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EDWaRD WINSTON ENTERED FIRST through the door, followed by a thin brown-haired reen suit and tan stockings Close behind him - up under his arm, it would be more accurate to say - was the child, of eleven or twelve years She, too, was slender Her light brown hair was pulled severely back from her forehead under the constriction of a stiff white bonnet She wore a sray cassock from throat to ankles, and sturdy black shoes that had recently been buffed Her right hand gripped the left of her father&039;s, while in the crook of her own left arm she held a battered Bible Her blue eyes, set rather far apart on her long, sallow face, ith fear

"Magistrate, this is Violet adams and her father, Martin," Winston said as he led them in The child balked at the entrance to the cell, but her father spoke quietly and fir

"Hello," Woodhispered to the little girl; the sound of his raw voice seeht have fled had not Martin ada," Woodward explained "Therefore my clerk will speak for me"

"Tell her to quit a&039;lookin&039; at us!" adams said, his bony face damp with sweat "She&039;s castin&039; the evil eye!"

Matthe that Rachel was indeed staring at the everyone cal at this father and childi"

She aiood &039;nuff!" adams protested "Cain&039;t you put her somewheres elsei"

"I&039;m sorry, sir, but that&039;s impossible"

"Make her turn &039;round, then! Make her put her back to us!" at this Matthew looked to the ive a dis

adams said, "We ain&039;t stayin&039; here if she don&039;t turn &039;round! I didn&039;t want to bring Violet to this place anyways!"

"Martin, please!" Winston held up a hand to quiet hiistrate what she knows"

Violet suddenly jumped and her eyes looked about to burst from her skull Rachel had risen to her feet She pulled the bench away froain, this time with her back toward thereeablei"

adams chewed his lower lip "For now," he decided "But if she looks at us again, I&039;ll take my child out of here"

"Very well, then" Matthew smoothed out the fresh sheet of paper before him "Mr Winston, you may remove yourself" Winston&039;s departure hter even more nervous; now both of them looked liable to bolt at any instant "Violet, would you care to sit downi" Matthew irl quickly and emphatically shook her head "We shall have to swear you to truth on the Bible"

"What&039;s the need for thati" ada an irritant to Matthew&039;s ears "Violet don&039;t lie She ain&039;t never lied"

"It is a formality of the court, sir You may use your own Good Book, if you please"

With sullen hesitation, the hter, who made hardly a sound in her acceptance to tell only the truth in the sight of God "all right,"

Matthew said after that hurdle had been cleared, "what is it that you have to offer in this casei"

"This thing she&039;s &039;bout to tell you happent near three week ago," came back that aural irritation "It were of an afternoon Violet was kept late to school, so when she was comin&039; home she was by herself"

"Schooli You mean she&039;s a studenti" Matthew had never heard of such a thing

"She was I never wanted her to go, myself Readin&039; is a fool&039;s way to waste time"

Now the knave had well and truly endeared himself to Matthew He examined the child&039;s face Violet was not a particularly handsoirl, but neither was she ho re of her eyes and a slight tic of her upper lip that was beco a bit more pronounced as it became tirace and seemed of a sturdy nature; Matthe it had taken quite a lot of courage to enter this gaol

"My naan "May I call you Violeti"

She looked to her father for aid "That&039;ll do," adareed

"Violet, it&039;s important that you answer hti"

"She will," adams said

Matthew dipped his quill in the inkwell, not because it needed ink but because he required a ain, first offering Violet a smile "Your bonnet is pretty Did your ot to do with the witchi" adams asked "She&039;s here to tell her tale, not talk &039;bout a bonnet!"

Mattheished for a jolt of ruistrate, who had cupped his hand to his rimace "Very well," Matthew said "Violet, tell your tale"

The little girl&039;s gaze slid over toward Rachel, registering that the accused still re with her face to the wall Then Violet lowered her head, her father&039;s hand on her shoulder, and said in a shtened voice, "I seen the Devil and his imp Sittin&039; there The Devil told me the witch was to be set loose Said if the witch was kept in the gaol everybody in Fount Royal would pay for it" again her eyes darted to mark if Rachel had moved or responded, but the prisoner had not

Matthew said quietly, "May I ask where this sighting occurredi"

Of course adams spoke up "It were in the Hamilton house Where the Hamiltons used to live &039;fore they took up and went On Industry Street, &039;bout three houses shy of our&039;n"

"all right I presu took placei"

"They was gone right after the witch murdered Dan&039;l abby Hamilton knowed it was that woman&039;s doin&039; She told ot dark in her"

"Hm," Matthew said, for want of any better response "Violet, how come you to be in that housei"

She didn&039;t answer Her father nudged her "Go on and tell it, child It&039;s the right thing to do"

Violet began in as alled toward the floor "Ialkin&039; hooin&039; by where the Hamiltons used to liveandI heared soht he would have to urge her on, but then she said, "Somebody was callin&039; me Said&039;Violet, come here&039; Low and quiet, it was &039;Violet, come here&039; I lookedand the door was open"

"The door to the Hamilton house," Matthew said

"Yes sir I knowed it was eain &039;Violet, come here&039; It sounded likemy papa was callin&039; me That&039;s why I went in"

"Had you ever been inside that house beforei"

"No sir"

Matthew redipped his quill "Please go on"

"I went in," Violet said "There wasn&039;t nary a noise It was silent, likeit was just me breathin&039;, and that was the only sound I near turned to run outand thenI heared &039;Violet, look at me&039; at first&039;cause it was so dark, I couldn&039;t see nothin Then a candle was lit, and I seen &039;em sittin&039; there in that rooh turned doard, was agonized with the recollection She trembled, and her father patted her shoulder for comfort "I seen &039;em," she repeated "The Devil was sittin&039; in a chairand the imp was on his knee The irinnin&039; at asp down in her throat and then was quiet

"I know this is difficult," Matthew told her, as gently as he could, "but it has to be spoken Please continue"

She said, "Yes sir," but offered nothingof this incident was a terrible ordeal Finally she took a long breath and let it go "The Devil said, &039;Tell theaol, or Fount Royal is cursed&039; after thathe asked me if I could remember what he&039;d said I nodded Then the iain I run home" She looked up at Matthew, her eyes shocked and wet "Can I go nowi"

"Soon," he said His heart had begun beating harder "I&039; to have to ask you some questions, and I want you to think carefully before you answer to make sure that - "

"She&039;ll answer &039;em," adams interrupted "She&039;s a truthful child"

"Thank you, sir," Matthew said "Violeti Can you tell me what the Devil looked likei"

"Yes sir Hehad on a black cloakand a hood over his head, so I couldn&039;t see no face I reold buttons They was shinin&039; in the candlelight"

"Gold buttons" Matthew&039;s ue felt like a piece of iron "May I askif you kno many there werei"

"Yes sir," she said "Six"

"What&039;s this fool question fori" adams demanded "Six buttons or sixty, what does it nored him He stared intently into the child&039;s eyes "Violet, please think about this: can you tell ed on the cloaki Were they six straight up and down, or were they three side by sidei"

"Pah!" The usted face "She seen the Devil, and you&039;re askin&039; &039;bout his buttonsi"

"I can answer, Papa," Violet said "They was six straight up and down I seen &039;eht up and downi" Matthew pressed "You&039;re absolutely certain of iti"

"Yes sir, I a forward over his paper; now he sat back in his chair, and ink dripped upon the previous lines he&039;d quilled

"Childi" Woodhispered He ht I ask you to describe the iain Violet looked to her father, and he said, "Go on, tell the istrate"

"The impwas sittin&039; on the Devil&039;s knee It had white hair, looked like spider webs It wasn&039;t wearing no clothes, andits skin was all gray and wrinkled up, like a dried apple &039;Cept for its face" She hesitated, her expression torht she more resembled a life-burned woman than an innocent child "Its facewas a little boy," she went on "andwhile the Devil was talkin&039; to le &039;round and &039;round" She shuddered at the le tear streaked down her left cheek

Matthew couldn&039;t speak He realized that Violet adarotesques that Jere unholy sexual relations with Rachel

add to that the child&039;s description of Satan as seen by Elias Garrick, right down to the black cloak and six gold buttons, and - Dear God, Matthew thought It couldn&039;t be true! Could iti

"Violeti" He had to strain to keep his voice steady "Have you heard anything of the other tales concerning the Devil and this imp that may have been told around towni What I mean to say is - "

"No sir, she ain&039;t makin&039; up a lie!" adaestion of it "I done told you, she&039;s a truthful child! and yes, them tales are spoken here and yon, and most like Violet&039;s heard &039;em from other children, but by God you didn&039;t see her pale as milk when she come home that day! You didn&039;t hear her sobbin&039; and wailin&039;, near scairt to death! No sir, it ain&039;t a lie!"

Violet had downcast her face again When her father had ceased his ranting, she lifted it to look fully at Matthew "Siri" she said timorously "It happened as I told it I heared the voice and went in the house, and I seen the Devil and the is to me, and then I run home quick as I could"

"You&039;re positive - absolutely positive - that the figure in the black cloak said" Matthew found the appropriate lines on the paper &039;"Tell them to free my Rachel&039;i"

"Yes sir I am"

"The candle In which hand did the iht"

"Did the Devil have on shoes or bootsi"

"I don&039;t know, sir I didn&039;t see"

"Upon which knee did the iain, Violet frowned as she called up the memory "Theleft, I think Yes sir The left knee"

"Did you see anyone else on the street before you went insidei"

"No sir I don&039;t recall"

"and afterwardi Was there anyone on the street when you came outi"

She shook her head "I don&039;t know, sir I was cryin&039; all I cared to do was get home"

"How come you to stay late at schooli"

"It was &039;cause of my readin&039;, sir I need help at it, and Master Johnstone had me stay late to do some extra work"

"You were the only student asked to stay latei"

"That day, yes sir But Master Johnstone has somebody stay late old buttonsi" Matthew lifted his eyebrows "Hoith the Devil and the i there before you, did you have the presence of mind to count themi"

"I don&039;t recall countin&039; &039;eht my eye I collect buttons, sir I have a jar of &039;em at home, and ever when I find one I put it up"

"When you left the schoolhouse, did you happen to speak to anyone on the - "

"Matthew" Though it had been only a whisper, Woodward had delivered it with stern authority "That&039;s enough" He glowered at his clerk, his eyes bleary and red-rimmed "This child has spoken what she knows"

"Yes, sir, but - "

"Enough" There was no denying the istrate&039;s will; particularly not in this instance, since Matthew had for all intents and purposes run out of questions all Matthewcould do was nod his head and stare blankly at what he&039;d scribed on the paper before him He had come to the conclusion that, of the three witnesses who&039;d testified, this child&039;s story sounded the ht to know What she couldn&039;t recall was forgivable, due to the stress and quickness of the incident

Tell thele stateh to burn her even if there had been no other witnesses

"I assume," Matthew said, his own voice somewhat diminished, "that the schoolmaster has heard this storyi"

"He has I told him myself the very nextViolet to stay late that afternooni"

"He does"

"Well, then" Matthew licked his dry lips and resisted turning his head to look at Rachel He could think of nothing ain: "Well, then"

"You are very courageous," Woodward offered the child "Very courageous, to coratitude" Though in pain, he suo home now"

"Yes sir, thank you sir" Violet bowed her head and gave the istrate a cluh, she glanced uneasily at the prisoner, who still sat backwards upon the bench "She won&039;t hurt me, will shei"

"No," Woodward said "God will protect you"

"Wellsir, there&039;s somethin&039; else I have to tell"

Matthew roused himself from his dismayed stupor "What is iti"

"The Devil and that impthey wasn&039;t alone in the house"

"You saw another creature, theni"

"No sir" She hesitated, hugging her Bible "I heared a i" Matthened "But you saw no other creaturei"

"No sir, I didn&039;t The singin&039;it was comin&039; from back of the house, seemed like another room, back there in the dark I heared it just &039;fore the candle went out"

"It was a man&039;s voice, you sayi" Matthew had put his quill aside Now he picked it up again and began to record the testimony once more "Loud or softi"