Fire Girl (13 page)

Titus clambered into the seat after him, breathing hard. Amazingly, his hat was still perched on his head. ‘Get us back on the road before the wheels come off.’

Hazel glanced at David as she steered the wagon off the verge. One side of his face was horribly swollen. His right eye was lost deep in folds of flesh, the other open and unseeing. She reached
towards the bite wounds on his cheek, hoping to stop the flow of blood.

‘Don’t touch him,’ Titus snapped. ‘Do you want to get poisoned too?’

‘Will he . . . ? Is he going to—?’

‘Die? I don’t know. I’m taking him inside.’ He glanced back up the road. ‘I can’t see anyone following. Keep driving – and keep the pace up. We’ll
talk when I’ve seen to the boy.’

Hazel nodded and geed the horses along as Titus clambered through the hatch, dragging David after him. When he closed the door, Bramley crept out of Hazel’s hair, scurried down her arm and
perched on her lap.

Hazel laid a hand on him. ‘You’re shaking.’

‘Of course I’m shaking,’ he squeaked. ‘I’m terrified.’

‘David looked terrible,’ she said. ‘His face is all . . . bloated.’

‘It’s not your fault.’ Bramley nudged Hazel’s fingers with his nose.

‘It
is
my fault.’ The horror of it all made her feel sick. ‘If he dies . . .’

‘Listen,’ Bramley said. ‘You need to think fast. The Witch Finder is going to ask what was going on back there—’

Hazel jumped and Bramley scrambled into her cloak pocket as the hatch crashed open. Titus thrust out his head, now minus the hat.

‘Slow down, slop-sprite,’ he said, climbing out, ‘or the horses will drop dead from exhaustion.’

Hercules and Ajax snorted as she reined them in to a trot, their heaving sides streaked with sweat.

Bramley’s right
, Hazel thought to herself.
I’ve got to get my story straight or I’ll wind up on the end of a rope.

‘How is he?’ she asked.

‘Dying.’ Titus grabbed the reins from her. ‘Just what bloody story have you written us into, girl?’

‘I’m looking for my ma. I asked David to help me find her, that’s all.’

‘By God, that’s
not
all. Accosted by demons and Wielders in my own wagon? And my mooncalf apprentice nearly killed? What in blazes happened back there?’

‘They were waiting for us. There was a woman in the road, so David went to see . . . to help. Then that huge spider . . .’

‘That idiot boy walked into an ambush? I thought I’d taught him better than that.’

‘Well, where were
you
?’ Hazel cried. ‘Laid out drunk and no good to anyone, that’s where.’ She yelped in surprise when he grabbed her chin and thrust his
face close to hers.

‘Lucky for you I woke when I did. That demon had a fierce hankering for your flesh.’ He cocked his head, granite-hard eyes boring into her.

He knows
, she thought, dread rising in her stomach
. He knows what I am!

‘But its handler,’ Titus continued. ‘The hooded man – he wanted you alive. Why would that be, I wonder?’

‘I don’t know,’ Hazel almost sobbed with fear. ‘I’m just a girl . . . looking for her mother.’

‘Just a girl,’ Titus muttered. ‘I don’t believe that for a greased second.’

‘He said he knew you,’ Hazel gasped. ‘Do
you
know who he is?’

Titus let go of her face and Hazel leaned away, trembling. ‘There was something familiar about him,’ he murmured, stroking his beard. ‘But right now we have bigger
problems.’ He jerked a thumb back down the road. ‘They’ll be after us, no doubt about that.’

Hazel nodded and glanced into the swirling mist, certain she could see shapes stalking through it. ‘It’ll be easy for them to follow the wagon,’ she said. ‘They could
attack us at any moment.’

‘Correct,’ Titus said. ‘And we need to get help for David. The boy’s a prize-winning fool, but he’s
my
fool and I won’t see him die. There are a few
smallholdings in Wychwood . . . Forest people are strange and don’t like outsiders, but they
might
help us. Though we won’t get far in the wagon.’

‘What if I take David into the forest while you draw them away in the wagon?’

Titus scowled. ‘That’ll do, I suppose. There’s a bridge coming up that crosses a stream. Follow it east until you reach a cabin on a hill. It’s not too far from here. But
be careful – as I said, forest dwellers can be dangerous.’

‘You said “strange” before.’

‘I meant
dangerous
,’ Titus said. ‘You’ll need to slip away unnoticed. There’s a trapdoor under the rug inside. When we reach the bridge you and David can
drop through on to the road and get away as fast as you can. If they’re watching, they’re less likely to notice if you leave that way. I’ll draw those horrors off while you make
your escape.’

‘What about you?’ asked Hazel. Although she was terrified of the Witch Finder, she didn’t like leaving him at the mercy of Rawhead and Spindle.

‘I can look after myself. And, girl?’

‘Yes?’

‘You are responsible for what happened to my fool. So see he gets help.’

With a nod she climbed through the hatch into the wagon. Samson wagged his tail and gave a little whine. David lay on the bottom bunk with his arm across his bandaged face, as if shielding
himself from a bright light. His chest rose and fell in rapid gasps.

‘David,’ Hazel said, taking his hand. ‘Wake up, we have to go.’

The flesh around the puncture wounds on his cheek was raw and moist. She flinched but didn’t look away. ‘What’s wrong with me?’ he rasped. ‘Am I dying?’

‘Not even slightly,’ she said, forcing herself to smile.

‘I don’t remember what h-happened . . . just that vile spider and then . . . nothing.’ His voice was paper-thin and creased with pain.

‘We were ambushed. They’re still after us, but there might be people nearby who can help. We need to get you out of here. Can you get up?’

David grimaced as he sat up. ‘They’ve not killed me . . . yet.’

‘Good.’ Hazel grabbed her bag and pulled back the rug, revealing a trapdoor with a brass ring handle. She heaved it open. Cold air and threads of mist seeped inside.

David knelt beside her, face blanched with pain as he wound a bandage around his head to cover his wounded eye. The crunch of the wheels changed to a rumble as the wagon mounted the bridge.

‘This is it.’ Hazel said. ‘Follow me as soon as I’ve jumped. Stay low –
they
may be watching.’ She swung her legs over the edge. ‘And Samson, be
a good boy and stay here.’ The dog whined but lay down by the stove.

‘Here goes,’ she said, and dropped through the hatch.

Witchcraft is a dark and horrible reality, an ever-present

menace, and a thing most active, perilous and true.

Der Hexenhammer
by Dr Heinrich Hoefer

H
azel lay flat on her stomach as the wagon rumbled over her. David landed heavily a few feet away, grunting with pain.

‘We need to get out of sight,’ she hissed, watching the wagon disappear into the mist. She looked up as rain pattered against the leaves. Cool water fell on her face and she licked
it from her lips. Its crisp taste sharpened her mind. ‘Come on, let’s get off the road,’ she said, putting her arm around David’s waist and helping him to his feet. They
peered over the bridge parapet at steep banks studded with shrubs and mossy rocks. From the bottom, lost in shadow, rose the sound of rushing water. ‘Ready?’

‘No.’ David heaved a rattling breath.

‘Me neither. Let’s go.’

She guided David off the bridge and over the edge of the bank.
How on earth did I end up in this situation?
she thought, stepping carefully on to what she hoped was a solid foothold.
‘Step where I step, and take care – it’s slippery and a long way down.’

‘Step where she steps, step where she steps, step where she steps . . .’ David murmured.

‘Oh dear,’ said a small voice. Bramley had somehow scrabbled his way back up to his favourite perch behind her left ear. ‘I think the poison is making him go
doolally.’

It was raining hard by the time they were halfway down the embankment, soaked to the skin and gasping. Streams of water foamed down the slope, loosening the soil and stones. Desperate to get as
far away from the road as possible, Hazel forced herself to descend slowly, helping David with every faltering step. Only the thought of him lying at the foot of the bank with a broken neck stopped
her from going faster.

After an eternity of slips and near falls, they splashed into a puddle at the foot of the bank. The stream was swollen with floodwater, rushing in a torrent around jagged rocks.

‘At least it drowns out our noise,’ Bramley said, shivering. ‘And perhaps covers our scent too.’

Movement on the bridge caught Hazel’s eye and she pulled David behind a boulder. She put a finger to her lips. He nodded. Two silent figures crossed the bridge, one black, and one white,
ghostlike in the miasmic rain. Hazel held her breath and only let it out after they had disappeared up the road.

‘It worked,’ she said. ‘They’re following the wagon.’

David staggered towards the riverbank. ‘I c-can’t leave him to face them alone,’ he muttered. ‘He’s an old man . . .’

‘Don’t be stupid,’ Hazel said, grabbing his arm. ‘He told me to get you to a safe place. Besides, you’re in no state to fight. You’d just be a
hindrance.’ She sighed when his face fell. ‘I’m sorry, but it’s true.’

‘All right,’ he said, his teeth chattering. ‘But first chance I get I’m going to k-kill that spider myself.’

Keeping to the shadows, Hazel and David followed the stream east, slipping on rocks and gasping as the freezing water gushed over their feet. Eventually they emerged from the
cutting. The banks levelled out and the stream widened, flowing over a bed of flat, smooth stones.

Hazel looked up through a gap in the trees. The morning sky was drab: grey, dark and oppressive.

‘I need to stop,’ David croaked. ‘Can we rest for a minute?’

‘All right.’ Hazel glanced at his haggard face. ‘But not for too long.’ She led him under the fronds of a willow tree and settled him down by its trunk. He sat for a
moment with his head between his legs and then threw up on his boots.

‘Oh, lovely,’ Bramley said.

Hazel dipped the edge of her cloak in the river and wiped David’s mouth and chin.
He’s so pale
, she thought
. He looks dead already.
Guilt squirmed in her stomach.

‘Step where she steps, step where she steps . . .’ David mumbled.

Hazel sat next to him and snuggled deeper into her cloak. ‘David,’ she said – realizing the boy had fallen silent. ‘
David?
’

He stirred and opened his good eye. ‘Oh. So it wasn’t a bad dream.’

‘I’m afraid not,’ she said with a small smile.

‘Those people back there, they might still be after us. You . . . you should go on without me. I’m only slowing you down . . .’ His eye flickered and his head lolled on to his
chest.

I could leave him
, she thought
. After all, he’d probably kill
me
if he knew I was a witch.
She shook her head violently to dispel such dark thoughts – dislodging
Bramley in the process. He gave an indignant squeak.

‘Don’t be such a blockhead,’ she said, giving David a shake. ‘We’re sticking together. I’m paying you to find my ma, remember, and I don’t pay the dead.
Now come on, we can’t stay here all day.’

David groaned as she helped him to his feet. ‘You’re as s-stubborn as the boss.’

‘And don’t you forget it.’ She jumped as a flash lit up the clouds, followed by a sound like a splitting tree trunk.

‘That sounded like the c-cannon,’ David wheezed. ‘The b-boss is in trouble.’

I’m sure he can look after himself,’ Hazel replied, trying to sound confident.

‘I hope so.’ David took a ragged gasp. ‘For all our sakes.’