Lou's Life Chap 16 "Witchunt"

She took a step back and crossed herself. Oh dear, that was not an encouraging sign. "Alouettte? Is that you? What is the meaning of this, how did you come to be here? I do not understand." she asked in a tremulous voice. I stepped towards her, gave her a curtsey and kissed her hand. Then I went to her side and put one arm around her shoulders. I did feel a twinge of guilt about the lie I was about to tell, but I couldn't very well come out and admit the truth, now could I? So I began, "Sister Fincana, a most wondrous miracle has occurred. I was on my way home to wed Mathieu and my brothers and I were attacked by robbers. I was injured. I was sick for a long time. Lord Fitzgerald found me, took care of my injuries and eventually asked for my hand in marriage. I am now a Countess, the wife of an Earl, isn't that wonderful?"

Sister Fincana took another step back, her eyes wide and glued on Quinn. I shot him a look of uncertainty, what else could I say to comfort her? Quinn stepped forward and made Sister Fincana a low bow. "How do you do, good Madam? I am pleased to make your acquaintance. My dear Lady has told me all about you and her dear friends at the convent. I appreciate all you have done to care for Lady Fitzgerald and keep her safe until fate saw fit to bring us together." He took her hand, and bowed before her again as he lightly kissed her knuckles. The Sister still said nothing, she still just looked at us both with a quizzical expression on her face. Quinn took a step back and looked at me with uncertainty as to what to do. I realized I was holding my breath, wasn't breathing. I didn't have to breathe of course, but when around you humans, Quinn and I forced ourselves to "act" normal. I inhaled deeply. The sound of my breath seemed to snap Sister Fincana back to attention. She began to scream and turned and ran.

Quinn and I just stood there for a moment watching Sister Fincana run screaming down the road. Everyone was looking, people even coming out of their homes and shops to see what the commotion was about. Then they turned towards us, trying to determine what we had done to make a elderly nun flee screaming down the road. Suddenly, we were subjected to a vast amount of unwanted attention. Quinn grabbed my elbow and started practically pushing me in the direction of the Inn. Once we got out of the Market and outside of hearing distance of the humans, he whispered to me. "My dear, we need to make great haste. I don't know what the outcome is going to be, but I fear this will not be favorable. Let's get back to the Inn and gather our few belongings and we will see from there if we have to flee or not." Every person we walked passed stared at us, and followed us with their eyes as we made our way down the street. We were almost to the Inn when suddenly, behind us, we heard a male voice bellow loudly "HALT!" We stopped and turned. About 100 yards behind us stood the Sheriff with the Abbess, my old Mother Superior, Sister Marguerite.

Sister Marguerite was smiling as she started walking towards Quinn and I with the Sheriff fast on her heels. "Alouette, what a pleasant surprise." Sister Marguerite extended her hands for me to take and bow over as I kissed her knuckles. I glanced at Quinn and he gave a slight nod. If we behaved as if nothing was amiss then possibly, they would not think anything was wrong. Of course I should greet her properly, like I had a thousand times before when I lived at the convent. As soon as her hands touched mine with my pale, cold skin, her smile disappeared, she gasped and pulled her hands away like she had been burned.

She took two steps back and bumped the Sheriff. Time seemed to stop and stand still as I watched her point a finger at me, and scream with a shrill, high voice "Arrest her! Arrest them both! She has been bewitched." Before we knew what was happening we were being manhandled from behind. The Sheriff handed manacles to the two men who held Quinn and I with our arms pulled behind our back, and they attached them to our wrists. I was watching Quinn to see his reaction so I could gauge how I should react. He looked slightly irritated, but was not overly anxious. He was not acting like this was a life or death situation although he did shoot me a look that clearly said for me to keep silent and let him handle this, so I remained calm and quiet.

Quinn was glaring at the Sheriff. "You are making a serious mistake, my good man. If you will allow me to get them, I have letters of mark that indicate that I am who I say I am. I am the Earl of Rothesay, and unless you want to have the anger of the king on your head for harassing a member of his court, you must release me and my wife immediately" The Sheriff stepped forward, and continued to glare at Quinn as he reached into Quinn's vest pocket and pulled out the pouch that held our papers. My stomach did a flip as the Sheriff flipped open the pouch, I had spent such time and attention to detail preparing those papers, and now I was slightly worried that they would not pass inspection. Our lives hung in the balance, and for several moments neither of us breathed. The Sheriff perused the papers for a moment, the looked up at the "Throw them in the cell until this is straightened out" And with that, Quinn and I were practically dragged through the mud towards the jail. We were tossed in the cell and the door was slammed behind us

"¡Esos imbeciles estúpidos! ¡Idiotas! ¡Morirán por su estupidez!" Quinn exclaimed in Spanish, and pretended to stumble as they shoved him into the cell. That was the first time in our relationship that I had ever seen Quinn angry. He hid it well, but I could tell by the intense sparkle in his eyes, that his non-existent blood was boiling. He pulled himself erect to his full height, snapped his clothes back straight where they had been wrinkled by being handled roughly, and he slowly walked over and sat beside me on the cot against the back wall. He continued to speak to me in Spanish so that the Sheriff, who was sitting at his desk watching us intently, would not understand our conversation. "Don't worry, my dear, it will be all right.

They will not hurt us, the Sheriff may go so far as to send a courier to Court to verify I am who I say I am. But once he confirms it to his satisfaction that we are not evil, are not supernatural in any way, he will let us go. They have no reason to hold us. We have done nothing wrong aside from frighten a couple on elderly nuns." At that moment, Sister Marguerite, Sister Fincana, and another nun I did not recognize, came into the Jail. They stood in front of the Sheriff's desk and began speaking in whispered tones, occasionally glancing in our direction. It was obvious they were talking about us, and had I been human I would not have been able to hear the conversation. But I was definitely able to hear every word, with a minimum amount of concentration. They were deciding our fate. The Sisters were explaining that they knew me but had never seen Quinn before. They told the Sheriff my story, that I had left the year before in the company of my brothers and was supposed to be going home to be wed.

They did not understand why, the last time they had seen me, I was supposed to be going to wed a poor farmer and now, here I am dressed in fine clothes and wed to an obviously wealthy man claiming to be an Earl. Then Sister Fincana began to cry, and she became very hard to understand through the blubbering and her Scottish brogue. I did understand the word "Sidhe". That word from my childhood that she had used in every story she ever told us about vampires and werewolves. I also heard the word "Sorcière" which was the word for Witch. They were all looking at us with stern, disapproving looks on their faces.

The Sheriff heaved his considerable bulk up from his desk, walked towards our cell and unlocked the door. Quinn and I both stood to face him. He stood in the doorway and directed his comments toward Quinn. "My Lord Fitzgerald, it appears your papers are quite in order and you are free to go with my apologies. But I apologize, the Sisters bring some very serious accusations against your Lady wife. I'm afraid that she will have to be held until the charges can be answered. The Sisters are accusing her of being a Witch and in league with the Devil. With the Abbey here, the influence of the church in our town is strong.

I have no choice but to take their accusations very seriously. She will have to be taken to the river and tried." I grabbed Quinn's arm and clung to him. What was happening? I could barely comprehend why these Ladies, who I had once loved and considered my family, could do this to me. Quinn leaned down and whispered in my ear "Don't worry, Darling. Everything will be all right. I have brought you to far to lose you now. It will go easier for us to escape later if we do not make a scene now." Quinn pulled away and stepped out the door. On one hand, I had faith in Quinn. He said he was not going to let me go and we were going to escape.

I trusted him as I trusted no other. But, on the other hand, as that heavy iron door slammed shut I felt more alone, more desolate, more heartbroken than I have ever felt in my entire life. The Sisters had raised me since I was 8 years old. They had fed me, clothed me, and helped me learn to serve God. Then Quinn had changed me, made me a vampire and then made me his lover, he was now my entire world. Every person in this room, except for the Sheriff of course, was my entire family. They were the ones that I had felt safe with, had felt love from, and they were all walking out the door. I sat down on the cot and tears began to run down my cheeks.

A few hours passed, and I was laying on the cot looking at the ceiling. The Sheriff was out, so I was in the jail alone. I guess they figured I was just one weak little woman, they didn't feel the need to guard me closely, I was locked down and wasn't going anywhere. There was a small window that was above my bed for fresh air, and the only way I could see out was if I stood on the cot on my tippy-toes. I was laying there contemplating what I should do next, when suddenly I heard a whisper in the wind. I wasn't concentrating my hearing, so I could barely make it out. I stood up on the cot, peeked out the window, and saw Quinn standing across the meadow, out of sight from the townspeople. With my superior vision, I saw he was moving his lips. I closed my eyes and listened. He was speaking in Spanish, in a whisper low enough that the humans, even if they had been near him, would not have been able to hear.

He was asking me if I was listening. I gave a brief nod, and he continued. "By the time I had returned to the Inn, Hewitt, my valet had arrived. I was going to try to free you tonight but I have had to change my plans. I have left the Inn to make them think I have abandoned you, so that we both have a chance to get away. You must be strong and brave. They are coming for you. In a few moments, they will come and take you from the cell. They are going to take you to the river and try you as a witch. The theory is if they dunk you under the water multiple times, constantly kicking your feet out from under you and you sink to the bottom, your guilty and you die by drowning. If you float, you are innocent, but you still die by drowning, because every time you try to stand, they kick your feet out from under you again.

I suppose logic is not considered a valuable skill, otherwise they would figure out that it's wrong for you kill an innocent woman. Let them take you to the river, put up some fuss, they will expect that, but do not use your full strength. Once you get to the water, before they dunk you, inhale a big breath of air. That will keep you buoyant. Float. They will believe you innocent. Then you can float away down the river and I will meet you with the carriage about a mile downstream.