I have discovered today
that even when one thinks himself to have won, it is not over until the final
moment. I was informed by my father when I awoke this morning that he had spent
the night awake in his study considering what I had said. He too knew that not
all cases were heard equally in the short time frame that the assizes allowed,
and he could not allow his actions to send two innocent women to their death.
He agreed that superstition had clouded his judgement, and that my argument had
shown him the error of his ways. With that, he gave me a sealed letter to
deliver to the sheriff at the gaol and secure the two women’s release. Thanking
him joyfully, I seized the letter and ran to the stable so I could ride into
town and get Mary and her mother freed before they were delivered to Lancaster.
Even as I approached the gaol, I knew that something was amiss. There was a
crowd of people gathered around the gaol, and as I dismounted and pushed my way
to the front of the crowd, I was able to see the sheriff guide two men as they
carried out a body covered in a cloth to be laid next to one that was already
on the ground. A sudden gust of wind lifted one of the clothes, and I saw the
face that I once knew so well, drained of glow in the cheeks with a laugh that
was never to be heard again. I ran up to the sheriff and seized him by the
front of his shirt, almost lifting him off the ground.
“What happened here? Who
did this? I was here to set these women free!” I released the sheriff and shook
my father’s letter at him.
“Now that makes this
even more of a shame, it does,” the sheriff declared mournfully. “The truth is
that while I was called away early this morning for business with your brother,
David Millseed managed to get inside the gaol and took justice into his own
hands before killing himself. He has been a mess since the death of his boy
Johnny, though I never figured he would take it this far. I am not even sure
how he managed to get inside.”
I walked away from the
sheriff without a word and slowly made my way back up to the estate. I did not
even notice my brother until I almost ran into him when I was returning from
the stables.
“Such a shame,” he said,
not even bothering to hide the cocky grin on his face. “You almost saved them,
but you were too late. Maybe they would have been better off going to trial.”
Looking into my
brother’s eyes, I knew what he had done. I did not bother to hold back this time
as I knocked him out with a single blow from my enraged fist. As I walked back
up to the house, I knew that I could not stay here. There was no way for me to
prove my brother’s involvement in this, and I had nothing else to keep me here.
After writing this, I will begin to pack my bags, with designs set on going to
a monastery, for a while anyway. At least there I can try to come to terms with
all that has happened.
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