The Boy Who Plays With Doves

PART VI - Further Fervour

NOTE: Please let me know if the twist/reveal works in this format. Also, is the pacing too fast? Really not sure. Thank you! :) 

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          "Wych-hazel and feverfew —
          Cleanse this scene of noxious hues.
          Lilac, lily, lotus won —
          Toxic magick be undone."

Callum's mother, Imogen,
Whispers those four lines again.
She knows magick of her own! —
Cautious where her spells are sown,
Careful that no-one can hear —
No compounding fear on fear.
She just hopes no-one else heard
Callum's callous demon-words.

Slowly, steadily at last,
All the tortured noises pass —
No more signs of choking death. 
All Bald Boys have caught their breath.

Wan from fright, the Hunter's wife,
Holds her three sons oh so tight.
Quickly she regains her sense,
Standing up before she vents
To her village audience:
"Witch!      ...There's a witch!      ...There's a witch!"

          Imogen stays calm and still,
          Lets the matter self-reveal,
          Keeping Callum close behind,
          As the incident unwinds.

"There's a witch here in our midst!
She has set off all of this.
First, she took my three boys' hairs
In their sleep when unawares.
Now she's choked them almost dead!
Look at all this gory red!
Who is next? Will it be you?!
Will she eat your children too?
One should never live like this!
Where's our safety? Where's our bliss?
Where's this witch? Who could she be?
Born from fire, storm or sea?"

Voices in the worried crowd
Interject with strange accounts:
"All my cows make scarlet milk.
I bet that's the harpy's skill!"
          "Half my sheep died in a blur.
          Felt like witchcraft — was that her?"
"My twin daughters have the pox!
Bind that witch in chains and locks!"
          "Bind her? I say burn her black
          Lest we die from lung-attack!"

          Now the Hunter's wife cuts in,
Heats the outrage past the brim:
"To my husband we shall go,
Tell him what we have been shown.
Weapons, decoys, traps and nets —
We shall catch that old witch yet!
Look for any wayward crone
With no offspring of her own.
Let no grey hag take our sons.
Kill the withered Wicked One!
Who is with me? Let me know!
To the Hunter we will go!"

In the heightened, frenzied raw,
Voices harden, more and more.
Soon a group grows with a chant,
Single-minded in their trance:
"Kill the withered Wicked One!
Kill the withered Wicked One!"

Fathers, mothers, children loud,
Join the ever-growing crowd:
"Kill the withered Wicked One!
Kill the withered Wicked One!"

But there are some, here and there,
Staying back with extra care,
Wary of the shark-eyed shoal
And their unrelenting goal.

Imogen looks down at Cal,
Speaking hushed and angered now:
"Come on, Mister. Home we go.
We are not part of this show.
Toxic spells and red distress —
When we're home, you'd best confess."

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FINAL THREE PARTS, COMING SOON: 

Part VII - Mother Dove

Part VIII - The Augury 

Part IX - Quillblaze

PS: Also, which one works better: "Clean this scene of noxious hues" or "Halt this fault of noxious hues"? Maybe they're both awkward expressions...