The first thing I noticed was that what birds there were stopped singing, and that was quickly followed by a drop in the temperature. It wasn’t completely dark, as the eclipse would take some time to become complete; it was like dusk, or the strange, steely sky and grey light that comes before a big storm.
We stepped past the half-dozen men in the front of the boat who were there to row it. They looked sinister in their masks and capes, and not one of them spoke to us or even to each other as we took our places. In the center of the boat, there was a raised area strewn with tapestry rugs and velvet cushions. Everywhere there were flowers, giving the impression we were celebrating something fun and happy.
But Gideon didn’t do fun, or happy.
The twins sat me down between them, with Gideon standing next to us. At the far end of the boat the musicians struck up a cheerful tune. The boat was untied from the jetty and we set off. Despite going upstream, the rowers moved us through the water pretty quickly. There were dozens of other boats on the river. Some were working boats, but there were lots of people who turned out to watch the eclipse, too.
Gideon’s timing made sense to me now. All those days spent underground, he had been waiting for this moment. Whatever he had planned for me, he needed me aboveground for it, and he knew I wouldn’t be able to use my magic with the sun’s light blocked out.
“You are looking very lovely today, Tegan,” he said.
“You think? I’m a bit pale … having been kept prisoner in an underground dungeon,” I replied as loudly and clearly as I could. Not one of the rowers or musicians appeared to hear me, or if they did they didn’t react.
“Oh, hardly a dungeon,” said Gideon, seeming not to care if our conversation was overheard. “It was important to me that your health did not suffer.”
“I was a prisoner, I was being held against my will, and you had no right to keep me there. That sort of treatment is hardly likely to make anyone feel particularly healthy.”
“A necessary precaution, I’m afraid. You see, I know what you have become. I know what you are capable of. I could not allow you to be in possession of your powers while we awaited the chosen moment.”
“The chosen moment for what, Gideon? You might as well tell me.”
“Indeed, I can hide it from you no longer.” He turned, leaning against the upright that held the swags of flowers, gazing out across the choppy water.
I felt the girls minutely tighten their coils of hair around my wrists. I glanced up at the sun. There was still enough of it to hurt my eyes. I closed them but kept my face turned to the fading rays that still fell, even as the great star was almost completely blotted out.
Gideon spoke without any effort to conceal what he was saying from the others on the boat. “You have a destiny that is as great as it is tragic. The greatness lies in the fact that you are worthy, that you have achieved such a desirable status, that my Lord wishes to have you for his own. The tragedy is that such a witch as yourself will not live to fulfill her potential here on earth.”
I didn’t like the sound of any of that.
“I’m not yours to give to anybody,” I told him, forcing myself to make sense of what he was saying. His lord? Other than himself, there was only one person Gideon had ever served. And that person was not a person at all. I felt a chill run through me that was nothing to do with the lack of sunshine.
“You have to understand,” he went on, “that is, I want you to understand, I was compelled to make a difficult choice. You can lay the blame for that at Elizabeth’ s door.”
“Take responsibility for your own actions, Gideon. Elizabeth is not to blame for anything you do.”
“Oh no? Wasn’t it she who took me to the Summerlands? Wasn’t it she who had me held captive there?”
“To protect me. To protect everyone from you.”
“And by what right did she set herself up as my judge?”
“You were lucky that’s all she did to you,” I snapped. “I wanted you dead.”
“Ah, but you couldn’t kill me, even with all your sister witches helping. The simple fact is that you were not strong enough.”
I glared at him. “Not then, maybe.”
“And now you are, which is why I have only just this day brought you up into the light.” He gestured to the twins and they laid me back on the cushions, binding me even tighter with their hair and holding me with an unnaturally strong grip of their own, one on either side. Gideon stepped forward and drew out a knife. “Rest assured, there will be little pain or discomfort,” he said as he leaned over me. I struggled, but in my weakened state I could not put up any sort of fight.
“Help!” I shouted to the musicians and the men rowing. “Help me! Someone stop him!” This time I knew they had heard me. Several of them turned their heads, but only to watch what was going on. They were all Gideon’s men. Not one of them would lift a hand against him.
“Agh!” I screamed as I felt a blade cut into my wrist. I was more shocked than hurt, though. It was a small incision, precise and careful. Lucrecia moved my arm a little and placed a golden bowl beneath it to collect the blood that was now oozing from my vein.
“Timing is all,” Gideon explained as he sat to watch. “A sacrifice must be in good health, and a witch must be in possession of her powers at the moment she departs this world to join my Master. That means that you will enjoy the warmth of your Sacred Sun before you die. Just for a moment or two, so that you are a fit and suitable offering. It will take a little while for you to bleed out, and you will feel only drowsy, weakened. Of course you will try to restore yourself with your magic the instant you reconnect with the sun, I understand that. In fact, I welcome it, for that fight, that effort, will bring you to a better state at the moment of your death than if you were to give up and go meekly. Fortunately, I know meekness is not in your nature, is it, Tegan?”
He was right about that. Just then, the musicians began playing a tune that was horribly familiar. “Greensleeves.” Such a cheerful little song, and yet for years to me it had signified death and danger, because it was his song. I wondered if Elizabeth was close enough to hear it. I knew she had sensed me. I knew she would come if she could. But time was running out. And then Gideon started his summoning. He recited the ancient words in a flat, steady voice, calling on his evil lord to accept me as a worthy soul in payment for his debt.
His debt! Now I understood. I understood who had helped Gideon escape from the Summerlands. And I understood why he had dragged me through the centuries to bring me to this point in time, this very moment, so that he could settle his account with the devil. The sky above us seemed to bulge with supernatural clouds. I could fee
l a dark, cold, evil presence even then.
There was a sudden commotion up ahead. A coal barge was vying for right-of-way with a passenger boat full of day-trippers, and another medium-size boat had got between them. We were forced to stop, and were suddenly very close to an awful lot of other people. I knew they would not hear me if I screamed, but surely Gideon would have to be careful what he did now, because someone on those boats might be able to see. I struggled to sit up, causing the twins to grapple with me. Someone might notice if there was a scrap going on. Gideon cursed beneath his breath and told the oarsmen to maneuver the boat around the jam, but there wasn’t space to turn without coming into contact with the barge. All we could do was sit where we were and wait. And while we waited, the planets moved on. We entered the darkest point of the eclipse and passed through it. Already I could see the aurora of the sun bursting free from the darkness. I tried to still my heartbeat as best I could. All I had to do was slow the flow of blood from my opened vein.
I began to have the sensation I was falling backward. I mustn’t lose consciousness! I could hear Gideon shouting now, desperate to get us away from the other boats.
And then the sun’s warmth hit me. I breathed it in, pulling its power into my very soul. The soul that Gideon would have damned. Well damn him! After only a minute I could sense my strength beginning to return. The twins must have sensed it, too—Lucrecia called out to Gideon, but he was too busy arguing with the captain of the pleasure boat. I recited the prayer Taklit had taught me, imploring the Sacred Sun to give me its gift of life and strength, to warm my spirit, to stir my body, to enlighten my mind, to make me blessed. I flung my arm out so that the sunshine fell directly onto my cut and willed it to sear shut the wound. There was a sound of sizzling and the terrible stink of burning flesh, but I felt no pain, and the skin was melded closed. The bleeding stopped. I breathed deeply and was astonished at the force of the magic I felt enter me. This sun that had emerged from the eclipse was for me, to heal me, to save me, to rid me of my enemies. Taklit was right. I was Tegan the Blessed of the Sacred Sun, and my moment had come.
I rose up from the cushions at such speed that Lucrecia and Florencia were yanked to their feet with me. The girls cried out.
“Let me go!” I growled at them. Florencia began to loosen her tresses from my arm, but Lucrecia held on. She may have been more afraid of Gideon than she was of me. She was a poor judge of witches, then. With next to no effort, I directed my attention to her hair where it bound me and intensified the heat of the sun upon it until it began to smoulder. Lucrecia inhaled the unmistakable smell of singeing hair and let out a shriek. She tried to unravel the loops of hair that were still around my arm, but before she had a chance to do it they were shriveled and burned to nothing, falling as ashes at her feet. I leapt out of Gideon’s reach as he grabbed at me, causing the boat to rock. I stood then, feet firmly planted, conjuring a force of waves in the water and a vortex of hot air so that the boat lurched and pitched and rocked in such a violent way that two of the musicians and one of the oarsmen were tipped into the water. All around me people were shouting. Gideon was staggering toward me, but I was too quick for him, and darted past. I stood in the prow of the boat and prepared to jump. I was on the point of leaping when Lucrecia, determined to pay me back for burning her precious hair, lunged at me, winding all her remaining locks around me, flinging her arms tight about me, too.
“No!” she screamed. “You’ll ruin everything! I won’t let you go!”
I built up the fire inside of me, but Gideon was almost upon us. Although my magic was restored, my body was still feeling the effects of having lost so much blood. If he got hold of me at the same time as the twin I would have trouble getting away. I don’t think any of us could have predicted that Florencia would do what she did. Was it about jealousy, or the way her sister had treated her for so long? Or had she really wanted to help me? Whatever her reasons, she acted like she knew exactly what she was doing. She ran toward us and hurled herself at her sister, who was still clinging to me, so that all three of us fell out of the boat and disappeared into the dark chilly waters of the Thames.
The sudden change in temperature was shocking, and I could see that Lucrecia had panicked and taken in a lungful of water. She released me at once and started thrashing and kicking for the surface. Florencia had already been swept downstream by the ferocious undertow, her arms working ineffectually against the current.
For me, the shift from being held in the warmth of the sun to being embraced by the soft water was, after the initial shock, merely a stepping from one of my elements to another. I was Tegan Hedfan, the one who flies through the air; I was Tegan the Blessed of the Sacred Sun, who summons the fire; and I was Balik Kiis, Fish Girl, who is at home beneath the waves. I asked my feet and legs to move and they responded with the rhythmic flicking of a fish’s tail, powering me through the water. I could have reached the surface in seconds, but I did not feel the need to take a breath. Instead, I surged through the grey, churning water, faster and faster, until I caught up with Florencia. I took her in my arms and lifted her up, breaking the surface with such speed that the movement shocked her into taking a breath, forcing fresh air into her body once again. I held her head above the water, keeping us afloat without difficulty. I heard someone calling to me. A man’s voice. Not Gideon, but someone good, someone warm.
“Tegan! Over here!”
I turned and saw Erasmus in a small rowing boat. He pulled toward me, working the oars with strong strokes, and I swam to meet him. Together we got Florencia into the boat. I scanned the water, but there was no sign of Lucrecia.
“Where is Elizabeth?” I asked Erasmus.
He nodded across the reach of water, back toward the boat I had just escaped from. “She has gone to face Gideon,” he told me.
“What! I must go and help her.”
“No.” He leaned forward and put a hand on my arm. “She came for you, Tegan. She wants you safe. Stay here. I will go and help her.”
I shook my head. “She can’t defeat Gideon without me.” I pushed away from the boat. “Look after Florencia!” I called back to him as I swam for the barge.
* * *
When I landed on the wooden deck of Gideon’s boat, my bare feet made no sound, and my arrival went unnoticed. There was too much going on, with the great muddle of boats tangled together, the squeals and cries of those who had fallen in the water, and the general amazement at the coming and going of the sun, the way that night stole time from the day, and then day reasserted itself. Besides, no one expects to see a person descend from above. I had removed my heavy, soiled dress, leaving only my petticoats, my slip, and my boots. Erasmus had known what I was about to attempt, but even so I saw the shock on his face as I rose up from the tiny rowing boat we had acquired and lifted into the air. To fly was the quickest and safest way for me to get to Gideon’s boat. If anyone had seen me, who would have believed them? In the carnival atmosphere of the eclipse many were already in their cups, or soon would be. Flying was something I did so very rarely (and usually under cover of darkness) that I should have been apprehensive and doubtful of my ability, but there was no time for dithering, no room for failure. I could hear Gideon’s vile words of worship, and I knew what he was going to do if he was not stopped.
Gideon gasped when he saw me. His fury at watching Tegan jump from the boat was momentarily replaced with what I recognized as awe at my arrival.
“Elizabeth! That is quite an entrance. And an unnecessary one, as it seems Tegan has saved herself. For now.”
“She is more than a match for you, Gideon. It must be galling to discover that.”
“I would not have chosen her as an offering otherwise,” he said as he began to move toward me. “You were foolish to come here alone. You know you cannot overcome me. You have tried before and failed. Are you really content to give yourself in Tegan’s place? Is that what you want, to be a martyr? You think she will be safe then? Do you really think I
would let her go? When you are no longer here to help her, I will find a way to overpower her. My Master will show me the way.”
“It would seem you cannot do without his help. Was that always your truth, Gideon? Were you really never anything more than a puppet?”
“You knew what I was. You saw me all those years ago, truly saw me, in Batchcombe Woods. You saw where my power came from and you were in awe! You wanted me, Bess, even then.”
“No, not once I understood. Not once I knew. Is that why you led me back there? Right to that very spot? To remind me of that time?”
He gave a slow smile. “You still cannot accept that you are not the focus of my attention any longer, can you? There was a time when, yes, I’ll admit it, I wanted you to look back, to find the power of that brief passion you had for me. To recall the strength of that love.”
“No, it was never love.”
“You have denied it for so long, there would be little point in trying to convince you now. I’m sorry to say my actions were, much as you won’t wish to hear it, entirely to do with my plans for Tegan. I knew when I Time Stepped that you would come after me, and that you would do your damnedest to prevent my plans coming to fruition. I wanted rid of your interference. I wanted rid of you, my poor, lost Bess. And the best way I knew to deal with you was to place you in that time, in that life, where there were other people you cared for.”
“William.”
“And then I let the war do the rest. Even you would find your match in Cromwell’s ambition, particularly if you were distracted by your rather nauseating conscience. You could not save your family, you had to watch your mother hang, you even had Archie die in your arms. William was about the only other person left for you to rescue, to make amends. With you busy sacrificing yourself for him, I could come to this place, to this point in time, with Tegan.”
“Except that you hadn’t reckoned on William being the one to make the sacrifice.”
“Or the dogged persistence of your pet Stepper.”
The Return of the Witch Page 32