Page 52 of Witchbane

Excitement raced through me. Usually Aunt Sorrel was quick to dismiss anything she thought unfeasible. Could I be right?

‘If this is the case,’ Appoline said thoughtfully, ‘what message would Martha want to convey? Because whatever it is must be extremely important to her for her to go this far.’

When my aunt or grandmother didn’t answer, everyone’s attention turned to me.

I shrugged. ‘I have no idea, but this started before I was taken to the Witchfinder and told of the accusation against me, so maybe she was trying to warn me of danger.’

‘That does sound like Martha,’ Clarice agreed. ‘She would be desperate to protect her child in any way possible, even from beyond the grave.’

Comforted at her thoughts, I became impatient to discover more. ‘Should we not be casting the spell you’re all here to help with?’

My aunt shook her head. ‘I understand your urgency, Rue’—she glanced in the direction of the door—‘and our need to finish this today before we have any unwelcome visitors.’ She gave me a sympathetic smile. ‘But if this does have something to do with my sister, and we have misunderstood her reasons for it, then she might only have one opportunity to reveal her warning.’

‘You believe she is trying to warn us then?’ Fear crept up my throat.

‘Sorrel is right, Rue,’ said my grandmother. ‘If we make a mistake and cast an incorrect spell we might ruin everything and lose Martha’s intended message forever. Are we willing to take that chance?’

‘No,’ I snapped. ‘But how will we know which one is the right one?’ I looked at her for an answer.

‘That is what we must work out,’ she replied. I went to argue, but she continued speaking. ‘No, Rue. If this is what we suspect, we must take care to do everything right.’

I realised I had little choice but to accept what they were telling me. ‘What happens now then?’

Appoline’s sister, Mrs Lamy, was almost as experienced as her sister. She murmured something to herself. We all watched her.

Finally she said, ‘I have an idea what needs to be done, but we must start our preparations immediately for there is a lot to prepare.’ She gave my grandmother a nod. ‘Ophelia, may I speak with you in your spell room? I believe we should work through a few thoughts I have.’ After my grandmother acknowledged she was happy with this, Mrs Lamy addressed all of us once again. ‘You all return to your homes now. We don’t want anyone becoming suspicious of us meeting here, and I think we all agree that we should take our time rather than make any mistakes.’ She looked at me and I felt compelled to nod. ‘Good. Then I will contact each of you and let you know what your part in the preparations will entail.’

‘And I will have Sorrel and Rue here to help me.’ Grandmother clasped her hands in front of her chest. ‘Thank you all for coming at such short notice. We are grateful for your support.’

Iris stepped forward and rested a hand on my grandmother’s. ‘It’s what we are here for, Ophelia.’

‘If we do only have one chance to get this right, then each of us must be as thorough in our preparation as possible,’ my grandmother said as she led the way downstairs to see the women out.

Chapter Twenty-Five

THEO

Ireluctantly left Lord Thistlebury’s home without him. I could see how much our meeting had taken out of him and agreed with him that he needed rest. Yet I could barely conceal my frustration, wanting to take him to Thistlebury Manor immediately.

As I rode home, I reasoned that even though he gave the impression of getting on in years, he was still only in his mid-forties – much the same age as my father, who barely took time off work and considered rest a waste of time.

I sensed that Lord Thistlebury was frightened about seeing Rue again and needed time to think about what we had discussed.

It also occurred to me that, in discovering Rue to be in a dangerous situation similar to her late mother’s, he must feel as if history was repeating itself. I sympathised with the man and regretted that I was the one to bring this sorrow to his door. I suspected, too, that losing his wife so tragically and leaving his daughter behind for a decade of self-imposed seclusion must have taken a toll on his health.

At least he had agreed to meet me at ten the following morning at the inn in Oakley. We would then decide what to do next.

Who am I to question him anyway? I asked myself as I untacked Warrior in our stables and rubbed him down. Having fed and watered him, I went inside and was surprised to see my mother sitting in her usual chair by the fireside. She looked up at me but didn’t speak.

‘Mother? Is everything all right?’ I hung up my coat and hat and removed my boots, then went over to her and rested my hands on her shoulders. ‘You weren’t waiting up for me, were you?’

She lowered the darning she was supposedly working on, although how she could see in the dim firelight I couldn’t imagine.

‘Where have you been until this hour?’

I didn’t want to tell her, unsure whether she would share it with my father. I knew Lord Thistlebury did not wish to reveal his whereabouts to anyone other than his daughter and immediate family. I might work for my father but I wasn’t blind to his unpredictable reactions, and I had no intention of causing Rue or her father any more trouble than they were already dealing with.

I took the darning from her and set it down on the table next to her. I took her hands in mine as she got to her feet. ‘I was working, Mother. I stopped off at an inn for a drink on my way home and forgot the time. I’m sorry. I would have taken care to return home earlier if I had known you were waiting up for me.’