Blood and Clay by Dulcinea Norton-Smith Read Free Book Online

the
clearing for a while then, when the damp of the moss started to seep into my
clothes, I crawled to the tree and curled up in the hole in the trunk.

 
    I
stayed in the clearing, within the tree trunk, for the rest of the afternoon.
As I sat in my safe place I prayed over and over again and asked God to keep
the Nutter family safe, especially the children. I didn ’ t feel like I knew much about good
and evil but I did feel in my blood and bones that God was good and would not
allow any harm to come to the children as long as I could pray hard enough for
Him to hear me. I knew that tonight I would be asked to help Gran out of the
house and to leave her outside in the dark for half of an hour. I didn ’ t know what Gran did during this time
only that within days of doing it a person who had offended the family would
suffer pain, death or misfortune. I only hoped that her prayers had been strong
enough.
    When
the air was finally too cold for me to bear and the clearing had begun to get
too dark to see I crawled out of the tree and stood up, arching my curved spine
to straighten it out again after my time curled up in the tree. With a final
prayer to God, this time for myself, I set off home and as I walked I mentally
prepared myself for the beating I knew would be waiting for me when I arrived.

Chapter Seven

 
             As Roger knelt down he relished the
hardness of the prayer pillow beneath his knees. Feeling uncomfortable did not
bother Roger. He felt it was an excellent display of piousness to suffer for
his faith. He listened intently to the vicar ’ s choice of words for the prayer. The
words spoke directly to Roger ’ s current frame of mind and he felt that the vicar must
have done so after their conversations the day before on the tasks which lay
ahead.

 
    “ Our Heavenly Father hear our prayers.
    As
we live under the rule of our monarch
    We
thank you for choosing him as our King.
    We
vow to aid him in all condemnation
    Of
witches and Catholics and heathens.
    Help
us to remain strong and steadfast in our duties,
    And
bless our magistrate Roger Nowell as he begins his quest
    To
battle the evil among us to preserve our piety and goodness.
    In
the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost
    Thy
will be done,
    Amen ’           

 
    The
congregation echoed the “ Amen ” then stood for the last hymn of the service. Roger took an
extra few seconds to silently ask God for the strength he needed to serve his
King and community then stood to join in the hymn.        

 
    As
the service ended Roger slipped out from his back row pew and made his escape
before the women of the village could corner him. As one of the last eligible
bachelors of the parish Roger was rarely starved of attention following the
Sunday Service. It was an attention that Roger despised and the girlish
fripperies and concerns of the single and matchmaking women of the parish
angered him. Did they not see that it was a goodness of the soul he prized not
the angle of a well turned nose or the bounce of a carefully coiled curl?

 
    As
Roger walked quickly away from the church and prepared to mount his horse he
heard the rest of the congregation come out of the church. Instead of making
his exit, however, Roger decided to stay and visit the vicar to gain some
further counsel on the challenge he was about to begin. Roger cringed as he
made his way back through the simpering women who tried to get his attention.
He kept his gaze focused on the church entrance so as not to appear
purposefully rude in ignoring the women. Once inside the church Roger sat in
the pew he had left only moments before and waited for the stragglers to leave.
Once the last people, the elderly members of the community, had left the church
Roger waited for the vicar to see him. The vicar saw Roger as he bent to
collect the final hymn books from the back pews and came to sit beside him.

 
    “ Roger so good to see you. Did you like our