Before Read Free

grandmother’s olive eyes warmed with mischief. Cora was so
thankful she’d made an appearance. With a slight nod of her head
she gave Cora permission to leave the cottage, and
quickly.
    Slipping out into the sunshine, she heard her grandfather say,
“Yes, and I remember telling you how inappropriate it was at the
time.”
    The sound of her mother’s laughter followed her as she ran,
rather unladylike, along the dry dirt track to Jack’s cottage which
sat a little more than a stone’s throw away from her
own.
    She found Eli nearest to the cottage labouring over the
potatoes that he was sure to sell at the village market. He was
quite the entrepreneur. Cora’s family, and Jack’s for that matter,
laboured over their land so they could sell the produce. Even
though neither of their families needed the money to live, her
grandfather often said it created character.
    “ Hello, young Cora, how are you?” he said, stretching his back
to release the kinks from his work. His eyes looked at her dress,
he shook his head rather than ask for an explanation. Eli knew her
well enough not to asking.
    “ I’m fine, thank you, how is Anne?” she asked as she came to
stand next to Eli.
    The shirt he wore had once been white, dust and dirt clung to
it after a hard morning of manual labour. His trousers were tucked
up around his legs due to the heat; she could see already that he
was sweating. His green eyes swirled with emotion as he looked at
her. Cora could see how much Anne’s illness affected him, like it
affected them all.
    “ She’s well. She’s having a good day today. I do believe that
she gains strength with each passing day.”
    Cora hoped he was right.
    Anne had been taken ill rather suddenly but Tabitha and her
mother believed they could help. Cora knew that Tabitha was one of
the best potion mixers amongst the witch community. Even with their
combined knowledge and ability, they hadn’t been able to help Anne.
Her disease had dumbfounded everyone.
    Usually witches didn’t pick up the diseases that were rife
among the commoners. It had something to do with their powers,
almost like it provided better immunity. Anne’s illness has
seriously affected her which had made everyone nervous. Initially
her mother thought that Anne’s power, which was the ability to
produce audible inundation, meaning she could force noise into a
person’s head, was diminishing due to her illness but it was still
strong. Anne was still able to bring Eli to his knees from the
screams she could force into his mind. It was making them question
what could have struck Anne so terribly. Was it some new stain of
virus that even witches couldn’t overcome?
    When the healer, Mr Thomas, had come they thought things would
get better. Still her mother was concerned, she’d muttered
continuously about their use of magic. If the Corenthio Coven had
allowed the use of magic in this instance, Anne would be better.
There was only so much you could do with potions.
    “ I’m glad to hear that, Eli, send my love to her when you see
her.”
    “ I will, thank you.”
    “ Where-”
    “ He’s at the far end of the field,” Eli interjected with a
smile on his face.
    “ Thanks!” she called as she ran across the field, careful to
avoid any growing vegetables and fruit that were yet to be picked.
She wouldn’t want to be the cause for the Whittle family receiving
less money at the market.
    As she neared the peak of the hill, she came to a stop. The
heat of the day causing her to gasp; the corset that restricted the
movement of her ribs also didn’t help. She put her hands on her
hips and watched him work.
    He too wore a once white shirt, the sleeves of it rolled to
his elbows as were his trousers to his knees. His skin was brown
from the constant work under the burning sun. She loved that the
warmth of his skin brought out the intensity in his brown eyes. Did
he know that she lost herself in his eyes? He hadn’t seen her as he
continued working the