‘I know that he tried to exorcise the demon in you,’ said the man in black.
‘Exorcise?’ It was not a word Makepeace knew.
‘To banish it back to Hell. The Lord has bestowed on him a great gift — the ability to drive out devils, and send unquiet spirits to their eternal rest—’
‘The Lord has bestowed . . .? ’ This was too much. ‘You gulls! He’s leading you all by the nose! He doesn’t send ghosts to their rest! He eats them. I saw him do it, and that was why I screamed.’
‘You should show him a little gratitude,’ the man in black said severely. ‘He thinks you can be saved.’ He jotted something in a notebook, then sighed and looked at Symond. ‘You were right, a most mischievous and vengeful tongue. Well, if a woman is a witch, she is usually a scold and a brawler as well. Are you sure you can win her back to God?’
‘Give me some time with her,’ said Symond solemnly. ‘I’ll see if I can drive the devils out.’
‘No!’ said Makepeace. ‘Don’t leave me with him! Listen to me! He eats ghosts! He eats souls!’
But they would not heed her, and she was carried back to her little room. Symond followed, and asked the guard to wait outside.
‘You need to be careful with these Fellmotte witches,’ Symond told him. ‘If she starts throwing curses around, I can protect myself, but I cannot shield you.’
Once Symond and Makepeace were alone, he smiled. ‘You should thank me,’ he said. ‘If I had not spoken up for you, these fellows would be trying harsh methods to win you back to righteousness.’ He laughed. ‘Here is the bargain. You will tell me where the charter is hidden, and I will tell our self-styled inquisitors that I have driven the demons out of you.
‘Then they will sit you down, and you can confess to everything. They already have some pretty fancies about the happenings at Grizehayes. Tell them that the Fellmottes are all witches, and fly around the countryside in eggshells and mortars. Tell them that the family forced you to frolic on the hillside with the Evil One. Tell them that Mistress Gotely taught you poisons and potions, and that the kitchen dogs walked on two legs and did your bidding.
‘I was in a quandary, you see. I had won these fellows’ interest and protection by telling them a little of the Fellmottes’ customs. But I could not prove anything unless I gave them the charter, which would leave me no threat to use against my family. But you, and your confession, will do very well as proof.’
‘I will not confess,’ said Makepeace. ‘And I will not tell you where the charter is. If I tell you, you will have no reason to keep me alive. So I think I shall hold my tongue, Master Symond.’
The demotion to ‘Master Symond’ seemed to sting him even more than the rejection of the bargain.
‘There’s a ghost inside you, isn’t there?’ Symond narrowed his eyes. ‘A mad one. I heard it roaring. And I suppose you didn’t have the skill to consume it or kick it out, did you? I might have helped you with that, if you’d passed my test.
‘Those fellows think you’re possessed, and they’re right. If they start to torment you, sooner or later they’ll prove it.’
These men want proof that the Fellmottes are witches, said Livewell, after Symond had left. Why not give it to them? Why not tell them where to find the charter? Why are we still lying to them? You said you wanted to be the Fellmottes’ undoing.
Yes, but I would like to live to see it, replied Makepeace, massaging her swollen jaw. And I need to live so that I can save James! If I give them the charter, they will work out soon enough that I am one of the Fellmotte gifted. And what would they make of me then? I never signed a pact with the Devil in my own blood, and I don’t have nipples in my ears . . . but I do consort with spirits, don’t I? You said so yourself. Bear does follow me everywhere like a familiar. And I am possessed.
And if I give up his precious charter, Symond will do his best to see me found guilty. Do you think I’ll breathe free air again?
No, said the doctor grimly. We’ll be lucky if they don’t hang you, then congratulate themselves on saving your soul.
The charter’s the only bit of power I have right now, Makepeace said bitterly, and that’s looking feeble enough.
These are good men, persisted Livewell.
Are they? retorted Makepeace. Their leader looks like a man who enjoys a little righteous power over people. I’ve seen that look before. And Bear does not like the smell of him.
Do you trust your Bear’s judgement? Livewell asked, very seriously.
Yes, said Makepeace, after a moment’s thought. I’m learning to listen to him. He’s a wild brute — there are many things he lacks the wit to understand. But he knows when something’s wrong.
Then we shall not trust these men, said Livewell, with surprising firmness. What else can we do?
Could Bear fight our way out of here? the doctor asked hopefully.
It’s not that simple, answered Makepeace. I can’t set him on someone, like a dog. Sometimes when he and I are both angry . . . then it’s hard to stop us. But we couldn’t punch our way through the door to this room, and we can’t bat a bullet out of the air. There are a lot of soldiers in these woods, and they’ll know by now that I’ve been arrested for witchcraft.
Then your smuggler friend Helen will probably know as well, commented the doctor. Could she be an ally?
Perhaps, answered Makepeace. She suspected that the red-faced spy had been one of Helen’s secret Royalist contacts. If it had not been for Makepeace’s warning, Helen might have stepped aside to talk to him, and fallen under suspicion as well. The older woman might well be thankful. But we have no way of asking for her help.
Was that really true?
Oh, Makepeace said silently, I am wrong. There is a way of contacting Helen. A dangerous way.
I don’t much like the sound of this, said the doctor.
Neither do I, murmured Makepeace. But she could see no other way forward. I need to speak with Morgan.
How could that possibly help? exclaimed Dr Quick.
Lady Morgan! Makepeace thought as loudly as she could. I want to talk to you. I know I tried to chase you before, but I won’t this time. Please, I won’t harm you.
There was no response.
I do not think the lady trusts us, said the doctor. She prefers to appear and disappear at will, so that we cannot keep track of her, and right now I fancy she is hidden away in her lair.
Makepeace recalled the shocking deluge of emotions and mangled memories that had assaulted her mind when she tried to ‘follow’ Morgan.
You told me that she was hiding in a part of my mind that was shut off from the rest, she answered silently. I think I know what that is now. All these years, there’s been a chapter of my memories I couldn’t look at — wouldn’t look at.
If that’s her lair . . . then I know where to find her.
CHAPTER 34
Makepeace lay on her little bed with her eyes closed, hearing herself breathe. To comfort herself she imagined herself lying on the stomach of an enormous Bear, bigger than Whitehollow, bigger than Grizehayes, his fur deeper than summer grass, the rise and fall of his breathing like the swaying of a galleon.