Before Read Online Free PDF

outcomes.
    Had her mother been dragged to the gallows? Was she hurt? Why
were the commoners only attacking her family?
    Her legs moved quickly under her feet. See, this was the
reason why she cut her dresses, she could run without the material
restricting her. She also couldn’t breathe because the corset cut
into her ribs.
    “ Cora!” Eli shouted as he ran next to her. “You can’t go
there.”
    “ Eli,” she panted, feeling the dress restrict her chest
further. “I’m going whether you like it or not, she’s my
mother!”
    “ Eli, what has happened?” Jack asked as he ran next to her.
Jack knew that Cora wouldn’t sit back and let someone else handle
this. Eli liked to handle situations; he didn’t like the two
younger witches involving themselves in apparent adult situations. That
was too bad, because Cora was about to jump in head first. They
neared the end of the field and ran along the dry dirt
path.
    “ You will see soon enough,” Eli muttered to Jack.
    She turned the corner and stopped, shocked by the scene in
front of her.
    The cottage was surrounded by commoners, there must have been
the whole of the village there. The noise assaulted her ears. The
immense rumble of angry words were cast around from some of the
leading men, their words causing the crowd to jeer and move closer
to her cottage. Pitchforks and shovels were held in their hands as
they waved them.
    She walked more calmly towards the mob, if she ran they would
try to stop her, she couldn’t have that. As she neared, she noticed
that food and rocks were being thrown at her cottage. She gritted
her teeth angrily as she heard the sound of breaking glass, yet
more damage caused to her cottage. Fortunately the cottage was fire
free, for now.
    She pushed her way through the loud mob trying to find her
mother. Had they hurt her? The more she pushed through, the more
the crowd pushed back. She felt the crushing presence of a man
twice her size but luckily she had Jack by her side who pushed them
harder. He forced his way through them as he held her by his
side.
    She all but fell through the door and found her mother backed
into a corner with a pitchfork pointed at her midriff. Her face was
impassive, it revealed nothing, but Cora knew her mother was at
breaking point. She could see it in the way she formed her hands,
her fingers were evenly spaced ready to cast her energy into the
room. One push in the wrong direction would mean a world of pain
for the people gathered around her. Cora had to stop this before it
got out of hand.
    Several commoners surrounded her mother but one man was
brandishing the pitchfork, forcing it closer to her mother’s belly.
His face was red, his lips pulled thinly as his blue eyes bulged
out of his head.
    “ What is the meaning of this?” Jack shouted to be heard above
the roar of voices.
    “ Stay out of this, boy, this doesn’t concern you, unless you
run with this witch?” The man spat at her mother’s feet which made
Cora’s element push up against Jack who held her hand
tighter.
    She was struggling to cope with this, if her element chose to
snap, it would.
    “ Who has stated this?” Eli stepped forward, holding his arms
out to try and contain the situation.
    The chants from the crowd hushed as they listened to Eli.
Luckily for them, Eli was a well respected merchant in the
village.
    “ People everywhere state this,” the man grunted as he waved the
pitchfork threateningly.
    “ She’s my mother!” Cora shouted and moved to stand in front of
the pitchfork.
    “ No, Cora!” Jack stormed and followed her so they both stood
protecting her mother. Jack’s body was angled slightly so if there
was a blow, he would take it first.
    “ If she was a witch, you know that she would have protected
herself. She would have used some magic before now,” Eli
shouted.
    There were some agreeable grunts made in the crowd. It was a
good job Eli could appeal to them. This situation would have
escalated very quickly if it