Speaks The Nightbird Part 29

"I can can think of a reason you might have fas.h.i.+oned those poppets and hidden them in my house," Rachel went on, her face pressed against the bars and her eyes afire. "Do you not think I noticed the way you looked at me, when you thought Daniel didn't see? Do you not think I felt you devouring me? Well, Daniel saw it too! He told me, less than a week before he was murdered, to beware of you because you had a hungry stare and you were not to be trusted! Daniel may have been a stern and quiet man, but he was a very good judge of character!" think of a reason you might have fas.h.i.+oned those poppets and hidden them in my house," Rachel went on, her face pressed against the bars and her eyes afire. "Do you not think I noticed the way you looked at me, when you thought Daniel didn't see? Do you not think I felt you devouring me? Well, Daniel saw it too! He told me, less than a week before he was murdered, to beware of you because you had a hungry stare and you were not to be trusted! Daniel may have been a stern and quiet man, but he was a very good judge of character!"

"Obviously he was," Paine said. "He married a witch."

"Look at the magistrate," Rachel commanded, "and tell him about your affair with Lucretia Vaughan! Oh, everyone in Fount Royal knows it but Mr. Vaughan, and he knows it too in his heart but he's too much a mouse to make a squeak! Tell him about your affair with Blessed Pearson, and your dalliance with Mary Summers! Go on, look him in the face and admit it like the man you wish to be!"

Paine did not look at the magistrate. He continued to stare at Rachel even as he let out a laugh that-to Matthew's ears- sounded a bit strangled. "You're not only a d.a.m.nable witch," he said, "but you're raving insane as well!"

"Tell us all why a handsome, healthy man like yourself has never married! Isn't it because you're only pleased to possess what belongs to other men?"

"Now I know know you're insane! I've never married because I've spent my life in travelling! I also prize freedom, and a man's freedom is destroyed when he gives it up to a wife!" you're insane! I've never married because I've spent my life in travelling! I also prize freedom, and a man's freedom is destroyed when he gives it up to a wife!"

"And while you have no wife, you are free to turn wives into wenches!" Rachel said. "Mary Summers was a respectable woman before you got your hands on her, and now where is she? After you killed her husband in that duel, she perished of sorrow within a month!"

"That duel," he answered coldly, "concerned a point of honor. Quentin Summers splashed wine in my face at the tavern and called me a card cheat. I had no choice but to call him out."

"He knew you were having your way with his wife, but he couldn't catch you! He was a farmer, not a duelist!"

"Farmer or not, he was given the first shot. He missed. If you'll recall, I only wounded him in the shoulder."

"A bullet wound in this town is a death sentence! He just took longer to die than if you'd shot him through the heart!"

"The subject of my visit here, I believe, is to display the poppets." Paine turned his gaze toward the magistrate. "Which I have done. Do you wish to keep them, sir?"

Even if Woodward's voice hadn't been so diminished, it would have been altogether stolen by the accusations and statements that had just flown like wild birds in a storm. It was going to take him a while to absorb all of this, but one thing stood out in clear relief in his mind.

He remembered Dr. s.h.i.+elds saying in regards to Paine: He was married, when he was a younger man. His wife perished from an illness that caused her to suffer fits until she died. He was married, when he was a younger man. His wife perished from an illness that caused her to suffer fits until she died. Why, then, did Paine contend he had never been married? Why, then, did Paine contend he had never been married?

"Magistrate? Do you wish to keep the poppets?" Paine repeated.

"Oh! Uh... yes, I do," Woodward answered, in his tortured whisper. "They shall become the court's property."

"Very well, then." He fired a look at Rachel that, were it a can-nonshot, might have cleaved through the hull of a wars.h.i.+p. "I'd beware that one and her nasty tongue, sir! She holds such a grudge against me I'm surprised my murder wasn't on her list of crimes!"

"Face the magistrate and deny that what I've said is the truth!" Rachel all but shouted.

Woodward had endured enough of this discord. For want of a better instrument, he picked up the Bible and slapped it down against the desk's edge. "Hus.h.!.+" he said, as loudly as he could; instantly he paid the price in pain, and tears welled up.

"Madam Howarth?" Matthew said. "I think it wise to be silent."

Paine added, "I think it wise to begin cutting the stake for her execution!"

This sarcastic remark bruised Matthew's sense of propriety, especially following on the heels of such heated wranglings. His voice tightened. "Mr. Paine, it would interest me to know if what Madam Howarth claims about you is true."

"Would it, now?" Paine put his hands on his hips. "You're overstepping your bounds, aren't you, clerk?"

"May I speak for you, sir?" Matthew asked Woodward, and the magistrate didn't hesitate to nod his a.s.sent. "There, Mr. Paine. My bounds are more clearly defined. Now: are these claims true or false?"

"I didn't know I was to be a witness today. I might've worn a better suit."

"Your delay in answering," Matthew said, "delays the outcome of this trial. Shall you be instructed to sit down and swear truth on the Bible?"

"You might instruct it, but I doubt you could enforce it."

"Yes, I'm sure you're correct. I'm no duelist, either."

Paine's face had taken on a reddish cast. "Listen to me! I didn't want to fight that man, and if he'd insulted me in private I would have let it go! But he had to test me in public, right there at Van Gundy's! What could I do but call him out? He had the choice of weapons, and the fool chose pistols instead of blades! I would've given him a single cut and called it done!" He shook his head, his expression taking on a hint of regret. "But no, Summers wanted heart's blood. Well, his pistol misfired and the ball hardly rolled out of the muzzle! Still, that was his shot. Then it was mine. I aimed for the meat of his shoulder, which I squarely hit. How would I know he was such a bleeder?"

"You might have fired at the earth," Matthew said. "Isn't that acceptable when the first shot misfires?"

"Not by my rules," came the chill reply. "If a man aims a weapon at me, whether it's a pistol or a dagger, he must account for it. I've been stabbed between the ribs before and shot through my leg; so I hold no sympathy for anyone who tries to do me harm! No matter if he is is a farmer!" a farmer!"

"You suffered these wounds during your career at sea?" Matthew asked.

"The stab, yes. The shot... was a later incident." He stared at the clerk with fresh interest. "What do you know of my career at sea?"

"Just that you were a seaman aboard a brigantine. Mr. Bid-well told me. A brigantine is a fast s.h.i.+p, isn't it? In fact, brigantines are the vessels of choice by pirates, are they not?"

"They are. And they are also the vessels of choice by those who would hunt hunt pirates in service of the trading companies." pirates in service of the trading companies."

"That was your profession, then?"

"Hardly a profession. I was sixteen years old, hot-tempered and eager to fight. I served one year and four months on a coastal patrol before a black-flagger's rapier laid me low. That was the end of my salt.w.a.ter adventures."

"Oh," Matthew said quietly. "I see."

"What? Did you think me me a pirate?" a pirate?"

"I wondered." Now that the subject had been opened, he had to ask the next question as well: "Might I inquire... who taught you to roll your tobacco in the Spanish fas.h.i.+on?"

"A Spaniard, of course," Paine said. "A prisoner aboard s.h.i.+p. He had no teeth, but he dearly loved his cigars. I think he was hanged with one in his mouth."

"Oh," Matthew repeated. His suspicions concerning the Spanish spy had just fallen to pieces like shattered mirrorgla.s.s, and he felt an utter fool.

"All right, I admit it! " Paine lifted his hands. "Yes, I have done the things the witch claims, but they were not all my doing! Lucretia Vaughan came after me like a shewolf! I couldn't walk the street without being near attacked by her! A match can only bear so much friction before it flames, and a single hot blaze is all I gave her! You know how such things happen!"

"Um..." Matthew inspected the tip of his quill. "Well... yes, such things do happen."

"And perhaps-perhaps-my eye does wander. I did, at one point, feel an attraction to the witch. Before Before she was a witch, I mean. You must admit, she's a handsome piece. Is she not?" she was a witch, I mean. You must admit, she's a handsome piece. Is she not?"

"My opinion is of no consequence." Matthew blushed so furiously that his face hurt.

"You do admit it. You'd have to be blind if you did not. Well, I may have looked in her direction once or twice, but I never laid a hand on her. I had respect for her husband."

"I'd be amazed if you had respect for anyone!" anyone!" Rachel said sharply. Rachel said sharply.

Paine started to fire off another volley at her, but he checked himself. After a pause in which he stared at the floor, he answered in what was almost a saddened tone, "You don't know me very well, madam, even though you imagine you do. I am not the beast you make me out to be. It is my nature to respect only those who respect themselves. As for the others, from them I feel free to take what is offered. Whether that makes me good or bad, I can't say, but that is how I am." He looked at the magistrate and lifted his chin high. "I did not put those poppets in the witch's house. I found them, according to a dream related to me by Cara Grunewald. It seems she had a vision-G.o.d-sent, if you want my opinion-in which a s.h.i.+ning figure told her there was something of importance hidden beneath the floor of Rachel Howarth's kitchen. We knew not what we were searching for. But there the poppets were, beneath a loosened board."

"This was how long after Madam Howarth had been removed from her house?" Matthew asked.

"Two weeks, I believe. Not any longer."

"I presume her house wasn't guarded or watched in any way?"

"No. Why should it have been?"

"No reason. But two weeks was time enough for someone else to form the poppets and hide them under the floor, don't you think?"

Paine surprised Matthew by giving a short, sharp laugh. "You're jesting, of course!"

"Two weeks," Matthew repeated. "An empty, unguarded house. The poppets are made of common materials. Anyone might have placed them there."

"Have you lost your senses, clerk? No one put them there but the witch herself! You're forgetting that Madam Grunewald had a divine vision that directed us where to look!"

"I know nothing of divine visions. I only know two weeks pa.s.sed and the house was open to all who might want to enter."

"No one wanted to enter," Paine argued. "The only reason I and the others who were with me entered is that we had a task to perform. When it was done, we didn't linger there!" wanted to enter," Paine argued. "The only reason I and the others who were with me entered is that we had a task to perform. When it was done, we didn't linger there!"

"Who discovered the loosened board? You or someone else?"

"I did, and if you like I'll vow on the Bible that I hadn't set foot in that house since the morning the witch was taken out of it!"

Matthew glanced at the magistrate. Woodward, who was looking dourly at him, shook his head. Matthew felt he'd come to the end of this particular road. He believed Paine. Why should the man have made the poppets and placed them there? Perhaps it had had been a divine vision sent from G.o.d to Cara Grunewald; but then again, if he followed that track, he must come to the conclusion that Rachel was indeed performing witchcraft. He sighed heavily and said, "It's not necessary that you swear on the Bible, sir. Thank you for your candor in this matter. I believe you may go, if the magistrate desires it." been a divine vision sent from G.o.d to Cara Grunewald; but then again, if he followed that track, he must come to the conclusion that Rachel was indeed performing witchcraft. He sighed heavily and said, "It's not necessary that you swear on the Bible, sir. Thank you for your candor in this matter. I believe you may go, if the magistrate desires it."

"Go," Woodward said.

Paine hesitated. "Are you thinking," he said to Matthew, "that someone other than the prisoner might have murdered Reverend Grove and Daniel Howarth? If so, you'd best take care the witch is not casting a spell on your mind this very minute! She did those crimes, and she did the other sins she's been accused of too. Her ultimate purpose was the destruction of this town, which she nearly did-and still might do, if she's not soon ashes! Why should it be anyone else's purpose?"

To this question, Matthew had no answer. "Good afternoon, sir," Paine said, addressing the magistrate, and then he turned away and stalked out of the gaol.

Woodward watched through hooded eyes as the militia captain left. The magistrate had recalled something else Dr. s.h.i.+elds had said concerning the subject of Paine's deceased wife: It It was a long time ago, and I'm sure Paine wouldn't care to speak about it. In fact, I know he would not. was a long time ago, and I'm sure Paine wouldn't care to speak about it. In fact, I know he would not. Had it been such a terrible experience that Paine had decided to deny to the people of Fount Royal that he ever had a wife? And if so, why had he confided it to Dr. s.h.i.+elds? It was a small thing, to be sure... but still, a point of interest. Had it been such a terrible experience that Paine had decided to deny to the people of Fount Royal that he ever had a wife? And if so, why had he confided it to Dr. s.h.i.+elds? It was a small thing, to be sure... but still, a point of interest.

On Matthew's mind was the imminent arrival of the final witness, the child Violet Adams. He cleaned his quill and prepared a fresh sheet of paper. Rachel returned to her bench and sat down, her head lowered. Woodward closely inspected one of the black-ribboned poppets, after which he closed his eyes and took the opportunity to rest.

In a short while the gaol's door was opened, and Violet Adams had arrived.

Eighteen Edward Winston entered first through the door, followed by a thin brown-haired man of about thirty years who wore a dark green suit and tan stockings. Close behind him-up under his arm, it would be more accurate to say-was the child, of eleven or twelve years. She, too, was slender. Her light brown hair was pulled severely back from her forehead under the constriction of a stiff white bonnet. She wore a smoke-gray ca.s.sock from throat to ankles, and st.u.r.dy black shoes that had recently been buffed. Her right hand gripped the left of her father's, while in the crook of her own left arm she held a battered Bible. Her blue eyes, set rather far apart on her long, sallow face, were wide with fear.

"Magistrate, this is Violet Adams and her father, Martin," Winston said as he led them in. The child balked at the entrance to the cell, but her father spoke quietly and firmly to her and she reluctantly came along.

"h.e.l.lo," Woodward whispered to the little girl; the sound of his raw voice seemed to alarm her further, as she stepped back a pace and might have fled had not Martin Adams put his arm around her. "I'm having trouble speaking," Woodward explained. "Therefore my clerk will speak for me."

"Tell her to quit a'lookin' at us!" Adams said, his bony face damp with sweat. "She's castin' the evil eye!"

Matthew saw that Rachel was indeed staring at them. "Madam, in the interests of keeping everyone calm, would you refrain from looking at this father and child?"

She aimed her gaze at the floor. "Ain't good 'nuff!" Adams protested. "Cain't you put her somewheres else?"

"I'm sorry, sir, but that's impossible."

"Make her turn 'round, then! Make her put her back to us!" At this Matthew looked to the magistrate for help, but all Woodward could do was give a dismissive shrug.

Adams said, "We ain't stayin' here if she don't turn 'round! I didn't want to bring Violet to this place anyways!"

"Martin, please!" Winston held up a hand to quiet him. "It's very important that Violet tell the magistrate what she knows."

Violet suddenly jumped and her eyes looked about to burst from her skull. Rachel had risen to her feet. She pulled the bench away from the wall and then sat down upon it again, this time with her back toward them.

"There," Matthew said, much relieved. "Is that agreeable?"

Adams chewed his lower lip. "For now," he decided. "But if she looks at us again, I'll take my child out of here."

"Very well, then." Matthew smoothed out the fresh sheet of paper before him. "Mr. Winston, you may remove yourself." Winston's departure made the father and daughter even more nervous; now both of them looked liable to bolt at any instant. "Violet, would you care to sit down?" Matthew motioned toward the stool, but the little girl quickly and emphatically shook her head. "We shall have to swear you to truth on the Bible."

"What's the need for that?" Adams spoke up, in what was becoming an irritant to Matthew's ears. "Violet don't lie. She ain't never lied."

"It is a formality of the court, sir. You may use your own Good Book, if you please."

With sullen hesitation, the man agreed and Matthew administered the oath to his daughter, who made hardly a sound in her acceptance to tell only the truth in the sight of G.o.d. "All right,"

Matthew said after that hurdle had been cleared, "what is it that you have to offer in this case?"

"This thing she's 'bout to tell you happent near three week ago," came back that aural irritation. "It were of an afternoon. Violet was kept late to school, so when she was comin' home she was by herself."

"School? You mean she's a student?" student?" Matthew had never heard of such a thing. Matthew had never heard of such a thing.

"She was. I never wanted her to go, myself. Readin' is a fool's way to waste time."

Now the knave had well and truly endeared himself to Matthew. He examined the child's face. Violet was not a particularly handsome little girl, but neither was she homely; she was simply ordinary, not being remarkable in any way except perhaps the wide s.p.a.cing of her eyes and a slight tic of her upper lip that was becoming a bit more p.r.o.nounced as it became time for her to speak. Still, the child carried herself with grace and seemed of a st.u.r.dy nature; Matthew knew it had taken quite a lot of courage to enter this gaol.

"My name is Matthew," he began. "May I call you Violet?"

She looked to her father for aid. "That'll do," Adams agreed.

"Violet, it's important that you you answer my questions instead of your father. All right?" answer my questions instead of your father. All right?"

"She will," Adams said.

Matthew dipped his quill in the inkwell, not because it needed ink but because he required a moment to compose himself. Then he tried it again, first offering Violet a smile. "Your bonnet is pretty. Did your mother sew it?"

"What's that got to do with the witch?" Adams asked. "She's here to tell her tale, not talk 'bout a bonnet!"

Matthew wished for a jolt of rum. He glanced at the magistrate, who had cupped his hand to his mouth to hide what was a half-smile, half-grimace. "Very well," Matthew said. "Violet, tell your tale."

The little girl's gaze slid over toward Rachel, registering that the accused still remained sitting with her face to the wall. Then Violet lowered her head, her father's hand on her shoulder, and said in a small, frightened voice, "I seen the Devil and his imp. Sittin' there. The Devil told me the witch was to be set loose. Said if the witch was kept in the gaol everybody in Fount Royal would pay for it." Again her eyes darted to mark if Rachel had moved or responded, but the prisoner had not.

Matthew said quietly, "May I ask where this sighting occurred?"