Page 48 of The Silent Songbird

“My lord, she tried to kill all of us with poisonous mushrooms in our pottage.”

Westley’s face was like a mask in the fading light of late day, hiding his thoughts as he stood beside his father.

“Let her speak for herself, if she can speak.” Lord le Wyse glared with his one good eye, holding his shriveled hand against his middle.

“I can speak.” The breath returned to her lungs.

“What is your name?”

“Eva, my lord.”

“Can you defend yourself against these accusations?”

“Sabina gave me the mushrooms. She said Mistress Golda told her to bring mushrooms for the pottage, and she begged me to put the mushrooms in the pot for her.”

“Did you know they were poisonous?”

“No, my lord.”

“Fetch Sabina.”

A few men ran off in different directions. While everyone waited for Sabina’s retrieval, Muriel stomped up the three steps to the pillory platform and shoved the men who were still holding Evangeline’s arms.

“Get off her, you fiends!” She slapped at their arms until they loosened their painful grips on her arms and let go.

The people talked low among themselves, sending furtive glances Evangeline’s way. She tried to ignore them. She tried to keep her eyes focused above the tops of the crowd’s heads, but her gaze kept flitting to Westley. Did he think she was lying again, that she had deliberately tried to kill the other servants with poison mushrooms?

Reeve Folsham arrived and pulled Westley aside and spoke with him at the back of the crowd. Then Sabina arrived, walking between two men, her eyes wide and her lips closed. The men prodded her forward, toward the pillory.

“Sabina.” Lord le Wyse’s voice boomed, silencing the already quiet crowd. “Did you give Eva the mushrooms she put into the pottage?”

“Me? No, of course not! Is that what she said?” Sabina turned wide eyes toward Eva.

“I saw her.”

Every head turned toward the back of the crowd.

Reeve Folsham strode through the crowd toward them. “I saw Sabina give Eva the mushrooms and heard her tell her to put them in the pottage.”

Several people gasped.

“Sabina,” Lord le Wyse said, “shall I ask you again?”

“I-I didn’t know, my lord. I was trying to hurry and do as Mistress Golda bid me and gather the mushrooms, and I didn’t realize they were the poisonous ones.” Sabina sobbed. “You must believe me. I would never hurt anyone.”

“What kind of mushrooms were they? Does anyone know?”

A woman’s voice rose above the others. “They were fool’s toadstools.”

Someone else said, “Fool’s toadstools are not deadly. They will only make you sick for a few hours.”

Another person added, “They look very much like the harmless moon’s caps.”

“It was just a mistake,” someone else called out.

Reeve Folsham reached the platform. He mounted the steps and stood beside Evangeline. “You all falsely accused this young woman. Now, Eva”—he turned toward her—“what must they do to gain your forgiveness?”

Eva rubbed her arm where she could feel a bruise, then stopped when she realized what she was doing. Everyone was staring at her while Sabina continued to sob nearby.