Shadows at Stonewylde (51 page)

Leveret actually ran straight into the bulk of Sweyn, who caught her with a shout of laughter.

‘Here she is! She’s found us!’

‘That’s amazing!’ cried Gefrin. ‘We called into the cottage looking for you, Hare-brain, but you weren’t there! Fancy your coming looking for us – how did you know?’

She struggled in Sweyn’s grip but of course it was useless for he was adept at holding her when she wriggled. Then she heard the third voice that made her heart sink even further; there’d been the slight glimmer of hope that it was only her brothers out in the darkness.

‘She enjoys all the fuss we make of her, don’t you, Leveret? We make you feel special and you are so special to us – the Maiden of Imbolc!’

They roared with laughter at this.

‘You are so going to wish you’d never been picked!’ cried Gefrin. ‘Just you wait!’

‘I didn’t want to be picked,’ she said desperately. ‘I don’t want to be the Maiden.’

‘Oh yeah!’ said Jay in disbelief. ‘Of course you do – all the girls do. You can’t wait to stand there showing off to everyone, all tarted up again and thinking you look pretty when really you just look like some ugly little weasel in a party dress.’

Leveret hung her head; that was exactly what she’d been thinking.

‘Your friends are really pissed off with you, Leveret.’

‘I haven’t got any friends.’

Gefrin laughed. ‘I’m not surprised.’

‘Except my half-wit cousin,’ sneered Jay. ‘He’s all you can manage.’

Leveret bit off her retort, not wanting them to dwell on Magpie. She stood silently and hoped that once they’d finished laughing at her they’d let her go home. In the darkness she heard the glug-glug of a bottle.

‘Pass it over,’ growled Sweyn, ‘and hold on to her while I have some more.’

She felt Jay’s hands on her arms and shrank under his touch. She could smell him – a mixture of cider, sweat and smoke – and it made her recoil further.

‘I have to get back,’ she said. ‘Mother’ll be wondering where I am. She’s waiting for me.’

‘No she ain’t – she’s up at the Hall till late. She told us and that’s why we went back to the cottage to find you,’ said Gefrin.

‘And how come you’re out on your own?’ asked Sweyn suddenly. ‘You’re not allowed out at night on your own.’

‘I’ve been up at the Hall too.’

‘No you haven’t. You’re lying again!’

She felt Jay’s grip tighten on her arms and realised she’d tensed up.

‘Clip was with me,’ she said desperately.

‘No he weren’t! We saw him as we left.’

Sweyn’s face loomed into hers and she caught a blast of his foul breath.

‘Back to your old tricks, eh, Lev? Lying to Mother, deceiving her? You won’t get away with it – I’ll tell her and she’ll be so upset with you.’

‘No!’ she cried. ‘It’s none of your business what I do and I’m sick of you and your bullying, you stupid, thick oaf!’

He punched her in the stomach just as he’d seen Jay do at the dance, but harder. She felt as if her guts were exploding and bent over double with the pain, retching into the grass. Jay had let her go, knowing she couldn’t run, and she slowly straightened, wiping her mouth with her sleeve and relieved now that she hadn’t yet eaten. She clutched her stomach and groaned with pain.

‘Nice one!’ said Jay, taking a swig of the cider and passing it round.

‘Mother’s going to see that,’ whispered Leveret when she could speak again. ‘She’s fitting me for my Imbolc dress and she’ll see what you did to me.’

‘Shit!’ muttered Sweyn.

‘I’m going home now,’ she said quietly, turning away from them and starting to walk.

‘Not so fast!’ barked Jay, grabbing her arm and swinging her round. ‘Did we say you could go? We ain’t finished with you yet.’

‘What are we going to do with her?’ cried Gefrin, capering about excitedly. ‘Make her drunk again?’

‘Nah, done that,’ said Sweyn. ‘I wish we could put her in the well like your granny said.’

‘Yeah!’ laughed Jay. ‘But it’s still early and people are about in the Village. Pity, though, ‘cos that would’ve been a laugh.’

‘The river!’ yelled Gefrin, beside himself with glee. ‘Let’s dunk her in the river like we used to!’

Leveret stood there whilst they discussed her fate, sharing the cider around as they egged each other on. She didn’t dare argue in case one of them punched her again and she couldn’t run; her stomach was agony. She started to curse them silently, calling on the Dark Moon magic, calling on Mother Heggy to help her. It didn’t seem to work because they dragged her towards the bridge.

‘We’ll grab her ankles and dip her head in,’ said Jay. ‘The river’s very high.’

‘Yeah, and hold her under like we used to! See if we can beat our record.’

‘If we let her go she’ll drown, so hold on tight,’ said Sweyn, and from the way he staggered she realised they’d had a lot to drink. They’d probably been kicked out of the pub as George was very strict about young lads not having too much, but had taken more cider from home when they called in to look for her. Leveret was really frightened now; she could hear the river and it was indeed high. In the winter months the spring flowed fast and was joined by many tributaries until the river was swollen into a torrent, very different to the peaceful, lazy meander of the warmer months. They might well drop her in and she knew how swift the currents were. She began to cry, hating herself for showing her fear but unable to control it.

They reached the low-sided stone bridge which was just wide enough for a cart to cross. The river was really loud now and Leveret sobbed frantically, begging them to let her go, begging them to do anything they liked but not this. The memories of past torture in the water came crowding in; it had always been a favourite because it left no evidence. Many times her brothers had held her under until she thought her lungs would explode and she’d die. And they’d been sober then and not had Jay with them to add his cruelty.

‘She’s shit scared!’ laughed Jay, holding her easily as she struggled in his grip. ‘She’s really trembling.’

He shoved her down onto her knees and made her bend over the low wall so her head hung over the edge. She resisted all the way, struggling desperately to kneel up. Jay pushed his knee onto her back and pressed her down hard onto the stone, which dug into her sore stomach and hurt badly.

‘You two take an ankle each and for goddess’ sake hold on tight. I don’t want to kill her – that’d spoil all our fun. Have you got her?’

She felt her brothers both gripping tightly onto her ankles whilst Jay held her down. She saw glimmers of the dark water not far below, swirling and raging, moving very fast. Jay had to shout to make himself heard over the noise of the water.

‘When I say “go”, lower her down and stop when I tell you!’

Leveret started to thrash about at this, trying to kick their faces, trying to raise her body off the wall. Jay just thrust down even harder making her ribs crunch, and he shouted again.

‘Ready boys?’

She felt the stone scrape her stomach as Jay began to slide her over the edge towards the racing water.

And then it was all gone: the river, the darkness, the three thugs. She was in the bright place before the other realms and the raven was there. It hopped towards her and spoke softly
.

‘
Be brave, Little Hare, for this will come to an end. They’ll suffer as they make you suffer now. You have a friend who looks out for you and soon she’ll show herself, when the time’s right
.’

‘
But why must I put up with this?’ she asked. ‘I’ve never hurt them – why do they do this to me?
’

‘
They envy you. They’re scared of you because you’re different and not like them. They see something in you that’s strange and they try to destroy what they don’t understand. It is ever thus
.’

‘Bloody hell! What’s happening?’

Jay felt her go limp, which was odd as she’d been rigid with terror the second before, and then her whole body started to jerk. He hauled her back up and turned her over to see her face.

‘Shine the light on her!’ he yelled and Gefrin fumbled about with the torch and managed to switch it on. He screamed as the harsh beam found her face. It shone from below her chin, so the shadows cast by her sharp bones made the face look like a skull. But more frightening than this was her eyes – they’d rolled up in their sockets and gleamed whitely as she shook.

‘She’s having a fit!’ screamed Jay, who’d seen a boy like this once at college. ‘Quick, let’s get out of here!’

‘We can’t leave her here,’ said Sweyn, scared by the sight of his sister. ‘Look, it’s stopping now.’

Jay felt her go completely floppy in his arms and they saw her eyes return to normal. She screwed them up in the bright light, unable to see a thing. She was utterly confused and thought she was still in the bright place.

‘Where are you?’ she called feebly. ‘I can’t see you anymore. When will she come to me?’

‘Leveret!’ said Sweyn sharply. ‘Snap out of it!’

‘I don’t like it,’ moaned Gefrin. ‘She’s weird.’

‘She’s always bloody weird. Leveret!’

Jay shook her then, not caring that her head bounced back and forth.

‘You’re putting it on now!’ he said harshly, more shaken by her behaviour than he liked to show. ‘Stop it, Leveret! Get that bloody light out of her eyes, Gef!’

The torch moved slightly and she blinked, focusing on the three faces hovering over her.

‘This will come to an end and you’ll suffer as you’ve made me suffer.’

They’d finally reached the cottage and Jay let her go, having half-carried, half-dragged her back. His fear had receded and he was just angry with her now.

‘You’ve messed us about tonight, girl,’ he said, shaking her slightly again but careful not to overdo it just in case. ‘You think you’ve fooled us with your party tricks but you haven’t. You wait, Leveret – just you wait!’

‘If you say a
word
to Mother about this we’ll tell her you were out on your own again,’ growled Sweyn, jabbing her hard in the chest. ‘Do you understand?’

She nodded, utterly exhausted and wanting to get inside the safety of the cottage.

‘How am I going to explain the marks on me?’

She was sure her stomach would be bruised from the punch. It was also scraped sore from where Jay had held her down so hard on the rough stone bridge and then dragged her almost over the edge and back again. Her back felt bruised too from the weight of his knee.

‘You’ll think of something,’ said Jay. ‘Or you’ll make sure she don’t see. Now you’d better get some beauty sleep ready for Imbolc – you need it.’

‘Yeah, and think about the lovely surprise we got for you!’ said Gefrin.

‘Shh! Shut up, Gef,’ warned Sweyn.

‘You’ll regret it,’ she said wearily. ‘I know you will, whatever it is.’

‘Are you trying to threaten us?’ asked Jay quietly.

‘No, I’m warning you. I know.’

‘Well stuff your bloody warnings, you mad bitch! You’ll regret being the Maiden, that’s for sure – you’ll regret that alright. Come on, lads, the three old girls should be finished their Dark Moon stuff now. Let’s go and have a pipe with them and see what they’ve come up with.’

They shoved her in through the garden gate and went on up the lane, laughing.

As Imbolc approached, Leveret became more and more nervous. She somehow managed to conceal the livid bruising and her scraped skin, and Maizie teased her about becoming so modest all of a sudden. She tried not to flinch as her mother fiddled about with the bodice of the dress, pinning and tucking the white material tight so it fitted her snugly over the fine camisole, clucking and tutting and loving every minute of it. Leveret, meanwhile, stood like a stone statue hoping for a miracle to make them choose somebody else at the last minute.

She had to practise the chants and steps endlessly, with the other girls giggling and chattering around her and enjoying themselves no end. Little Celandine beamed at her constantly, desperate for Leveret to notice her special dance and make some comment. But Leveret was so wrapped up in her own despair that she didn’t realise. There were even a couple of practices with Kestrel which she found a terrible ordeal. He was as charming as ever, making all the girls laugh with his jokes, and couldn’t understand why Leveret wasn’t bowled over too.

‘What’s wrong?’ he whispered once, as they stood in the sidelines waiting for their cue. ‘Didn’t you want me for the Archer?’

‘No, no, it’s not that,’ she whispered back. ‘I just wish I wasn’t the Maiden. I hate it.’

He stared at her in complete astonishment.

‘But all the girls want to be the Bright Maiden!’

‘Not me.’

The afternoon before Imbolc just as they’d all returned from the woods after picking snowdrops for the head-dresses, Marigold came bustling in, rosy-cheeked from the bitter wind and searching for Leveret.

‘Ah, there you are, my dear!’ she gasped, relieved at having found the girl. ‘I just had a message from one o’ the painters in the Circle. Can you go up there quick? There’s some trouble with our Magpie and he’s upset. They can’t get through to him and they want you to try and make him understand. They said he’s done the painting all wrong but he won’t let ’em wash it off.’