‘No.’
‘Theo’ Olivia whispered, ‘this is your one chance, you could have her back.’
‘It’s not right Olivia,’ he told her quietly, ‘everything has a natural order. She died a long time ago, even if it feels like only yesterday to me. It wouldn’t be a kindness to pull her back from wherever she has moved on to. If being here with you has taught me anything, it’s that anything is possible. I can only hope she’s in a good place, that she’s with our mother and that she is happy and free from pain.’
Olivia smiled softly, stepping close to him as she grazed his cheek with her fingers and brushed his lips tenderly with hers. ‘You’re a good man Theo.’
He looked up at Marguerite, ‘No deal.’
She growled softly in frustration, ‘there must be something you want?’
‘Sorry Marguerite, if you want out of the Crossroad you’re going to have to up your game.’
‘Alright,’ she answered after a moment, ‘not only will I tell you where your mother and Nathaniel are, I’ll send you after them.’
‘Now you’re talking’ Olivia replied, ‘we have a deal.’
Marguerite held out her hand. Olivia looked at her dirty cracked nails and filthy skin and took her hand, reluctantly shaking it and trying not to cringe.
‘The deal is done,’ she let go of Olivia. ‘Your mother and Nathaniel have gone after your ancestor, Hester West.’
‘Well she’s nothing if not consistent,’ Olivia muttered.
‘When have they gone back to?’
‘They are going back to when she is still a child, still vulnerable. She said something about the night the demon killed the child’s mother.’
‘Damn it,’ Theo swore, ‘he’s going back to the night the girls were brought to my family’s farm, the night Sam pulled me out of the fire and brought me to Mercy.’
‘If they interfere in that event’ Olivia shook her head in fear, ‘not only will you have never been brought forward to Mercy, but the girls won’t escape. And if Hester doesn’t survive, I’ll never be born.’
‘Shit’ Sam swore, ‘we have to go back to 1695 then.’
Theo nodded.
Olivia looked up at Marguerite, ‘send us back then.’
‘Remember our agreement,’ she warned.
‘I will come back for you, I promise.’
Marguerite nodded and suddenly the air shimmered next to them, the same strange purple color as before.
‘Well I guess we’re going back to the 17th century then’ Sam frowned, sighing in disgust. ‘I didn’t even like it the first time around.’
Olivia and Theo looked up at him in surprise.
‘What?’ he frowned, ‘I told you I was older than I looked.’
Theo took Olivia’s hand and they turned towards the strange rippling portal.
‘And this will take us back to that night?’
‘Yes,’ she replied.
Suddenly the floor shook and Olivia took a step back in surprise.
‘What was that?’
At the very center of the Crossroad a bright green light exploded, rippling outwards. Ropey vines of green flame crackled and wrapped around Olivia’s waist and torso, grabbing her tightly and tugging hard.
‘Theo!’ she yelled in panic.
‘What are you doing?’ Sam yelled at Marguerite.
‘It’s not me’ she shouted, ‘someone is trying to pull her from the Underworld.’
‘Stop them!’ Theo growled, as he grabbed onto Olivia’s arms to stop her from sliding backwards.
‘I can’t’ she stepped back shaking her head, ‘it’s not part of the deal. My powers are bound by the Crossroad, unless it’s part of a deal I can’t do anything.’
‘Sam!’ Theo shouted, the green flames licked up his arm, burning as they went, but leaving no marks.
He gritted his teeth against the pain as she began to slide back once again.
‘You have to go now!’ Marguerite shouted, ‘I cannot hold the portal open any longer.’
Sam took a deep breath and with a war like cry of defiance he charged into Olivia, knocking her into Theo and throwing all three of them through the portal. They disappeared and a gigantic explosion of green fire exploded outwards violently. When the dust settled the Crossroad was gone and so was Marguerite.
Hades stepped over the bodies littered across the ground and walked through the smoke, glancing around. The Crossroad was nowhere to be seen, nor was Olivia, her mother and Nathaniel. He knew once the Crossroad had disappeared they would not be able to find it again. His lips peeled back in an angry snarl as one of the shades approached and dropped a broken bloodied body at his feet.
Zachary looked up at Hades, one of his eyes swollen shut and his face covered in blood.
‘Where were they going?’ he asked.
‘I’ll not tell you anything,’ he spat blood at Hades’ feet.
‘You’ll feel differently soon,’ Hades replied coldly. ‘You’ll find I can be very persuasive.’
The shade grabbed him by his collar and dragged him face first across the hard sand covered stone, taking layers of skin off.
Hades looked up at the strange green glow hovering in the smoky air and let out a deep frustrated breath.
‘Wherever you are Olivia’ he muttered, ‘I hope you make it out alive…’
END OF BOOK THREE
Witchfinder
Part 1
1685
Chapter 1.
Olivia groaned and rolled over, pressing her face into the grass and inhaling deeply. Her fingers flexed and dug into the earth. Lifting her head suddenly she inhaled again. She could actually smell the grass. Looking up into the sky she could see endless blue and fluffy white clouds. Gone was the strange bruised light of the Otherworld or the oppressive darkness of the Underworld, this was pure sunlight. She lifted her hand slightly and her skin glowed, she could feel the warmth tingling on her skin. Pushing herself up she listened and found she could hear the birds in the nearby trees. She closed her eyes and pulled in a deep breath, she was back in the real world. She cocked her head slightly and listened harder as a new sound began to intrude upon her awareness, something unfamiliar, a strange kind of pounding noise.
Hands suddenly grasped her and hauled her to her feet, dragging her across the grass. She kicked back and spun around but looking up she realized it was Theo and she relaxed.
‘Theo’ she breathed.
‘Shush’ he warned, his eyes anxiously darting around as he pulled her behind the thick trunk of a tree and pushed her down so they were both out of sight.
As the pounding sound got louder and louder, she resisted the urge to poke her head around the tree to see what was going on.
‘Theo,’ she whispered.
Suddenly he clamped his hand over her mouth and pulled her in as close as he could. Her eyes widened as two horses thundered by. She caught a brief glimpse of their retreating forms as they passed by. Each horse bore a rider dressed in some sort of dark clothing, although she couldn’t quite make it out from this distance.
Theo finally let out a breath and some of the tension drained out of his body. He looked down at Olivia cupping her face gently in his hands.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked softly in concern.
‘I’m fine,’ she placed her hand over his.
‘I thought we’d lost you there for a moment’ he frowned. ‘What the hell happened back at the Crossroad? What was that green fire?’
‘I have no idea’ Olivia shook her head. ‘It came out of nowhere and wrapped around me. I could feel it pulling at me.’
‘Did it harm you?’
She shook her head, ‘did it hurt you?’
‘I felt it’ he replied, ‘when I grabbed you. It felt like it was burning but it left no mark.’
‘Well, we’re here now,’ she stood slowly, ‘where’s Sam?’
‘I don’t know’ Theo answered worrie
dly, ‘but he can’t be far. We have to find him before anyone else does.’
‘Who were those riders?’
‘I have no idea.’
‘Then why did we hide?’
‘Olivia, this is the 17th Century and you’re wearing jeans and a backpack.’
‘Oh,’ she looked around but all she could see were trees and grasslands. ‘Are you sure we’re in the right place? The right time even?’
Theo looked around quietly, his eyes shadowed.
‘Theo?’ she looked at him in concern, noting his strained expression.
‘We’re not far from Salem Village, my family's farm is a couple of miles west of here. We need to get someplace safe and out of sight until I can steal us some clothes. Once we blend in we can look around but we need to be careful until we can establish the date. People around here know me, the other me,’ he shook his head in irritation. ‘The past me, must be around here somewhere. I can’t risk anyone seeing me in two places at once.’
Olivia nodded, ‘we’d better find Sam.’
Theo took Olivia’s hand and led her through the trees, all the while glancing around warily.
‘I know where we are’ he replied suddenly, ‘it’s the apple orchard belonging to my neighbor James Wilkins.’
‘Is that water I can hear?’ Olivia asked as she tilted her head and listened.
‘There’s a small stream that runs along the border of his land.’
It didn’t take long to locate Sam. They seemed to have been thrown down roughly in the same area, although unfortunately for Sam he must have taken the brunt of whatever the strange green fire had been back at the Crossroad. He was barely conscious when they reached him and as Olivia dropped down on her knees next to him and rolled him over, he was pale and his body wracked with violent tremors.
‘What do you think is wrong with him?’ Olivia frowned, looking up at Theo.
‘I don’t know’ he replied, ‘but if it hadn’t been for Sam we’d have never got you through the portal. I think he must have taken the worst of whatever it was, it may have undone whatever it was Hades did for him. He’s probably suffering from the after effects of being in the Underworld for so long.’
Olivia stroked his face gently in concern. ‘Do you think he’ll be okay?’
‘I don’t know,’ he shook his head, ‘we don’t even know what he is.’
‘I wish Louisa was here.’
‘Me too’ Theo glanced around, ‘but for now we’re on our own. Not too far from here James has a barn he uses to store the apples in. We should be able to hide in there for the moment.’
‘Are you sure?’
He nodded, ‘Logan and I used to hide in there when we were children.’
She climbed to her feet, watching as Theo heaved Sam off the ground and slung him over his shoulder.
Luck appeared to be favoring them for the time being and they managed to cut back through the orchard towards the barn without anyone seeing them. The barn itself was pretty far from the farmhouse so they snuck in, dropping Sam down on the hay strewn ground and tucking him into the corner near two huge barrels of apples.
‘Now what?’ Olivia asked.
‘Now we wait for it to get dark. I’ll slip out and see if I can sneak up to the main house and steal some clothes for us. Once we can roam around a little more freely we can make a plan.’
‘God’ she frowned, ‘this is a nightmare. Sam’s pretty much out for the count, we’ve got to try and avoid not only the past you but anyone who knows you and as if that weren’t bad enough, there are two Nathaniels.’
‘I know,’ he replied in frustration. ‘If the one with your mother wasn’t bad enough, the Nathaniel from my time is in his true form and much more powerful. He’ll know we’re out of time with everything else the second he sees us.’
‘We’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t see us then.’
‘That’s easier said than done’ he shook his head, ‘he’s looking for Hester too remember?’
Olivia sighed and closed her eyes, rubbing her temples tiredly.
‘Are you alright?’
‘It’s just a lot to take in’ she breathed, ‘and I’m tired.’ Her stomach growled loudly, ‘and hungry apparently.’
‘Here,’ he reached into one of the barrels and grabbed a couple of apples, ‘eat these. I’ll see if I can find some clean water.’
There was a sudden scuffling noise and the sound of the barn door opening.
Olivia pulled her legs in and slid behind one of the large barrels of apples, holding onto Sam carefully, while Theo hid behind another.
‘Hello?’ a small timid voice called out, ‘hello?’
Olivia frowned, it sounded like a child’s voice.
‘Theo?’ the child's voice called out.
Olivia glanced across at Theo and saw his eyes widen as he instinctively turned in the direction of the voice.
‘Theo I know you’re here, so you might as well come out.’
Unable to help himself Theo unfolded himself from his hiding place, stepping out into the light that streaked in from an opening higher up in the building. His heart stopped as his gaze landed on the small dark haired child.
‘I’ve been waiting for you,’ she smiled.
‘Tempy?’ he whispered.
She smiled widely and held her arms out for him.
He dropped down slowly in front of her and she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. He folded his arms around her tiny body and crushed her to him, not wanting to let go, afraid that it wasn’t real. His eyes burned with tears and he found he couldn’t swallow past the hard knot of emotion burning at the back of his throat.
Temperance pulled back and grinned.
‘I brought you some clothes.’ She looked down at him, in his jeans and boots, ‘your clothes are very strange. Where are your friends? I brought some for them too.’
‘What?’ he replied in confusion.
‘The lady with the gold eyes, she’s here too isn’t she? And the boy with black hair?’ she turned and retrieved the sack she’d dropped by the door, ‘you’d better hurry up and change. Mr Wilkins is at market today but he’ll be back soon.’
‘Tempy,’ he whispered, ‘how do you know about the others? How did you know to find me here?’
‘I saw you silly,’ she shook her head.
‘You saw me?’
‘In a dream’ she smiled, ‘there was another lady there that time. She wore a green dress and had a bow and arrow. She told me you needed me to help you.’
She pulled out some clothes and handed them to him as he sat staring at her in disbelief.
‘I got one of Mary’s dresses for your lady friend’ Temperance frowned. ‘I hope Mary doesn’t notice, she gets awful mad lately.’
‘Mary?’ his eyes widened as the pieces began to fall into place, ‘Tempy is Mary back at the house?’
‘Of course she is,’ she replied as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. ‘She’s back at the farm with the other you.’
‘Tempy, is Mary sick?’ he asked carefully.
‘You know she is,’ she answered seriously, ‘the sickness is in her mind and she’s getting real bad.’
Theo closed his eyes and drew in a shaky breath. If Temperance was still alive and Mary was at the height of her madness it could only mean one thing. The year was 1685. He wasn’t sure what that strange green fire was which had interfered back at the Crossroad, but something had obviously gone terribly wrong because they’d been thrown back ten years too early.
Chapter 2.
Olivia struggled with the unfamiliar clothing, her fingertips fumbling with the ties of the petticoats she’d pulled on over her plain shift. Sitting down on a low cask she pulled on a pair of long woolen stockings and slipped her feet into a pair of plain leather shoes that pinched at her toes uncomfortably. She gazed longingly at her favorite boots which were laying amidst her growing pile of disca
rded clothes. Sighing in resignation she stood and pulled on a simple woolen gown, taking care to carefully tuck the small golden compass, which still hung from the delicate chain around her neck, under her clothes so it could not be seen. She’d spent a long time studying Salem and this time period in particular. She knew the women of this era did not wear such trinkets, they were not even allowed to wear gold or silver lace or buttons, a practice enforced by strict laws. Reaching up Olivia removed the small silver hoops from her ears, hoping no one would noticed the tiny pin prick piercings in her ears.
She pulled on a jacket made of the same coarse material as the dress and fastened it. It was a deep russet color she knew would have been dyed from the Madder root which produced red-based colors. She remembered this particular color had been popular as it was supposed to represent humility. It was also scratchy and uncomfortable and no doubt made of wincey, that strong coarse fabric which was a combination of linen and wool, and very popular for colonial clothing. However, reading about it in an historical reference book was a hell of a lot different from having to actually wear the unforgiving fabric, she thought grimly.
She tugged at the stiff starched white collar and eyed the matching white apron distastefully. Her gaze once again drifted to her beloved jeans as she blew out a resigned breath and picked up the white apron, pulling the damn thing on. Finally, she pulled her hair free of the ponytail and refastened it in a neat bun at the nape of her neck and secured a close fitting coif over her head. It was lucky she hadn’t painted her nails before they’d left Mercy, she thought idly as she looked down at her hands. She’d just have to make sure no one saw her barefooted as her toenails were still a bright bubblegum pink. Shaking her head in amusement at the thought she glanced up and caught Theo looking at her with a strange expression.
‘What?’
‘Nothing,’ he answered after a moment, ‘it’s just…it’s strange seeing you looking like that.’
‘You can talk’ she smiled, her eyes tracking down his body.
He was now dressed much as he had been that night in Mercy when he’d appeared in the middle of the road and she’d nearly hit him with her car; a night which seemed like a lifetime ago. Her head tilted as she studied him absently, he now wore a loose fitting linen shirt under a sleeveless cloth jerkin which was fastened at the waist with a simple leather belt. His thighs were covered with a pair of breeches which fastened at the knee, his lower legs and calves were covered with long woolen socks much the same as she wore and plain leather shoes covered his feet.
The Guardians Complete Series 1 Box Set: Contains Mercy, The Ferryman, Crossroads, Witchfinder, Infernum Page 121
