Page 23 of Damnation
“Enough! This shall not be how we conduct so. Good spoke out against Osborne, surely that provides immunity per thy terms?” he barters.
The crowd settles and nods as Osborne looks to be with outrage.
“Yet she be the biggest witch of all! She provides my shop with tonics and remedies she creates through witchcraft!”
I look at her in outrage as she continues on.
“I have seen it! She conjures spells and places magic on all she touches!”
The crowd becomes restless once more, pushing and shoving Osborne and I before Corwin and Hathorne intervene.
“That be the end of it! Enough! Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, ye both are hereby under arrest for suspicion of witchcraft. You shall be granted a hearing when we are able to gather such. Till then, you shall remain at the jail in Ipswich. Take them away!”
Hands grab me, ripping me out of the tavern. I scream and fight against their hold as I’m dragged out to the street, tossed to the ground like a heap of waste. I clutch my growing belly with protection as pain fills me.
Thomas rushes over, crouching down to help me stand.
“My love, are you hurt?” he asks, his hand resting upon my belly.
“Thomas! What do I do?” I cry.
“Do as they say. We will sort this,” he assures. “We will prove your innocence.”
I open my mouth to tell him that I’m not innocent, though. What Osborne spoke was the truth, but there is more to it than such. Thomas sees the confliction on my face and frowns, as if he can read my own mind.
Phillip Lewis walks by us, holding onto Osborne as he forces her onto his horse before climbing on behind her.
“Come on, Putnam. I want to be off. The sooner we jail them, the better.”
Thomas looks like he is wavering on his next move when I am ripped from Thomas’s grasp.
“Not a worry, Lewis. Walcott will take Good. My brother and I have matters to handle,” Edward says as Jonathan Walcott takes hold of me, forcing me up onto a horse before he climbs on himself.
Before Thomas can object, we are off at a gallop. I turn to see Edward holding Thomas back, shouting into his face. Thomas’s eyes do not leave my own until we round the corner. The fear,anxiety, and turmoil swirling inside me is almost too much to handle as I bounce upon the horse. What a rough ride it will be for the ten mile ride to Ipswich. All I can manage to think about is my Dorothy, the baby in my belly, and…Thomas.
Chapter Ten
Thomas
“What are you doing?” Edward screams in my face.
I reel back at the anger in his tone.
“What am I doing? What are you? Why did you send her off with Walcott of all people? The man is an arse!”
“Why are you concerned where or with whom awitchgoes?”
My eyes narrow at him as I lower my tone.
“She is not a witch.”
“Then what is she, brother? Is she your whore? The bed too cold with Ann at nights, so you took a fancy with the beggar woman. Please tell me she parts her legs better than her lazy husband work?—”
He does not get to finish his sentence before my fist is driving into his face. He staggers backwards, blood beginning to run down his face as I take hold of his jacket, pulling him close to my face.
“Speak ill of her again, and I shall slit your throat myself. Mention her body in any such way, and I shall shoot you dead. Do not try my patience, brother, if I must choose between her or you, it shall be her. Every. Time.”
Edward looks speechless, whether from shock or rage, I cannot be sure. I imagine he was throwing guesses, but did notthink I would confess to my feelings. What do I have to lose in the name of things at the moment? My world is falling apart, the woman I love, pregnant with my child, has been arrested for witchcraft, and I am unsure how I will free her from such a situation. One thing is true. I must get to the bottom of this, speak with her, do anything and everything I am able to set us both free. ‘Tis the only way.
