The villagers formed a tight ring of people around the witch's house.
"Be still," Ethelreda's father whispered as she stepped none too gently upon a nearby twig. "The king's witch hunter has taken steps to protect us but we dare not alert the witch inside. We must throw our torches at exactly the right moment. The hunter will tell us when."
"Now!" came the cry from beyond the ring. A few dozen ragged villagers threw their torches from as far back as they could stand and still make the toss good. They feared the witch inside but they feared the king's witch hunter and soldiers even more.
A yowl of pain pierced the evening air as an ugly black cat leaped to freedom. It faced the crowd for only an instant before running past the startled villagers and disappearing into the nearby woods.
"It's her familiar," shouted the witch hunter. "After him children. Catch that demon in cat form."
The children ran. Ethelreda too.
Any other day she would have insisted she was almost a woman and demand to stay with the adults. But what was happening here made her want to be a child again for as long as possible.
She followed the children into the woods and then stopped as screams filled the air. Stuffing her fingers into her ears couldn't block those cries of anguish. Why didn't they give the old woman a quick death instead of trapping her inside to burn?
She took her fingers out of her ears and led the children deeper into the woods. But no matter how far they traveled, they couldn't escape the horror. The witch's screams seemed to follow them forever as they searched through the trees and tall grass for the ugly old cat.
Ethelreda hoped they didn't find it.
)
