Free The Garden of Stars by Zoe Chamberlain Page A

less people are bothering to get out of their beds and turn up to church on a Sunday, I suppose that’s just modern-day idleness, is it? And the fact half the town got food poisoning from the lamb you bought in from the farm just up from Cherrystone Cottage?”
    Â â€˜Bill said, ‘Now steady on, I apologised for that and promised I’d never use Bidcup’s meats again. All my meat has been perfect ever since. Has it not?’ he said, looking round. People nodded but you could see the seed of doubt had been sewn.
    Â â€˜â€œAnd this fire,” the mayor carried on like some awful circus master, enthralling the crowd, “fires don’t just start by themselves, do they?”
    Â â€˜A gasp went round the room, Vivian, I’ll tell you. The mayor continued, relentlessly, like a dog with a bone, only now probably for the first time since learning of his ulterior motive, people actually wanted to listen to what he had to say. They were intrigued. He said, “She spends all her days pretending to be a normal greengrocer’s assistant. Then, at night, she’s cooped up all alone in that tatty old cottage with just her daughter. We all know she spends too much time with that old battleaxe, Miss Metford. It’s not right, a woman of her age, to be without a husband. Who knows what she does there? I know she holds astrology classes, filling people’s minds with mumbo-jumbo, and she grows plants and herbs for spells.”’
    Â â€˜Poppycock,’ I interrupted, ‘everyone else, bar Johnson and the vicar, know exactly what those classes are and that they’re nothing to do with astrology.’
    Â â€˜Yes, I know, dear, and I thought the same but what he said made it worse. He said, “Those classes she holds up at her house, don’t you realise they’re not astrology? She’s brainwashing each and every one of you so that when she cast a spell that would burn Mr Shaw’s house to the ground nobody would think it was her, would they? No one but the only two people who haven’t been brainwashed – myself and the vicar.”
    Â â€˜These were his words: “She’s pure evil, the vicar has seen it, I’ve seen it, but you’ve all been too blind to see for yourselves.”’
    Â I was speechless, gasping for breath with tears welling in my eyes.
    Â Barbara kindly touched my hand and stroked my face the way my mother used to. She nodded at me and tilted her head just enough to show me she didn’t believe the wicked words of the mayor.
    Â â€˜Get the poor girl a glass of water, will you, Dennis? I’m afraid there’s worse to come yet, dear. Brace yourself.’
    Â Worse yet? What could be worse than rumours being spread that I was a witch? In an old-fashioned town like this, they’d drown a woman for less. I gulped the water, took a deep breath and asked Barbara to tell me what happened next.
    Â â€˜It was Bill. He was enraged. You see, I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed it, you’ve been so busy with the campaign and Rosie, of course. But since the day you first arrived, he’s always had a soft spot for you.’
    Â I blushed, I couldn’t help it. I had no idea. How could I have been so blind? I guess I’d just shut out all thoughts of advances from men.
    Â â€˜He couldn’t bear to hear such things being said about you. He slowly got up out of his seat and walked over to Johnson. The mayor had turned and was brashly asking who was going to buy him a drink. He didn’t see Bill approach. Before we knew it Bill had punched him with such force, he knocked him clean off his feet.
    Â â€˜At first people applauded and cheered. But then Johnson didn’t get up. They waited, some people shouted at him to stop being such a drama queen, but there was no movement whatsoever. He was out cold, unconscious, and blood was streaming rapidly from his head where