A Bridge Through Time: (Time Travel) (15 page)

CHAPTER 18

At that moment a large group of villagers crowded toward them so quickly that they separated Jane’s horse from Jestyn’s. Jestyn was taken by surprise and he fought his way through the crowd to get to Jane, pushing people forcibly out of his way. He finally reached Jane’s horse.

“Get on my horse, Jane,” he ordered and Jane dismounted and got on Jestyn’s horse.

“I don’t recognize any of these people from our farms. They don’t belong around here.”

An old man dressed in drab clothing and with unkempt hair pointed at Jane with a gnarled finger. Pressing close to him appeared to be relatives of his for they all looked alike.

“There she be – there's the sorceress,” he yelled out, several times. “She be the witch made me calves birth dead,” he added loudly.

“We be drawin' blood from ye, witch, to take the curse away!”

“We seen them, we seen the calves, made dead by the witch here,” said a middle-aged woman beside the old man, who looked to be his daughter. She had an infant in her arms who was wailing loudly, adding to the noise, for rather than be tending to the baby she was happy to be by the old man making trouble for Jane.

Jestyn was trying to extricate his horse from the crowd to get away from them but the milling people were forcibly preventing him from doing so.

“Gypsy woman told us she seen nothin' of the witch in her mirror. She don’t cast a shadow,” said another man. “She ain't human, I tell ye! It's her blood we need to be drawin' else she'll keep on casting her evil spells.”

Jestyn kicked at the second man, who had moved threateningly toward Jane, pushing him aside.

“What the devil do you think you're doing old man? If you don't watch yourself it'll be
you
instead of the calves
.
Millthorpe! Help me here!”

Lord Millthorpe trotted his horse through the crowd and got on Jestyn’s side. Together, Jestyn and Millthorpe forced their horses out of the crowd. Jestyn held his sword aloft as he led his horse away from the crowd. Lady Millthorpe followed closely behind and Jane saw a badly disguised smile on her lips even though she was trying to appear concerned.

The crowd continued to shout out at them as they left. They even ran after them for a while, raising a lot of dust on the road so that Jane, glancing fearfully at them, could hardly see anything in the dust. She only heard the shouts.

“Ye'll hear from the magistrate summat you will!” the old woman was yelling after them. “I'll have me gol’ for me calves from summan, I will. Witch ain't gettin' away with
nothin
'!”

“Tonight at midnight–watch her she don't go off in her broom!”

Once out of the crowd, Jestyn galloped toward the Millthorpe carriage, which was parked ahead on the lane. When they reached the carriage he and Jane dismounted and with Jestyn’s help Jane boarded the carriage.

As Greywick was helping Jane into the carriage, they were surrounded by the mob again.

A farm worker pointed a menacing finger at Jane.

“Me horse’s sick and dyin' 'cause of 'er. Look at 'er–see if she looks reg'lar. She don't look reg'lar. She be a witch, I tell you, and me horse be dyin' because o' 'er. If me ‘orse don’t make the light o' day it'll be 'cause she killed 'im, sure as she ‘el' a knife to ‘is chest…grab her by 'er throat afore she kills any more ‘orses, Will!”

Jestyn leaned down from his horse and grabbed the man by his shirt at the neck.

“Stop it this very minute or it'll be
you
who is sent to the gallows.
Do you understand
?  I'll like nothing better than seeing you hanging from a gibbet, you old fool. I don’t recognize you from around here. Who brought you?”

Another farmer rushed in.

“See here, sir, let go of 'im. He be telling the truth. My cows ain't been givin' milk since the witch came to town. No one put us up to nothin’ ‘cepting the woman.”

“Except the woman?” asked Jestyn. “Which woman put you up to this?”

“Nothin’ – I ain’t said nothing,’” said the man with a look at the woman beside him, who shook her head at him.

Jestyn let go of the man violently so that the man stumbled backward and almost fell. His fall was averted by the other farmer.

“I'm sick of the lot of you. Just don't any of you come near Miss Fielder again or you'll answer to me. That's all I have to say,” Jestyn shouted at them, “and I'll be using very few words.”

Lady Millthorpe now boarded the Millthorpe carriage and the carriage took off toward Greywick Hall. She had become very quiet and when they reached Greywick Hall and Jestyn helped Jane down, Lady Millthorpe declined going inside, saying the day’s events had unnerved her.

“I much prefer being home at this time,”

Jane suppressed a sigh of relief at her words.

After thanking Lord Millthorpe for his help, Jestyn and Jane went into the house.

Once inside the house, Jestyn locked the front door. He went to the window and looked out at the dark night. Shouts from the people who had followed them could still be heard in the distance, beyond the high wall, but they were getting dimmer.

“Are you all right, darling?”

“I guess,” Jane replied, her voice faint, “But I’ve never been as terrified as I was out there. What would they have done if they had gotten their hands on me, Jes?”

“Don’t think about it. They wouldn’t have gone past me. They were just a blustering throng, full of ale. I’m going to let Casper know.”

“Casper?”

“Casper Wainleigh. He’s the JP of this area. From what one of the men said, a woman paid them to come to this town. They were not from here. I’m sure the woman he referred to was Wilma. I saw when his wife shut him up with a look.”

“I – I don't feel safe anymore,” Jane said, her voice strained. “Funny how your sense of safety can disappear like a puff of smoke. And why were they all standing on one side of the road?”

“It is believed around here that witches must be passed on the right side of the road, just to be safe.”

“My God! They really think I’m a witch! I feel so vulnerable, as though any minute they can come and grab me and take me away. What will they do to me if they do grab me—burn me at a stake?”

“No they can’t. It’s all bluster,” Jestyn said, “There hasn’t been a witch burned at the stake here in a hundred years, as I told you.”

“Who were they, the women who
were
burned at the stake?” asked Jane, a tremor in her voice.

“Everybody knows their names because it’s what the area is famous for. Temperance Lloyd I think one of them was – oh, and another by the name of Alice Molland. There’s a list of them in the church.

“They don’t allow witch-burning anymore, Jane. That was in ancient times. Anyone here can assure you of that.”

“Then why were they going on like that?”

“It’s just more of that awful Wilma Millthorpe’s doings than any ‘magic’ in you that they sense. I’m sure she was involved. She had a satisfied look in her face when she insisted Lord Millthorpe reveal what he had learned. She was probably behind that gypsy’s ridiculous display, probably bribed that gypsy into saying what she said.”

“She’ll do anything to get rid of me, including, apparently, having me burned at the stake like a witch. I’m not safe here. And I can never be safe. People such as that horrible woman would make certain I’m not.”

“You're safe with me, darling. They wouldn't dare come in here. Please don't worry any more about it.”

“I'm also putting
you
in danger.”

“I recognized a few of them, but most of them were not from around here,” said Jestyn. “Did you see how one of them said
“except the woman”
when I asked him who had put him up to this?”

“His wife shut him up with a look,” Jane added.

“Yes,” Jestyn said. “It’s all for money. There aren’t any jobs available and people are hurting. The government just declared war on France. It’s spending a lot of money preparing for war against Napoleon’s forces.

“They were saying I was responsible for their calves dying! And our innocent visit to the gypsy was turned into a dark and menacing thing!”

Jestyn rang for tea.

“But even if some of them were put up to these shenanigans by her, the rest went along, Jestyn. And things like this tend to escalate. A lynch mob can be created by very little in these days.”

When the tea tray was brought to them. Jane poured a cup of tea for Jestyn. He came near Jane to take the cup and sat near her.

They were joined at their tea by Cedric and Lorraine and Lorraine's mother, Lady Mellingway.

Jestyn motioned for Cedric to go to the window with him so that they could have a talk.

“We heard you had trouble at the fair, Jestyn,” said Cedric, glancing with concern at his brother.

“Yes, those fools were accusing Jane of being a witch, Cedric,” Jestyn replied, shaking his head. “The rabble almost became a mob, too. Tomorrow I shall have another visit with Weinleigh. He’s timid about confronting Millthorpe but he can’t just ignore criminal acts because Millthorpe recommended him for the position. This business must be nipped in the bud before it gets bigger.”

“It’s for certain Lady Millthorpe is involved,” said Cedric. “Harold Canesey, Lord Halensford’s steward, came by a few minutes ago to tell me she has been seen talking to some of the people who mobbed Jane today, giving them money.”

“She refused to come in just a few minutes ago,” said Jestyn, “when Rosswell appeared to want to do so, as he helped us out of that rabble.”

“I believe Lord Millthorpe has little control over what Wilma does,” said Lady Mellingway. “My dears, you must have been terrified," she added, when Jestyn and Cedric joined the women.

Cedric and Lorraine had returned from Forest Hills Manor, Lorraine’s home, to attend the fair, and they had come with Lorraine’s mother, who had regained her strength.

“She certainly was. I think it is best you stay indoors, Jane. Meanwhile, I'm going to ask a few questions to see if some of those villagers were put up to this by Wilma. I’ll gather the evidence, you can be sure.”

After their tea Jestyn asked Cedric to have a brandy in the library with him.

After their brandy glasses had been brought by a groom, Jestyn closed the library door.

“Jane is in great danger, Jes.” Cedric said. “Because even if Wilma put a lot of those agitators up to it superstition is very much alive and fear of witches real.”

“I love Jane,” Jestyn said, “and would follow her into the future if it were at all possible, Cedric.”

“Will the pendant only take one person?” he asked.

“Yes,” Jestyn replied. “Jane would risk staying in the past forever if she tries to take me with her.”

“There must be a way, Jes,” said Cedric. Then he laughed. “What am I saying? If you went with Jane, Jes,
I
would lose you forever!”

“We’re not even sure that it will work to take
her
back, Cedric. I dread to think what we can do if it doesn’t! I will have to take her away from here if that happens – to London, perhaps. She’s in danger here.”

“Cedric–” Jestyn hesitated on what he was going to reveal to his brother.

Cedric turned inquisitively toward his brother.

“Jane and I – Jane and I want to spend her last night here together. But I don’t want her reputation blemished, even if she is able to leave the past. Will you help me?”

“Yes, Jes, of course. I’ll make certain that no servant goes to that side of the house until tomorrow. Is that good enough?”

“Yes – thank you, Jes!”

“After dinner,” Cedric said, “you and Jane say good-bye as usual but not at the same time. Jane should leave first to her quarters. Lorraine’s mother, thank the Lord, is not the busybody type, and if we’re careful, everything will be all right.”

“Yes, thank you, Ced.” Jestyn breathed a sigh of relief.

“We are greatly indebted to Cannidge. If it hadn’t been for him we would not have found the way for Jane to return to her time, Ced.”

“What did Cannidge say you should do – from the journal you mentioned,” Cedric said.

“He said Jane must cross the Mystic Bridge at midnight or near midnight. According to the journal there are certain other conditions in order for her to be able to leave.

“What other instructions?” asked Cedric.

“When she crosses the bridge, Jane must hold the pendant in her hand and be inside a carriage, for her feet must not touch the ground. Also, she cannot cross the bridge riding a horse, because the horse is a living being.

“Early tomorrow you and I will help her get across the bridge, if you’re willing.”

“Of course I’m willing,” Cedric assured him. “Just tell me what I have to do and I shall do it, Jes.”

“Tomorrow we’ll teach Jane how to drive a carriage – just enough so that she can hold the reins and lead the carriage across Mystic Bridge. I will need for you to lead my horse alongside so that I can jump on it once Jane enters the bridge and to help me in case there is any trouble.