Page 95 of Witchbane

‘You cursed me. Admit it. You and your crones cast a spell on me.’

She exhaled slowly and sat back in the uncomfortable chair. ‘Don’t you think, if I was capable of putting a spell on you, that it would have been a different one?’

He blinked furiously, confused. ‘What do you mean by that?’

‘If I was capable of magick, I would have found a way to make you vanish so you couldn’t hurt anyone else again.’

I watched him consider her words and willed him to accept that she wasn’t a witch, even though I now knew that the coven was indeed planning to cast a spell on him. He was mad. Deranged. To feel this intense hatred towards someone whose only crime was not to reciprocate his love was terrifying.

He made a sound as if he was in pain. ‘It’s your fault my admiration for you turned to hatred.’ He wrinkled his nose in disgust. ‘Look at you. Pitiful.’

‘The only person here to be pitied is you,’ she snapped.

She flinched as he lurched forward and grabbed her by the shoulders.

‘To think of you taking that farrier to your bed, bearing him children,’ my father sneered.

‘He was my husband.’ Her voice was determined but weakening.

‘Sir,’ I said, unable to stand my father’s abuse of her a moment longer. ‘I believe Mistress Norman needs something to drink.’

He didn’t react and I was about to repeat myself, thinking he had not heard me, when he whirled around to face me. ‘You do not presume to tell me what she needs.’

Concerned that to confront him would only increase his wrath, I resisted. I was desperate to do something to help her but did not wish to make matters worse.

‘When your children were born I vowed to hurt you in the worst way possible,’ he said, his voice quieter and more lethal than I had ever heard it. ‘You knew me well enough, Sorrel, to encourage them to move away when they left home.’

‘And I would still be with my children now if my mother and niece hadn’t needed my help after what you did to dearest Martha.’

‘Your husband didn’t last very long, did he?’ he mocked spitefully. ‘Another proof of your poor choice. Poor fool, being killed by that horse he was shoeing.’ He sounded like a jealous boy, not an older man. ‘Such a shame.’

She didn’t react and I admired her for it. No wonder Rue was so strong with women like this in her family.

‘I admit I was disappointed to hear of his death. I had been planning to use him to hurt you.’

Sorrel scowled at him pityingly. ‘What, executing my twin sister wasn’t enough to soothe your ego?’

She was incredibly brave, antagonising him in this way when she had no chance of escape. I must have made a sound because he turned to me.

‘That’s right, Theo. I vowed to hurt Mistress Norman in the worst possible way. I knew she would spend her life frantically watching over her children and husband attempting to protect them.’ He smirked. ‘Not that I admitted that to her. Then her husband died and I had to resort to taking the other person closest to her, the woman who looked just as she did.’

‘Martha Underwood,’ I murmured. At that moment I hated him for taking Rue’s mother merely to salve his injured pride. I stepped forward to stand between them. Enough was enough. I didn’t care who he was, he had no right to mistreat people in this way.

Sorrel sniffed. He was pushing her too far. ‘You paid someone to accuse my sweet sister, then tampered with the evidence.’

‘Did I?’ he asked in a mocking voice, then laughed.

I waited, not wishing to interrupt her. She had probably waited these ten years to confront him. What was wrong with this man?

‘Everyone knows you did, Elias.’ She practically spat his name.

Her voice sounded slightly stronger now that her temper was rising. Even though she was the one in chains and physically at his mercy, she still had the power to hurt him. I was impressed by her courage.

She wasn’t finished yet, I realised as she took a ragged breath.

‘It’s common knowledge among the townsfolk of Stanthorpe and the villagers of Thistlebury that when your bribes didn’t work, you used threats against people who didn’t care much for Martha or were jealous of her, until you found enough people to lie about her. They were wrong to help you, but you were the one who instigated the investigation that culminated in her execution. You are a weak, pathetic, envious man who unfortunately holds the power of fear over this place.’ She shook her head slowly never taking her eyes off him. ‘Whatever you may think, their fear does not make any of them respect you.’

As I watched this scene of Witchfinder and witch, any love I might still have held for my father disappeared, along with the loyalty I had felt obliged to give him. I needed to choose sides, and, having witnessed the depths of his depravity, I could no longer work for him. I decided at that moment that I would help my mother in whatever way was necessary to keep her safe, but that was all. Enough was enough.