The Return of the Witch by Paula Brackston Page B

If you hadn’t happened upon me, well, it is a difficult task, seeking in secret.”
    At that moment a figure emerged from the house and came toward us. I raised my hand to my eyes, squinting into the sun to try to make out who it was. By his fluid and energetic movement I could tell he was young.
    â€œAh!” William smiled broadly. “Here is Richard, come to see who my mysterious visitor is, no doubt.”
    â€œYou will not tell him…” I said quickly.
    â€œRichard!” William called out to the youth, “come and meet an old friend. Mistress Carmichael, come to visit her brother at the mill.”
    The youth bowed rather too expertly, as if it was something he had been practicing.
    â€œGood day to you, Mistress Carmichael. I am always pleased to meet a friend of Sir William.”
    I saw pride in William’s face as he watched the boy.
    â€œRichard is my excellent valet and my right-hand man. I could not do without him, isn’t that so, Richard?”
    He smiled and blushed under such praise. “Mary-Anne sent me to see if you had been successful in your hunt for sugar at the market today.”
    â€œAlas, I was not.” He turned to me to explain. “My housekeeper had hoped to make marchpane as an indulgence for me. It is my birthday tomorrow.” He patted Richard on the shoulder. “I will send you with the disappointing news. It is a man’s work indeed, facing Mary-Anne with words she will not want to hear. Hurry along now.”
    We watched him go.
    â€œRichard’s family were tenant farmers on the estate. He lost his three brothers and his father to the war. His mother lost her own battle with illness last year. I took him in and, well, we … we do well.”
    â€œYou have become the good man I always believed you to be, William.”
    â€œWar forces us to be what we are.” He took my hand briefly in his. “I will assist you if I can, Bess. I can make enquiries. It would be easier for me to question people. Give me a description of the young woman. I will do whatever I can to help you, I promise.”
    I left him then, after I had reluctantly agreed to allow him to help me and not to put myself at further risk unnecessarily. I wanted him to be at ease. I had no wish to add to his worries, but nor could I promise to stop searching for Gideon myself. I could not possibly sit by and wait for someone else to find Tegan; there was too much at stake. I trusted William, but I knew he would be no match for Gideon, and I was wary of putting him in danger. He offered me the carriage and Keanes to drive me home, but I explained I preferred to walk, for the exertion would allow me to clear my head and order my thoughts. Of course he knew my story regarding Erasmus to be false. William had known my only brother, and knew that he had died. The fact that he did not press me for a further, more plausible explanation only served to endear him to me more. Here, at least, was someone I could trust.
    I released Aloysius from his traveling place and allowed him to make the rest of the journey back to the mill perched on my shoulder. The walk did indeed help me to review the worryingly scant progress I had made. The day was fast passing, and I felt no closer to Tegan. A glimpse of Gideon and a promise of assistance from William were not enough. I had to act! As I neared the location of the windmill I was struck by how quiet it was. There was no wind at all, so that the sails would not turn. In fact, the day had moved from warm to oppressively hot, with a heaviness in the air that suggested thunder. The only sounds I could discern as I approached the front door of the curious construction were muttered oaths. I stood on the threshold and watched Erasmus struggle to detach a metal hopper from one end of the workings of the mill. He was fighting with a wrench and having little success at freeing the corn bucket. He noticed my arrival and paused, wiping