Page 96 of The Sea Witch
He braced his hands on the window frame. “I want to see this book.”
“I don’t have it anymore.” Her voice came close behind him, but he kept staring out the window and its view of dusk descending over town. “Nobody aboard theSea Witchknew the language it was written in, so I bartered it with a mage for textswe could read. That’s why I couldn’t quite recall—it wasn’t in my possession long.”
He wheeled around. “I—”
Bells rang out, shattering the night’s calm. Loud, clamorous bells that signaled danger.
Ben immediately pulled on his waistcoat and coat, and Alys stuffed her feet into her shoes, not bothering with stockings. Panicked footsteps sounded in the hallway outside, mingling with people’s confused, nervous voices.
Alys’s balancing light had faded entirely, so Ben wrenched open the door to their room and stepped into the corridor. He grabbed the arm of a man attempting to hurry past.
“What’s going on?” Ben demanded.
“A chickcharney has been spotted on the edge of town,” the man yelped. “Been over a decade since such a beast bothered us, but it’s here now. Hurry, sir. To the shelters.”
Ben released the man’s arm and he scurried away. More people pushed past, rushing to get to safety.
Alys shouldered her way out of the room and together they joined the throng pouring out of the inn. But instead of following the crowds heading to the shelters, Alys tugged Ben in the opposite direction. Toward the church.
“No one’s around,” she explained. “Now’s our chance to find that register.”
“And risk an attack by a chickcharney, whatever that is.”
“Resembles an owl, long legs, red eyes, tail that can grip things, and stands about yea high.” She held her hand three feet off the ground. “It can be kind to travelers, but something’s riled it.”
“If the creature’s riled, the last thing we want is to cross its path.”
She sprinted to a nearby clothesline and snatched a coral-colored petticoat from it. “Use this to beguile it, and whateveryou do, don’t laugh at the chickcharney. Or it’ll twist your head right off.”
“With that image in my mind, it’s not likely I’ll do much laughing.”
Alys grabbed his hand and together, they ran against the human tide. She was much nimbler, darting between gaps in the crowd, while he had to muscle his way through as he clutched the petticoat in one hand.
As they ran in the opposite direction, the throng began to thin. The bells stopped as well, signaling that everyone had taken shelter. No lights shone in storefronts, no torches or lamps burned on the street. Darkness and silence smothered the town.
Finally, Ben and Alys reached the steps of All Saints church. No one was around, only them and the shadows. And the looming threat of a creature that could remove Ben’s head from his neck like pulling an apple from a tree branch.
Ben tugged on the church’s door, but it held fast. Alys knelt down to place her hand on the doorknob.
“There’s a spell for everything, it seems,” he said dryly.
“Magic’s got many uses. I can’t speak for mages, but a witch will do what she must to keep herself safe. But,” she added, “these’ll do the job without taxing my power.” She pulled two thin pins from her hair and held them up with a smile.
He shook his head as she set about picking the lock. As she worked, he kept his attention on the dark streets, alert should anyone—or anything—pass by.
“A pistol or cutlass makes for better protection than a petticoat.” He gripped the yards of fabric, crushing the cotton in his fist. “The creature that’s out there—”
“The chickcharney,” she said, focused on her task. “It’s found on Andros in the Bahamas, but a few have been spotted here. We once rescued a witch from Domingo. She told us aboutit. Had us all shivering in our berths for a week. Now, silence yourself and let me concentrate.”
He said nothing further as she continued to manipulate the pins within the door’s lock.
“Easy, my sweet one. A little more, and then—” She grinned up at him when there was a clicking sound. “The Norham schoolmaster impressed upon us to be always humble. But, the hell with that.”
She stood and shook out her skirts before opening the door and slipping inside. Ben followed, shutting the door behind him. They were plunged into the darkness of the narthex, and beyond that, the stillness and shadows of the nave. Though they had been there only a few hours earlier, the church was now vast and echoing, made more eerie with the knowledge that a creature lurked outside.
He stepped into the aisle between the empty pews. “Small as this church is, we’ll still have a devil of a time searching for the parish register.”
“Here’s where my magic comes into play.” She cupped her hands and whispered into them with words he could not understand.
