Widdershins by Helen Steadman

Author:Helen Steadman [Helen Steadman]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781911293057
Publisher: Impress Books
Published: 2017-08-25T04:00:00+00:00

15

John

Flux

I watched as a great cramp wracked my wife’s middle and she leant against the table, clutching her stomach, crying out as a warm gush of liquid left her. She took a step back and regarded the splash of blood on the floor. Although I felt quite ill myself, I bundled her onto the settle and covered her with a rug.

She gasped through her pain. ‘Please, John, go and fetch Dora Shaw. Something is very … wrong.’ She placed her hand between her legs and raised it to me, her fingers covered in thick blood.

I began to pace the room, all the while examining her face and recalling my uncle’s words on the subject of midwives.

‘I don’t want that hag near my child. This bleeding must be a sign of your overly sanguine humour, and your body is just ridding itself of the excess. No doubt the barber-surgeon could staunch the bleeding down there by bleeding you up there, nearer to your heart.’ I pressed a finger into the blue vein visible in her neck.

But Lucy cringed away from me. ‘For shame, if you bring MacBain and his leeches, there will be no child and no mother … please … fetch Dora.’

‘That woman’s no better than a common witch! You know how I feel about her. And Uncle James will not tolerate–’

‘I implore you, John, or you will lose us both. My heart is thundering, and I’m sure it’s drowning out the faint beat of our child’s heart.’

She pressed her hands between her legs again. Still the blood left her.

‘John, please, I can only imagine our child uncoiling his soft grip on my insides; he must no longer have enough strength to hold fast. Please, fetch Dora … or, if not Dora, then at least bring Kirstie Slater.’

I scrutinised my wife’s face. I felt certain Kirstie Slater would not cross my threshold, and the thought of inviting Dora Shaw across my threshold sickened me. Her dark presence would surely invite disaster. And it would be hard to justify this weakening to my uncle, who must find out. But without assistance of some sort, my child would not see the light of day. I would pray every second a cunning woman was in my house. That would help offset any malevolent intent. Tight-lipped, I left without another word.

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