“My hip! My hip!” she cried. “Oh, it hurts!”
Lester looked around, panicking. “I’ll go get help.”
“No!” she responded, clutching her son’s leg. “Don’t leave me. It’s the enchantments, don’t you see? It’s the evil enchantments what’s the cause of this! It’s the work of that witch! You can’t leave me!”
“Well what do you expect me to do! Carry you back in this state?”
Lark did not want to feel pity, but she could not help it. Had it been anyone else, she would have rushed to their aid. But she believed in following her instincts, and hers told her that Gertrude Hatch would not only spurn her offers of help but likely use the offer to make things worse. So she sat listening to the old woman’s screams, knowing such pain could only come from a broken bone.
Gertrude was babbling and moaning as her son lifted her up and carried her back down the path. Lark waited long moments until the sounds of the old woman’s cries were out of sight. Then she walked over to where they’d dug the hole. The shovel and bag were still there. So was Gertrude’s shoe. Evidence. She could use this against them.
But how. But before she could consider it further, a hand clamped over her mouth. Lark twisted her body left and right, trying to evade the strong grip as she was drug back into her own house. She heard the door shut behind her, felt herself released. She reeled back, sputtering in fear and anger and then stopped. Colin was standing there looking at her.
“What were you thinking?” he asked.
“Did you see?” was her only reply. “Did you hear them? They were digging up my yard. They think I have treasure. It was why they exposed me as a witch! This is all about taking my property! Did you know that?”
“Yes I did,” he said. “I saw and heard everything you did.”
“Then why didn’t you do anything?”
“For the same reason you didn’t,” he replied. “But we’ll discuss the Hatch’s sins later. At the moment, I’m going to deal with yours, Lark Willoughby. You were reckless to run, even if the cell door was left open. If anyone other than I had found you, it would be assumed that you ran because you are guilty. I told you not to try and escape again and again you have disobeyed me. For that, you’re about to get the spanking of your life.”
Chapter Ten
Lark did not try to reason with Colin as he pulled her along after him along the moonlit path. She knew there was no reasoning with him now. He was taking her to his cabin and once there she’d try to talk to him. He could say what he liked; she’d been right to escape. Had she not done so she’d have never found out the truth
She could not believe that Gertrude had accused her of witchcraft as a plot to get her to marry her son so they could gain access to riches she did not even possess. She’d heard tales of fairy gold in her youth and when Lark was bored her grandmother suggest she go dig in the garden and look for it. But real gold? If it had been there Lark would have known about it. And she’d have used it to help the village, unlike the Pratts who thought only of themselves.
It was hard to pity Gertrude, who’d injured herself falling into the hole Lester had dug in her yard. It gave her some satisfaction to imagine the mean-spirited woman explaining to the physician exactly how she’d end up covered in dirt and injured in the middle of the night. They physician’s wife as big a gossip as Gertrude. It’d be all over town come next nightfall.
And where would she be? She tripped along after Colin, whose grip on her wasn’t getting any less restrictive. She’d never get out of his sight now, not with the law after her.
“Slow down. You’re hurting me!” She stopped and tried to jerk away. Colin turned to her.
“Not yet I’m not,” he said. “But I’m going to. Lark, don’t you even realize you’ve made yourself look guilty by escaping?”
“Made myself look guilty?” she asked indignantly. “For your information, the magistrate left the door open. And if I’d not come out here I’d have never known why Lester and his mother had these charges leveled against me. Now I do, and…”
“…and what?” Colin asked, turning and pulling her down the path again as he talked. “You’ll just explain what you saw after you escaped from jail and that’ll magically fix everything?”
“You saw it too!” she said.
“Yeah, and as the man who plans to marry you my word will have all kinds of weight, won’t it. And it’ll be no match for Gertrude who will claim you injured her through magic. You know how she twists things, Lark! And then there’s that reverend, ready to believe anything if it will condemn you.”
Lark fell silent. She could not argue with that. For Reverend Fervor, finding her guilty of witchcraft had become some sort of personal mission. She knew why. Every other woman he’d accused had no doubt thrown herself on his mercy, begging and pleading with him to spare her whatever fate he decided would be appropriate for her alleged sins. But Lark was not like that; she’d not fed this man’s need to feel power over others. She’d defied him, even mocked him.
They were approaching Colin’s hut now. Lark gave one last, futile effort to pull away from her protector as he pulled her inside. He guided her to a chair and forced her to sit, pointing a finger in her face as he did.
“You,” he said. “Don’t move.”
She sat there, glaring at him. She could completely defy anyone except for Colin. There was something about him that she could not help but respect. In many ways he’d been like a big brother to her growing up. He’d always understood her, always tried to watch out for her. He knew she was different and did not care because he carried the same magical history in his blood, even if he did not practice. But her respect for him came mainly from knowing he really cared. He cared about her not because she was beautiful or glowed with an air of unattainability. He cared because he liked her. Now those feelings had grown into something more for both of them. But Lark was determined that if she were going to be with a man, he’d see her as an equal.
He’d lit the lanterns and was rolling up his sleeves in preparation to make good on his threat to spank her.
“You can’t be serious,” she said in disbelief. “After what I’ve been through.”
“Oh, I’m deadly serious, lass,” he replied, placing his hands on his hips. “I told you there’d be consequences for disobeying me.”
“You say you want to be with me, Colin, but mark me on this. I will not be with a man who treats me as a child. I’d rather burn.”
He reached forward and lifted her up. “As long as I draw breath, the only part of you that will burn is your pretty bottom whenever you disobey me. We will be together, Lark. I love you and I know you love me. And you need my guidance, lass. Don’t go lying and say you don’t.”
He sat down in the chair she’d just vacated and pulled her over his lap. Lark was too angry to fight and decided she would just lay there, stoic, while he spanked her. If he wanted to treat her like a child, fine. Let him see how he liked it when he she not only refused to react, but refused to speak to him afterwards.
But being stoic was easier said than done. She nearly cried out when he lifted the hem of her skirt and bared her bottom. Then she nearly cried out again when the first heavy-handed smack fell. And then, when he began to spank her in earnest Lark realized she’d have to come up with some other plan. Colin was determined to make his point, and to her abject humiliation she was quickly reduced to tears in spite of herself.
“Stop! Stop!” she cried, trying to shield herself from the disciplinary assault. But Colin caught her hands and continued to spank without missing a beat. His punishing hand seemed to fall everywhere, from the crest of her upturned cheeks to the soft undercurve of her bottom where buttock meets thigh. He was especially determined when spanking her there, even tipping her forward to better target the tender skin.
Lark was sobbing now, unable to stop the spanking. Her bottom felt like it was on fire and she knew it would be days before she was able to sit without pain. For good measur
e, he finished the punishment off with a few hard spanks to the back of each thigh.
Her face was flushed and tear-stained when he raised her to standing.
“Oh no you don’t, he said when she instinctively tried to rub her injured backside. “You’ll get no comfort from me, and offer yourself none. I told you, Lark, you had to be careful. Now I’m going to have to figure out how to get you out of this mess without getting killed.”
She wanted to tell him she could figure it out on her own, but despite the fact that her bottom felt sore and scalded in turns, she knew it would be a lie. Things were more complicated now.
“Sit,” he said, taking her to a footstool by the fire and forcing her down on it. She yelped as her punished bum met the hard wood of the seat. “Think about what you did.”
The comment was insulting. She’d thought of nothing else, but she didn’t say so. Lark wished the kind of magic that common folk often ascribed to witches - the power of flight, teleportation and invisibility - were real. Then the two of them could just disappear and start over somewhere else. Then again, if she were that powerful, she wouldn’t need Colin.
“I love you.”
She looked up. He was looking down at her, and now he was kneeling down as he uttered the words again. “I love you.”
“Men spank the women they love?”
“I spank you because I love you,” he replied. “How can I keep you safe when you’re determined to be so headstrong, Lark. Do you know why I happened to be at your house tonight?”
She shook her head. “I’ve been watching Lester and his mother all day. I could tell by the way they were talking closely that they were plotting something. I went to tell the magistrate today and he told me he was going to help you escape. Lark, I urged him not to, but he knows you’re wrongly convicted. But at the same time he fears the church man.” He sighed. “I tried to talk him out of it and thought I’d succeeded. I followed the Pratts here tonight. And then I saw you. Had you not been here I’d have confronted them both. I’d have beaten a confession out of Lester if that’s what it would have taken. Now everything’s changed.”
Lark put her face in her hands. He was right. Anything the Pratts had done would be balanced against her escape. And with Gertrude injured, she’d play her role of poor, frail, pious victim of a witch’s enchantments to her benefit.
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
“We’re going to get married,” he said.
“You don’t have to,” she said.
“I want to,” he replied.
“I want a husband,” Lark replied. “If you can be a husband, perhaps. But all I’ve known is a man who acts like he’s my father.”
“Sometimes that’s what a woman needs,” he said, and took her hand and raised her to standing. Having someone warm her bum reminds her that her man’s stronger. But I can be tender, too. Here….let me show you.”
He tipped her chin up and kissed her then. Lark did not resist, and opened her mouth to his questing tongue. Colin was gentle as his mouth moved to her neck. His hands pushed her chemise over her shoulder, baring her beautiful breasts. He cupped them with his hands and moved his mouth down to encircle first one nipple and then the other in a wet kiss. Lark forgot all about the pain in her bottom and threw her head back, allowing the sensations his touch generated to sweep over her.
No, they weren’t married and what they were about to do would be considered a sin in the eyes of the church. But everything she was doing - her very life - as being labeled a sin. Why not sin for love?
Colin undid her skirt and pushed it and the chemise down to the floor. He stood back and looked at her in the lamplight. She was beautiful, her pale skin glowing. Her legs were well-muscled and shapely and her hair hung like a luxuriant auburn mantle. She took his hand and turned to lead him to the bed. Her hair swung as she walked and he could see how he’d marred her white bottom with handprints. His handprints. He felt himself grow hard with the need to possess her.
She sat down and pulled Colin with her, pushing his shirt off as she lay under him. Her small hands roamed his wide, smooth chest. Her fingers traced the muscle. She kissed him again and then let her tongue travel down his neck in a straight line almost to his belly button.
Colin had tumbled a virgin here and there before, and had never seen a woman quite like Lark. She lacked the reticence and modesty of the others he’d been with. She was open and curious, staring at his body in the warm glow when he stood to undress. She smiled at him when he was finally naked. Her hand reached out and encircled the shaft of his veiny cock. She leaned forward and placed a kiss on the head of it. He groaned.
“By the gods, woman,” he said. “You’re going to set me on fire before I even have a chance to have you.”
She smiled and laid back, holding her arms out to him.
Lark laid back and spread her thighs. Again he was struck by the complete openness and ease with which she presented her body. His eyes were drawn to the auburn tuft of fleece between her legs. He leaned over her, gently lowering his body. He could feel her heart pounding when he lowered his head to her breast, but whether it was from apprehension or excitement he could not say.
Colin moved to her breasts again, lingering more on each nipple now as he teased first one rosy peak and then another until they were firm in his mouth. His fingers traveled down between her legs and she opened herself to him. She was wet already. His mouth found hers. He could wait no more. He pushed into her, slowly at first and then quickly. She breathed her response and then moaned as they began to move together. Colin locked his eyes with her green ones and now he understood why anyone would think she was a witch, even if they did not know. Her eyes held him as surely as her arms did. He was completely and hopelessly enchanted by everything about her.
Lark wrapped her legs around him. Her calves and thighs were strong from years of walking in the woods around the cottage. She squeezed him rhythmically with her legs and her pussy until he could contain himself no more. He cried out with her as they climaxed together.
Afterwards he looked into her eyes.
“I will never let you go,” he said.
“I know,” she replied with a knowing smile.
They lay together for as long as they dared. But they knew time would not stand still. They had to make a decision about what to do next.
Colin was pulling on his pants when he walked to the window. Lark saw him look out, concerned.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Nothing, I….”
But then the door flew open. Men with torches burst in, and behind them was Reverend Fervor.
Lark pulled the blanket up to her neck and glared at him. He glared back, his face filled with rage.
“Harlot!” he cried. “Jezebel! WHORE!”
Colin strode over to the minister, who ducked behind the other men.
“Seize him! This man is to be incarcerated for fortification, and aiding a criminal in escape!”
The men approached Colin, but he stepped up to the first one.
“You want to be the one who lays hands on me, Rufus?” he asked. “You want to arrest me on the word of a stranger? Me, who helped you dig the grave you thought would be necessary last winter to bury your son until Lark here pulled him through his illness?”
He turned to the next man. “What about you, William? You want to answer to this man? Do you think the….good reverend here will be around to help you bring in your crop next year when you’re too drunk to do it?”
The men looked down. He turned to the last man, who was looking apprehensively from Colin to the others. “And you, Fred. You’re the only man I’ve ever known who could face down a bear to protect his family. Remember that spring when you drove that large one away from your door while your wife and children cried from fear inside? And yet you stand here in fear and do this man’s bidding? And for what? To harm a woman who’s never done anything but good for this community.”
Rufus lowered
his rope.
“He’s right. It’s not our place.”
Fervor pushed through the pack of men and turned. He raised his Bible. “You would heed the word of the devil? He speaks through that witch and her consort. You see them, having laid here together! You would defend a whore?”
“They’d defend their own wives, and I know at least one of them were no more virginal than Lark at the time of their marriage.” Colin smiled at the men. “Which one of you wants to cast the first stone?”
Fervor’s pale face grew red with anger. More men had showed up, but none moved to arrest the pair. The magistrate was the last one to the house. He pushed through the growing crowd and walked up to Reverend Fervor.
“Gertrude Pratt is not well,” he said. “She’s taken with a fever and is in great pain.” He looked at Lark. “She requests her help.”
All eyes were on Lark, and she could see they were all thinking the same thing. Reverend Fervor would not even have come to the village on is quest had not the Pratt’s brought hem to their doorstep.
“You lie!” the Reverend said. “That godly woman would never..”
“That godly woman’s son let it slip that she broke her hip falling into a hole in Lark’s yard,” the magistrate said. “It was a hole they were digging. If it’s the truth you seek, Reverend, there are other secrets here that need exploring. But for now, a woman is in dire pain and needs help.” He turned to Lark. “You don’t have to, but the physician has done all he can.”
“Of course I’ll help,” she said. “But first everyone must leave so I can dress.”
The men filed out respectfully, except for Fervor. Colin approached him until they were eye level. “You’re not in God’s house now, you’re in mine. And there are two ways out the door. You can walk or you can be thrown.”
The reverend’s face was dark as he turned and left. Lark smiled and stood, picking up her shed clothes from the floor.
“It’s all but over,” she said. “I can feel it.”
“You trust her?” Colin asked.
Dangerous Magic Page 10
