The Return of the Witch (14 page)

He left the possible consequences of this to speak for themselves. The girls exchanged glances once more and then nodded energetically, first to each other, and then to Erasmus. With a squeal of delight they reached forward and took an arm each, practically pushing me aside to do so, and led him into the house. Grinding my teeth, I followed as they escorted him at some speed down the wide hall and into an attractive room with a tall, carved fireplace and a window giving onto the street.

“You may wait awhile in here, at least,” they told us both, though their attention was entirely for him, and any look that they threw in my direction told me they wished I was not there to hamper their fun with Erasmus.

“You are kindness itself,” he declared with such sincerity that for a moment I worried he had been taken in by them and was genuinely enthralled.

“We do not know how long Master Grimsteeds might be away from the house,” one twin said.

“He may not come soon,” the other put in.

“No matter.” Erasmus treated each girl to his most affable smile.

“And Miss Grimsteeds?” I blurted out, ignoring Erasmus's stern glance. “Is she at home?”

“She is indisposed,” the taller twin told me.

Her sister added, “A cold in the head keeps her in her chamber.”

“I … I am sorry to hear that,” I said, my heart jumping at the thought that she was so close.

“It is this weather,” Erasmus put in. “Thunder oftentimes brings on such ailments, don't you find?” He then asked, continuing without waiting for a response, “Why, I myself am troubled by a soreness of the throat I have not been able to rid myself of for days.”

Our watchful hostesses giggled. “But that is the simplest of ailments to remedy.”

“It is? Pray tell me how, for I would be most grateful to hear it.”

At this, the girls set up chattering one over the other in their eagerness to show off their talents for such things. As they bent their heads toward one another their hair fell forward, giving the curious impression that it moved independently. I shook away this disturbing thought, but watched them all the more closely.

“All you must do is drink milk…”

“… warmed with a poker from the fire,”

“—the milk of a cow, mind you, goat will not suffice…”

“… into which you put one spoonful of clover honey, a tot of rum, and a spoonful of ground black pepper.”

“But not too much!”

“And you must say the right words.” The smaller twin dropped her voice to a whisper.

“Yes, of course,” the other agreed. “The right words in the right order.”

“… or it will not work.”

“… you have to stir it just so, and say the words just so.”

The sisters had become quite animated while describing what was clearly a simple remedy enhanced with a spell of some sort. I wondered then if they were not merely servants to help guard and tend Tegan, but apprentices: young witches Gideon would train and school in his own dangerous magic. There was certainly something deeply unsettling about them. It was not that they might be burgeoning witches; it was the thought of people being given the power of magic who were not completely in control of their own minds.

The girls swayed as they chattered on about the cure for a sore throat, their speech becoming increasingly like a chant. They both had the habit of flicking their luxurious hair, or twisting it around their fingers, sometimes even reaching over to stroke a lock of the other's instead of their own. Yet again I had the impression that their hair pulsed with unnatural life.

Erasmus looked convincingly impressed. “Indeed! Would that I had such a remedy now,” Erasmus exclaimed, making a hammy show of clutching at his throat.

The older twin looked up at him through lowered lashes. “I could prepare it for you, sir.”

“Oh, I could not put you to such trouble.”

“Or I!” insisted the other girl, her hands clutching at her skirts in her anxiety. The look the twins exchanged was no longer conspiratorial, but competitive.

“It would be no trouble,” the first girl told Erasmus. “I shall go to the kitchen now and prepare it, so that you might have it while you wait.”

“In that case,” Erasmus, smiling broadly, stepped forward and took her arm, “allow me to assist you. It is the very least I can do.”

The girl giggled again and let him walk her toward the door. She called over her shoulder to her sister, “You had better stay here with Mistress Carmichael.”

After they had left the smaller twin stood scowling, her whole body tense with fury.

“I am content to wait on my own,” I assured her. “It is a very pleasant room. Please do not feel compelled to stay here on my account.”

“You should not be left alone,” she stated flatly, fretfully smoothing her long tresses with the palm of her hand again and again.

I chose a seat next to the window and folded my hands neatly in my lap. “You need not concern yourself about me,” I assured her. “I shall sit here quietly and watch the comings and goings in the street, which I find quite diverting.” Seeing the girl hesitate I added, “Of course if you feel you must stay … no matter. My brother does enjoy the company of clever women so. I'm sure he will do very well with your sister.”

She needed no further goading. I listened to her footsteps skitter down the hall. As soon as I heard the kitchen door open and close I hurried out of the room and to the stairs. It seemed however lightly I trod every step creaked or squeaked beneath my feet. At last I came to the run of rooms on the upper floor. There were several doors. Where would she be? If the ghoulish twins were ministering to her she was not locked away in an attic somewhere. I decided she would have been given at least the second-best room, and chose accordingly. The wrought-iron door latch lifted with a maddening clunk.

I pushed open the heavy door.

The shutters and curtains were closed, keeping out the brightness of the sun. In the center of the room stood a fine four-poster bed, its drapes tied back. On it, beneath a bedspread of fine crewel work, a figure lay, quiet and still. I crept forward. I had to suppress a cry as I saw for certain that this was Tegan. She was sleeping but, even so, she appeared terribly pinched and drawn, her skin sallow and with dark circles beneath her eyes. She looked so very frail, so very young, and so very vulnerable.

“Tegan!” I whispered. “Oh my dear…” I sat carefully on the edge of the bed and placed my hand upon her arm. She moaned in her sleep and began to stir. Time was short, and I dare not wait, but had to rouse her as gently as I could. “Tegan,” I said, more loudly this time. “You must wake up now. Tegan, it is Elizabeth.”

Slowly she opened her eyes. She frowned at me, clearly struggling to make sense of what she saw.

“Who…?”

“It's me, Tegan. Elizabeth. It's all right. Everything will be all right now.”

“Elizabeth!” She cried out my name with such shock that I feared she would give us away.

“Hush now, there is nothing more to fear.”

She pushed herself up, frantically trying to back away from me, shaking her head as she did so. “No! No, you mustn't come near me. Get away! Get away!”

“Sshhh, Tegan. You are bewildered. It is no wonder.” I tried to calm her, to reassure her, but as I stretched out my hand to her she shrank back in fear. Fear of me! I was at a loss to understand her reaction. “Don't you know me, Tegan? Don't you know who I am?”

“Elizabeth! He told me you would come!” she was shouting now. It could only be a matter of moments before her cries reached the kitchen and the sisters were brought running.

“Calm yourself. There is nothing to be afraid of. I have come to take you home.”

But Tegan leapt from the bed and tried to run to the door. I caught up with her, grabbing her hand, which caused her to scream. Already I could hear voices from downstairs and hurrying footsteps.

“Get away from me!” she shouted, shaking free of my grasp. “He will return, you'll see, he would not leave me alone. He will come back and he will protect me from you!”

Now I understood. She was not drugged, or kept under a mild form of spell that might render her a sleepy and compliant prisoner. The situation was far more grave. Gideon had inflicted upon her an enchantment of such complexity and strength that she now believed me her enemy and him her protector. What an effective jail such a piece of magic made! I had to try and reach her. “But, Tegan…”

I had not the opportunity to say more, for the door was flung open and the twins appeared, as one, on the threshold.

“What goes on here?” the first demanded.

“You should not be in this room!” the other told me, her tone shrill, her face contorted with rage.

The girls rushed to Tegan and put their arms about her in a manner that was at once both protective and controlling. Tegan allowed herself to be surrounded by them, seemingly accustomed to their strange presence.

At the same moment, Aloysius, determined to find his way to his mistress, squeezed from the bag on my shoulder and jumped to the floor. He scuttled across the dark, polished boards and disappeared beneath the bed.

Erasmus entered the room. I opened my mouth to speak but he put a restraining hand on my arm.

“Come away, sister,” he said quietly.

“But, she does not understand!” I told him.

The taller twin rounded on us. “You must both leave this house!”

“At once!” her sister agreed.

I turned to Erasmus, bewildered and desperate. “But, we cannot leave her here. We cannot!”

“We must. For now. Come.” So saying, he all but dragged me from the room. My last glimpse of Tegan as I left was of her huddled in the enormous bed, a tiny figure, trembling from fear, a girl on either side of her. The twins had taken on an altogether more threatening appearance, somehow unnaturally twisted and sinuous, like weasels ready to pounce on their prey and sink in their tiny sharp teeth.

More than this, more than the disturbing nature of her jailers, I was in despair at seeing Tegan so frightened, especially since I was the one who had so terrified her! There was only one explanation: Gideon had her bewitched. He had cast a powerful spell over her ensuring that she would run from me, never to me. No wonder he had not cared that I found her! In fact, he had wanted me to see how much power he had over her. Tegan was spellbound. She was tied to him by bonds that could not easily be cut. How much more effective a prison than bars did such an enchantment make!

 

10

Once we had returned to the mill, Erasmus fetched some beer and bid me sit and drink it, but I was too distressed. As he sat at the table, I paced the living quarters, berating myself for having let Tegan fall into such a dangerous state.

“This is the worst possible development,” I said, shaking my head.

“You exaggerate, Elizabeth. At least the girl is alive.”

“Barely! Did you see what condition she was in? She is ensorcelled! It's clear that whatever spell Gideon has used is causing her terrible harm. It follows; it would take a fierce enchantment to have her so completely ensnared and deluded. With each passing day her health will deteriorate.”

“At least we know where she is.”

“A point that serves only to torment me! Oh, Gideon knows me well. He has been playing the hunted all this time, but he must have planned for this moment. He planned for me to find her, knowing that once I saw what he has done…”

“There must be a way to remove the charm, somehow.”

“Undoubtedly there must. Every spell has its undoing. It cannot be created otherwise. But how long will it take us to unearth the key of magic that will release her? For, make no mistake, she is a prisoner as plainly as if she were shackled and chained and locked in the deepest dungeon.”

“But she is in an unguarded house, unless you count the twins. I grant you those girls are a force of sorts, but they could be overcome. The house is not barred. We could take Tegan away, remove her at least from the physical presence of her captor.”

“That would not free her from the spell.”

“No, but at least it would give us the chance to find a way to do so without fear of Gideon deciding to spirit her away somewhere else.”

I considered this. It would, if nothing else, be a comfort to have Tegan close. And it would certainly be easier to try to remove the spell with her near to me. It tore at my heart to think that he had rendered her terrified of me. It was a move typical of Gideon's cruelty, that he should take her from me in such a way, as if kidnapping her were not enough. I voiced my thoughts.“I doubt Gideon would allow us to take her,”

“I don't think, from what you've told me of the arrogance of the man, he would expect us to attempt to do so.”

“It would not be a simple matter. You saw how terrified she is of me. She would not leave the house willingly.”

Erasmus drained his cup of beer and nodded slowly. “No, you are right about that. We would have to take her by force.”

“And bring her here? What's to stop her running back to Gideon the first chance she gets?”

“I think we need a little help, don't you?”

For a moment I could not think what he was suggesting, and then the penny dropped.

“William!”

“He has offered to assist you, has he not? He could provide help in taking Tegan from the house, a covered carriage, perhaps, and a secure place to keep her. I fancy Batchcombe Hall has walls sufficiently strong to contain one young woman.”

“Yes. Yes, it could work.” I felt a small, bright hope rising within me. “And William would help us. You are right. At least at the Hall Gideon would be kept away, and I could spend time with her, while I work to lift the spell…”

“It's decided, then.” He got to his feet. “We can take the wagon.”

“No, thank you, Erasmus, but I think I should first approach William alone.”