The Witch Hunter's Tale(20)
Joseph’s chair scraped back as he stood to speak. “It is no secret that York has suffered, and continues to suffer at God’s hands,” he said. “Summer heat has turned to the iron cold of winter, and many in the city know not where to turn for relief. The answer, of course, is that they should turn to the Lord, but too many have not seen this simple truth, and even to this day they wallow in their sin.” Joseph continued in this vein for some time, and had I not known who was speaking, I would have thought it was a godly minister preaching to his flock. Joseph dropped his voice to a whisper, drawing in his listeners, and then shouted about God’s law or God’s glory, overwhelming the Council with the power of his voice and the sheer force of his will.
“Good and learned ministers of the gospel have shown us that the End of Days is upon us,” Joseph continued. “Soon, very soon, the Risen Christ will do battle with the fallen Antichrist, and all men will have to choose whether they are among God’s people or Satan’s. Even now, the battle is joined, as the hanging of the witch Hester Jackson has shown.” At this Martha and I stood a little straighter. This was why we’d come.
“In years past, learned men have amply proved that witches—these handmaidens of the devil himself—never work alone. In this, witches are like the rats that so often suckle from their hideous teats. If one rat is found in the kitchen, there must be more within the walls. And if one witch is in the city, there must be more within its walls.” I could hear members of the Council murmuring in agreement with Joseph’s logic.
“Although it is unusual, I should like now to bring an expert on witches and their evil ways before the Council.” Martha and I looked at each other in alarm. “I am sure you all know Mrs. Rebecca Hooke,” Joseph continued. “She was born and bred in the city, and worked for many years as a midwife. Indeed, the wives of more than a few Councilmen benefitted from her care. Mrs. Hooke examined Hester Jackson and found the Witch’s Mark on her body. And she knows far more about witches and witchcraft than any one of us.”
When none on the Council objected, the clerk called for Rebecca Hooke. Confidence and cruelty echoed through the hall each time her heel struck the rough wood floor. I could not resist peering over the edge of the balcony to watch Rebecca’s performance. She stood at the head of the table and looked around the room. Once she was sure that she had the attention of every Alderman she began to speak.
Chapter 6
“Gentlemen,” Rebecca Hooke said, “no good man would deny that Satan is active in the world, more now than at any time since Jesus Christ walked the earth. We hear daily of witches acting on behalf of the King to destroy godly religion and hasten the fall of all men into perdition.”
Such pious words from such a harridan were absurd, of course. When the King had held York, Rebecca had been as strong a royalist as you’d care to meet, but once Parliament had taken power she donned the garb of the Puritan and became a reformer. I had no doubt that if the King returned to the city, so too would her love of monarchy. As best I could judge, Rebecca was a bit older than me, nearing her fortieth year. And while men assured me of my comeliness, she far surpassed me in beauty. Her high cheeks and ice-blue eyes seemed perfectly suited to the winter’s cold. The Councilmen couldn’t look away.
“When Hester Jackson was arrested as a witch, Mr. Hodgson summoned me to search her body for unnatural teats.” Rebecca’s voice echoed through the chamber. “I found just such teats near her fundament. She confessed her guilt to me, to Mr. Hodgson, and to the court of Special Assizes. There can be no doubt of her guilt, or the justice of her hanging. This you know already.”
The Councilmen nodded in agreement.
As much as I hated Rebecca, I could not help admiring her strength and how far she had come in this life. While I had the privilege of an ancient name and estates, Rebecca had made her way from nothing. Some said that she was the bastard daughter of a maidservant, while others claimed that she had deliberately gotten with child so she could force the man of her choosing into marriage. None dared say such things anymore, for Rebecca had made it her business to exact terrible revenge on those who trafficked in such news. Her favored weapon was gossip, and she spread rumors so vicious they drove entire families from the city. After marrying Richard Hooke, she had become merciless in her pursuit of power and money, harrying the poor man into great wealth and a seat on the City Council. If he had not been every bit as weak as my own Phineas, Richard Hooke might have been able to resist his wife’s base nature, but in the end she bent him to her will.