Page 89 of The Witch

“What do you mean?”

“Well…” He picks up the bag. “You see this open area in the center? That’s called the pelvic inlet. In women, it’s a lot larger, to allow for childbirth. Also, the pubic angle is the angle formed by the convergence of the lower part of the two pubic bones. In women, it’s usually at least seventy-five degrees. But this one measures fifty-five degrees.”

“I’ll have to take your word for that.” I lean over his shoulder, looking at where he’s pointing at the lower part of the pelvis. “So what are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying,” he says, “this bone very likely belonged to a man.”

65

1692

CAROLINE

This is the worst thing that could have happened.

Deputy Strickland is a man of foul spirit, but at least he was a law-abiding citizen. Now the man who has slain four women has been set free to commit his evil deeds again and again and again. And the words he said to me echo in my head:

The first life I take when I get free will be yours.

Jonas steps toward the door of my cell, the key ring dangling in his right hand. I back away, knowing that in another moment I will hit the wall. There is nowhere to run, trapped in this cage. And I have not been clever enough to mine myself a weapon as he did.

“No,” I whisper. “Pray, do not…”

Then the key is in the lock of my cell. There’s a loud click as it turns.

“Please…”

The door to my cell is unlocked, and he pushes it open. I brace myself for his fingers to wrap around my throat. But perhaps it will be easier this way—to die quietly in this jail cell, rather than on display in front of the whole town.

But he does not wrap his fingers around my throat. Instead, he holds out a hand to me. “Let us go,” he says, his voice filled with urgency. “Quickly. There is little time.”

I blink at him. “Pray pardon me?”

“We must go.” He waves a hand impatiently. “If we travel all night, we can be far enough away that even if they look, they will never find us.”

“I will not go with you!”

He gives me an exasperated look. “You would rather die at the gallows for a crime you did not commit?”

I frown at him. “I thought you said Hitty told you that I am a witch.”

“Witches are not real.” He shakes his head. “You know that.”

“So what did Hitty say about me?”

It takes him a moment to grasp that I will not move from my cell. Not until he responds to my query.

“All she told me,” he says, “is that if I escape, I must take you with me. So let me keep my word, and let us go.”

I do not want to follow this man. But what is the alternative? Stay and be hanged?

I have little choice. I will follow Jonas, but at the first opportunity that arises, I will flee from him and go my own way.

I step out of my cell. Even after such a short time of being incarcerated, it feels strange to have this sort of freedom. I give Jonas a wary look, but he is not paying attention. He has pushed past me to enter my cell, although I do not understand why.

Deputy Strickland is regaining consciousness. He moans on the floor, clutching his head. He is clearly dazed, but when he recognizes where he is and what has happened, he suddenly sits up straight.

“What is the meaning of this?” he demands.