Page 97 of The Witch

That night, as I lie in bed, I can’t stop thinking about the phone call from Alistair Dixon. I thought the recording might pick up something questionable, but it sounds like whatever he heard was more than that.

This is something you’ve got to hear in person.

Maybe Henry is right. Maybe he’s a con artist and this is his way of building drama. It’s certainly working.

The wind is whistling loudly within my room. It was raining earlier in the evening, but now the sound of raindrops pounding on my window has ceased. Still, there is an uncomfortable breeze coming into the room, and now I can see that the window is slightly cracked.

I shiver and get out of bed to close it. Like in my other bedroom, the window overlooks the back grounds. The soil outside is soggy from the rain, the grass dewy and sparkling in the moonlight. But there’s something else there.

Something glowing.

I don’t know exactly what it is, but there’s a light in the yard, coming from the shed, where I saw the muddy footprints, even though there’s no light fixture in that shed. It’s that same eerie glow I saw coming from the attic that night when I tried the door and found it locked.

And then I hear a sound. It almost sounds like…

Someone climbing the stairs.

The steps are groaning as someone puts weight on them one by one, the sound growing louder with each step. I stare at the door to my room, paralyzed by fear. I haven’t heard as many sounds lately coming from outside my room since I evacuated Caroline’s bedroom, but it’s almost as if the phone call from Dixon triggered something.

Maybe Caroline doesn’t want us to hear that recording.

The moans of floorboards grow louder, to the point where it sounds like it’s coming from outside my door. And now I hear something else.

It almost sounds like somebody breathing. Right outside my door.

I stand in the middle of the bedroom, unable to move. After a moment, the sounds start up again, this time growing softer until they finally disappear completely.

What. The. Hell?

It’s the middle of the night, but I have never been so awake in my entire life. There’s no chance I will be able to crawl back into bed and drift off. Not until I check the hallway and reassure myself that nobody is there.

And if somebody is there…

No, I can’t think about that possibility.

I creep across the room to the door. I put my hand on the doorknob, psyching myself up to open the door. The sounds have stopped. And even if there is someone there, she can’t hurt me.

Can she?

In one swift movement, I wrench open the door. It’s no surprise that the hallway is dark and empty. If there was something or someone here, they are gone.

The tension drains out of me. Maybe I’ll be able to sleep after all.

Then my gaze drops to the floor, and I realize there is no chance at all I am going to be able to sleep tonight.

Right in front of my door is a pair of muddy footprints, exactly the size of women’s shoes.

The footprints don’t lead down the stairs or the hallway. It is just one pair, right outside my door, as if they were standing there, waiting for me.

71

1692

CAROLINE

The moon is high in the sky when we reach Pemberton.

My time in Pemberton was the happiest of my life. Archie was kind to me, and although I failed at my wifely duties, he still loved me. ’Tis not his fault that the townsfolk turned on me. If he had spoken on my behalf, I still would have been found guilty, but he might have been accused of consorting with the devil as well and lost the home that his father built. I cannot blame him for saving himself. I spoke up for Hitty, and it destroyed me.