Suffer a Witch (31 page)

“I stayed at the settlement for a couple of hours,” the elder Argos said. “Maybe a day. The predators terrified me. Whether it was a true memory or something created by the tree, I remembered that my father mentioning another settlement of people like us. I left my home to find them.”

The elder Argos looked at Em and then at Mary Ayer.

“I got in a low boat and started up the river,” the elder Argos said. “In my memory, one minute I was stepping into the small skiff, and the next moment I was in the cave on Rousay. I have no memory of how I got here. My grief and guilt knew no bounds. I may have willed myself to this desolate place. But more likely, the world’s currents brought me here.”

The elder Argos nodded.

“You ladies are the first people I’d seen since leaving my settlement,” the elder Argos said.

“And yet you’ve aged since then,” Em said.

“We do age — you and I,” the elder Argos said. “It just takes a very long time to do it.”

“What happened?” Mary Ayer asked.

“I would think it would be evident,” the elder Argos said.

“I think we want to hear you tell us,” Em said.

“I took fruit from the Tree of Life,” the elder Argos said. “By taking this fruit, I gave myself immortality and killed everyone I’d ever known. In a breath, they were all dead.”

“What about Adam?” Mary Ayer asked. “Eve?”

“Long after my time, I’m afraid,” the elder Argos said.

“But. . .” Mary Ayer’s mouth fell open with surprise.

Em scowled to cover her own shock.

“You’re probably wondering why I shared all of this,” the elder Argos said.

Unsure how to respond, the women nodded.

“All of life has a split — light and dark, good and bad, life and death,” the elder Argos said. “By eating the fruit from the Tree of Life, I dismissed the death from my life. I stand on the side of life. So do you, Em, and by extension, you, too, Mary Ayer.”

Em and Mary Ayer nodded in unison.

“This split tears a hole in life itself,” the elder Argos said.

“The demons,” Em said.

“The demons are the other side of life,” the elder Argos said. “Human beings are children of Adam and Eve. They are both light and dark.”

“Demon and us,” Em said.

“Exactly,” the elder Argos said. “This outcome was not seen by me or anyone else for a long, long time. I lived and loved. Over time, I created others like me. We formed a vibrant community. All the while, I had no idea — truly not even an inkling — that our opposite lingered in oblivion. Slowly, over the millennia, the demons found a way into this world. One at a time, they have killed every single one of our kind.”

“We must fight them with everything we have!” Mary Ayer said with intensity.

“Yes,” the elder Argos said. “Should you defeat the demons, we shall be restored. Your father. Every single one of our kind will be restored.”

“You believe it’s possible to defeat the demons?” Em asked.

“Yes,” the elder Argos said. “Only you can do this.”

“And what happens to my witches if I defeat the demons?” Em asked.

The elder Argos shuffled his feet and looked at the ground. He took a breath and looked at Em.

“You must do this,” the elder Argos said with great intensity. “There is no other recourse.”

Mary Ayer gasped.

“I understand,” Em said.

“But Em, you can’t,” Mary Ayer said. “He’s saying we will die! We will all die!”

Rather than respond, the elder Argos looked away. Em shifted so that her back was to Mary Ayer.

“Thank you for showing me,” Em said. She put her hand on his arm. “Thank you for letting me know what this is all about.”

He gave her a slow nod, and she smiled.

“Em, you can’t!” Mary Ayer said to Em’s back.

Em glanced over her shoulder to Mary Ayer. Reading her look, Mary Ayer crossed her arms and fell silent. Em turned back.

“I wore that sweater for a long, long time,” the elder Argos said with a soft smile. “When Levi Strauss wanted to start his business, I gave him the startup capital. I brought sheep to Orkney.”

He nodded to Em before shifting to partially face Mary Ayer.

“Thank you for your kindness,” the elder Argos said. He reached out and stroked Mary Ayer’s cheek. “You saved my life in so many ways.”

With that, he looked at Em and nodded his good-byes.

“Good luck,” the elder Argos said. “You must vanquish the demons. Until then, you are the only living of our kind. I look forward to embracing you again.”

The elder Argos hopped over the six-foot canal and disappeared into the cave. The ground began to shake.

“Hold on!” Em yelled.

She reached out for Mary Ayer. They held onto each other while the earth shook. Across the channel, the cave roof began to crumble above the community cave.

“Get us out of here!” Mary Ayer yelled as a large boulder obscured the community cave’s entrance.

Em took a breath and willed them to their hotel room. They held onto each other for a moment.

“What was that?” Mary Ayer asked.

“The cave is shut to us,” Em said.

Mary Ayer pushed away from Em.

“I can’t believe it!” Mary Ayer said. “We need that library! We are completely lost without it. How can we find a way to save us all without it?"

Em gave her a grim look.

“What?” Mary Ayer asked. “You can’t possibly be thinking of destroying the demons.”

Em gave Mary Ayer a long look.

“What is it?” Mary Ayer asked. Her voice edged toward panic. “What are you going to do? What are we going to do? This is horrible, just horrible!”

Mary Ayer grabbed Em’s shoulders and gave her a little shake.

“What are we going to do?” Mary Ayer said.

“I promise you this: I will do everything in my power to find a way,” Em said with a nod. “No. I
will
find a way to save us all.”

Mary Ayer hugged Em tight.

“There you are,” Alice Parker said as she came out onto a wide stone balcony off the library in the back of the castle in Scotland.

Em turned in her seat to watch Alice walk toward her. The balcony was so dark that Alice had to make a light in her hand so that she could see.

“I’ve been looking for you,” Alice said. “Are you hiding out here in the cold and dark?”

“I’m sorry,” Em said, turning back toward the ocean. “I wasn’t trying to hide. I’m just. . .”

Shrugging, she turned to Alice and smiled.

“Please,” Em said. “Why were you looking for me?”

Alice put her hands on her hips and scowled at Em.

“Why, Martha Emogene Panon Rich Corey Peres Burroughs. . .” Alice said. She smirked at listing out all of Em’s names.

“Just ‘Em,’ please.” She waved her hand at all of the names. Alice grinned.

“Well, whoever you are, you’re depressed!” Alice said.

“Depressed?” Em asked. She squinted her eyes and thought for a while. “No, pensive — not depressed.”

“Pensive?” Alice said with a laugh. She moved between Em and the stone half-wall to sit in the chair on Em’s right. “Yes, that’s not depressed at all.”

Em glanced at Alice and grinned.

“What are you pensive about, my dear?” Alice asked.

“Oh, you know,” Em said.

“Having to choose between your beloved hanging buddies and an entire race of people, most of whom you’ve never met?” Alice asked.

“Something like that,” Em said.

“Mary Ayer is confident you’ll pick your people,” Alice said.

“My people?” Em asked. “Who would that be? The family I’ve spent the last three hundred years with or a family that I’m related to by genetics?”

“The much superior, almost God-like, and incredibly rare people from Rousay,” Alice said.

Em looked at Alice.

“You’re not seriously thinking about it,” Alice said.

“I’m. . .” Em stopped talking and looked out over the crashing waves. “Watching the surf.”

“But. . .” Alice said.

“Every time I’m here in Scotland, I wonder how I could have ever forgotten that I love it so much,” Em said. “It is my very soul.”

“And not Boston?” Alice said with a smirk to indicate that she was willing to play along with Em.

“I love Boston,” Em said. “It’s my home. But Scotland. . .”

Em sighed.

“I know what you mean,” Alice said. “Were you talking to George?”

“He calls on Sunday nights,” Em said.

“How is he?” Alice asked.

“Cold,” Em said with a laugh. Alice laughed. “He’s going to meet us at home when we get there. I guess there are some big storms coming in.”

“A little snow has frightened the good Reverend?” Alice asked.

“I’ll let you tell him that,” Em said.

Alice laughed. Em smiled. They watched the water for a few minutes before Alice reached across to grab Em’s hand.

“What are you stuck on, Em?” Alice asked.

Sighing, Em shook her head.

“Me, Alice — your daughter, best friend, constant project, much loved Alice,” Alice said. “You’ve always been able to talk to me.”

“I’m not exactly sure where to start,” Em said.

“Start where you are,” Alice said. “What’s going on with you? I don’t believe for one minute that you’re going to toss us out because some guy you don’t even know — who killed his entire family, no less — told you to do it.”

Em raised her eyebrows and nodded.

“Was it the serpent?” Alice asked. “Or the demons?”

Em scowled for a moment. Letting her think, Alice held her tongue.

“It’s me, I think,” Em said. “Both the serpent and the demon told me that I was ‘different.’ I don’t know what that means. The demon said that he was keeping Weni and my father away from me. Why? And Argos was so disappointing.”

“How so?” Alice asked.

“Honestly, I don’t think I would have thought about it if I hadn’t met the youngman version of him,” Em said. “But he was. . . primitive. He lacked basic reasoning skills.”

“Mary Ayer told me he flushed the toilet over and over again,” Alice said. “And not because he thought it was cool.”

“He couldn’t understand the connection of pushing the button and the flush,” Em said. “She basically had to take the toilet apart, and, even then, he didn’t get it.”

“Simple cause and effect,” Alice said with a nod. “That’s the cornerstone of morality.”

“Exactly,” Em said. “And he’s the one who set up the immortals’ society.”

Shaking her head, Em shrugged. She turned to look at the waves. She was so lost in thought that she was startled when Alice spoke again.

“You think it’s because he never ate from the other tree?” Alice asked.

She put her hand on Em’s arm to steady her.

“The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?” Em winced. After a moment, she nodded her head. “I’ve wondered.”

“But you can think through things,” Alice said. “You understand cause and effect. You and George are the smartest people I’ve ever known.”

“That’s why it’s confusing,” Em said.

“What’s ‘confusing’?” Mary Ayer asked as she came out onto the balcony. “Goodness, Em! It’s freezing out here.”

Em snapped her fingers, and Mary Ayer was wearing one of Em’s knitted sweaters, a hat, and a pair of thick socks. Mary Ayer touched the wool.

“It’s so soft and warm,” Mary Ayer said.

“Em’s knitting is the best,” Alice said, touching the sweater she had on.

“I made a bunch of stuff for this trip,” Em said. “You’re welcome to it.”

“It looks nice on you, Mary,” Alice said.

“Thanks,” Mary Ayer said. “Can I keep the socks, too?”

“Of course,” Em said. “And the hat.”

Mary Ayer walked to the balcony wall.

“Now what was confusing?” Mary Ayer asked. A short woman, she easily leaned on the half-wall separating the balcony from the surf. “You can’t seriously be confused as to whether to save us or all of these people you don’t know.”

Mary Ayer’s voice held her anger and hurt.

“Em’s trying to figure out what to do!” Alice said.

“What’s the issue?” Mary Ayer said. “Those people went the way of
Homo Erectus
and all the other ancestral humans. We are here and now.”

“I know what you’re saying, Mary,” Em said. “And you’re right. When you look at it that way, the answer is obvious. I wouldn’t bring back a dinosaur. Why would I bring back this community?”

“Right, why?” Mary Ayer asked.

“To start, my father happens to be one of them,” Em said.

“But. . .” Mary Ayer said.

“Em thinks that Argos didn’t eat from the Tree of Knowledge,” Alice said.

“Like Adam and Eve did?” Mary Ayer asked. “But. . .”

“Listen,” Em said with such intensity that Mary Ayer turned to look at her. Alice’s hand returned to Em’s arm. “The truth is that I don’t know. Anything, really. And there’s no one for me to ask. Not a living soul.”

“But I don’t get what you don’t know,” Mary Ayer said. “I mean, I’m really good at finding out things. Really good at it. If I know what you’re missing, then it’s nothing for me to find what you need. So you could just ask me.”

“What do you know about the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil or the Tree of Life?” Alice asked.

“Other than what’s in the original five chapters?” Mary Ayer asked. “I mean, I’ve read them in the Greek.”

“Other than that,” Em said.

“Why. . .” Mary Ayer stammered. “Nothing. I mean, almost every culture has a story about a Tree of Life. It is always described the same way — the branches of the tree reach up past the sky while its roots dive deep into the earth. But that’s not really what you mean. Gosh, I don’t even know where I’d start to look for information.”

“Caves at Mogao?” Alice asked.

“No, I’ve been there,” Mary Ayer said. “I mean, I’m a witch, right? I’ve been to undiscovered manuscript libraries all over the world, including Egypt and Israel.”

“Ethiopia,” Em said. “That’s where the Garden of Eden is supposed to have been. We could go there and. . .”

Em shook her head.

“What?” Alice asked.

“Argos said that he didn’t understand what had happened until he read the Talmud,” Mary Ayer said. She nodded. “I’ve read that in every ancient language.”

She scowled.

“Sorry, I don’t know,” Mary Ayer said.

Alice gave her a kind smile. Em raised and dropped her shoulders to indicate that she was in the same place.

“We weren’t able to interact with anyone when we went back,” Em said.

“Maybe that’s something Argos did,” Mary Ayer said.

“I don’t think so,” Em said. “I think that there are some events that simply cannot be changed. Maybe changing them would affect too many things. Maybe they were fated or had to happen. Or maybe. . .”

“They didn’t happen at all,” Mary Ayer said.

“Maybe what we saw didn’t happen in real time but rather was a story created around what actually happened,” Em said. “I mean, what do you remember from being five?”

“At this point, very little,” Alice said.

“I’d believe that Argos ate the fruit from the Tree of Life. I believe the fruit gave him immortality,” Em said with a nod. “I even believe that everyone he knew died. I’m just not confident that he didn’t kill them himself. That’s certainly what he’s asking me to do. And remember what they used to do with non-birth immortals.”

“Burn them in the fire,” Alice said with a nod.

“Right,” Em said. “Argos created the elder community in his own image. That’s truth. I’m pretty sure that the story he showed us is
his truth
— but not the literal truth.”

“Then we need to find out more about Eden and. . .” Mary Ayer said.

“No,” Em said with the power of finality. “This isn’t about Argos. It’s about us. We don’t need to find out more about him.”

“We need to find out more about us,” Alice said.

“Right,” Em said. “I hate to say it, I really do, but I think we need to go back to our own Eden.”

“You’re not suggesting. . .” Mary Ayer said.

“I am suggesting just that,” Em said.

“If we need to go to Salem Village, then we’d better just go,” Martha Carrier said from the doorway. “We go together. We leave right now. If we think about it too long, we’ll chicken out.”

“Get what we need,” Mary Ayer said. “And we get the hell out of there.”

“No dilly dallying,” Em said. She looked at Alice. “No staring at your husband or going home.”

“But. . .” Alice said. She licked her lips like a greedy child in a candy shop. “I. . .”

“No,” Martha Carrier said. She came out onto the balcony and put her hands on Alice’s shoulders. “If we could, I’d say, ‘Go for it,’ but we can’t. Seeing John would change everything. He won’t be at home when you come to get him. Em won’t have a ride into Boston. You got to spend the
rest of his life
with him and watch your children have grandchildren. Do you wish to risk that?”

“No,” Alice said with a firm shake of her head. “No way. No.”

“Then we go, figure out what Em wants, and get the hell out of there,” Martha Carrier said. “Em, can you make us invisible?”

“I think so,” Em said.

“Okay,” Alice said. “I understand. But I’m going to need help.”

“No, you’re not,” Em said. “John didn’t go to your hanging. Remember? He was trying to get out of town before they came after your kids.”

“I told him to do that,” Alice said with a nod.

“You begged him to,” Em said.

“So we agree?” Martha Carrier asked. “Did that jerk Cotton Mather go to your hanging?”

“He only went to yours,” Mary Ayer said.

“Figures,” Martha Carrier said. “What are you looking for, Em?”

“I’m not sure,” Em said.

“Then how will we know if we’ve found it?” Alice asked.

“Good point,” Em said.

“Tell us what you think you need,” Mary Ayer said.

“Well. . .” Em said with a nod. “Because I was arrested in April with Rebecca, I didn’t get a chance to see the whole thing unfold.”

“I did,” Alice said.

“Me, too,” Mary Ayer said.

“Okay,” Em said. “Then maybe we have that covered. Good. The only other thing was that I had this memory come back, or maybe it was a dream. In it, I saw my demon standing in the crowd at my hanging. Just before I died, he said something like, ‘Now it begins.’ I want to see if he was really there.”

“And if he is?” Martha Carrier asked.

“I want to figure out
why
he was there,” Em asked. “Was he involved in the trials? Did he make the entire thing happen?”