Authors: Dulcinea Norton-Smith
Demdike
’
s chuckles were all gone now but her
voice had grown stronger and louder, filled with rage and spite.
“
Does tha think I
’
m gormless? You won
’
t be getting no
‘
fession from me lad. I am stronger
than you give me credit for. My thumbs are nowt but flattened now. What next?
Hast tha got owt else to chuck at a poor old woman?
”
Ainsworth
looked at Roger with a grin. Again Roger was disturbed at the pleasure the
Warden took from this but pushed his feelings aside and gave a new instruction.
“
Knotting next Warden.
”
Ainsworth
picked up a thin stick. He moved behind Demdike and gathered her hair into a
high ponytail, tying it with a piece of rope. He took the stick and pushed it
between Demdike
’
s scalp and the tied clump of hair until a few inches stuck
out at either side of her head. He grabbed a piece in each hand and began to
twist, as if opening a drawbridge. Demdike
’
s hair pulled tighter and tighter,
pulling some of the wrinkles from her skin and making her grimace.
“
Did you cause death by witchcraft?
”
“
I
’
ll sithee in Hell before I answer that. I
’
m reet old now and non too clever.
May as well kill me before my
‘
art or lungs do tha daft fool. I
’
m not scared o
’
thee.
”
Demdike
screamed in agony as Ainsworth gave the stick a final turn, tearing hair and
clumps of skin and flesh from her scalp. He growled in frustration and yanked
the stick out, leaving strands of grey, blood streaked hair trailing over
Demdike
’
s bony shoulders.
“
She won
’
t talk Sir."
“
Just one last try Ainsworth. The boots I think.
”
As
he said it Roger felt the cold of evil crawling over his heart. He tried to
shake it but he couldn
’
t. If the boots worked then Demdike would be hanged. If it
didn
’
t then she would be crippled for the rest of her short
miserable life in the gaol until she died from blood loss or worse. Whichever
the result he was giving her a death sentence. Ainsworth chuckled to himself
and brought two planks of wood and a cord. He put a plank at either side of
Demdike
’
s frail legs and bound them together with the cord. He went
back to the table and returned with a hammer and several wedges of wood. He
stuck the thin wedges into various points of up and down Demdike
’
s legs between her legs and the
planks. He slowly began to hammer each one as Roger continued to talk. Each
time the wedge pushed towards its thickest end the planks tightened making
Demdike
’
s legs squeeze together and shatter the bones. Demdike
writhed in agony.
“
Did you cause death by witchcraft?
”
“
Aye I did.
”
Screamed Demdike as splinters of bone began to poke out of
her skin.
“
Did your daughter Elizabeth Device cause death by
witchcraft?
”
“
Aye....aye, she did.
”
Demdike
’
s legs were all but liquid now, the
planks almost meeting with little more than mangled flesh keeping them apart.
Ainsworth stopped hammering, the wedges now having nowhere left to go.
“
Did your granddaughter Alizon Device cause death by
witchcraft?
”
Demdike
flopped in her chair. There was no more laughter or fight, no more torture to
be done.
“
Nay. She hasn
’
t ever done nowt. She
’
s nowt but a lanky streak o
’
piss that un. Believes in God she
does. Ha!
”
“
Thank you Mrs Southerns. Ainsworth, please see Mrs
Southerns to her kin.
”
Roger
let himself out of the witch room and started the long climb up towards his
office. He had been right; she did have a chance for her soul to be saved. He
would spare young Alizon and find her a place in the work house. Some good
could come from this after all.
Roger
walked along the corridor to his office. A headache was threatening to settle
and he had a big build-up of pressure behind his eyes. He barely glanced at the
paintings of hangings and criminals on the walls. He had walked past them a
thousand times and they no longer registered but he did not feel as blas
é
about the sentences to death that he
would be handing out to the witches. It was rare for him to sentence a woman to
death. Their crimes were usually only bad enough to earn them a spell in the
stocks or in gaol. It was rare for women to be tried for murder. It was just a
small consolation that the young one Alizon could be spared. He walked into his
office and had to squint at the golden light coming through the windows. He had
been in the gaol for over twenty four hours now without sleep. He looked
forward to the end of this day and a return to his bed at Read Hall. It took
only a second for Roger
’
s eyes to adjust to the light and realise that he was not
alone. A woman sat with her back to Roger. Though her clothes were un-glamorous
her back was rigid and her posture unflawed. Auburn hair was pulled into a plait
and the woman turned as she heard Roger. A face which was a softer rounder
version of his own stared at him.
“
Alice, a pleasant surprise but perhaps not a good day for
it. What brings you these many miles to Lancaster so early in the day?
”
“
Good morning my brother. You look tired.
”
“
It has been a long night, and a long day to follow.
”
“
Perhaps, my darling, it was time you took a new wife,
someone to care for you.
”
“
Nay sweet Alice. I have lost my one true love, there won
’
t be another. I have all the staff I
need to take care of me. So what brings you here?
”
Roger walked around his desk and
leant backwards in his chair. With the window now at his back he could see his
sister better and with the light no longer in his eyes his headache eased a
little.
“
I hear you have the Device family in gaol.
”
“
Aye.
”
“
And Alizon? The young one?
”
“
Aye her too.
”
Roger
began to feel uneasy. He had seen Gabriel
’
s reaction on the day the Device girl
had been taken away and he had more than a little suspicion that there was more
than friendship between the two. He was devoted to his sister but he wasn
’
t sure he could release the girl
without punishment purely to please his nephew.
“
You may have guessed that our Gabriel is enamoured with
her. He begged me to come and see you, to beg for her release.
”
“
Alice I
’
m not sure I can do that. She lamed a man, to that at least
she has admitted. She will have a spell in gaol but she will be released soon
enough. Is that not enough for him? Surely, if he loves her so, he would be
happy to wait.
”
“
Aye I don
’
t doubt it. He cried at my knee last night. T
’
is the first time he has cried since
he was a babe. He would wait until the sun turned to ice for that girl.
”
“
Then I am confused sister. What would you have me do?
”
“
My dear brother, have I ever asked a favour of you?
”
Roger
thought through their lives together. Their parents had died early and Alice,
though younger than him, had quickly taken over the care of the house, leaving
him the time to build his career. She had never asked a favour of him, not one.
“
No Alice, you haven
’
t.
”
“
Well it shames me to ask you now dear brother but a favour
I must ask.
”
Alice looked down at her hands which rested on her knew.
Alice had never failed to meet Roger
’
s eye before and this one gesture
convinced him that she was, indeed, ashamed to be asking. Whether it was the
request of a favour or the actual favour itself which shamed her he couldn
’
t tell. He nodded for her to
continue.
“
Gabriel has worked hard at school and since beginning the
job at the Nutter Farm. He has worked hard to make something of himself. He and
Jane Nutter are good friends and I had once hoped that they would become
something more. John Nutter is aging now and with all of his sons under the age
of eight years he will soon need someone to pass the care of the farm on to. A
marriage to Jane would secure that honour for Gabe.
”
“
So you want me to ensure that Alizon Device is given a
lengthy sentence in gaol? Secure the route of love for Gabriel and Jane.
”
“
No my Roger. I am afraid I am asking for a lot more than
that. As I have already said, Gabriel would wait for that girl, perhaps for a
great many years. He will never open his heart to loving someone else if she
were still....her.
”
“
At Lancaster?
”
“
On God
’
s great earth.
”
“
Oh.
”
Roger began to get a glimmer of understanding.
“
That girl is a wretch. She has been dragged up by that God
forsaken kin of hers. If she is a danger to grown men like John Law she is a
danger to us all. I will not have her dragging my Gabriel into her Hell.
”
“
Surely you understand what you are asking me Alice. She
hasn
’
t killed anyone, by witchcraft or any other. My power to
take a life is only so for murderers.
”
“
She is a murderer. She may have murdered already, murders
we do not know of, but even if not she will do. Apples don
’
t fall far from the tree my brother
and her tree is poisonous and rotten from the roots up. Our Gabriel only has a
future if there is no way she can be in it.
”
“
She has not confessed to a murder. There are no witnesses
to speak against her and her grandmother herself, evil wretch though she is,
will testify that she has never committed murder. I love you Alice but I don
’
t know what I can do for you. I am
truly sorry.
”
Alice
looked drained but stood and walked around the desk to kiss Roger on the head.
“
I can only hope that God brings you an opportunity to help
my dear.
”
As Alice walked out of the room Roger felt helpless in his
inability to help her.
He
stood to stretch then set off down the corridor again. He had one more person
to talk to today. Someone who was waiting in the castle kitchens and may be
able to help him help his sister.
“
So will he help Mam?
”
Gabe looked at his mother. Though
she had just arrived home he had been waiting nervously for hours for her
return.