Light o'Love

But what I’m telling you is the truth, as near as we know it. If you’re going to understand the Craft and how it survives, you need to know and understand the witches of Pendle. Anyway, going back to what happened.

“Mother Demdike had a daughter, Elizabeth Device, and she in turn had a daughter, Alizon Device. I suppose the story really starts with her. In fact, we don’t know what sort of girl she was. Some would have it that she was flourishing and beautiful, Queen of May, and a friend to all. Almost the all-wise Princess. On the other hand, some speak badly of her… Actually, the first time we hear of her, she was begging beside the road, which doesn’t sound much like a Princess.

“So, there she is, begging, and along comes John Law, a pedlar. Apparently Alizon tried to get him to give her some pins to sell, on consignment if you like, and she will pay for them once she has sold them. But this is Lancashire after all, and the pedlar would not part with anything except for cold, hard cash. They argued, and I’m sure Alizon was still shouting at him as he left. Unfortunately for her, he’d only gone a few steps when he fell down with a stroke. Alive but paralysed.

“That must have been the talk of every house and cottage in the district, and Alizon was the granddaughter of Mother Demdike the witch. A couple of weeks later, they took Alizon for questioning as a witch to the local Justice and Squire, Roger Newell. Concepts of justice, and of guilt and innocence, were not so clear then as they are now. The reason for questioning a witch was not to examine her, but simply to get a confession and evidence against other witches. The whole thing was stupid really, because they tortured people horribly, mostly women and girls, while asking them leading questions. Of course, the poor women would admit to anything in order to stop the torture and Alizon signed a statement admitting to worshipping the Devil. She also implicated her grandmother, and Mother Chattox and her daughter Anne Redfern. The fact that Mother Chattox and her daughter were arrested on the evidence of one of her sworn enemies makes it sound as if Roger Newell was taking the chance of clearing out two families of notorious old trouble-makers.

“Things were bad enough where they stood, but now all of the Demdike family’s supporters gathered at Malkin Tower to hatch a scheme to attack the prison and free Mother Demdike. That was a direct affront to the authorities and they struck back hard. Everyone that could be caught was thrown into prison and labelled a witch. Of course, the confessions and incriminations flowed like water. It must have been appalling in that old prison, people being tortured day after day. Old women, girls, even children, the youngest was only nine. Just think of it.”

A cloaked figure loomed out of the mist in front of them and Light o'Love grabbed Holly’s arm in shock. She tried to say something, anything, to stop Holly as the figure came closer.

“Ah, here we are,” said Holly. “You’ve got to congratulate me. Exactly right, and no witchcraft. What do you think of that?”
The threatening figure in the cloud reduced itself to a concrete survey pillar surrounded by a cobble apron. Light o'Love’s heart slowed again. The cloaked figure had looked so real.

“Sandwich time,” announced Holly, “But I wish the sun would shine.” They squeezed together at the foot of the pillar and dug their lunch from their pockets.

“How do you know this story?” asked Skyler. “Has it been passed down?”

“I suppose it has. The whole affair was famous and we’re lucky that the records are good. I wouldn’t trust folk memories on a thing like that.”

“So what happened next?”

“Well, let me see. The original event, the pedlar John Law getting paralysed, happened at the end of March. By the beginning of April, the old women Demdike and Chattox were in prison along with Alizon and Anne Redfern. The plot at Malkin Tower came at the end of April, and the prison was full of witches from then on. They even brought some completely different prisoners over from Yorkshire to add to the fun.

“They went on trial in August, twenty supposed witches all at once. Old Demdike didn’t get as far as the trial. She had already died. I guess being tortured is not good for eighty-year old women. There are very good accounts of the trial written by the Clerk of the Court, Thomas Potts from London. They make me cry when I read them, it really was awful what they did to people then.

“They used Alizon’s young sister Jennet to convict her, her brother James, and their mother Elizabeth. The things they must have done to that poor child… How could she live with it afterwards? After convicting most of her family? Poor Alizon testified against her own mother.

“If you’re cynical about what was going on, you’ll be even more cynical about the verdicts. All the Yorkshire witches were found not guilty. Just the ones from around here were sentenced to death. Ten of them were hanged on the 20th of August. Including Alizon. She was only eleven.

“Come on, we’re getting cold. Let’s go and see where Malkin Tower used to be.”

Light o’Love followed her in silence. How could it have happened? In the middle of Old England, where people lived together and knew each other, how could ten people be hanged by superstition? Most of them knew less about magic than Light o’Love herself, and that was little enough. Her heart cried for the poor children. She imagined Alizon, the little Princess only eleven years old, hanging dead in some crowded town square. The mist became even more unfriendly as they dropped towards the valley.
 
Chapter 3

On the way home Holly drove off the main road to find a friendly pub. They sat in the warmth, enjoying crisps and a beer. Their faces burned from the wind, and the day on the moors made them feel pleasantly relaxed.

“About those witches,” asked Skyler, “I mean, were they actually witches? Or was it all invented?”

“Who knows? There were witches out there, I’m sure of that. There always have been. Whether the old women were part of the Craft, I don’t know. I suspect they were pretty unpleasant people, whatever they were.”

“But are witches really like that? I mean, doing evil things. Talking to the Devil and so on.”

Holly stopped for a moment. “Well, there are witches, and there are people who play at being witches. They pick up ideas from here and there, try and do some charms. They might even have a little success. But they don’t understand what they’re doing because they’ve never been taught. How many people have you heard of that read fortunes? Most of them have a spark, but it’s never been developed into anything useful.

“Who knows what the Pendle Witches actually were? The old women seem to have been quite unpleasant people, so they might have wanted to do evil things. You can’t believe any of the evidence from the trial. Most of it was confessions they gave under torture. And then, there were Elizabeth’s children, testifying to save their own lives. It must have been terrible.”

Light o'Love shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t understand why people wanted to believe those stupid things about communing with the Devil. Who would do anything like that?”

“Oh, there was much more than that. Especially after the crowd at Malkin Tower had been arrested. The court saw human bones, mysterious clay dolls, familiar spirits. Almost certainly just hysterical rubbish, but it’s just possible that someone had been playing with things like that.”

“But that’s evil!”

“Yes. Yes it is, and no one should ever play with the Dark Light. But don’t think that people never do, and that includes genuine witches. People seem to have as much of a tendency to evil as they do to good, and it’s probably only laziness that saves most of them.”

Holly took another crisp from the packet and chewed thoughtfully. “We are most at risk, because we know more. We’re always trying to do things, to influence events, and an evil witch is much, much more powerful than an ordinary person who’s going wrong. So never, ever think about it. There is only madness and death on that road, no matter how attractive it looks.

“Enough. I took you to Pendle to help you understand a little about how witches were seen in the past. Also about how easily women in particular could be destroyed by false accusations. Thank God, life’s easier now but I expect you could still find some hysteria in Old England if you looked hard enough. Now, tell me what you think about your new names.”

“I like mine,” said Skyler. “It has an interesting sound. And it’s much better than what that old fool Bonely came up with first!” The others laughed at her.

“It’s all very well for you to laugh,” said Skyler peevishly. “You don’t have to put up with tits like mine.”

“Well I wouldn’t mind a bit more, if you could spare some,” said Holly with a smile.

“Me too,” jumped in Light o'Love. “You can hardly see mine.”

“You should be careful what you wish for,” said Skyler with bitterness in her voice. “Sometimes they seem to rule my life. And it’s not just buying clothes. People are always staring, even women. And men are impossible. They keep talking to my tits instead of looking me in the face. They don’t know what it’s like to have to carry these things around. I hate them!”

Light o'Love put her arm around Skyler’s shoulders. “Don’t say that. I think they’re wonderful. Really. And if I was a man, I’d want to play with them all the time.”

“I’d be happy to play with them now, and I’m a woman!” said Holly.

“Me too, we’ll take one each. Would you mind, Skyler?”

Skyler was relenting. “Maybe. One day. When I’m not feeling so negative about them.”

Holly tried to calm her down. “You know, you should appreciate them, really. Not everyone’s as lucky as you. And, who cares if people stare? They’re only jealous. And of course you drive men out of their minds. Look at old Bonely. He’s goodness knows how old, and he was blindfolded, and you still knocked him for six. He’d probably have a heart attack and die happy if you let him get his hands on them.”

“You know, if you were a bit more generous with them, you could probably rule the world. Well, let’s not exaggerate,” said Light o'Love, “but you could certainly win friends and influence people. Male people, anyway.”

“What do you mean, be more generous with them?”

“I mean, share them around a little. Show them off a bit more. You know, undo a couple of buttons, show lots of cleavage. Rub them up against people when you get the chance. We all like you, and we like your breasts too.”

“She’s right, everybody would like to see more,” said Holly definitely.

“But that would just make it worse,” complained Skyler. “If they talk to my tits now, what do you think they’ll be doing if I let them look down my cleavage?”

“That’s not the point,” said Light o'Love firmly. “The fact is that your tits are special, and everyone is impressed with them. Even the women. I know I am. And if you can make people’s life a little happier by sharing your good fortune with them, well, you’re a very lucky girl. So much good done so easily.”

“Listen to her,” said Holly. “She’s going to be the expert.”

“I don’t know about that,” said Light o’Love, “but I tell you what. Next time a man talks to you like that, just take his hands, put them on your tits and say ‘Right, now you can talk to me properly.’ That should sort him out. And he’ll remember. When you find one that doesn’t get embarrassed but just says thank you, hang on to him.”

They all giggled at the picture and then Holly said, “You know, Light, I think you’re going to grow into a real expert on love. You talk a lot of sense. What do you think of your name?”

“I like it! I was so afraid Dr. Bonely would come up with something stupid, did you hear what he was mumbling? He’s a really dirty old man. But Light o'Love’s nice. Very romantic. But I’m not sure it’s justified. I don’t have any experience at all. I don’t know anything about love.”

“That’s not what Ari thinks…”

Light o'Love felt her ears burning. “How do you know that?”

“Ah-ha! I’m your tutor in residence. I’m meant to know everything, especially if my students are having fun when I’m not.”

Skyler looked from one to the other. “What are you talking about? Has something been going on, Light?”

Holly chuckled. “Our only expert on love has been doing naughty things with Ari. After the Hallowe’en Vigil. She was quite impressed, I think. She certainly came to work next morning looking very tired and wearing borrowed clothes.”

“Light! I don’t believe it! She’s a girl.” Skyler sounded shocked. Light o'Love’s evening with Rostov had been bad enough, but sleeping with a woman was clearly something beyond her understanding.

“Yes, I was surprised too. But I have to say it was fun. She’s the one who should be a specialist in love, not me. She’s really clever.”

“Don’t think that, Light,” said Holly. “There’s a very good reason why you were the only one chosen for love, you know. We all felt you had real strength in that area. Just wait until you’ve had some real experience, and I don’t just mean at sex, although that’s very important too. You have to learn relationships as well, and they are much more complicated.”

“Why did they give her cognodynamics as well? No-one else got two specialisations.” asked Skyler.

“That’s right. It doesn’t happen often. But both areas felt very strong, and we were arguing about whether she should have one or the other. But it was stupid. Both of them were far stronger than anyone else. If you work hard, you’ve got the potential to be a very significant power, Light. The love is good, we can all relate to that, but the cognodynamics… Promise me that you’ll always be very honest with yourself. We don’t want to think that you’ve been using it to control other people, ever. That would be terrible.”