Free Spotted Lily by Anna Tambour Page B

asked, as if I would know 'those judged and convicted by him meet blessed fates or fire and pitch?'
    I didn't answer.
    'Well, I'll tell you. So much depended on the state of the Grand Inquisitor's dyspepsia, the size of the crowd for an auto-da-fé—'
    Like a good primary school teacher, he noticed my confusion. 'The kangaroo court?' he offered, and then went on. 'And then so much depended on whether the fire spluttered out before it reached those sinner's legs writhing at the stake. Or in other condemnations the rope broke, or the axeman missed, or the horse bolted with the damned on her back. Or the mob's wrath outgave... ahhh, revolutions...'
    For a minute, he was lost in memories. Then he began all over again. 'Have you ever thought of the witches of Salem?'
    'Of course.' I had a good grounding there from the Higher Light, where one shelf was 'Wimmin, Wiccans, and Goddess Worship'. I'd read every book in the shop by my second month there, not that I was into the stuff. It was something to do, and it did make me laugh
    'I'll tell you a bit,' he said, generously, meaning that he didn't think I knew a thing about the witches of Salem, or any other witches. He spoke like he had firsthand knowledge.
    'If you had a wart,' he said,' or were uncommonly beautiful, or a widow with property someone else wanted, or liked little kitty cats, or noticed your neighbour doing something he hain't supposed to do, then all it took was a dunking. Dunk and if she drowns, she's innocent. Or was it guilty? Witches in Africa, witches in Europe, witches, witches, witches. Stick her hand in boiling oil, and if she blisters, she's a witch. Light a fire under her, and if it goes out before it reaches her toes, she's a witch. If so, burn her! And to find her in the first place? See that woman walking down the road, leading her pig to market? We're in need  of a fine witch. Might as well be she? Or...' And his words ran dry.
    We sat for a while. I thought. He looked lost in thought. Maybe he was just waiting.
    But that was historical, and we were in Now. 'Justice now,' I pointed out.
    'Throw the cards in the air, and they don't come down fair, me pretty!'
    And here, he uttered a high, screechy cackle that grabbed the back of my neck in shivers.
    He stopped and regarded me with the impersonal affection of a city person to a brown egg.  'I don't mean to scare you, my dear,' he smiled. 'But the way of the world has been that justice comes to those in the wrong place at the wrong time. Always has.'
    'But we've progressed!' I protested.
    'Hoo hoo!'
    'Democracy, and all that.' I was going to lecture him when he interrupted.
    'Do you read, child?' he asked, not unkindly, but this tone does make me want to punch someone's lights out.
    'Yers.'
    'Do you follow the War on Terror?'
    'Yes!' But I lied. I'd had enough of it, didn't own a TV or radio, and bad news had cured me of reading the papers.
    'Angela?'
    'Well, not too much. But you should be much more busy because of it. Especially as the evil is so clear-cut.'
    He leaned forward and peered at my face, looking for all the world as if he was searching for blackheads.
    'Do you mind?'
    'Don't you care what's happening, Angela, in your world?'
    He was in some respects, so other worldly, and curiously dense. 'Brett,' I told him, keeping my sneer as safe as I could make it, 'You might have power in your place, but a person like me has none whatsoever here.'
    He accepted that. However, it didn't deter him. 'Don't you care?'
    If he were Gordon, I would have clouted him. 'Care,' I explained patiently, 'is only worthwhile when it's something that does something for you. I don't get off on demos, and ... but this is beside the point. There is justice, you know. Not perfect, but then nothing is.'
    He waved his hand in a swirling motion, and a heavy pile of newspapers fell upon the bed in front of me.
    'Read' he commanded, in a tone that brooked no argument as to the humanly impossible. I scanned as fast as I could. I