Blood and Clay Read online

  “Hello Mr McCarren.”

  “Hmm. Hello. Alizon isn’t it? The Device girl”

  “Yes Sir”

  “Here alone?” Alistair looked behind me and scanned the trees with the familiar edginess that I often saw when people wondered if my Gran was around. When I nodded Alistair McCarren visibly relaxed.

  “Aye. Not that I got a problem with your family you understand. No, I don’t have a problem with no-one round these parts. That chattering Chattox woman gives me the creeps mind. Not friendly with your family is she?”

  “No Sir.”

  “What are you doing on a fine day like today then girl?”

  “I’ve come to buy fabric and pins. I’m going to make our Jennet a dress.”

  “Ah, lucky girl she is then, having a sister such as you and a new dress an’ all. Is it wool you’ll be wanting?”

  Alistair lifted up a swatch of heavy, coarse, sage green material. I felt it and it was rough and scratchy to the touch. I knew it was not unkindness but charity which made McCarren go for this material as it was both hard wearing and the cheapest he had to offer. I smiled and allowed my gaze to drift over the other fabrics. My eyes eventually settled on thick linen, orange with small green leafs embroidered here and there. I touched it gently with my fingers. It was still thick enough to offer some warmth in the evenings but light enough to be cool during the day and it was almost smooth to the touch. The orange was the colour of autumn leaves and the green, not the muted sage of the wool but rather a far brighter green, almost the same as the grass on which I stood.

  “Could I have this one please?”

  “You sure? It’s tuppence a yard. You’ll need at least four yards to be making a dress for your Jennet. That’s two groats.”

  “Aye, I can afford it. I've been saving a shilling for this.”

  “A shilling! Well I won’t ask how you got it girl. One bob is as good as any other to a business man such as me. Four yards of the Autumn Dream Linen it is then. And thread? That’ll be another penny. Leaves you with thre’pence.”

  “I need pins an’ all and a good strong needle.”

  “Sorry lass. I sold the last o’ my pins to Mistress Nutter yesterday. John Law will be by here sometime this morn though. He peddles all sorts o’ bric a brac. He’ll have pins for you if you got the time to wait.”

  “Thank you Mr McCarren Sir.” I stroked the shilling one last time before handing it to Alistair. He laughed as he took it.

  “You've been holding on to that tight girl. It’s as hot as a peat fire!”

  I smiled and watched as Alistair folded a sheet of thick brown paper around my precious purchases before securing it with thick, fraying string. He handed me the thre’penny bit and the carefully wrapped package with a smile which made his nut brown weathered face wrinkle like a dried out apple. I beamed as I took it, luxuriating in the weight and neat symmetry of the package.

  “Bye lass. Come on Bessie”

  Alistair climbed back onto his cart and gave the pony’s rump a quick slap which sent her trit-trotting off down the road towards Barnoldswick, following the path on which I had come. I continued to the bend a couple of yards further on and settled on the rock which had been so cold in October but was now pleasantly warmed by the morning sun. I put my coins into my pocket and laid the package on my knee, stroking my hand up and down across the smooth, brown paper. The weight of the package was a pleasant pressure on my legs and I longed to open it and look at the beautiful orange hues and tiny embroidered leaves on the fabric. Jennet would love her dress and perhaps there would be enough left to make myself a drawstring purse.

  As the morning turned into noon I ate an apple which I’d found on my way to Beggar’s Bend and then moved to sitting on the floor with my back and head leaning against the rock on which I had now placed the package. I closed my eyes and listened to the wood pigeons. The light filtering through my eyelids was a similar deep honeyed orange to the fabric and warmed my face so pleasantly that I soon felt myself nodding off. The sun was lower in the sky when a cold, wet feeling on my arm jolted me awake. I opened my eyes in surprise to see a black dog nudging me. Moments later I heard the noise of clogs on the stone road I pulled myself to my feet, using the rock as leverage, and stretched my legs which had stiffened slightly. I rubbed my calves which had red indents in them from the stones which had pressed on them in my sleep and then brushed down my dress to appear more presentable before giving the strange dog a scratch behind its ears then shooing it to the side of the road. Boosted by the lovely day so far my smile came a lot more naturally and was far wider than usual as I faced the approaching man who carried with him a collection of large tool bags, each clanking with their treasure trove of contents.

  The man smiled as he reached me. He looked to be in his fiftieth year and was not the sturdy looking man that Alistair McCarren was but rather a thin and frail looking chap who seemed to struggle with his wares which he carried on his back and in his hands. He wheezed and walked as if dizzy. As he reached me and put his bags on the floor to free his hands which he then rubbed his temples with. Then he shook his head as if to clear it and smiled at me once more.

  “Are you alright?” I asked.

  “Aye lass, it’s just my age and I’ve had quite a walk from the village of Fence just yonder.”

  ”Are you John Law the peddler Sir?”

  “Aye that I am lass, and what might your name be little lady?”

  “My name is Alizon, Alizon Device.”

  As soon as the words left my mouth I knew that I’d made a mistake in sharing my family name with the peddler. His face went from the smile he had worn just moments before to a frown. The welcoming stance and eye contacted became defensive and his expression hardened.

  “Ah, a whelp of that Demdike witch I’d wager. Well you won’t be getting no charity from me girl. Be on your way and I’ll be on mine. I have no more pleasantries to share with the like o’ you today.”

  “No Sir, I have three pence to buy pins with. Honest I do. I just want to buy some pins from you.”

  “Your money’s no good to me girl. I don’t want anything to do with earning’s of the Devil. I’m an honest God fearing man and you don’t have no right tricking me with your dishonest earnings.”

  “Sir please. I’ve waited many an hour for you. It’s honest money, I swear, and I just need some pins and a needle then I’ll be on my way.”

  “You’ll get nothing from me girl, out of my way” John Law said as he pushed me roughly to the side so as to walk past.

  I stumbled on the small stones as his push threw me away from him. As I fell I caught my knee on the rock and it began to bleed. I cried out in pain but my cry was soon drowned out by the growling and barking of the black dog as it moved to stand over me and faced the peddler. John Law hurried to pick up his bags as he looked at the dog with fear. It was a large dog and seemed ready to attack if he made another move towards me. Tears made my vision blurry and my knee had begun to sting and throb. Sticky blood dribbled down my leg and pooled at the top of my shoe before running down the insides of the leather to make the sole of my foot damp. As I looked at the peddler he began to heft the biggest of his bags onto his back then suddenly stopped. One arm seemed to go limp and he dropped his bag from the other hand to be able to rub the floppy arm.

  “What have you done you bitch? You and that cursed hound of yours. What spell have you cast on me?”

  Suddenly he wavered in his feet and fell to the ground. The dog’s barks had settled into a low rumbling, chesty growl and it seemed to relax away from the peddler then went quiet and started to lick at the tears on my face. I looked in shock between the dog and the peddler who now lay on the ground. The left side of his face was twisted in an inhuman grimace and he floundered around like a beetle on its back as he tried to get up. I crawled towards the peddler to try and help but as I got closer he lashed out his arm and turned his face towards me, half of it normal and half now drooping at the eye, chee
k and mouth. He looked like a wax doll melting right in front of me. I shrank back in fear and dragged myself backwards towards the rock. As I reached it I pulled myself upright and began to run back towards Malkin Tower. Maybe the Devil was in him. What had I done?

  The black dog ran beside me for a while and then I stopped to rest as my knee began to throb once more and realized that the dog was gone. I started off once more and didn’t stop until I reached my clearing. I collapsed into the clearing and crawled into the hiding tree, sitting still and quiet for a few minutes as I caught my breath before beginning to sob.

  I hugged my knees to my chest and rocked as I sobbed. Visions of the fabric left behind, the dog and, most often, the peddler’s face, crowded my thoughts until I finally cried myself to sleep.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The water pooled around my ankles and tickled them as it trickled past. Every so often a trout would swim slowly past. They were plentiful at this time of year. T’weren’t our river but it were so close to Malkin Tower that not many folk came near. Summer meant a change in the pace of life and most of our food came from the river or land rather than Beggar’s Bend. I’d not caught a thing today though, not even tried. My head was too filled with thoughts of the day before, the peddler’s face as he lay twisted and writing on the ground, the lack dog that I hadn’t seen since. I’d tossed and turned all night as they clamoured my dreams. By morn I was sweaty and claggy, tangled up in my sheets. I had left the barn without speaking to anyone and made my way down to the river for some time alone with my wicked thoughts.

  My heart had been beating hard, trying to fight its way out of my chest to tell the world what I’d done. Out here in the open it didn’t beat so hard. I lay back on the grass and pulled my feet out of the water. They instantly began to warm up. The grass tickled the back of my neck and my ears. Where my back pressed into the floor I felt damp and warm as the morning dew still lingered where I rested. Looking up I began to feel dizzy as the dandelion clock puffs of cloud seemed all at once very far away but close enough to touch. The sun was already high, even though it was still early, and the blue of the sky was so bright that it almost hurt to look at it. A dragonfly, looking all the world like a fairy, buzzed over my face and settled on my chest for a while before flittering away again. I closed my eyes and listened to the whisper of the trees, tinkling and bubbling of the river and the clattering of horse hooves, coming up fast.

  I shot up, the calm of a minute ago totally gone, my hammering heart making itself known again, threatening to leap out of my chest. Roger Nowell had come to get me, or Constable Hargreaves perhaps. All the possibilities flitted through my mind quicker than a blink. Hide, run real wick back to the barn, stay and face up to a flogging. Before I could decide the horse skidded to a stop at the other side of the river sending a shower of tiny pebbles and dusty dirt into the river, making a small cloud in the water before it sank or was swept away. A pair of heavy boots hit the ground and bounded into the river. The rider was all that way across the river before I calmed down enough to look at his face and realised it was Gabe. A sob erupted from my throat before I could stop it as relief washed over me, making me as dizzy as I had been when I was watching the clouds. I quickly pulled myself together. I hadn’t realised how scared I was until this moment but I didn’t want Gabe to see me cry.

  “Lizzie what happened?” Gabe reached my side and plopped down next to me heavily. He set down a large bag he was carrying. “The village is saying you crippled John Law the peddler. Not just one village, all of them. They are talking about you from Read to Barlick to Clitheroe.”

  “I didn’t do it.” I gasped. “Honest Gabe I didn’t. Or maybe I did. I don’t know. I’m all a tizz, all confused. I didn’t mean to do it, I know that much. Is he dead?”

  I could feel the tears threatening again. My eyes prickled and I felt as if a lump of apple were stuck in my through, making me want to gag.

  “He ‘isn’t dead Lizzie, just lamed. Frozen on one side the gossips are saying. What happened?”

  I shot a look back to the house. I didn’t want Mam or Gran seeing Gabe. They didn’t know I had a friend and if they did find out they would find some way to harm our friendship. Make me steal from Gabe or tell him untruths about me. They wouldn’t let me have the bit of happiness that Gabe brought me.

  “Come on. We should move away from here. Mam might see.”

  “She can’t be that bad Lizzie. Perhaps I could meet her.”

  “No!” Gabe moved back a bit and his eyes widened. I realised I had just shouted.

  “Sorry I mean, she isn’t nice Gabe. Not like your Mam. Let’s just go alright?”

  “Alright. Let’s be off then.” Gabe was still looking at me like I was moonstruck and I remembered again how far apart our lives were, how he could never really understand how my life and kin were.

  I stood up and slipped my shoes on. Gabe waded across the river to get his horse then waded back.

  “You might be better off than I Gabe but you can’t afford a horse. Where’s that from?”

  “Mr Nowell. I went to see him to find out what was going with Mr Law.”

  “I didn’t know you knew him Gabe. What did he say?”

  I was shocked that Gabe knew the Justice. What had he told him about me? I couldn’t bear for Gabe to know that I had lied to Mr Nowell or about the horrible visit of him and the Constable a few months earlier.

  “He didn’t say nowt Lizzie. Just that I should come see you and find out if you were troubled. I thought you knew I knew him Liz. It were him who got me my job with John Nutter. Mr Nowell is my Uncle.”

  I stopped walking and Gabe bumped into me.

  “Your Uncle? What do you know of me really Gabe? What has he told you? You lied to me Gabe. You’ve been lying’ and pretending’ you know nowt about my kin but what I’ve told you.” I felt close to tears.

  Gabe looked at me wide eyed. “I don’t know nowt but what you told me Lizzie. What do you mean? I thought you knew he were my Uncle. He’s Mam’s big brother. I don’t know him right well, only spoken to him once or twice in my whole life, but I knew he would know what was going on an’ I was worried.”

  Gabe was looking at me like I was a mad beast, a boggart dancing a jig. His brow was furrowed and he stared at me.

  “Lizzie, I don’t know nowt about you really do I? Just that you ha’nt got much money, you don’t get on with your kin and your Mam and Gran fancy themselves witches. What don’t I know Liz? Time to be honest with me lass.”

  I nodded. Perhaps the relief of talking the truth to him would help. Perhaps he would know what to do, maybe help me and Nettie run away and start again. It was getting worse every day at home. There was never enough money for me to save enough to start a new life and it was going to be a right old age before Nettie was grown enough to find a husband and get free.

  “Come on, not here.” I glanced a little ahead to the haunted clearing that we were now reaching. A place of evil was not the place so be sharing confidences. “I know somewhere we can go. Somewhere we can talk.”

  I had been planning to walk us through the woods and into one of the fields beyond but something pulled me to the security of my clearing now. If I was going to share my secrets with Gabe I should share all of them and that meant showing him my secret hideaway. We kept on walking, me at the front. Gabe shot a look at the haunted clearing.

  “I don’t like it here Lizzie. It feels cold, dark. Is this the place they talk about in the village? The place where your Pa was murdered?”

  I turned to Gabe and stared at him. I couldn’t speak, the world began to spin. Tree branches and grey shadows began to spin, Tree roots blended with branches and I forgot which way was up. I found myself sitting on the ground before I knew what happened. Gabe quickly ran to my side and crouched down next to me.

  “Lizzie? What happened? What’s wrong?”

  “Help me up Gabe. I just ... I lost my footing is all. I think we have a lot to talk about. Let’
s keep on until we get to the place I want to show you then we can talk.”

  My voice felt pathetic and small. I felt pathetic and small. How could I never have known that the murder that had taken place in the haunted clearing was the murder of my Pa?

  Chapter Fourteen