Bethany, an older witch from the coven, has been captured by the locals of Port Town and is tried in the local court house for the abduction of Samantha and for practicing witchcraft.

Later on the coven has to decide what it will do with the wayward Anna. The coven members are also concerned about who the young girl Samantha really is.

Here is a sample from the novella ‘A Tale Of Witchcraft: Recovery’.

 

3.RECOVERY

PART I

Bethany’s hands were tied with rope and she had guards at either side of her as she was taken into the jail house. The constable strode in front of the guards leading the way.  She was dragged past a few cells and the prisoners came to the bars to see who the new inmate would be. The guard knocked on the bars to frighten them away as they led Bethany into another room.

“Take care of this woman while I report to the magistrate about what has happened,” said Constable Pike. “We should be able to have her in front of the magistrate first thing tomorrow morning as this is a serious manner. I will leave you to question her and put her in a cell for the night. Make sure that she is ready for the court appearance in the morning.”

With that the constable departed as quickly as he could to the magistrate’s house. Bethany was left under the custody of the two guards who did not appear to be too friendly towards her. She could sense the hatred that they had for her. The door to the room was open and the old lady was thrown onto the hard floor. She shrieked in agony as her body hit the hard cobbles. Pain shot through her joints once more as she attempted to bring herself to her knees to stand up.

“I’m an old defenceless, woman,” cried Bethany. “You shouldn’t be doing this to me. It’s not right.”

“You are an old witch and you mean nothing but to bring this town harm,” said the guard. “You kidnapped a young girl and we caught you in the act.”

“I told you the girl was lost and I was bringing her home,” said Bethany. “If I had been kidnapping her wouldn’t I have been heading in the other direction, away from the town?”

“That does not explain anything,” said the guard. “Anyway we are sure that you have performed other acts of witchcraft in this town.”

“Just because I am an old woman does not mean that I am a witch,” said Bethany. “I have not done anything to the people of this town.”

Bethany knew those words weren’t true and that if she had been younger the townsfolk capture of her would not have been so easy. Many years ago Bethany would have thrust them away with magic before levitating over the walls of the town. Either that or taking off on her broom. Now in her frail condition that was impossible.

“You have been responsible for the spread of the Black Death in this town. My friends and members of my family have been killed because of you,” said the guard.

“That is ridiculous, I have not been near this town for a while. How could I have possibly done that anyway,” said Bethany.

The tall guard slapped her on the face hard knocking her onto the cold cobbled floor again. Bethany felt the strike on her face and heard the crack of her cheekbone as she fell. She could tell that her face would swell up later because of that.

“Get her up and place her on the chair next to the table,” said the tall guard gruffly to the other one. “I know how to get her to confess to the crime of witchcraft.”

The tall guard disappeared and a moment later reappeared with a metal implement in his hands. Bethany did not know what the metal apparatus was, but she guessed that its use would not be pleasurable for her. The tall guard slammed the implement on the table with such ferocity that it shook Bethany. As she looked on she realised what the metal contraption would be used for and backed away slightly on the chair.

“Hold her steady and stretch her left hand forward,” said the guard to his companion.

The smaller guard held Bethany roughly and reached for her bound hands. He opened the left hand and forced the thumb out before he extended it forward toward the metal implement.

“This thumbscrew will make you confess your crimes of witchcraft against this town,” seethed the guard.

The thumbscrew was fully opened and Bethany’s thumb was placed inside it. The guard began screwing it down until her thumb was held firmly between the metal. At this point there was no pain.

“Now, to avoid any unnecessary agony, tell us what crimes you have committed against us,” said the guard. “Let’s start with the kidnapping. Did you kidnap young Samantha from this town?”

“I’ve already told you I didn’t,” said Bethany beginning to shake from fear. “I saw her wandering outside the town and brought her home.”

“That is a lie,” said the guard twisting the screw down.

Bethany looked on in horror as she could feel the pain building up in her thumb. Her thumb nail was pressed in and blood began to squeeze from each side of her thumb. The old woman screamed in agony.

“Confess and we will stop. Keep on lying and the pain will continue,” threatened the guard.

“I did not kidnap the young girl,” screamed Bethany.

The guard shook his head smiling at his companion before he turned the thumbscrew further. Blood began squirting from Bethany’s thumb as she could feel the bone being crushed.

“Enough of this,” said the guard releasing the pressure and unscrewing the implement. Bethany believed that the punishment was over but was dismayed as the guard withdrew the thumb of her left hand only to replace it with the thumb of her right hand.

“Not again,” said Bethany.

“You are making us do this to you,” yelled the guard. “Tell us that you are a witch. Tell us that you have performed the crimes of magic and witchcraft on our townspeople and this punishment and torture will end.”

Bethany looked at her torturer before she lied. In the past she had committed magical felonies against the townsfolk, but recently she had not been near the town.

“I have not committed witchcraft against the people of this town,” cried Bethany.

“Tell us that you are responsible for the recent spate of Black Death in this town,” yelled the guard.

“I have done nothing of the sort,” sobbed Bethany.

The guard gave Bethany a sordid malevolent smile before twisting the thumbscrew fully down. This time Bethany could hear the bone crack as the thumbscrew was tightened. The pain shot through her arm and was as excruciating as anything she had ever felt in her life. She screamed out for the guard to stop.

With all his strength the guard twisted the thumbscrew as far as he could. Bethany continued to scream but did not confess. The guard realised that the torture was futile and was not rendering the result he had anticipated. Giving up he unscrewed the implement releasing Bethany’s thumb.

The implement and the table were covered in Bethany’s blood and she was aware that her thumbs would never be the same again.

“Bind her thumbs to stop her bleeding then take her to her cell,” said the guard to his colleague. “We’ll take her in front of the magistrate tomorrow morning.”

Bethany moaned as the guard produced some rags and wound them round the squashed and bleeding thumbs. She cried as the guard applied pressure to fix the rags in place. She was then unceremoniously pulled out from her chair and dragged out of the room and down the cold corridor to an awaiting empty cell. The guard shoved her in and slammed the door behind her before leaving her to take in her new home for the evening.

 

He returned to the taller guard who was ruminating on his thoughts.

“Well that was a waste of time,” said the smaller guard. “She didn’t confess to anything.”

“Are you sure about that,” said the taller guard. “Tomorrow it will be her word against ours and no one is going to believe what an old witch has said.”

“I don’t understand, we don’t have proof,” protested the smaller guard. “We put her to the thumbscrews and we slapped her about and she did not confess to anything.”

“I’ll speak for us tomorrow in front of the magistrate as long as you back me up,” said the taller guard. “They’ll have to believe that she confessed to us, you mark my words.”

 

Justice Knight, the judge of the local court was briefed by Constable Pike about what had happened the night before. A young girl had possibly been abducted by a witch and it was only fortunate that a search party had recovered the girl before any serious injury had happened to her. Due to the severity of the crime and the spate of witchcraft related activities which had occurred recently he thought it prudent that the case should be dealt with immediately.

Word got round the town fast and soon enough everyone knew about the trial which would be held that very day in the local courthouse. It was dangerous to allow potential witches to remain locked in the cells. The locals knew that their incantations could be more powerful the closer the witch was.

The courthouse filled quickly with the locals eager to see what would happen to the woman accused of being a witch. The jury that had been quickly chosen were led in and took their place in the jury box. Members of the public hissed as Bethany was brought out to the accused’s table. A jailhouse guard was at either side of her.

Mr Steed, the court clerk, entered the court and asked for quiet as the magistrate prepared himself in his chamber. The magistrate then made it known that he was ready.

“All rise for the honourable Justice Knight,” shouted Mr Steed.

The middle aged man strode into the court and saw that all seats were taken. The case before him was more serious than most and he demonstrated that with his austere repose. He stood by his chair and looked around to ensure that all the relevant players were present. Satisfied that the proceedings appeared ready to commence he took his seat.

“Please sit,” said the judge before he looked down at his notes.

The prosecutor took his cue from the judge and stood up to outline the case.

Bethany was sandwiched between two different guards from the ones she had the previous night. She was aware of many unfriendly and hateful eyes one her. The old woman did not see the point of the trial as she was sure that the town had already adjudged her of being guilty of crimes and witchcraft which she had not committed. Of course she had committed witchcraft in the past, but she was not on trial for that. She was convinced that that there could be nothing which could transpire in the proceedings to demonstrate her innocence. There was no one in the court who could vouch for her character. As an alleged witch she would have no lawyers or defence counsel vouching for her or stating her claim for innocence. Her defence was in her own hands and she was completely on her own.

The prosecutor highlighted that his witnesses would be the young girl who had been abducted, Samantha. A young girl who had witnessed the abduction would also be testifying. Stephen, the girl’s father could testify to his child being missing and how she was later found. The two guards who had questioned Bethany would be able to reveal some confessions that had been made while Bethany was in their custody.

Mr Steed asked for the first witness to be brought in to the court. Samantha was led by the court bailiff to the witness stand and appeared to be embarrassed and slightly scared as she looked at the court room full of people…

 

 

This novella is available as an eBook on Amazon.

Kind Regards.

Alan

alanrove@hotmail.com