Wolves Among Us(60)

“You tried to hurt Bastion.”

Stefan nodded with a forced grin. “Have you ever had too much beer and done something foolish? My son, take these keys and bring a good priest a drink, won’t you? You know we are all well secured here. Nothing will happen.”

Stefan handed the keys through the window to the guard. He heard the guard rattling each cell door as if to check for strong locks, then heard the main jail door open and close.

“Is everyone all right?” he called out.

No one answered.

“We are alone now. The guard is gone. Speak!”

“We cannot trust you,” a girl called out. “Whatever we say will be twisted.”

“No,” Stefan called. “Am I not in jail like you? I can be trusted.”

“You will not be burned,” an older woman’s voice said. “Nothing you say can save us.”

“Why not let us die in peace?” another woman called. “It is too much work to convince you of our truths.”

Stefan did not recognize their voices, though the women must have been from his flock. He wondered if he had ever really heard them.

“I have made many mistakes,” Stefan said. “I will do everything I can to save you, but it may be too late. Just tell me, in what manner did Bastion accuse you? What is his proof?”

The first to speak was a woman Father Stefan knew well. Dame Alice. He closed his eyes in gratitude. Her voice was rough with no refinement. He had cringed often when she confessed to him, unaccustomed to a woman so devoid of interest in affectation.

“I was brought in for questioning just after I tried to save Nelsa. His proof? My back was sore.”

“What’s that?” he asked. “How did a sore back make you guilty of witchcraft?”

“Anything would have done. But Bastion is clever, I will admit to that.”

“But how did he do it?”

“Mary, the dairyman’s daughter, thought a witch had caused the milk to dry up on her prized cow. On advice of Bastion, she hung an empty kettle over the fire. When it was red hot, she began to beat it with a stick.”

Mary’s voice shot out from that same cell. “Bastion promised me that every blow would land on the witch’s back.” She sounded unrepentant.

“Bastion will see you dead too, Mary. You should realize that by now,” Dame Alice replied. “Father Stefan, you know my back is often sore. My babies were the biggest in the village. That’s no witchcraft.”

“Mary,” Father Stefan called, “why did you think a witch would have reason to curse your favorite cow?”

“Bastion spoke kindly to me, and I feared other girls might be jealous,” she answered. “He would be a fine catch for me, seeing my father has no money.”

“But why would Dame Alice care? She did not desire Bastion for herself.”

“I don’t trust her, Father Stefan, and neither should you. She’s always sheltering strangers, trying to feed people who wander about. She has no discretion. She takes anyone in. It’s not proper. She even admits to trying to save Nelsa, who proved herself a witch in front of everyone. I wasn’t surprised when Dame Alice was revealed as a witch herself.”

“But Bastion spoke kindly to me, too, and I am no witch.” A soft voice carried across the jail. Stefan was unsure who it was. “Would you like to see what he did to me last night?”

Stefan heard gasps. “What is it?” he asked.

“Iris showed us her fingers.”

“And?”

“They are burned. He laid a hot poker across them.”

“Iris? Is it true?” he asked.

No answer came.

“What is happening?” he asked.

Dame Alice answered. “She fainted. Poor thing. Her father hoped to marry her off this year. He hoped Bastion might be agreeable. Perhaps Bastion didn’t like his terms.”

Stefan took a few moments before he could speak again. “Dame Alice? Finish your story. How did Bastion link you to Mary’s cow?”

“One of their cows had wandered into the square again, and I brought it home to them. Bastion said it was proof that I was the witch. I had their cow, and my back was sore, as if the blows had landed on me.”

“But how did Mary get arrested, then?” Stefan’s head hurt. How many lies did Bastion have to keep up with? he wondered.

“Bastion said I tempted him. He blamed me for liberties he took.”

“He wouldn’t be the first.”

Stefan didn’t know who said that, but heard stifled giggles.

“What does he say will happen now?” Stefan asked.

Mary replied. “We are to be tried. If we are found guilty, we will be burned. Pray for us, Father.”

“It doesn’t seem enough,” he said.

Dame Alice answered. “Do it anyway.”

“But I am the one who brought him here. I brought this upon you.”

Mary answered. “Did you not know, Father? Have you not heard the stories of the witch hunters, that in some towns there is not a woman left?”

“I thought you were not like those women. You would not be accused.”

“Have you not heard, Father?” Dame Alice’s voice mocked them both. “Women are stupid, lusty, insatiable, gullible, given to imaginations. We must be driven from the garden.”