The Witch Maker Read Online Free PDF Page B

Maker retires, an’ he takes over. Ahead of him, he’s got ten years on his own – refinin’ his skills – and ten years teachin’ all he knows to
his
apprentice. By the time he steps down, he’s forty years old. You can’t really expect a man to think about startin’ a family then, now can you?’
    â€˜Some men do,’ Woodend pointed out.
    â€˜Not our Witch Makers,’ Thwaites said. ‘It’s a heavy burden they carry for the rest of us, an’ it takes its toll. There’s not many ex-Witch Makers who live to see another Witch burned.’
    â€˜If they want to learn what it’s like to work under pressure, they should try bein’ Mid Lancs detectives,’ Woodend said unsympathetically. ‘So, because of his position, Harry Dimdyke was a single man. But I take it he has relatives in the village.’
    Thwaites frowned. ‘We
all
have relatives in the village, sir. We all
are
relatives in the village.’
    â€˜But some relatives are closer than others,’ Woodend pointed out.
    â€˜I see what you mean, sir,’ Thwaites admitted, relieved. ‘Harry’s
closest
relative was his brother, Tom.’
    Woodend surveyed the crowd, which had hardly moved an inch since he’d arrived on the scene. ‘Point him out to me, will you, Constable,’ he said.
    Thwaites glanced around. ‘He’s not here,’ he said.
    â€˜An’ why’s that? Is he off travellin’ somewhere?’
    â€˜No, sir. We don’t do much travellin’ from Hallerton.’
    â€˜You must have done durin’ the war.’
    â€˜A few of us were called up then,’ Thwaites admitted, ‘but we never got posted far away from home. An’ I suppose that since the end of the hostilities a few other folk might have been as far as Whitebridge or Lancaster. But that’s the extent of it.’
    â€˜So if the dead man’s brother’s not travellin’, where the bloody hell is he?’ Woodend demanded. ‘Hasn’t he heard what’s happened? He surely must have done, in a village this size.’
    â€˜Oh, he’s heard, all right. As a matter of fact, he was here earlier.’
    â€˜Then why isn’t he
still
here?’’
    Thwaites looked perplexed. ‘Well, I suppose the main reason for that is that he had to go.’
    Woodend suppressed a sigh. ‘
Why
did he have to go?’ he asked patiently. ‘Was he overcome by emotion or somethin’? Did he find the strain of watchin’ it all just
too
much to bear?’
    â€˜No, sir. At least, I don’t think so.’
    â€˜Then what is the reason, in your opinion?’
    â€˜I imagine he’ll have left because he’ll have work to be gettin’ on with.’
    â€˜Work? What kind of work?’
    â€˜The Witch.’
    â€˜The Witch?’
    â€˜It’s only three days to the Burnin’. There’s still a lot to do.’
    â€˜Let me see if I’ve got this straight,’ Woodend said. ‘His brother’s just died – in one of the most horrible ways it’s possible to imagine – an’ he’s gone straight back to workin’ on the Witch.’
    â€˜That’s right,’ Thwaites agreed. ‘What else would you expect him to do?’

Six
    I t was a strange procession they made through the village – the portly constable leading, the big man and the pretty blonde following. Curtains twitched as they passed, doors creaked open once they had gone. This was a village in the heart of Lancashire, but it felt to the Chief Inspector and his sergeant as if they were entering a dark and unknown kingdom.
    Woodend found himself thinking about the villages he’d known as a lad. They really
had
been a world unto themselves back then. Though never more than ten miles away from the nearest town, they might as well have been a hundred from it for all the contact they had with