Melinda Warren walked around the corner of a house on the outskirts of the settlement. The sun had been up for nearly two hours. Sebastian Craggen hadn't put in an appearance for several days and Melinda was getting worried. Craggen wasn't the type of warlock to just give up and go away. She knew he had to be planning something; she just wasn't sure what that was.
Suddenly she heard a noise behind her. Bracing herself she spun to face whomever it was, her hands raised in a defensive posture. Several feet behind her stood a man in his late twenties or early thirties with black hair. He was dressed as any of the other men in the village.
"Matthew," she said with a sigh of relief. "Don't sneak up on me that way. I might have used my powers against you."
"I wish you would," said Matthew. "Then I could help you with Craggen. But you must return home immediately."
"Patrick," Melinda gasped, fear in her voice.
"Yes," said Matthew. "You are needed. Amanda is beside herself with grief."
"Amanda love Patrick and Prudence as dearly as if they were her own," said Melinda. "Whatever happened I'm sure was an accident."
"I have no doubt," explained Matthew as they hurried to Melinda's home. "She was fixing breakfast for them and left Patrick alone for only a moment. When she turned he was playing underneath the window. She had forgotten to close the shutters before the sun rose. He was sitting in the sunlight for several minutes."
"No," gasped Melinda.
"I have all ready applied the poultice," said Matthew. "It seems to have helped but not as nearly as efficient as before. We shall have to make a stronger one. This one will become ineffective very quickly."
"I know," said Melinda. "I am working on a new one."
"Mistress Warren," cried a distraught teenage girl as they entered Melinda's house. The young girl was nearly in tears. "Thank goodness you've come. You must believe me it was an accident. I turned my back for only a moment when Patrick wandered beneath the window. I forgot to close the shutters. You must believe me when I tell you I would never cause harm to him deliberately."
"Calm down, Amanda," said Melinda. "Matthew has explained what happened. I have no doubt it was simply an oversight. I know you would never willingly allow harm to come to either Patrick or Prudence. Do not concern yourself. I do not hold you to blame."
"Master Tate has applied the poultice," said Amanda as Melinda checked on Patrick. He was sleeping peacefully in his crib. "It is less effective than before."
"Then you should go home," said Melinda. "You are very distraught over this and you should calm yourself. I will look after the children for today. Please, go home and rest. I will need you here again this evening."
"Thank you, Mistress Warren," said Amanda gratefully. "I promise this shall not happen again. I will watch them even more closely in the future."
"I know you will," said Melinda reassuringly. "Now, go get some rest. And do not blame yourself. It was an accident, nothing more."
"You were quite understanding," said Matthew as Amanda left for her own home. "Many mothers would not be so understanding, especially with Patrick's illness."
"I cannot fault Amanda," said Melinda. "I know she meant no harm. And at least for the moment Patrick seems to be okay."
"For the moment," said Matthew. "But that will change soon enough. I wonder if Amanda would be so eager to help if she knew you were a witch."
"Probably not," said Melinda. "You know how the villagers feel about witches. If they knew our secret we would not be so welcome."
"Craggen could change all that," said Matthew. "He is a powerful warlock. You've had no luck in vanquishing him. If you would only allow me to help you. If you would only use your powers against me there would be two of us to go against him. Not even he could withstand that."
"We've discussed this all ready, Matthew," said Melinda. "It's too dangerous. I know you can duplicate any powers used against you. But you would not have the time to learn to control them. It would only put you in danger and I would not have that. Besides, you can help protect Prudence and Patrick while I'm out looking for Craggen."
"With Craggen vanquished you wouldn't have to worry about that," said Matthew. "You can return to your work without fear of exposure."
"I will vanquish Craggen soon enough," said Melinda. "In the meantime, I need you here to protect Prudence and Patrick in my absence. Please, Matthew, do not fight me on this. Craggen is my fight. It is my decision how best to combat him."
"As always, my love," said Matthew smiling. "I had to try. I do not agree with you on this but I will accede to your wishes. And I have no doubt you will be victorious over Craggen. Eventually he will make a mistake and you will vanquish him."
"In the meantime I must attend Patrick," said Melinda, looking at the room where her son lay sleeping. "He is getting worse. Nothing I do helps. None of my spells, none of my potions, nothing seems to help him. Even my attempts to remove whatever curse this is have failed. I wish I knew whatever sin I committed that cursed Patrick so."
"You have committed no sin," said Matthew. "This affliction is not a curse visited upon you for your sins regardless of what Reverend Parrish has said. There is an explanation for it, though we may not know what that explanation is. You must not believe you have visited this illness on Patrick."
"What else am I to think?" Melinda asked, tears in the corners of her eyes. "He is but an infant. He has committed no sin, no wrongdoing. This affliction cannot be of his doing. Perhaps I am being punished for my relationship with Morgan."
"My brother has nothing to do with this," said Matthew. "Although he is more powerful than I he is still a good man. I cannot believe you would be punished in this way because of your involvement with him."
"Still, there must be some cause," said Melinda. "We must find this cause and put an end to it soon or Patrick may not survive. And I have sworn that will not happen."
"Then let us begin work on a new poultice," said Matthew. "Perhaps together the two of us can come up with something more effective than what you are using now."
Melinda smiled at Matthew. He was such a stabilizing influence on her. And he had been a great help ever since Craggen had come to the village. The other villagers believed Craggen to be a benevolent benefactor. She knew differently. He was a warlock bent on destroying all who opposed him. She would vanquish him, she knew that. But first she had to find him. And he was proving to be more elusive than she had first hoped.
