Clopwyck River - revised version

Chapter Nineteen

Frozen, I gulp and stare at Leo, the word he's just uttered hanging on the wind, until a huge grin breaks free of his face and I smack him on the shoulder.
​"Ha-ha."
​He puts his hands up, and speaks through a chortle. "I swear! That's the story; a little of Clopwyck's history."
​"Really?" I'm sure he's just trying to scare me. I look back at the party, relaxing a little when I'm reminded of how close we are to everyone else.
​"Honestly. Everyone who grew up here knows the stories. Apparently, two witches lived here, like, four hundred years ago, on the outskirts of town. Ruth and her daughter Elizabeth."
​"Right?" I hate that he's got my attention, but I gawk at him, willing him to continue.
​"So, Elizabeth, the daughter, fell in love with the son of the richest family in town. They kept their affair secret for as long as they could, but she got pregnant and Lizzy's growing belly gave the game away, and her mum realised what was going on."
​"She warned her daughter to end things with the boy, um...." Leo's eyes search the darkness a few feet ahead of us, until he clicks his fingers and looks back at me. "William! The guy's name was William. Let's call him Will. Anyway, Ruth didn't want Lizzy to see Will again. But obviously, like anyone madly in love, she ignored her mum and they carried on meeting in secret."
​"Or they thought they were. Will's Mum knew all about their affair, and the baby. She saw Lizzy in town one day, and dragged her down to the river, yelling for everyone to follow them so they could prove she was a witch. They stripped her naked, tied her hands and feet and slung her into the river, plunging her into the water to see if she would sink or float. She kept sinking so they kept dunking her over and over, until fear and shock killed her. Her mother arrived just as the group started cheering. She was overcome with grief, and not wanting to be without her daughter, she picked up a boulder and jumped into the river, disappearing beneath the surface."
​My hands are shaking. "That's awful."
​He raises his eyebrows. "That's not the awful part. After everyone had gone, Will's mother jumped into the water, and pulled Lizzy's dead body onto the river bank. She pulled out a knife..."
​"Uh, Leo, I'm not sure I want to hear this."
​"Come on, it's not really true; it's just a story. Don't you want to know what happens?" I nod weakly and he goes on. "She pulled out a knife and plunged it into Lizzy, cutting a wide slit across her belly, a slit wide enough to pull out a...."
​"Oh my God. Her baby? She cut out Lizzy's baby? Was it still alive?"
​Leo nods, and I'm glad to see he's gone a little pale at the thought of such a horrendous act.
"Yeah, it was still alive. A baby girl. Will's Mum took the baby and gave it to the parish priest and his wife and told them to hide it. She was the main benefactor for the church, this church, and they were in her debt, so had no choice but to do what she said. There was a secret building that used to be an ice house or something, down the hill from the church. It was connected to the church and the vicarage by a secret tunnel, and they took the baby there, hiding her from everybody."
​"Why did Will's Mum want the baby? Why'd she want it alive?"
​Leo shrugs his shoulders. "Power? Control? Because she was nuts? Who knows? Anyway, even though everyone saw what happened to Lizzy and Ruth, there were rumours that Ruth had been spotted creeping around the town at night, as if she were looking for something."
​"The baby?"
​"The baby. Then, one night, the church caught fire. A few of the men grabbed their buckets of water and ran up the hill, hoping to save it. When they got up here, there was a figure standing in front of the church."
​"Ruth."
​Leo nods. "They could all see her, silhouetted by the burning flames, and then all of a sudden..." Leo smacks his hands together, making me yelp and leap off the bench. "She was gone."
​I take a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself from the fright Leo just gave me, and maybe a bit from the story itself. Just a little.
​"Is that all true? Really?"
Leo flashes me a grin. "Na, but it's a great story, don't you think?"
Adrenaline is almost strangling me and I struggle to get my words out. "If it's not true, then where did it all come from?"
"Maybe parts of it are true, like maybe there were women living here who people thought were witches. Oh, and Will was real." He sits up suddenly, pointing into the darkness. "His grave is right over there somewhere."
My entire body prickles with fear as I look at Leo, trying to work out if he's joking or not.
"What?! Are you telling me you've brought me to a graveyard?!" I ask.
"This was a church once, Demi. What did you expect?"
"I expected not to be sitting on a bench surrounded by dead bodies."
He smirks at me, then all of a sudden his face crumbles, sadness filling his eyes, and he shakes his head.
"Demi, I'm so sorry. This was so insensitive of me."
"What was?"
"Telling you that story." He sweeps a hand into the darkness. "Bringing you to sit amongst the gravestones. I shouldn't be talking to you about all this stuff with your Mum and everything."
"Oh....I....Leo, I wasn't even thinking about her, don't worry."
"No, I'm a complete idiot. I'm sorry."
I put a hand on his arm and he looks at me. "Leo, seriously, it's fine. It's not like she's constantly on my mind and the slightest thing is going to tip me over the edge."
"Really? You're doing a lot better than me then."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean.....when Mum died, since she died, I'm pretty much holding on by a thread."
I don't know what to say to that, but I don't think he was expecting a response. There is no response to losing a loved one.
"What was she like? Your Mum?"
Leo closes his eyes, and his chest rises and falls. I worry for a moment that I've said the wrong thing, that I shouldn't have asked him, but he opens his eyes and smiles at me.
"She was.....she was my Mum. She was a school librarian, but she didn't look like one, I mean, she was quite glamorous. I guess she didn't really look like the priests wife either. She loved us all so much, and she was so proud of us, her boys she used to call us. Life was magic when she was around. She could make the most mundane thing seem exciting." He glances at me. "I guess everyone feels that way about their Mum."
"She sounds lovely."
He beams at me, and looks up at the stars, then turns his body towards mine.
"What about your Mum?"
"Um...." I search the darkness around us for the right words, and my body goes rigid, bracing itself for any impending emotion.
"Oh God, Demi, please just ignore me. I'm so sorry. It's just, I thought maybe it might be nice for you to talk about her."
Longing swirls around inside me, like someone's shaken up a bottle of beer and I can't keep the cap on any longer. I look into the shadows that surround us, feeling the wind whip around me, nudging me, and whispering to me to open up.
"I can't. I mean, I don't know how to talk about her. I don't know how I'm supposed to....what I'm supposed to do. I can't talk about her because it's a reminder that I need her, that I just want to speak to her, Leo. I need to talk to her. I need to hear her voice, her words, her sneeze, I need to hear her shout at me, anything! I just need it, and i can't have it. I'm stuck here without any of it and I don't know how to move forward without it there, without her there."
​"Demi. I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry."
I close my eyes, realising that I'm completely exposed and this has gone to a place I don't want it to.  ​
"I should go." I jump up, needing to get away but not wanting to be alone.
     ​"Don't go." Leo stands up, his eyes filled with concern. "It's ok, I shouldn't have pushed you. I'm sorry." He looks into my eyes, as if he's searching for something, then he smiles at me and rubs his forehead. "I've been wanting to get you on your own for ages, and now that I have, I've ended up talking to you about witches and death. Idiot."
If he's trying to distract me, it's working. "What did you have planned instead then?"
"Maybe something a bit more like this."
​My breath catches in my throat as he takes a step closer to me. I look at his face, mentally sketching his eyes, his nose, and his dimples, creating a picture in my mind that I can remember for the rest of my life. He slides his hands down my arms, and gently explores my fingers like he's made a new discovery. His touch is electric, and I pull towards him like I'm hypnotised.  Just as my hands get used to the heat from his touch, he lets go of them and moves both of his hands up to my neck. I wonder if he can hear my heart as it beats like a bass drum in my chest. A magnetic charge hustles between us, and he looks into my eyes.
"Do you want me to?"
​My eyelids blink heavily as the aroma of his aftershave, of him, fogs my senses and I lift my chin up.
"I want you to."
He moves closer at what feels like a millimetre per second, until I feel his breath and the anticipation of his kiss on my face, and then, finally, his warm lips are on mine. He kisses me gently, and I relish the intimacy, our mouths becoming hungrier for each other and our breath syncing together in heavy unison.  A kaleidoscope of butterflies comes to life in my stomach, and longing pulses through every one of my veins. He moves his hands up my neck into my hair, pulling me closer, and I push further into his chest, lost in this moment of bliss, lost in us.