“Is this truly so, or is it one of your dreams?”
“It is a good story, is it not? You will find that Lord Cartonel has disappeared too. He is a spy for the Spaniards, I doubt not. You will never see either of them again.”
“Can she leave you, her daughter, and never see you again?”
“Quite easily. She left me before, did she not? She did not want children. They do not fit into her scheme of things.” She shrugged her shoulders. “It is hard for you to understand … you with your mother and your kind grandmother. We were different. She was a witch in her way as I am in mine. We are not like ordinary folk.”
“Senara, once again I must ask you not to talk so. It is dangerous.”
“Life is dangerous, Tamsyn. Even you should have learned that by now. When you are married to your Fenn and your children are playing at your knee, it will still be dangerous.”
She was right of course, but whatever life held for me I was ready to face it with Fenn.
Melanie wanted me to marry soon although I had said I would stay awhile and help her nurse my father. But she would not hear of it. He was bewildered and could not believe that this had happened to him, to Colum Casvellyn, the man who had always had his own way. Oddly enough Melanie was the one who could soothe him best. It was a remarkable discovery that there was such power in this quiet girl. My brother Connell was changing too. He was the head of the house now, for that poor wreck which my father had become could scarcely be called that any longer. It was as though his new responsibilities gave him sudden strength. He was regarding Melanie in a new light; she was no longer the dull little wife whom he had married for convenience. Once I had thought he was growing more and more like our father but now there was a sudden halt in that progress. It was as though he had had a revelation and was taking stock of himself. I was glad for him … and for Melanie.
It was evening and the light was fading fast. Senara was with me in my bedchamber and as we talked I suddenly saw from my window that lights were approaching. It was a party of people, carrying torches, who were wending their way up the slope towards the castle.
I listened to their chanting voices and what they said sent a cold shiver down my spine.
“Give us the witch.”
Senara stood beside me, her eyes dilated.
“They are intent on murder,” she said, “and they are coming for my mother.”
“Thank God she has gone.”
“Yes, she has cheated them.”
The torches were now lighting up the scene; the chanting voices were growing louder.
Merry came running into the room.
“They’ve come for the witch,” she said, “the witch from the sea.”
“Don’t they know she has gone?” I asked.
“They know, but …” Merry was looking fearfully at Senara. “If they can’t have the witch from the sea they’ll take her daughter. Oh God help us all. They wouldn’t have dared if the master had been himself. But now he be nothing but a wreck broken on the Devil’s Teeth and there be none to stop ’em.”
They had always wanted the witch from the sea. They had watched her and blamed her for their ill fortune. They believed she had bewitched my father but they feared him so much that when he was there to protect her they dared do nothing.
“They will find me, Tamsyn,” said Senara. “They will tie me to a stake and burn me alive. Or they will hang me from a gibbet. Poor Dickon, his heart will break.”
Connell strode in, Melanie with him.
“The mob is at the gate,” he said. “They are calling for the witch.”
“She’s gone.”
He was looking at Senara. “They’re greedy for blood,” he said. “You must get away. You must never come back here. You’ll never be safe. I’ll hold them at bay. I’ll show them who is the master here.”
It might have been my father speaking. I turned to Senara and said: “We’ll go out through the Seaward Tower. They won’t be round that side of the castle. We’ll take two donkeys.”
“Where?” asked Connell.
“To Leyden Hall,” I answered. “They’ll hide her there until she leaves for Holland.”
“Go quickly,” said Connell.
And we went out. The night airs cooled our burning faces as we rode away.
I saw the exultation in Senara’s eyes and I knew it was because she was going to Dickon.
We were on our way to Leyden Hall by the time the torch-lit mob was in the courtyard. Connell would subdue them, I knew. He was now the lord of the castle.
I must say a sad farewell to Senara but I had the future to think of with Fenn.
THE END