Page 71 of Witchbane

She groaned. ‘I’ll do that as soon as I’m satisfied they won’t find anything here.’

‘I’ll come and help when I’ve finished in the attic.’ I looked at her, miserable that I was the cause of all this unpleasantness. ‘I’m so sorry about all this.’

Her eyebrows knitted in confusion, then she raised her hands. ‘Stop that right now, Rue. None of this is your fault. If anything, it’s that madman who insists on persecuting our family.’ Her face softened. ‘I heard most of what Theo Le Cerf said to you, and have to admit he does seem very different from his father.’

‘What do you mean?’ I asked, though I knew exactly where she was going with this.

‘He clearly has affection for you.’

I started to argue but she glared at me. ‘You can deny it all you wish, but that man has gone behind his father’s back to warn you. I saw his horse out of the window before I came to listen at the door, and by the look of the sweat on the poor creature, they had been galloping for miles to get here.’

‘What are you saying?’ I needed her reassurance about Theo. After being so wrong about my father all this time, I was beginning to wonder if my intuition was at all reliable.

‘Only that he seems decent, and I sense that, rather than trying to find you guilty of doing exactly what we do secretly do,’ she said, her voice lowered as if someone might hear her making the admission, ‘I believe he’s doing his utmost to prove your innocence.’

The thought saddened me. If that truly was the case, then this man was choosing to help me against his father’s wishes – unaware that he was trying to prove someone innocent of a crime of which they were guilty.

‘Wipe that look from your face immediately,’ she snapped, taking me by the shoulders and turning me to face the staircase. ‘Go to the attic and make it ready for inspection.’

I began to hurry up the stairs.

As I entered the attic, I hoped a sense of my mother would still be there now that I was alone. But there was nothing. It was as if she had never materialised before me. I was glad the other women in the coven had been there to witness the event, otherwise I might think myself fanciful, imagining her coming to us because I needed her so desperately.

I stood and surveyed the room. The women must have cleared up after themselves, I noted with relief. Everything had gone and it was as if we had never been there. Then I spotted something shining, half-hidden under one of the coverings. Someone must have kicked it there by accident when tidying up.

I bent to retrieve it and saw it was a smoky quartz, which I knew was used for protection and to guard against negative energy. I would need to return this to its owner. I tried to recall who had stood there. Iris. She would be the first person I asked. I knew how much I valued my crystals and would hate to lose one, especially one I took to such a powerful spell. Not wanting to be caught with it on me, I decided to hide it down the back of one of the chairs under a covering. Surely these men working for the Witchfinder would have far too much to do checking this enormous house to investigate pieces of furniture.

I hoped I was right, because to carry it downstairs and be caught with it in my pocket, should they arrive before I had a chance to discard it, was too much of a risk. I looked around the room and spotted a chair in a group of six. I threaded my way past other pieces of furniture, dusty trunks and old pictures, and lifted the edge of the covering so as not to disturb it more than necessary. I reached under it and, hoping my hand wouldn’t encounter anything furry or with more than four legs, I pushed the crystal between the cushion and the inside of the chair’s arm, before carefully lowering the sheet.

I thought of my mother’s warning not to trust someone and wondered who she had meant. Not the Witchfinder, because it went without saying that I would never trust him. Not my father, Pierre or Jem, because, apart from none of them wanting to hurt me in any way, they would, in any case, gain nothing from it. My throat ached with sadness as it occurred to me that the only other man it could be was Theo.

Surely not. After what he had done – tracking down my father and persuading him to come and reveal himself to us, then racing here across country to warn us of the impending raid – how could he let us down? Was everything he had done an attempt to gain my trust and then hurt me? Would he be that cruel? I thought of who his father was. He did have cruelty in his blood.

I thought of the look on his face when I had kissed his cheek. Shock – and something else. Delight, maybe? Was that because, as my aunt had suggested, he had feelings for me? Or was it guilt about what he was doing behind our backs? I had no idea. But I also had no more time to think, or to do anything at all about it. I had to go and help my grandmother and aunt clear the house of any signs of our work.

Chapter Thirty-Five

THEO

Iled the men up the drive to the manor house, my breathing shallow and my heart racing. Somehow I had to keep a check on everything the men did. I was grateful to only have the two of them with me, for now. The third, Le Gall, had clearly seen himself as the most capable, and maybe he was. Which was another reason to be glad I had sent him off with Lord Thistlebury, who I believed would keep him busy for as long as possible and thus give us a chance of finishing our search before he could get to the manor house.

I hoped Rue had someone looking out for our arrival, and that they would have made all their preparations by the time we entered the house. I asked myself why I had been so determined to warn her when I believed in my heart of hearts that she was no witch. Was that really the case? Could I be mistaken about her? I didn’t think it possible. I had met her enough times to trust in her innocence. Would she have helped me at Crack Ankle Lane if she was a witch? She could have stopped Warrior and led him up the lane and left him with the woman at the cottage if she was fearful of getting to know me better. Surely?

I slowed the horses and began giving the men orders about the search, so as to delay our arrival for as long as possible without making them suspicious.

We stopped in front of the house and within seconds Jem appeared from around the side. He shot me a furious glare. ‘You can tie the horses to the fencing there,’ he said, indicating a couple of rails that hadn’t fallen apart yet.

We did as he asked and then, unable to hold back for another moment, I led the men up the steps to the front door and knocked loudly on it.

Pierre opened it. ‘Yes?’ he asked as if he didn’t know we were expected.

I was relieved at his feigned surprise to see us there. I withdrew the order from my jacket and held it out to him. ‘Kindly deliver this to Rue Underwood or Ophelia Tredwell, then permit us to enter and carry out our orders.’

‘Orders?’ He seemed genuinely shocked and I wondered for a moment whether he didn’t know about our arrival, or was simply a good actor and hid his reactions well. I watched for any physical sign so I could tell in future if he was lying. There was little to note, but I did spot him press his lips together briefly as if trying to stop himself saying something he shouldn’t.

‘We have been ordered by the Witchfinder to inspect this house.’ I held up the order. ‘If you would take this to them immediately, we will endeavour to complete our search as quickly as possible.’

He left us standing on the doorstep but didn’t close the door in our faces. As I stood there waiting for him to return I thought of the best way to carry this out. I didn’t want anyone to search through Rue’s personal effects. I turned to the men. ‘There are three floors here: the ground floor, first floor with the bedrooms, and attic. You search the ground floor,’ I said, pointing to the shorter of the two men. ‘You, the attics. I’ll take the first floor. We’ll meet down here as soon as we’re finished.’ They nodded. I lowered my voice. ‘Please remember, these people are innocent until proved guilty of committing any illegal acts. Their possessions must not be damaged, nor any mess made. It should not take us long to see for ourselves whether there is any evidence on the premises. Do I make myself clear?’