The Haunting of Saward Island by Amy Cross

Author:Amy Cross [Cross, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blackwych Books Ltd
Published: 2024-09-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Eight

In the year 1752, around a century before anybody thought to construct a lighthouse there, Saward Island was nothing more than a rough scrap of flat land rising just a short way above the surface of the North Sea.

“Come on,” Jonathan said, holding the rope that had been attached to Jane's wrists as he led her up from the rocks and onto the long grass. “Be careful. You don't want to slip.”

As those words left his lips, he rolled his eyes. Why should the woman bother to be careful when she was about to be dispatched from the world? Still, he'd been raised to treat everyone – especially women – with kindness and respect, and he was determined to do so even in the most trying of circumstances. Part of him even wanted to offer Jane a final meal, or at least a drink, but as he looked out across the island he supposed that he was only putting off the inevitable.

Watching as the grass swayed in the wind, he tried to work out where best to do the deed, but again he understood deep down that there was no reason for such caution.

The time had come.

“It's a peaceful enough place,” he said, turning to see that Jane was standing patiently and obediently nearby. “I've passed this way a few times but never came ashore before.”

He wanted to think of something that might make her feel better, a few words that might bring a sense of calm to her heart. Even a witch, he supposed, might feel fear – and he wondered, too, whether in her final moments she might be feeling a pang of regret.

“I -”

Suddenly Jane dropped down onto her knees, as if attempting to hasten the moment of her death.

“I was going to ask whether you have any final words,” Jonathan said, “but I suppose... in the circumstances, that's not going to be possible, is it?”

He hesitated, before taking the knife from the loop on his belt and starting to make his way around until he was standing behind her. Although he'd considered plenty of different methods by which he might end Jane's life, he'd come to the conclusion that the best approach might be to simply slit her throat from ear to ear. Death would surely take just a few seconds, perhaps a minute or two at most, and he supposed that he didn't even have to watch. He could look away and wait for a few minutes before quickly checking that the whole thing was over, and then he would be able to leave the island forever.

Reaching around, Jane felt for his arm. Quickly finding his wrist, she moved it up toward her throat as if encouraging him to get on with the task. All the fight had left her body and she and Jonathan were united in a common cause: to end the misery.

“Are you ready?” he asked, unable to rid his voice of a sense of true fear.

Silence.

“Are you sure?”

He waited, even though he knew the answer.

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