Dead Man's Reach

by D. B. Jackson

  “Actually,” Ethan said, “there’s no profit in this for me, either.”

  That, of all things, seemed to give the sheriff pause. “What is this about?” he asked.

  “Ebenezer Richardson.”

  Greenleaf straightened and lowered the hand holding his candle. “What about him?”

  Ethan hesitated, searching for some way to tell the sheriff what he wanted without as much as admitting that he was a conjurer. “I can’t tell you everything—”

  “Witchery,” the sheriff said, spitting the word.

  “Conjuring.”

  “Call it what you will, Kaille. It’s still—” The sheriff stopped, his mouth hanging open. “You admit it?”

  “I admit nothing about myself. But yes, I do believe that a conjuring may have played some role in the events that unfolded on Middle Street.”

  “What kind of conjuring? Done by whom?”

  “I don’t know yet. That’s why I require your help.”

  “Ebenezer Richardson—”

  “Is guilty of murder. There’s no question of that. I was there today. I saw what happened.”

  “You were there, eh? Then isn’t it likely that any … conjuring used against Richardson came from you?”

  “It wasn’t me,” Ethan said.

  “Then how can you be sure that anything unnatural happened?”

  Ethan winced inwardly. It was not a question he could answer without incriminating himself. “I thought I might have felt something: a spell.”

  “You thought you felt something?” Greenleaf’s grin was cold and smug. “Aye, I’ll wager you did. That’s practically an admission, Kaille. I might even be able to convince a magistrate to let me put a noose around your neck.”

  “Only if you manage to find a noose that can hold me.”

  The sheriff’s smile slipped.

  “You and I both know all too well what harm a rogue conjurer can unleash in this city. If there’s even a chance that some dark spell played a part in today’s tragedy, don’t we owe it to the people of Boston to investigate?”

  “You’re the only rogue conjurer I know. Well, you and that crazy old witch who lives on the Neck. Windcatcher, isn’t it?”

  “It wasn’t Janna, and it wasn’t me.”

  “So you say.”

  Ethan gritted his teeth. “I don’t have time for this. We don’t. This is no trifle I’m speaking of. The entire city may be in danger. I sensed something similar last night. So it’s happened twice in two days.”

  “And before that?”

  “Nothing. Last night was the first time.”

  Greenleaf seemed to weigh this, his gaze fixed on the frozen waterfront. “All right, assuming for a moment that I believe you, what is it you require of me?”

  “I need to see Richardson. Alone.”

  “You don’t ask for much, do you?” the sheriff said, scowling.

  “I may be able to determine if something was done to him.”

  “Why do you have to see him alone?”

  “Witchery can be dangerous, Sheriff. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”

  Greenleaf raised his chin. “I don’t believe you. You’ve said similar things to me in the past; I think you wish to frighten me, to keep me away while you use your devilry to cause all manner of mischief.”

  “Sheriff—”

  “I know you’re a witch, Kaille! Why do you deny it?”

  “Why do you let me live?”

  Greenleaf blinked.

  “If you’re so convinced that I’m a witch, and that my being a witch makes me an instrument of Satan, you should put a bullet through my head, here and now.”

  The sheriff stared back at him, saying nothing, and looking uncharacteristically diffident.

  “You may not like me, but you need me, much as Sephira does.”

  “Miss Pryce?” Greenleaf appeared to grow more confused with each word Ethan said.

  Ethan shook his head. “It’s not important. The point is, we can help each other. You know we can—you’ve come to me in the past when you’ve needed help with … inquiries of a particular kind. You can call it witchery if you like; the point is, in the hands of the wrong person, it can do tremendous evil. You and I have seen as much, be it with Nate Ramsey or the Sisters Osborne. I can’t say for certain that a conjurer had a hand in Christopher Seider’s murder. But neither can I rule it out until I’ve seen Richardson.”

  “You still haven’t told me why you wish to see him, or what you plan to do once you’re there in his cell.”

  “And I still have no intention of telling you.”

  “How do I know you won’t try to kill him? There are plenty in the city who would like nothing better than to see the man put to death. An eye for an eye, and all that.”

  “I suppose you’ll have to take my word,” Ethan said. When the sheriff’s expression didn’t change, he added, “I’m not going to kill him. I hope he swings for what he did. Even before the conjuring, he was threatening the mob, making an ass of himself. The man’s an idiot. But tonight I have other matters on my mind. You have my word that no harm will come to him, at least not by my hand.”

  Greenleaf still glared at him; Ethan stared back, refusing to be cowed. At last the sheriff gave a shake of his head.

  “I must be mad. Wait here, Kaille.”

  He went back inside the house and closed the door, only to emerge again moments later, a heavy cloak draped over his shoulders and a flintlock pistol in his hand.

  “You should know that there’s a mob gathered at the gaol,” Ethan said, as they walked out to West Street and started toward the city’s prison.

  “Aye, I expected as much.”

  They walked in silence for some time, vapor from their breath rising into the night sky.

  “What would a conjurer have to gain by making Richardson shoot the lad?” Greenleaf asked.

  It was a fine question, one that Ethan hadn’t considered.

  “Conjurers have their political leanings,” he said, “just like the rest of us. Is it so hard to believe that there are some who wish to foment violence in the city?”

  The sheriff glanced his way. “The Sons of Liberty, perhaps.”

  Ethan shrugged, then nodded, conceding the point. “Perhaps.”

  They covered the remaining distance without saying more. Seeing the mob outside the gaol, Greenleaf faltered in midstride, but only for in instant.

  “Stay close,” he said, his voice low.

  As they neared the outer edge of the crowd, Greenleaf halted.

  “You won’t be seeing Ebenezer Richardson tonight,” he said, his words echoing in the lane. “Go home.”

  The men turned as one.

  Someone called out, “He deserves to hang!”

  “And he might before this is over. But that’s not going to happen tonight.” His smile appeared genuine. “You lot know me. When there’s a hanging, I don’t make a secret of it. If Richardson swings, you’ll all have a fine view.”

  A few people laughed.

  “This has been a hard day, and a sad one. Go home, or better yet, go to a tavern and raise an ale to the memory of Chris Seider. But get the hell away from my gaol.”

  Ethan expected the men to refuse, to respond in anger to the sheriff’s words. These men knew the sheriff to be, at least on most occasions, a servant of the Crown and its representatives here in Boston. Back in the fall of 1768, as the occupation of Boston began and General Gage and his staff attempted to billet a thousand uniformed regulars, the sheriff had been at the fore of efforts to evict Elisha Brown and his companions from the Manufactory so that it might be used as a barracks. The sheriff was unpopular among those who had gathered outside the gaol, as well as those who had been on Middle Street earlier in the day, harassing importers and trading insults with Ebenezer Richardson.

  But while these men might not have liked Greenleaf, they did harbor some respect for him, or at least a modicum of fear. Ethan noticed that the sheriff still
held his pistol loosely in his right hand, its barrel glinting dully with torchlight. He had no doubt that many in the throng had seen it as well. If the mob turned on them, the sheriff would have time to fire off only a shot or two before they were overwhelmed. But Ethan doubted that any of the men wished to be the unfortunate soul whom Greenleaf managed to shoot.

  Slowly, with obvious reluctance, the men started to disperse. A few shouted threats at Richardson, no doubt hoping that the customs man could hear them in his cell. Others glared at Greenleaf, though the sheriff didn’t appear to notice. But within a few minutes, the street had cleared.

  “That was well done,” Ethan said.

  Greenleaf rounded on him, a fearsome look in his eyes, as if he were searching for some sign that Ethan was mocking him. Seeing none, his expression eased. “Thank you.” He indicated the gaol with an open hand. “After you.”

  Ethan walked to the door, eyeing the soldiers as he approached.

  “Good evening, Sheriff,” one of the men said. He studied Ethan, a faint sneer on his angular face. “This another prisoner?”

  “Sadly, no,” the sheriff said. “We need to see Richardson.”

  The man produced a key, unlocked the prison door, and pulled it open with a creak of the great iron hinges.

  Greenleaf surveyed the street. A few stragglers still lingered near the corner of Treamount and Queen Streets. “Lock the door again once we’re inside. Don’t open it for anyone but me. Do you understand?”

  “Aye, sir.”

  Greenleaf waved Ethan inside. As soon as Ethan crossed the threshold, the stink hit him, calling up unwelcome memories.

  Not so long ago, again around the time of the occupation, Greenleaf had led Ethan into the gaol as his prisoner, and had left him there, chained to a wall in a fetid cell.

  It seemed the sheriff was thinking of this as well. “Have you missed the place?” he asked, watching Ethan.

  “Hardly.”

  But by now his recollections had carried him past his brief incarceration in this gaol, to darker memories of his imprisonment after the Ruby Blade mutiny: rancid food, the vermin-infested pile of straw on which he slept, backbreaking labor beneath a scorching tropical sun, and overseers who reveled in abusing and beating Ethan and his fellow prisoners. Even now, years removed from that living hell, Ethan couldn’t think of these things without breaking out in a cold sweat. He had come to the gaol voluntarily—he had all but begged the sheriff to bring him here. And still his legs trembled so violently that he could barely stand.

  “Are you all right?” Greenleaf asked, sounding more impatient than concerned.

  Ethan nodded, swallowed the bile rising in his throat.

  “You’re sweating.”

  “You may recall that I have … an aversion to prisons.”

  The sheriff scowled his disapproval. “This way,” he said, stepping past Ethan. He led him down a narrow corridor and halted before the third cell on the left.

  Ethan joined him and peered into the cell through a small barred window in the door. Richardson sat on the stone floor, his back against the rough wall. His face was a mess: bruised, swollen, caked with dried blood. His clothes were filthy, torn almost to rags, and stained with blood as well. And still Ethan knew that he had been fortunate to survive this day.

  “Who the hell are you?” The words sounded thick, muddled; his lips were split and it appeared that he had lost at least one tooth in the melee.

  “I was on Middle Street today,” Ethan said. “I’d like a word.”

  “What is this, Sheriff? Are you going to let him finish me off?”

  “If I wanted to let someone finish you, I could make a fair bit of coin,” Greenleaf said. “They’d line up all the way from Queen Street to Long Wharf and back again, and they’d pay me well to have five minutes alone with you.” He grinned. “You’re a bit short on admirers these days, Richardson.”

  The customs man looked away.

  “No, Kaille isn’t here to kill you. He wishes only…” The sheriff glanced at Ethan. “He came to talk.”

  “Kaille,” Richardson repeated, eyeing Ethan again. “Lillie’s man?”

  Ethan bristled at the description. “Aye. Mister Lillie hired me. You and I spoke this morning, when you were trying to tear down the signs outside his shop.”

  “I remember now. If you had done your job, those signs never would have been there, and none of this would have happened.”

  “I seem to recall warning you to get off the street.”

  The man turned from him once more. “Go away, Kaille.”

  Greenleaf unlocked the door and motioned for Ethan to enter. Ethan stepped into the cell, expecting that the sheriff would close the door behind him. Instead, Greenleaf followed him inside.

  “I told you that I need to see him alone,” Ethan said.

  “I know what you told me, but I never agreed to all of it.” He leaned closer to Ethan, and said in a whisper, “We’re going to settle this once and for all, Kaille. I know what you are, and tonight, at last, I’ll have my proof.”

  “I don’t want either of you in here!” Richardson said, glaring up at them. “Can’t you leave me in peace?”

  The sheriff scowled. “Shut your mouth, Richardson!” He faced Ethan again, and flashed a smiled. “Go on then, Kaille. I promise you won’t swing tonight, or even tomorrow. It could be years before I decide to rid this city of you, but that will be my choice to make.”

  Richardson regarded them both, obviously perplexed by what the sheriff had said. For his part, Ethan was damned if he was going to allow Greenleaf to watch him conjure. Fortunately, as on several occasions in the past, he was helped by the sheriff’s ignorance of spellmaking.

  He had been planning to put Richardson to sleep with a conjuring before attempting any other magick. Directing the spell at two men was really no more difficult than directing it at one.

  He didn’t move, and he kept his gaze locked on that of the sheriff. But drawing upon the mullein he still carried in his coat pocket, he recited the incantation to himself. Dormite ambo ex verbasco evocatum. Slumber, both of them, conjured from mullein.

  The conjuring sang like a harp string, vibrating in the stone walls, floor, and ceiling of the cell. Reg appeared, bright as a newly risen moon in the dim, inconstant light of the torches, but Ethan watched the sheriff. Before long, the man staggered, his eyelids drooping.

  “Wha—?”

  As he started to fall, Ethan caught him and eased him down to the floor, propping his back against the nearest wall.

  “I believe you’ve been working too hard, Sheriff,” he muttered.

  Greenleaf snored softly.

  Richardson had toppled onto his side. Ethan righted him and leaned him against a wall as well. He drew his blade and cut his arm. As blood welled from the wound, he traced a line of it across Richardson’s forehead, down the bridge of his nose, and over his chin.

  “Revela omnias magias ex cruore evocatas,” he whispered. Reveal all magicks, conjured from blood.

  This spell rumbled in the stone as well, and Ethan saw his own russet power flicker across Richardson’s body: the residue of the sleep spell he had cast. But his conjuring revealed no other evidence of spells. None.

  “The conjuring revealed my sleep spell,” Ethan said to Reg. “So I know it worked.”

  Reg frowned and nodded.

  Ethan cut himself again and rubbed blood on the man in the same pattern. “Revela originem magiae ex cruore evocatam.” Reveal source of magic, conjured from blood.

  This conjuring yielded much the same result, showing evidence of Ethan’s spell, but no others.

  “Is it possible that the spell we felt on Middle Street wasn’t directed at Richardson?” Ethan asked.

  Reg shrugged.

  Ethan considered once more the tragic sequence of events from the morning. The hum of that distant spell had preceded by mere seconds the appearance of Richardson with his musket. He didn’t fire at first, though he aimed
the weapon at the mob. Seconds later, he aimed again and pulled the trigger. As Ethan thought about this, he realized that he had seen Richardson pull the trigger twice. It wasn’t that he didn’t try to shoot the first time he took aim; rather, it seemed that the musket misfired.

  Of course it was possible that Richardson had every intention of firing his weapon, and that whatever spell was cast had nothing at all to do with Christopher Seider’s death. Ethan knew enough of the customs man to think the worst of him. But the coincidence was too striking to ignore, particularly in the wake of Gordon’s attack on Will Pryor.

  “I don’t understand any of this,” he said to the ghost.

  Reg glowered down at Richardson, his jaw set.

  “I know. I don’t like him either. But if a spell made him fire, I want to know it.” A thought came to him. “George Wilmot,” he whispered, “the other man being held here. Is he a conjurer?”

  Reg shook his head.

  “Right, because that would have been too simple.”

  He didn’t think that he could do much more here, which left him with one final task. It promised to be unpleasant.

  Ethan gave Richardson a hard shake, and said, “Wake up.”

  Then he crossed to Greenleaf and squatted down before him. “Sheriff,” he said, shaking him as well, though more gently. “Sheriff, are you all right?”

  Richardson stirred, as did the sheriff.

  Ethan took hold of Greenleaf’s arm and helped him up. The sheriff swayed, and Ethan tightened his hold on the man.

  “Have a care. We wouldn’t want you to fall again.”

  “What happened to me?” the sheriff asked, his voice weak. “What am I—?” He glanced around, taking in the cell, the torches. At last his gaze came to rest on Ethan, the look in his pale eyes hardening.

  “What did you do to me, Kaille?”

  “What did I do to you?” Ethan repeated, opening his eyes wide in feigned innocence. “What do you remember?”

  “I—You were standing there, just as you are now, watching me. We were … we had been arguing. You wanted me to leave, but I wouldn’t. And then…”

  “And then what?”

  Greenleaf jerked his arm out of Ethan’s grasp. “You know damn well what! You used your damned witchery against me!”