Author's note – Hi, folks! Sorry this has taken so long to get to you, but real life kept butting in. By the way, apologies for bad spelling - I could have sworn 'Sorceress' had a 'u' in it, but I've looked it up, and it doesn't. Well, enjoy!
Chapter 3
As Edea reached the bottom of the stairs she glanced to her left. The door which led to her scullery, and thence to the back door, was open. At the same moment, the front door opened with a crash, letting in the glare of torches and the glares of the crowd. If she had been looking in that direction, she would have been dazzled, an easy target. As it was, the torches gave her enough light to aim by, and she set off at a run.
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The farmer with the gun was not prepared for a moving target. As he flung the door open, he saw Edea standing at the foot of the stairs. He paused for a moment to enjoy his triumph and a smile of intense self-satisfaction spread across his face. The words he would say to the witch as he sent her to hell had been forming in his mind all night. This was his moment. He would go down in Winhill legend as no other person had. The last witch to live here had escaped. This one would not.
But instead of a meek, frightened woman cowering before him, he found a person he hardly recognised. The figure was dressed either for battle, or travel, which he couldn't say. And instead of cowering, showing respect for him and his weapon, the witch was on the move. She seemed hardly aware of him, her gaze focused on something else.
He might not have been prepared for this, but he recovered quickly. He opened fire, the bullets from his gun pounding into the wall, always a fraction behind her. Suddenly, she disappeared behind a table, and he stopped firing.
The crowd behind him was growing restless, wanting to know what was happening. Certain that he had destroyed the witch, he turned to them.
'Alright, folks, alright. I've got her!' he shouted. There were cries of approval from the crowd. 'Just wait here, while I check her out. Then we'll decide what to do with the body.'
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Edea ran for her life across the room. She felt as much as heard the bullets as they whistled just behind her back and thudded into the wall. She had gained a vital few seconds by having a target in her sights and taking the farmer by surprise. If she had been looking at the door she would have been blinded by the sudden torchlight. She shuddered inwardly at the thought. But this was no time for thinking. All her effort had to go into pumping her legs harder and faster. The room, which had never seemed big enough, suddenly seemed huge. At last, the table at the far side. She flung herself behind it.
*************
Cid and Raine shocked into inaction by the sound of the gunshots, recovered quickly and hurried on the last few yards to Edea's door. Just as they reached it, an exhausted Edea crawled out of it. After diving behind the table, she had crawled through the scullery in order to avoid detection.
Raine helped the Sorceress to her feet. Edea started in fright at feeling Raine's hand on her arm, thinking that some of the townspeople were lying in wait at the rear of the house. When she heard Raine's voice, she almost broke down with relief.
But the adrenaline which was pumping through her system helped her to recover. By the dim light of the moon, she took in the situation. Two chocobos, both with saddle bags, Cid already mounted, Raine urging her away.
'Quickly,' whispered Raine, 'you must go. I'll hold them off as long as I can. Just go!' The tears which she was holding back threatened to break forth at any moment, and the longer Edea hesitated, the nearer the tears came.
Edea knew the urgency of the situation, none better, but she was reluctant to leave her young friend to face the angry townspeople alone. Raine sensed her hesitation, and its cause.
'I'll be OK, really. I'll give them some tale, and they'll probably believe it. They have no reason to suspect me, unless we're seen together.'
Finally, Edea turned to the empty chocobo, and mounted. She and Raine clasped hands for the last time.
'I'll be in touch, I promise,' Edea whispered. Then she and Cid urged their mounts into motion, and they were gone.
*************
The farmer turned back into the house, leaving the crowd murmuring to itself, debating the important question of disposing with the body. Some favoured burial, others burning. But first the farmer had to produce the body. He edged cautiously across the room, not wishing to expose himself too much. The witch might be only injured, she might still be able to harm him. He drew level with the table, holding high the torch he had procured from one of his followers.
Slowly he crouched at the side of the table, and leaned forward to gloat over the witch's body. The floor behind the table was empty; the witch had escaped.
Looking to his right, he saw the door into the scullery, which he had not noticed before. The light from his torch revealed a slender figure coming through it. The cruel smile twisted his mouth again. So, she had come back. She must be stupid to think that he would be gone so quickly. He stood, aiming the gun one-handed at her head.
'Right, witch,' he spat. 'Stop there. This time, you really will get what's coming to you!'
'What in the name of Hyne are you talking about,' asked a familiar voice.
The farmer stepped back, holding his torch higher to light her face.
'Raine!' he gasped. 'I could have blown your head off!'
'It's a good thing for your sake that you didn't!' shouted someone in the crowd. 'Who'd serve our beer then?'
There was some laughter from the crowd, but mostly demands as to the whereabouts of the witch's body. The crowd was eager to dispose of her, even if they had not decided how.
The farmer with the gun had to admit that he did not know where Edea was. She must have escaped through the back door. Raine could throw no light on the mystery. She had entered through the back door seconds after Edea had disappeared through it, but had seen no-one leave that way. Winhill was left to ponder yet another witch who had apparently disappeared into thin air.
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Cid and Edea's chocobos pounded across the freshly ploughed fields. It crossed Edea's mind that they were leaving a lovely trail for the townspeople to follow, but speed was what mattered now. They needed to put as much distance between themselves and the town as possible before they were followed.
The fields around Winhill were separated by hedges. Because the farming was mostly arable, these hedges were mostly for demarcation rather than to hold animals, so they tended to be low enough for the chocobos to leap over. None provided a barrier serious enough to check their flight. The River Winhill emptied into a larger river which ran down to the sea, and the fields ran all the way to this larger river.
Cid and Edea pulled their chocobos to a halt beside this natural barrier in order to catch their breath and to decide what to do next. They were a little surprised that there was still no sign of pursuit, but assumed that Raine had done a good job of distracting the townspeople.
'I think we should cross here,' said Cid. 'The river isn't too deep for the chocobos. We can hide out in the desert on the other side.'
'Hide out …. in the desert? What kind of plan is that? You do know what a desert is, don't you?'
Cid sighed, patiently. 'There's an oasis in the middle. I know, I've been there.'
'But how do you know you can find it again? Anyway, who died and made you leader? I don't even know why you're here. It was me they were after, and I could have got away just as easily on my own. None of this makes any sense!' The last words were spoken in a voice bordering on the hysterical and Edea firmly closed her mouth in order to get a grip on herself.
Cid, wisely, kept quiet whilst Edea calmed down. He knew their only sure way of escape was North across the Dingo Desert. To East and West lay the sea, and going South meant heading straight into the arms of the angry people of Winhill. She would come round eventually. He just hoped she didn't take too long about it.
Suddenly, she spoke, her voice coming clear and steady through the darkness.
'OK, let's go. I still don't understand what you are doing here, but I don't suppose you can go back to Winhill. They'll guess you helped me. I just hope they don't lay any suspicion on Raine. Cold hearted as it seems, however, we must look after our own skins first. So, the Dingo Desert it is. Just remember, I am a Sorceress, so make sure you find that oasis quickly!'
In the dark, Cid could not see if she was smiling. He hoped she was.
With some difficulty, they got their tired chocobos moving again and splashed across the river towards the Dingo Desert.
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The next morning, the people of Winhill discovered that Raine's chocobos and Cid were missing. Obviously the witch's disappearance was more prosaic than they had imagined or hoped. No suspicion fell on Raine. After all, the witch had killed her father, why should she help her?
They buried Leonhart the Publican in the town cemetery, but only his daughter mourned him past opening time.