Page 40 of The Snow Witch

She parked up and went into the guest house, wondering if it would be too weird to knock on his room door. Luckily, she saw him at the reception desk, talking to Cynthia, so she walked up behind him and waited.

Ollie turned around and saw her. ‘Hey. Enjoy Hexham?’

‘Parts of it.’ She shrugged. ‘Didn’t enjoy Newbrough much.’

‘Didn’t enjoy the Well much either.’

‘I could tell.’

‘I was asking about leaving early. I’m not sure there’s much more I want to do up here. I think I kind of want to go home. Like I said, it’s just a rumour about the Milburn family anyway; my branch got cut off ignominiously and lost everything, and some random guy inherited it all, so I don’t even know where I fit in. I’ve sort of satisfied myself as to where the house was. The Milburn’s house. Not Meg’s house.’ He obviously felt the need to clarify matters. ‘So yeah. Job done.’

Ollie was obviously running away from something. He seemed pretty shifty when he was talking to her, and Violet now knew just how strange both those places could be. The link to Meggie was all-powerful in this area. She must have had some hellish powers for her energy to linger so strongly here.

‘Are you leaving right away?’ Violet asked. ‘Or do you fancy sitting together for dinner, and we can have a chat.’ She glanced over at Cynthia, who may or may not have been listening in. ‘We can compare stories.’

‘I’ll be here for dinner,’ said Ollie. ‘Six p.m.?’

‘See you then.’ And Violet headed up to her own room to get washed and changed, and to try and get that horrible dungeon smell out of her nose. Because that, too, was lingering.

* * *

By the time Ollie went into the dining room. Violet was already there. She’d taken a window seat again, and although all that was reflected in the glass was the lights and the interior of the dining room, Ollie shivered. He knew there was a cold, dark, snowy world on the other side of that glass, and he was glad he couldn’t see it.

Because he also knew that down that hillside was Coventina’s Well. And all the shadows and ghosts that, he was willing to bet, chose to hang around there.

Violet looked up as he approached. ‘Do you want to go first?’

Ollie slid into the seat. ‘Yes. Let’s get it over with. It can be like pulling a sticking plaster off quickly instead of dragging it out. So, in a nutshell, I went down to that Well, and I looked into it – and it wasn’t me looking back. It was someone who looked like he was wearing old-fashioned clothes, and he had blood all over his chest…’ He shook his head. ‘It was like I was being pulled into the Well – and I stopped myself from falling in just in time. But I could see it in his face afterwards, that he was almost messing with me, and he was smiling – like an arrogant, self-congratulatory smirk. I couldn’t get away quickly enough.’

‘Ugh.’ Violet shivered. ‘I can see how that was scary.’

‘Yeah? Well the scarier thing was that it was like looking in a mirror.’ Ollie sat back in his seat, relieved at having told someone that one. ‘So obviously, I freaked out. I just turned and ran back up the hill, jumped in the car and drove to the closest, biggest place I could think of. Basically, anywhere that wasn’t Newbrough would have done! And Hexham won.’

‘And then we saw you in the Market Place. I could tell something had happened,’ said Violet. ‘I’m really glad it wasn’t just me at the Well.’

‘I’m glad it’s made one of us feel better. So how about you? Was Newbrough worth it?’

‘I found that house. Meggie’s cottage.’ Violet paused. ‘I went inside, and I don’t know if I imagined it or what – but she was there. Dispensing some potion to a girl. It was almost as if I was her – customer – I suppose.’ Ollie saw Violet shudder. ‘And if that wasn’t bad enough, I went to Hexham with Jake to try to get it out of my mind – as you know – and we had a lovely time. Until the bloody lift got stuck in the gaol.’

‘Oh no!’ Ollie pulled a face. ‘Were you between floors or something?’

‘Worse than that. We were in the dungeon. And we had to climb out of the dungeon, up a ladder, and go through a trapdoor. I mean, under normal circumstances, it would have been amusing – but not,’ she dropped her voice, ‘when you’re imagining a witch in shackles reaching out for you, pleading her innocence.’

‘What, like a real witch?’

‘No.’ Violet shook her head vehemently. ‘There was no such thing as a “real” witch. I’ve done a shedload of research on this – these women were just different. Outcasts, maybe. A bit eccentric. Or healers or wise-women. Everybody loved them until something went wrong. It’s also disputed that these so-called witches didn’t actually worship goddesses, and midwives and healers weren’t targeted by the Witch Prickers. But I think there’s a good case for it happening to them. There was the Witchcraft Act in 1649, for example and, to me, it was all about control. There was social unrest, issues with gender and power. If you look at it through the lens of feminism, for example, you’ve got patriarchy, misogyny…’

Ollie could feel his jaw dropping and his eyes widening as he listened to her. This was so much more complicated than he thought it was!

‘Shit. Sorry. I sound like a textbook.’ Violet was apologetic. ‘Welcome to my pet subject. This is what I get paid to churn out.’

‘Wow. Well, whatever the reasons, this place is definitely odd – even I can feel the energy down there.’ He jabbed his thumb in the direction of the Well. ‘I work in fucking IT, for God’s sake. If it’s not logical, it won’t happen. I need a drink. You?’

Violet shook her head. ‘No, thanks. I need a clear head to think about stuff.’

‘Fair enough.’ He looked around and got the attention of a young girl who was waiting the tables. He waved her over. ‘Glass of red wine, please. Are you sure you won’t have anything, Violet?’

‘Sure. Thanks.’ Violet smiled at the girl, and she went off to get the wine.