Read Online Shepherd's Cross by Mark White - Free Book Online Page B

hysterically and foaming at the mouth as if she were
possessed; the bed rocking and shaking on its feet.’
    ‘It sounds like a scene from The
Exorcist ,’ laughed Olivia, relieved at the opportunity to lighten the mood
slightly.
    ‘It does, doesn’t it?’ remarked Bronwyn,
checking the clock on the wall and noting that it was almost 1.30pm. She would
have to get back to the Youth Hostel to sign for an afternoon delivery she was
expecting. ‘But I’m afraid what happened to poor Elizabeth was real enough. The
villagers wanted their revenge, and they got what they wanted when the Magistrate
accused Elizabeth of being in league with the Devil. She had outright refused
when ordered to recount the Lord’s Prayer, choosing instead to raise her
nightgown above her head and flaunt her naked body to everyone in the room. She
was immediately found guilty of being a witch, as well as for all of the other
recent crimes, including the murder of Kathryn Wick. The following day she was
taken to the Village Green behind us and burned at the stake. As she died, she
began to say the Lord’s Prayer; but it wasn’t long before the screaming began.
She was the last woman in Shepherd’s Cross to be executed for witchcraft; the
last woman in northern England, as it happens. And here’s an interesting fact
for you: on your way home this afternoon, if you feel like taking a short
diversion through the cemetery of All Saint’s Church, you’ll be able to find a
headstone near the west wall in memory of Kathryn Wick, whose body was never
found.’
    Emily walked into the kitchen, having
kept the adjoining door open to allow her to listen in to the conversation as
she prepared for opening time. ‘Well, I hope we haven’t bored you?’ she asked. ‘Like
I said, there’s a great deal lying beneath the surface of The Cross.’
    ‘There certainly is,’ said Charlotte. ‘And
thank you ever so much for inviting us over here. But there’s one thing still
puzzling me. Do you think Elizabeth was a witch? And if so, do you think she
carried out the crimes and made up the whole story about the farm and what
happened up there?’
    ‘I guess we’ll never know,’ replied
Emily. ‘But I doubt she was a witch. She’d more likely caught a fever from her
father and was hallucinating. Life was much harder in those days; they didn't
have the medicines we have now. Besides,’ Emily smiled, winking at Bronwyn, ‘I
didn’t think you believed in all that mumbo-jumbo?’
    ‘But at the very least she must have
been completely bonkers,’ said Olivia. ‘I mean, to have made up that story
about the Devil and throwing a dead girl into the fire.’
    ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Emily said. ‘But something
very similar to the alleged events of that night in 1647 was reported to have
happened up at Fellside Hall nearly a hundred years ago. But that, ladies, is
another story for another day.’
    The tinkling of the bell above the Post
Office door signalled it was time for everyone to go their separate ways: Emily
to her customers, Bronwyn to her delivery; and Charlotte and Olivia to the west
wall of All Saints’ Church.

Chapter 7
     
    1.30pm:
Ted Wilson made no attempt to avert his eyes from the ample breasts of his
secretary as she stood up to take her coat from the mahogany stand by the door. What I wouldn’t do to get my hands on those two puppies , he thought to
himself, knowing fine well that he had a snowball’s chance in Hell of actually
doing so. She buttoned up her coat and bent down to retrieve her handbag that
she kept under her desk. Ted smiled at her; he hadn’t employed her solely for
her looks, but coming in to work every morning was considerably less arduous
when you could ogle your secretary’s curvy backside every time her head was
turned.
    ‘Right, Mr Wilson, that’s me done for
the day.’ She had requested the afternoon off; some friends were travelling
over to Newcastle for a night out and she needed time to doll herself up.