Chapter 39

“How long did it go on for?” Dearne asked, still staring out over the moor.

Will didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “Almost a year. I escaped.”

“Who did it?”

“My uncle. I was locked up, but my uncle was in charge of my treatment.”

“What the hell did he do?”

Will shrugged and sighed. “He is a man of God. He lives a very quiet, pious life and believes sin can be cast out. I have to say, he had a damned good go at casting the sin out of me. He left instructions with the staff there about how I was to be treated.” Will plucked at the grass by his leg. “It largely involved not allowing me to sleep, not allowing me to eat…” Will shook his head and looked away.

Dearne wondered how he could be so calm about it. He swallowed the emotion down. He had been doing that ever since he had seen the appalling marks. “I’ll say,” he muttered.

“He thought I was possessed by some kind of demon.”

“Demon?” Dearne turned to look at Will. “Was he mad?”