Sarum - Edward Rutherfurd [496]
He was agreeable at any rate. He had a pleasing way of listening to her so that she was encouraged to go on. She gave him her rough and ready views on many subjects. He was interested to learn about how she had fought for the Clubmen, dressed in men’s armour. He asked if he might see round the farm, and she showed him her cows, speaking to them gently as they nudged shyly away from the stranger. Proudly she took him to the floated meadows. On their return she even, at his request, showed him the nearly tame birds that she called by name. He seemed well pleased with everything he saw. At one point, while she had to attend to one of the farmworkers he even spoke in a friendly way to the serving girl and gave her a shilling.
As far as Mr Johnson’s mission was concerned, she returned his politeness, but was non-committal. Soon she would have the documents signed by Forest and that would be the end of the matter.
They parted amicably, having reached no conclusions.
She was surprised a few minutes later to see that Samuel, who had just come in, was white as a sheet. And why should he look at her so strangely when he asked who her visitor had been?
“Mr Johnson,” she told him, “from Obadiah. He was pleasing enough.”
“Johnson? He called himself that?”
“Why not?”
For a second he paused, as though suddenly he was not sure whether to speak.
“’Twas Matthew Hopkins,” he blurted out, “the witchfinder general. What does he here?”
The birds she called by name. The cows she spoke to. The serving girl he gave a shilling to. She felt the colour drain from her face.
Obadiah.
Worse. With his influence as a preacher and with Matthew Hopkins on his side . . . the evil cunning of the man. She had fallen into a terrible trap.
Later that afternoon, one of Sir Henry Forest’s sheep died.
The agreement between Sir Henry Forest and Margaret Shockley was signed and sealed the next day. It was agreed that Samuel would begin his life at Avonsford Manor the following month, when Lady Forest and her children came back from a visit to her family.
Margaret returned home thoughtfully afterwards. If he knew the boy was safely with Forest, would Obadiah still attack her? Or would he attack all the more, to try to annul the agreement? Were agreements by people found guilty of witchcraft still valid? She did not know.
She had no illusions though. Whatever his plan, if Obadiah and Matthew Hopkins attacked, she would have little chance of surviving.
When she got back she summoned Samuel and told him:
“You’re to live with the Forests. It’s a great opportunity.” And she explained to him both about Forest’s fine tutor and about the water meadows. “You will have companions of your own age as well,” she added.
That evening, the second of Forest’s sheep died. When the shepherd and steward opened the dead animal up to look for signs of murrain, they could find none. They could not tell what either sheep had died of.
The two men chose their spot well – by a small clump of trees on the path that led to the water meadow. As they expected, the boy came by in the early afternoon, and Obadiah hailed him softly.
“Samuel. We must speak with thee.”
They were grave, the two men. Hopkins, as always, quiet and pleasant; Obadiah sorely troubled.
“It is hard, Samuel, to think such a thing of our sister,” he said sadly. “Still I pray God it may turn out to be false.”
“But you must be observant,” the witchfinder said. “Anything you see may be significant.”
Was it really possible that Margaret, his Margaret, was practising witchcraft? Ever since the day before he had been worrying about the significance of Hopkins. Yet despite the respect he had for the two grave men, he could not bring himself to think that it was so.
As though reading his thoughts, Obadiah reminded him:
“The devil is subtle, Samuel. He may choose to possess even those we love.”
When they asked him what she had done in the last day, he could only tell them