Page 22 of The Witch

Dr. Shaylor smiles at me, pleased with this outcome. “Thank you, Mistress Eldridge. Your money will be well spent.”

I know that it will not be, but I cannot allow Hiram to give this man everything he has.

I can barely look as the doctor opens his dreaded black bag and withdraws his tools. There are many, including a pair of scissors, a small razor, two square needles, something that looks like a spoon, a pair of forceps, a case of lancets, and a piece of white cloth. Molly, who was previously lurking in the background, is now watching with great interest, making inquiries about each tool the doctor withdraws from his bag.

“What is that used for?” she asks, pointing at the forceps.

He picks up the tool, still stained with a man’s blood. “I have used this to extract teeth.”

I avert my eyes from the doctor as I stand at Judith’s bedside. When I reach out for her scrawny hand, it feels like touching a furnace. She is burning up.

“Hiram…” Judith murmurs between dry cracked lips. “Hiram, the baby won’t stop crying. She needs a bath.”

I remember what Hiram said about her babbling nonsense. Judith is as sick as my father was during his final days.

“Judith.” I wipe a sweaty strand of hair from her face. “’Tis Caroline.”

“Oh, Caroline…” She says the name with little recognition. “Would you give the baby a bath, dear?”

It would be no use to explain to this woman that any babies who have ever lived in this house are long grown. I squeeze Judith’s hand, which is slick with sweat. “Do not worry, Judith. We will take care of everything.”

Dr. Shaylor approaches now with the lancet in his right hand. The blade is already stained with blood, having never been cleaned from his last patient. Does the man ever clean his equipment? I still remember the way he cut my father, and I cannot bear to witness that again.

“Is there not another way?” I beg of him. “Perhaps we can bring her fever down with a cool rag?”

“The only cure is to balance her humor,” he says sternly. “If we do not act rapidly, she will surely perish.”

“Would you like me to hold her down, Dr. Shaylor?” Molly asks.

For a single tense moment, I fear that Molly refers to me. But no, she is asking if she should hold Judith down. Judith is shivering, even though she is burning hot.

Dr. Shaylor nods in approval. “Yes, that would be very helpful.”

Molly clamps her hand around Judith’s wrist, tightly enough that the older woman flinches, even through her haze. This will leave bruises, although it’s not nearly as bad as what Dr. Shaylor is about to do. From the corner of the room, Hiram watches the scene unfolding before us, wringing his hands together.

Dr. Shaylor draws the blade of the lancet along the skin just below Judith’s elbow. Crimson liquid wells up from the skin and drips down her forearm. Dr. Shaylor mops up the blood with the cloth in his hand, which, I note now, already has dried bloodstains on it.

Judith lets out a low moan. The blood is continuing to flow from the wound on her arm, although thankfully not quickly. Dr. Shaylor watches the blood drip onto his cloth, and the expression on his face indicates that he is not pleased with what he sees.

“Is something wrong, Doctor?” Hiram asks anxiously.

How could he ask such a thing? His wife is on her deathbed, and this so-called “doctor” is hastening her demise! If only I was able to find Hitty.

“Not enough blood is flowing,” Dr. Shaylor says. “I fear we need to cut her in a different location.”

Hiram frowns. “What do you suggest?”

The doctor tilts his head thoughtfully. “We should cut along the neck. There lie larger stores of humor in the neck, so this will result in a faster recovery.”

The neck?

The idea of Dr. Shaylor sinking that blade into Judith’s white throat makes my skin crawl. That will surely kill her. “Pray do not cut her neck,” I choke out. “’Tis not safe.”

Dr. Shaylor lets out a guttural sound. “Mistress Eldridge, you are overstepping your bounds. I am the man of medicine here. You are but a woman.”

“A barren woman,” Molly adds.

My face burns until it feels as flushed as Judith’s. “I will not let you hurt her. I…I will not pay you.”