Page 11 of Beneath Hoof and Hollow
“You find this exciting? They weremurdered. My friends, your neighbors! And you’re aroused? You’re sick!” I shove at his chest. My disgust overflows. I spit on the ground, hoping to quell some of my overpowering nausea.
“And you would turn down your fiancé in a time of need due to female hysteria? An overly sensitive constitution? It is your duty to fulfill my needs.”
“I don’t want anything to do with you, you sick bastard.”
Leed’s voice drops, becoming dangerously low. “Careful. Reverend Statton has given me a promotion within the Lamb’s Golden Light. What will he say when he learns you’ve taken such a tone with his new Chosen Shepherd?”
“And why would he promote you to such a position?” Dread sinks its claws in between my ribs, puncturing my lungs and halting my breaths. “What hast thou done, Leed?”
Darkness drenches his masculine features, twisting them. “It was I who discovered the secret meeting. This victory belongs to us.”
Something overtakes me. Rage cracks my bones open, spilling out in all directions, burning through the shell of silence I’ve hidden within for most of my life. Grabbing a broken tree branch from the ground, I swing it. Leed is knocked flat on his back when the wood connects with his cheek.
The moment he’s down, I run.What the hell did I just do?Racing through the trees, I head toward home. A few feet away from my front door, I stop.What am I doing? I can’t go home. Leed will come for me. And after what I just did…
Come on, Emeline. Use your head. Where can I hide that no one will look? I have my friends. But their fiancés are all close to Leed. I can’t trust his friends. The woods aren’t safe, either. I don’t know my way around. I need someplace secure, familiar, but empty of people.
The red X painted on Alesia’s front door catches my eye. She won’t be there. She’s still strung up in the hanging tree, now joined by six of our friends. No one will step foot in awitch’shouse. It’s perfect.
I sneak over as best as I can. I’m an honest woman. Sneaking around is not something I have a lot of practice with. But a new layer of me has emerged, one that will do things, be things I’ve never been before. A survivor. A fighter.
Crouching before the door, I sweep my surroundings once, twice—no one has returned from the hangings. The one thing that can ruin my plan is if someone sees me go inside and tells the others.
The front door is unlocked. Did Alesia forget to lock it the day she chose to out Reverend Statton to the town? Was her mind too full of the horrible truths she was soon to speak? My chest aches for her as I slip inside and latch the door behind me.
A soft meow has me crying out in surprise. The small black cat peers out at me from a doorway. Poor thing has probably been alone since Alesia’s death.
“Come here, it’s alright.” I drop to my knees, holding my hand out.
The sweet little cat runs forward, rubbing against my fingers affectionately.
“Are you hungry?” I hunt around for cat food. I’ve never owned a pet. What do cats usually eat? Rats? Snakes? I don’t have either of those handy. I settle on a jar of salted fish.
The little cat gobbles it down. With Alesia gone, it’s all alone. “Who will look after you?” His quick meow makes me release a sad laugh. “I can barely take care of myself right now.”
His longer meow makes me sigh.
“Alright. I’ll find a way.”
I spend the rest of the night on the couch with the cat curled up in my lap.
I’m too anxious and afraid to sleep. By the time the sun rises, I’ve come up with a plan.
Chapter Four
Emeline
Remaining out of sight during the day is easier than I thought. I hear my name called as Leed and the others search for me. Thankfully, they do not check Alesia’s house. I don’t want to think about what will happen if Leed finds me. Surely he wouldn’t hurt me. Then again, I never thought he would be capable of the things he’s done. Believing Reverend Statton’s nonsense about Itrimort. Hunting down the poor women in our town and claiming them to be witches. Their blood is on his hands. Hands I no longer recognize. Hands I refuse to marry.
How abruptly my life has changed in so short a time.
I think back on that empty look in Alesia’s eyes when she told me what Reverend Statton had done. He broke her. Broke her and then killed her. But it wasn’thersins that landed her in an early grave. It washis.
The church is quiet as I sneak inside. All the town is attending this evening’s trials. They chant, “Burn the witch. Burn the witch.” It started up around nightfall. Leed’s voice wasrecognizable among them. Their words became softer as they ventured deeper into the woods. That’s when I slipped free from my hiding place.
Will a burning be quicker than a hanging? Do I have even less time than I thought before the masses return? If Reverend Statton calls for another emergency church service when they’re done with tonight’s killings, he’ll lead them all straight here.
I can’t bear to think who’s been chosen as the slaughtered lambs today. How quickly things have gotten out of hand. The church’s stained-glass windows used to hold such beauty to me. Now, looking at the black smoke rising in the distance, they fill me with nothing but disgust.
