She nodded to the corner where Elena could dimly make out her small bundle.
Elena nodded. 'I swear I'll stay hidden. But please, don't make me stay like this. Please untie me and I promise I won't make a sound or try to get out.'
Ma hesitated. She glanced over at the mask on the wall which was her eyes into the guest hall. She crossed over, climbed the steps in front of it and, after briefly glancing out, she swung the wooden shutter across it and latched it.
Then she returned to the bed. Standing at the end, her short stubby arms wrapped across her ample breasts, she frowned at Elena.
'I'll release you, but you stay quiet and keep away from that.' She pointed to the shutter. You make a single sound, or open that shutter, or make any attempt to leave this room, and I will cage you with the other wild beasts. You'll be in good company, for they are man killers too.'
Four Days after the Full Moon,
October 1211
Hare — It is unlucky if a hare crosses the path of a mortal, and if he is setting out on a journey or to take to the seas in a boat, he must turn back and not venture forth that day. If a pregnant woman should chance to see a hare, her child will be born with a harelip. If a man dreams of a hare it is a certain sign his enemies are plotting against him. The name of the creature is never uttered on a ship for fear of raising a storm and if an enemy wishes to curse a ship, he will hide on board a hare's foot and then that ship shall surely founder.
But a hare's right foot if worn or kept on the person will ward off the aches of age in the limbs or the cramps.
If a lover deserts a maid and she dies of grief, she will be turned into a white hare. Witches can, at will, turn themselves into hares, and in this form they will sit upon a cow's back and milk her dry, and likewise they will dry the milk of sheep, and in the form of a hare do great mischief on the farm. A witch- hare may only be killed with a silver knife or silver arrowhead, and if a hare is wounded then escapes, mortals search the village to find a woman who is similarly injured and then they know her for the witch.
But once, long ago, when the old gods ruled the land, the hare was honoured and no mortal man could harm her or eat of her flesh, for she signified the return of spring and was sacred to the goddess Eastre.
As with mandrakes, those women with gifts that men cannot control, men fashion into witches and demons, that they might destroy them.
The Mandrake's Herbal
The Devil's Bargain
Down in Ma's hidden chamber, Elena heard the bell tolling in the guest hall and moved closer to the hollow mask on the wall. She dared not open the shutter which covered the mask for she guessed the light from the candle in Ma's chamber would shine out of the eyes of the mask and give her away. And she was too afraid of being left in the dark to extinguish the candle.
Elena had not been permitted to leave the chamber since Ma had hidden her here. She could only count the passing of the hours by the guest hall bell. She knew it must be evening when the bell in the guest hall began to toll repeatedly as the customers arrived and then later she would hear the great door opening and closing as one by one they left. But as far as she could tell it was morning now, too early for customers. Was it the sheriff's men? Her heart began to race.
So she pressed her ear against the wooden shutter, but she could hear little except Talbot's deep growl. No words of any visitor, which meant there was only one of them, she thought. If there were a group of men in the guest hall, she would surely hear them. The sheriff wouldn't come alone.
The trapdoor grated above Elena's head. She tripped and almost sprawled headlong in her effort to get back on to the bed before Ma descended the ladder. But there was no creaking of the ladder.
Instead, Ma put her head through the hatch. 'Come here, my darling.'