Traitor to the Crown: The Patriot Witch by C. C. Finlay

Author:C. C. Finlay
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
ISBN: 9780345503909
Publisher: Random House, Inc.
Published: 2009-04-28T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

The women debated the rest of the day, trying to reach a

consensus on Proctor's proposal.

"Necromancy is evil," Magdalena insisted. "Ve should

have no part of it."

"No one is suggesting necromancy," Deborah insisted.

"No one wants to raise the dead, or ask the spirits to foretell the future. We only wish to speak to them about the past."

Magdalena spewed sentences in German, ending with,

"Totenbeschworung, necromancy, vhatever--it is all the

same. It is evil, the verk of Satan."

"No, it isn't," Deborah said patiently. "We are only going to ask them for information."

"I don't understand how we can do that spell," Cecily

said. "Not that I know as much as Elizabeth or you, I'm not

claiming that. But I thought, at the very least, you needed to

know someone's name to summon them. We have no idea

who those terrible men are."

"One of them was named Dick," Proctor said, recalling

the name he heard during the fight. "He's the one who

killed Nimrod."

"And we have their things still," Alexandra interjected.

"Their clothes, the weapons they were carrying--that

should help."

Deborah nodded. "Those are exactly what we need. All

we want to do is find out their purpose in coming to kill us.

Who were they working for? Is it the British governor or

one of the generals or--"

She stopped in mid- sentence. That was the part that bothered Proctor the most. Who wanted to kill these women and

why? With the militiamen strangling the Redcoats in Boston,

it made no sense at all for British officers to care about a few

women outside Salem.

"They knew how to see past the enchantment," he said.

"So whoever sent the widow also sent them."

That wasn't a very comforting thought, and the others

glided right past it.

"Their disguises link them to the attack," Deborah said.

"That's the important thing, because that's all we wish to

ask them about."

"But Magdalena makes an excellent point too," Cecily

said, and the older woman nodded agreement. "We should

consider how dangerous it may be. We all want answers. I

want answers. But if we summon the spirits of the dead, especially dead men burning in hell, where they ought to be if there is any justice at all, then we draw the undesirable eye

of Lucifer himself--"

"Aie, don't mention his name," Magdalena shouted,

smacking her hands on the table and making a hex sign to

ward herself as she rose.

At the end of the day, Deborah and Alexandra were in favor of Proctor's plan, Magdalena was vehemently opposed,

and Cecily alternately affirmed that it was a good idea then

sowed caution and doubt. Lydia remained silent, whether

because she had no opinion or did not feel free to speak,

Proctor wasn't sure. Elizabeth also said nothing, but you

could see her weighing the opinions for and against. Finally, after dark, she rose wearily. "Let us sleep on it and pray for a clearer path tomorrow."

The debate resumed the next day. Proctor, having already made his decision about what was right, escaped to

do the work of the farm. He tended to the animals and

split firewood. When he returned to the house around

noon, Deborah met him at the well. "It's decided," he said.

"We all agreed to try to talk to them.

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