SHE LOOKED DOWN on the little figure she was carving. It was almost finished. She brought the spatula round for a final time. The wax doll was complete. God help her, she hoped that it wid wirk this time. They had risked sae much the previous week. But it had wirked years afore when they were young. She had feared that she might lose him then, also.
Memories of that time came to her. She had woken him at midnicht. She remembered helping him frae his sickbed. He had coughed aw the way tae the burn. He stood in the sooth-runnin water in only his semmet an turned thrice widdershins. Then she had dooket him in the freezing water an they had dropped the figure in the stream. It floated awa in the moonlicht. She said her chairm, the ane taught her by her mither lang ago.
She had felt powerful, something strang within her, a force acting thro her. She looked up at the moon an a pulse o joy shot thro her. She had touched him on the foreheed. They baith stood in the water fir a minute longer. She felt his shiverin body beside her. She was young an she wanted him inside her there an then, she wis so aroused by his nakedness. But he wis ill an had nae appetite fir sic things.
She helped him frae the water an dried him wi the cloth beside the burn. They plodded back thegither tae the cottage in the moonlicht, hoping that they widnae be seen. His teeth were chatterin as she pit him tae bed. That nicht she feared that he wid dee. A fever raged thro him. He cawed oot tae her in his dreams. She begged the Lord tae save him. She feared that the magic widnae wirk. But it did, as her mither had telt her it wid.
Sure enough, as dawn broke on that cauld winter day, he was brocht back tae her, the fever disappearing as the sun rose, his cough easing. He wis able tae sit up in bed, his muckle haunds roond the wee bowl o soup. Within a week he wis fully restored tae health an back at wirk.
He had rarely been ill since, certainly naething as serious, not till last week when the hacking cough came on. Her mither wis lang deid. But she kenned whit she must dae. An the wirds were etched in her mind. She dare nae speak them oot till they were at the burn again.
She feared that they had been seen returning tae the village the first time. But it wis a risk they had tae take.
Times were haird. The ministers had witches on their minds. But she wis nae witch. She wis just using the skills she had been taught as a girl. She believed in Jesus Christ an the Bible. She went tae the kirk every Sabbath. She prayed wi the congregation an looked up at the young handsome minister. She wis a guid woman. She wirked haird aw her life. But she didnae want tae be alane now. She loved him tae much, the auld fool.
They had been thegither sae lang. An now there wis the death o her mistress.
At least they wid be comfortable enough. Lady Lammersheugh had provided fir them. But the ithers were putting pressure on him, wanting him tae help. He wisnae fool enough to dae that, fool enough tae be hung as a traitor.
She thought o puir Janet, taken as weel, her auld friend. She had complained o pains in her chest an she had tane a remedy to her the day afore she wis found deid by the tall lawyer.
She didnae trust him, wi his dark threatenin een. She had tauld him tae say naething tae them.