Witch Hollow and the Fountain Riddle (Book 2)

by I.D. Blind

9. Admonition

  The McCormacks’ maid escorted Albert O’Brian to the living room, where Peter McCormack was waiting for him. He was sitting on a velvet couch, holding a cigar in his one hand and a sheet of sealed and signed paper in the other.

  “Peter, what has happened?” Albert asked as soon as the maid closed the door behind him.

  “First of all, hello.” Peter took a puff on the cigar, then pointed to the armchair. “Greeting is good manners and etiquette. And following the treaties is another way to show good manners as well as the existence of principles.”

  Albert sat down in the armchair. “Peter, I can guess what you will talk about, but before you say anything, listen to me. The boy is my nephew, he has his own parents; I am not his father, I can’t tell him what to do—”

  “Yes you can. You did that last year. You can, you have the right. He’s your guest, and obeying the wishes of the host in whose house you’re living in is another example of good manners. I see that ill manners run in the O’Brian family.”

  “He’s not a little child; I can’t control him twenty-four hours a day. I am already having trouble controlling my own children.”

  “Are you?” Peter asked, his eyes fixed on his guest. “What is it with your children? Are they disobeying you? What’s wrong with you, Albert? Why are you losing control over the people who live in your house?”

  “Because they are growing up. It was easier when our children were younger, but now they are capricious, they disobey, they ask questions—”

  “My children never disobey. They never ask questions. They trust me unconditionally. And they know that if their father has done something, then it’s for their own good. Look at this paper, Albert. Read it, for I see you have forgotten what’s written here. No communication with the witches! You signed it. We all signed it. We had a reason. We care for our children. The witch is cunning, Albert. Remember Colin! Remember the others!”

  “It’s about us and our children. Eric is not my child. I answer for him, but I can’t make him do something he doesn’t want to.”

  “That is such a bad excuse. You think I can’t see that you’re trying to fool me? If you can’t control him, then send him away.”

  “I can’t, I’ve promised my cousin.”

  “So now your promise means a lot. But the signed treaty doesn’t have the same value to you. Mind you, it was also a promise. Your promise! You signed it, you became one of us, and you agreed to help the Hunters if they appear.”

  “I signed it only because I was sure they wouldn’t be back.”

  “What makes you so sure?”

  “They have nothing to do in Hollow. This place is safe now. We don’t have any kind of black magic happening in the town.”

  “And again, what makes you so sure? Or don’t you notice the way the weather behaves? Doesn’t it remind you of anything?”

  Albert paled. “Peter, don’t continue. You have children, I have children; we are wiser now, and we can’t let anything like that happen again.”

  “Our children are perfectly safe, my friend. At least, the ones whose parents follow the treaty.”

  Albert bounded to his feet. “Are you threatening my children?”

  “Calm down, I never said anything like that. I am telling you what consequences the disobedience might bring. I’ll give you some time to think. I hope you won’t disappoint me.”

  Albert opened and closed his mouth, as if trying to say something and not finding the words. In the end, he turned sharply to the door and left without a goodbye.

  Caitlin McCormack, having entered the living room at the end of the conversation, frowned at Albert, and turning to her husband, said, “Peter, you were too soft with him. You should have been stricter.”

  Peter gave her an ambiguous look. There was something hateful and abhorring in his eyes, but Caitlin was looking out the window and didn’t see that glance.

  “Why, Peter? Why were you so soft with him? Those witches have crossed the border. I hope another witch hunt will put them into their place.”

  Peter McCormack snatched one of his glass figurines and hurled it into the wall where his wife was standing by. The glass shattered into pieces. Caitlin screamed and turned around.

  “Don’t you dare tell me what to do!” Peter shouted at her.

  “Oh, Peter, I didn’t mean to, I was just angry with Albert—”

  “Stop being so stupid!”

  Caitlin squeezed her fingers and bit her lips. Tears of fear glistened in her eyes. “I am sorry, Peter, I didn’t mean to.”

  “You never had brains, and you think you can teach me what to do and how to talk? Woman, don’t you ever dare talk about the witch hunt with me!”

  Dickens entered the room, looked at his tearful mother, then stared at his furious father.

  “Take your mother and leave the room!” Peter demanded.

  “What happened?”

  Peter smirked. “Are you as stupid as your mother? I said take her and leave the room. Get out!”

  Dickens approached his mother. “Let’s go,” he told her.

  She nodded, still sobbing, and they both left Peter alone. He leaned his back against the bookcase, buried his face in his hands, and gave out a long, heavy sigh.

  10. Arrest

  Cassandra asked Dr. Robinson and Eric not to tell anything to her family about being whipped by De Roy, but both disagreed. Eric was shaking with anger, so much that Dr. Robinson had to give him a double dose of sedatives. The veterinarian wanted to take them to the hospital, but both of his interns assured him they were feeling better after he had washed their wounds with antiseptic. As soon as the last idlers left the square, Dr. Robinson asked Eric to take Cassandra home.

  When they told her family what had happened, Andromeda threw herself at her niece. “My little girl,” she cried out, pressing Cassandra to her breast. “My poor child.”

  “How did it happen?” Colin asked, looking at Cassandra’s neck and shoulder.

  “I am sorry, Uncle, I should have avoided him, but he was beating Jupiter. I had to stop it.”

  “Jupiter?”

  “The horse. He was scared of something, and De Roy began lashing him. Then I intervened, and he threw all his anger at me. Poor Eric covered me with his body and got whipped too.”

  “I am sorry, my boy. And thank you for standing up for her,” Colin said, and paced to the door.

  “Colin! Colin, no, don’t go there!” Andromeda shouted.

  “De Roy has completely lost his mind. What does he think? That he can lash our child, and we shall behave as if nothing happened?”

  “I’ll come with you,” Jack said.

  “Stay with your mother and sisters,” Colin told him, and dashed out.

  Andromeda called after him, but he didn’t come back. She turned to her son. “Jack, go find Shay, or Alan, and tell them to help your father. De Roy will have him arrested.”

  “I am sorry, I didn’t want to cause so much trouble,” Cassandra said as Jack ran out of the hall.

  Andromeda hugged her and kissed her brow. “It’s not your fault, my love. You did what was right.”

  Electra took Eric into her arms. “How do you feel? Shall I bring you something?” She put her palm on his whipped back.

  “I’m fine,” he said. “I only got one lash, while Cassie received a whole whipping.”

  Cassandra was taken to another room, where Andromeda could have a better look at her wounds. She told Electra to bring Eric to the Potion Room in ten minutes, but he said he didn’t need anything. “Dr. Robinson took care of me,” Eric told her. “I’m fine. Go, take care of your sister.”

  “Aunt and Medea will do that,” Electra said. “I want to stay with you.” She put her head on his shoulder. “Thank you.”

  Eric threw his arms around her and pecked her temple. “I love Hollow, but the townsfolk are so cruel. I had never seen anything like that in my life. He’s a grown-up man, a sheriff; he should be wise and honest and just. Wh
at he did was immoral. And everyone was standing around and gaping at us. At least some of them helped us in the end.”

  “They are scared of De Roy.”

  “I have to admit that I’m scared of him too, but it didn’t stop me.”

  “Because you’re our friend.”

  “Something tells me I’d do that for anyone.”

  “I know,” she said, and reached out to his lips.

  Everyone returned to the fireplace hall, waiting for Colin and Jack. Eric didn’t want to leave the girls, and was standing by the window, looking out at the hill that led to the town.

  “Eric, your tea is getting cold.”

  “Thank you, sunshine, but I don’t want tea.”

  “Drink it, my dear,” Andromeda said. “It will soothe you; you are too stressed.”

  “Thanks, Mrs. Fitzroy, but nothing can soothe me unless De Roy is punished.”

  “I wouldn’t have much hope about that,” Medea said. “Who will punish him? The mayor? The judge? He himself? That’s ridiculous.” She stood up and marched up and down the hall. “I am beginning to hate this place. One day I will leave Hollow and never be back.”

  “Don’t say that,” Electra said. “It’s not Hollow’s fault. Bad people are everywhere.”

  “She’s right,” Cassandra said. “You can’t leave only because some people won’t behave nicely. There are still the ones who are not bad.”

  “How can you say that?” Medea yelled. “Cassie, you have been whipped over nothing! You are not a murderer or a thief—”

  “I’m a witch.”

  “It’s not a reason enough to be whipped!”

  “You’re right. But apparently De Roy thinks otherwise.”

  “That’s what I’m saying! The sheriff and half of the townsfolk think they can whip us only because we were born this way. You hadn’t done anything bad, just tried to protect the horse. And what did you get? Lashes from the sheriff and no support from the townsfolk.”

  “Eric helped me.”

  “He’s not one of the townspeople.”

  “Other people came to help, too.”

  “After he hit you, then me, then tried to hit us again,” Eric said.

  “It’s because people were shocked. It was unexpected. But then they came to help us.”

  “I wouldn’t say they were helping us, Cassie; rather, they were stopping De Roy.”

  “It’s the same—”

  “No, it’s not,” Medea said. “Eric is right. A girl is lashed, and they don’t even move.”

  “They are scared of De Roy.”

  “Why are you defending them?” Medea asked with irritation. “I don’t understand you, Cass.”

  “All I’m saying is that not everyone is bad. Only because they didn’t rush to help us doesn’t mean they wanted us to be hurt. I am telling you, I saw their faces. There are people on the East Bank that don’t wish us harm, which means that not the whole half of the town hates us. It’s only four or five families, and people don’t even like them much.”

  “What you are saying is a lie. Four or five families? Not everyone likes them? You’re just looking for an excuse for them.”

  “Why would I look for an excuse?” Cassandra almost cried.

  “Because you’re trying to convince yourself that the Easterners can be good. Because you’re in love with one of them.”

  “Medea, don’t bring Raymond into this,” Electra told her.

  Medea was about to say something when a blast of thunder interrupted her. For some time the rain and the wind were making the only sounds; everyone else was silently staring at the windows. Eric noticed a flicker of light outside. Three silhouettes with lanterns crossed the courtyard and walked to the door. It was Mr. Pickering, Jack, and Hector. As they entered the fireplace hall, Andromeda bolted to her feet.

  “Alan, what happened? Where is my husband?”

  “He has been arrested,” Mr. Pickering said. “He punched the sheriff, and they arrested him. That was something he should’ve expected. When Jack came after Shay and me, Colin was already at the prefecture. He had a bad argument with De Roy, hit him, and got arrested. We demanded that De Roy let him go, another argument started, and Shay was arrested too.”

  Andromeda reached out to Hector and squeezed his hand. “Everything will be fine,” she told him. Hector nodded.

  “I then went to see Judge Alistair,” Mr. Pickering continued.

  “Judge Alistair? Alan, did you really think he would help us?”

  “I knew he wouldn’t, but my intention was not to ask his help; I got him to offer us a deal.”

  “A deal?”

  “I told the judge what De Roy had done in front of so many people and that we should be calling a Council meeting and demanding his resignation. Of course he couldn’t let that happen, so he was forced to offer a deal. He’ll convince De Roy to let Colin and Shay free, and we shall not demand the sheriff’s resignation.”

  “Colin will not agree. He won’t let De Roy get away with this.”

  “Then you’ll have to convince him. If it were only him, I don’t think we’d be able to do that, but Shay’s been arrested, too. It will force Colin to accept the deal. That was the best idea I could come up with,” Pickering said in his usual low voice. He looked at Cassandra. “I am sorry, sweetheart, for what has happened, and that I made this deal, but I couldn’t come up with anything better.”

  “Don’t worry about me, Uncle Alan. I want Uncle to come home. And I am so sorry for your father, Hector.”

  “It’s not your fault, Cassie,” Hector said.

  “Yes, dear, it’s not your fault.” Andromeda gave her another hug. “When will they be released?” she asked Alan Pickering.

  “Judge Alistair will speak to De Roy, but we all know how stubborn that man is. Might take a day or two. I’m sure he’ll let them go. First, Judge Alistair is an authority over him, and second, De Roy doesn’t want to lose his position. I’m afraid he’s getting ready for something.”

  “For something?”

  Mr. Pickering stood up and looked at the youngsters. “I think the children are tired, they better go to bed.”

  “Yes,” Andromeda agreed. “It’s bedtime.”

  It was getting late, and though Hector was going to stay in the blue castle, Eric had to return home. The boys accompanied him to the great bridge, and on their way, Jack gave Eric another diary.

  When he returned home, it was already midnight. Uncle Albert was about to throw a tantrum, but when he heard what had happened, the first thing he wanted to do was rush to the sheriff’s house and demand explanations. Both Eric and Riona were quick to keep him back and convince him not to do that. Eric reminded him what De Roy had done to Colin and Shay, and assured him that not much harm had been done to him. Albert was by the door when Eric felt dizzy and almost collapsed. Riona held him and helped him to sit down. Albert wanted to go after a doctor, but Eric again asked him to stay at home. Riona told Albert to do as Eric asked to avoid putting him under more stress, then took Eric to the bathroom to take care of his injury. Eric told her that Dr. Robinson had already done that, but she insisted and washed his wound with an antiseptic.

  “I am so sorry,” Riona said, applying iodine to the weal on his back. “What kind of memories will you have of us and this town after this? This was such a terrible thing to happen.” She examined his torso, looking for other wounds. “What’s this?” she asked, squinting at two red dots on his chest.

  Eric looked down. “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Insect bites, maybe.”

  Eric thanked Riona and went upstairs to his room. He sat down on the bed and for a very long time pondered over what had happened that day. Until today, all those stories, the ones he had heard of and the ones he had read about, seemed distant, untrue, just a flight of imagination. But today he realized at last how great was the danger.