her.
They both fell asleep.
A Life for a Life
CONSTABLE HARGREAVES UNLOCKED the leg irons and took James Device round the corner to the Dog.
Tom Peeper was there in the dark low-fired room. A naked half-asleep child sat on his knee. She pulled her dress on over her head and ran off without speaking to her brother. Tom Peeper stood up and fastened his breeches.
‘How did she get out of the Tower?’ said Hargreaves.
‘I locked ’em in. I let ’em out,’ said Peeper. ‘Not that sly toad I didn’t though.’ He gave Jem a kick. ‘Devil must have let you out.’
Jem looked like an animal at the food and drink. He stretched out his hand. ‘You’ve had my sister. Give me beer and bread.’
He tried to snatch the crust but Tom Peeper slapped him aside.
‘She’s not yours to trade, Jem, not now, property of the Law. That right, Harry?’
Harry Hargreaves said nothing. He had no appetite for the children Tom used but he wouldn’t stop him using them. Tom Peeper was useful. He was a spy and a sadist. That made Hargreaves’s job easier.
‘We’ll give you food, Jem,’ said Hargreaves. ‘Eat up.’
Jem hesitated, but only for a second. He sat on the bench, both elbows on the table and shoved food into his mouth with both hands. He drank with his mouth full, slopping and choking, scooping up the slushy mess that fell out of his mouth. He ate unconcerned for anything, except his food, as a man who is often starving eats. Peeper glanced over at Hargreaves. They had worked together for a long time. They had an understanding.
‘There’s a dungeon for you, Jem, in Lancaster. Makes the Malkin Tower look like a royal palace. Your grand-dam hasn’t escaped and neither will you, not as a hare, not as a bird, and not with a league of Dark Gentlemen to escort you. You will leave on a cart and you will be burned at the stake.’
Jem ate steadily, without looking up, but he was listening.
‘You could save yourself. Testify against your kin and they will burn and you will be free. We’ll send you away quietly. Roger Nowell will get you a billet in Yorkshire. You’ll have food to eat, clothes to wear, a barn to sleep in, a fire in winter. You can get married. How about that, Jem? A wife to keep you warm. Something better than your squinty mother or a greasy sheep to quieten your cock. All you have to do is to confess to Roger Nowell that the meeting at Malkin Tower was a band of witches. A blasphemous Good Friday plot. We will not remember the stolen sheep or any other thing against you.’
Jem was eating and thinking. Eating was easy. Thinking was hard. They were only asking him to tell the truth. He saw a picture in his head of the straw bed in the barn and the chicken in the pot and his sweetheart working in the fields, and her coming home in the evening and them being together, away from all this forever.
‘And you would testify against Alice Nutter.’
Jem stopped eating and dreaming. His face was full of fear. He shook his head. ‘I may not speak against her.’
Tom Peeper put his nose in very close. ‘Why may you not speak against her? What power has she over you?’
Jem shook his head again. ‘I will be torn in quarters by demons.’
Tom Peeper took up the smoky dripping candle and held back Jem’s head. ‘I can quarter you faster today than any devil tomorrow. And where I am too soft and silly, the torturer at Lancaster will make up for my slackness.’ He dashed the hot wax into Jem’s face.
Jem jumped away and went whimpering into the corner of the room. There was a big spider on the floor. The spider said, ‘James Device, I will protect you. Do what they ask and I will make you greater than she.’
‘Are you a fiend?’ said Jem.
‘I am your friend, James Device. Put me in your pocket and listen to me carefully.’
‘Get up off the floor, you length of rotten rope!’ shouted Peeper.
Jem pocketed the spider and stood up. ‘I will testify against them all.’
Constable
They both fell asleep.
A Life for a Life
CONSTABLE HARGREAVES UNLOCKED the leg irons and took James Device round the corner to the Dog.
Tom Peeper was there in the dark low-fired room. A naked half-asleep child sat on his knee. She pulled her dress on over her head and ran off without speaking to her brother. Tom Peeper stood up and fastened his breeches.
‘How did she get out of the Tower?’ said Hargreaves.
‘I locked ’em in. I let ’em out,’ said Peeper. ‘Not that sly toad I didn’t though.’ He gave Jem a kick. ‘Devil must have let you out.’
Jem looked like an animal at the food and drink. He stretched out his hand. ‘You’ve had my sister. Give me beer and bread.’
He tried to snatch the crust but Tom Peeper slapped him aside.
‘She’s not yours to trade, Jem, not now, property of the Law. That right, Harry?’
Harry Hargreaves said nothing. He had no appetite for the children Tom used but he wouldn’t stop him using them. Tom Peeper was useful. He was a spy and a sadist. That made Hargreaves’s job easier.
‘We’ll give you food, Jem,’ said Hargreaves. ‘Eat up.’
Jem hesitated, but only for a second. He sat on the bench, both elbows on the table and shoved food into his mouth with both hands. He drank with his mouth full, slopping and choking, scooping up the slushy mess that fell out of his mouth. He ate unconcerned for anything, except his food, as a man who is often starving eats. Peeper glanced over at Hargreaves. They had worked together for a long time. They had an understanding.
‘There’s a dungeon for you, Jem, in Lancaster. Makes the Malkin Tower look like a royal palace. Your grand-dam hasn’t escaped and neither will you, not as a hare, not as a bird, and not with a league of Dark Gentlemen to escort you. You will leave on a cart and you will be burned at the stake.’
Jem ate steadily, without looking up, but he was listening.
‘You could save yourself. Testify against your kin and they will burn and you will be free. We’ll send you away quietly. Roger Nowell will get you a billet in Yorkshire. You’ll have food to eat, clothes to wear, a barn to sleep in, a fire in winter. You can get married. How about that, Jem? A wife to keep you warm. Something better than your squinty mother or a greasy sheep to quieten your cock. All you have to do is to confess to Roger Nowell that the meeting at Malkin Tower was a band of witches. A blasphemous Good Friday plot. We will not remember the stolen sheep or any other thing against you.’
Jem was eating and thinking. Eating was easy. Thinking was hard. They were only asking him to tell the truth. He saw a picture in his head of the straw bed in the barn and the chicken in the pot and his sweetheart working in the fields, and her coming home in the evening and them being together, away from all this forever.
‘And you would testify against Alice Nutter.’
Jem stopped eating and dreaming. His face was full of fear. He shook his head. ‘I may not speak against her.’
Tom Peeper put his nose in very close. ‘Why may you not speak against her? What power has she over you?’
Jem shook his head again. ‘I will be torn in quarters by demons.’
Tom Peeper took up the smoky dripping candle and held back Jem’s head. ‘I can quarter you faster today than any devil tomorrow. And where I am too soft and silly, the torturer at Lancaster will make up for my slackness.’ He dashed the hot wax into Jem’s face.
Jem jumped away and went whimpering into the corner of the room. There was a big spider on the floor. The spider said, ‘James Device, I will protect you. Do what they ask and I will make you greater than she.’
‘Are you a fiend?’ said Jem.
‘I am your friend, James Device. Put me in your pocket and listen to me carefully.’
‘Get up off the floor, you length of rotten rope!’ shouted Peeper.
Jem pocketed the spider and stood up. ‘I will testify against them all.’
Constable
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