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Back The Darkest Shore Save as PDF
Chapters (76)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Also by Karen Brooks
  4. Title Page
  5. Dedication
  6. EXPLANATORY NOTE
  7. PART ONE
  8. One
  9. Two
  10. Three
  11. Four
  12. Five
  13. Six
  14. Seven
  15. Eight
  16. Nine
  17. Ten
  18. Eleven
  19. Twelve
  20. Thirteen
  21. Fourteen
  22. Fifteen
  23. Sixteen
  24. Seventeen
  25. Eighteen
  26. Nineteen
  27. Twenty
  28. Twenty-One
  29. Twenty-Two
  30. Twenty-Three
  31. Twenty-Four
  32. Twenty-Five
  33. Twenty-Six
  34. Twenty-Seven
  35. Twenty-Eight
  36. PART TWO
  37. Twenty-Nine
  38. Thirty
  39. Thirty-One
  40. Thirty-Two
  41. Thirty-Three
  42. Thirty-Four
  43. Thirty-Five
  44. PART THREE
  45. Thirty-Six
  46. Thirty-Seven
  47. Thirty-Eight
  48. Thirty-Nine
  49. Forty
  50. Forty-One
  51. Forty-Two
  52. Forty-Three
  53. Forty-Four
  54. Forty-Five
  55. Forty-Six
  56. Forty-Seven
  57. Forty-Eight
  58. Forty-Nine
  59. Fifty
  60. Fifty-One
  61. Fifty-Two
  62. PART FOUR
  63. Fifty-Three
  64. Fifty-Four
  65. Fifty-Five
  66. Fifty-Six
  67. Fifty-Seven
  68. Fifty-Eight
  69. Fifty-Nine
  70. Sixty
  71. Sixty-One
  72. Epilogue: Autumn 1706
  73. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  74. GLOSSARY
  75. LIST OF CHARACTERS
  76. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

What did she really have to do for the reverend to say she was accepted back into God’s good graces? She knew. In her heart, she knew. It wasn’t what this man said, despite his religious garb, training and the smooth words he claimed were God’s that tumbled out of his mouth. It didn’t matter what she said.

No more. She would find her own way and, as far as she was concerned, the way to the Lord was by walking the path of truth.

Drawing on what remained of her courage, sending a silent prayer to the God she knew could see into her heart, she met his eyes.

‘They weren’t no lies,’ said Janet. ‘As you well ken. I merely said what I did the first time to please you, minister, and the bailies.’

‘And this is what you told those lairds.’

‘Aye. And if I had my time over, I would tell them the same again and any other gent who might listen. So do your worst.’

The reverend stood, his knees creaking. Staring at Janet and rubbing his neck, he sighed. ‘If that’s your final word.’

‘Nae. But I’m hoping that you’ve said your last.’ Janet raised her chin. ‘I’m mighty sick of your blethering, let me tell you.’

The reverend stepped back and, with a flick of his hand, indicated that the soldier was to take his place.

‘Private Smith. The witch is now yours.’

Och, Smith. That’s right. That was his name.

With a toothless grin, Smith raised his stick. Janet shut her eyes and waited for the blow to fall.

Forty-Two

FORTY-TWO

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The keeper put her into a prison in which was a low window, out of which it was obvious that any body could make an escape…

— A Letter From a Gentleman in Fife to his Friend in Edinburgh, 1705

‘You heard me, Camron,’ said Reverend Cowper, moving away from the window and giving the rest of the cell a cursory glance. ‘Move her down here immediately.’ He pushed his scented kerchief against his nose. Dear God, but the place smelled wretched. Even weeks after the women had been released and Brown had died, he could smell them — their distress, their leavings. He could see the rust-coloured stains upon the floor where they’d bled. Instead of rousing him to pity, it made him angry. If only the foolish women had confessed earlier; if only they’d admitted their ungodly, devilish practices, then they would have been freed — one way or another — long ago.

Denied the burning he’d been secretly hoping for, a cleansing the township needed now more than ever — arguments over whether or not the women were witches and concerns over the treasury erupted with alarming frequency — Janet Cornfoot had ruined everything. She and the other women whose very presence was an affront to any good Christian soul.