‘Of course you do. You are marked. You’ve the gift, have I not told you so all these years?’ She grips my hands in hers. ‘But wield it with care, lass, do not go blasting out your fury and letting all know it was you. They fear it.’ Dropping my hands, she steps back and I feel her struggle to contain her anger, feel her urge to slap the words into me. ‘What more must I do to make you take heed? Would you put us all, put your sister, at risk?’ She looks behind, drops her voice, though no one but we venture so close to the plague village. ‘I’ve warned often enough of the fates of those that were doomed for no more than we do now.’

Though I don’t wish to think of it, the story of those that lived not so very far from here looms over us. The one Mam tells, when she fears we may be tempted by the comforts of village life to wander there unguarded, of a man that hunted our kind. How they were condemned by law and church. How friend turned against neighbour, daughter against mother, until they were strung from a noose. I can almost feel the rope tight around my own neck.

Beautiful Wretches

Daniel knelt in the vegetable garden, careful not to crush the seedlings, breathing in the scent of fresh soil as he shook it from the roots of the radishes and spring cabbage he gathered at Bett’s instruction.

He sat back, listening to the trill of the blackbird and watching woodlice scuttle into hiding. Trying to free his mind from thoughts of the witch-girl, the tempestuous dance of her hair as her mother pulled her away. The sun rose, breaking through the branches of the apple trees, newly tipped with blossom. As if God Himself were smiling down, though Daniel was certain that God had no interest in his feeble existence. He tarried a while, watching the blackbird dip down to collect the goose feathers he had left at the foot of the tree for its nest. But he must be gone. Preparations must begin if the pea crop was to be sown.

Sighing, he gathered the plants and walked to where Bett busied herself bundling linen in the kitchen.

‘Ah,’ she said, peering into the basket he placed on the table. ‘Good, you’ve chose well. And saved me a task, thank you.’

Daniel eyed the laundry. A thought occurred to him. ‘Washday?’

‘Aye.’

‘Shall I – would you like me to come with you?’

She cast him a perplexed look, and he felt his cheeks redden. ‘To the river? With all the women?’ she asked.

‘It’s only – I heard that those from the hill, the girl, she uses the river too and lately I’ve thought – you know, after Gabriel and the … the … I should accompany you. For – for protection.’ His face smarted.