Later that morning, Dougal took Tala into town for her school class.

     Tala had wanted to walk into town. Drisco's farm was about as far away from Ellford to the north as her cottage had been to the south and she found it an easy walk. It was warm and the sun was shining. She'd been looking forward to it, but as soon as Drisco had found out what she intended he'd insisted that her son take her there in the buggy. "What's the point in having it if we don't use it?" he'd pointed out. "And the horse needs a walk too."

     Tala rode in the buggy, therefore, beside Dougal who was holding the reins. Ahead of them the horse grumbled to itself as it pulled the small cart but Tala thought it was happy, on the whole. It didn't enjoy being cooped up in the same field for day after day. It liked to see the world. It liked to see other horses, which it would nicker to as they passed each other in the road. <How you doing, Shaggytail?> it asked the ironmongers horse as they waited before the narrow bridge over the river Ell for it to pass.

     <Oh, you know,> Shaggytail replied as it twitched its ears at him. <Same old same old.> It made Tala laugh, which made Dougal stare at her curiously. He and the ironmonger touched caps to each other as the large, heavy wagon trundled past, and then the way was clear for the smaller farm buggy to go across.

     Arriving in the small town, though, Tala's heart froze to see a group of soldiers standing before the courthouse. They were wearing the armour of Knights of Vell. The King's witchhunters. Had they somehow found out about her? Were they here to lock her in the stocks and stone her to death? They were paying only casual attention to the people of the small town, though. Mainly, they were watching as one of them, their Captain, nailed a notice to the wall of the courthouse.

     "You okay?" asked Dougal anxiously. "You suddenly went as white as a sheet."

     "Fine," Tala replied in a low voice. "I just hate those guys, that's all."

     Dougal looked at the Knights as the buggy passed them. One of the Knights looked at them, then lost interest and looked back at where the Captain was hammering in the fouth and last iron nail. The Captain then stepped back and examined his work critically.

     "Not the friendliest people," Dougal replied, also keeping his voice low, "but they do an important job. They protect us from evil."

     "They stone women to death," hissed Tala, keeping her eyes straight ahead. She was afraid that the Knights would see the fear and hatred in her eyes if she looked at them. "Worse. They make us stone our own people to death."

     "witches," Dougal pointed out patiently. "Evil doers."

     "Don't you ever worry that Daisy or your mother might be accused of being a witch? Or me? What would you do if they tried to lock Daisy in the stocks?"

     "None of you are witches."

     "What if they made a mistake? What if they thought Sarah was a witch?"

     "They don't make mistakes."

     Tala stared at him, wondering if he honestly believed that. "Are they the only people in the world who never make mistakes?" she asked.

     "There are tests. They know how to tell a witch from an innocent woman."

     "Oh well. That's all right then. I guess we've got nothing to worry about."

     "They're just here to do their tests," Dougal assured her. "Once they've made sure there are no witches in town they'll move on and it'll be a couple of years before we see them again."

     He dropped her off beside the church. "I'll be back for you around noon," he said. "See you then."

     "See you then."

     They waved to each other and then Dougal slapped the reins. The horse started walking again, Dougal turned it around in a wide circle and then the buggy clattered off down the road, back the way it had come.

     Tala didn't go straight into the church, though. Instead, seeing that the Knights were making their way towards the boarding house, she went over to the courthouse to take a look at the notice they'd pinned up. She wasn't the only one. A small crowd was gathering around it and she had to shoulder her way through them before she was close enough to see.

     It was a proclamation, written in the name of the King. The lettering was stark but gothic, as if the writer had wanted to impress the importance of the message upon the readers with the style of writing alone. Around her, people's lips were moving as they struggled to read it one letter at a time, but Tala was able to read it easily, as was Cindy Tanner, one of the girls of her school class. The ten year old read it aloud for the benefit of the less literate villagers.

     "Whereas the King has taken into his Royal consideration the sanctity and wellbeing of his loving subjects, he has authorised the Knights of Vell to undertake such measures as they deem necessary to eradicate the scourge..." The girl hesitated and turned to Tala. "What's a scourge?" she asked.

     "Something very bad," Tala replied."Carry on. You're doing very well."

     Cindy grinned and turned back to the proclamation. "To eradicate the scourge of witchcraft from our Kingdom. To that end, all women and girls aged ten years and older living within a distance of ten miles from this location are commanded in the name of the King to present themselves here at midday on the twelfth day of October to be tested. Any woman or young girl who does not comply with this command shall be held in great suspicion and shall be subject to special testing in order to determine their guilt or innocence. In the name of His Majesty King Abulard, the just, the merciful. May God protect him and grant him long life."

     Concerned gossip broke out in the crowd and Cindy stared up at Tala in fear. "I'm ten," she said. "That means I'm one of the girls they want."

     "It's nothing to be scared of," Tala reassured her, putting her hands on her shoulders. "I had to go through a testing when I was Twelve. Both me and my mother. You'll be okay. Just do whatever they tell you to do."

     Cindy nodded up at her, looking relieved.

     "Now go to the church hall. I'll be there in a few minutes."

     The girl skipped off down the road towards the church and Tala went in the opposite direction, into an alleyway where she'd be out of sight of the rest of the villagers. As soon as she was there she allowed herself to relax and shuddered in fear. Her memories of the testing were sharp and vivid. It had been before her own witch abilities had begun to manifest themselves, but she'd seen how her mother had been tormented by what the Knights were doing. Her rigid control had kept the King's men from noticing, but Tala had known her better than any stranger and had seen how stiffly her mother had been sitting beside her. Had seen the stony, emotionless look on her face as she'd struggled to keep it from showing any expression. With their shoulders touching, she'd felt her mother shivering with anger and distress as the testing had proceeded. She'd been able to sense what it had cost her to protect not only herself but her daughter, who would also have been found guilty because it was known that witchcraft was passed down through the generations. The Knights would have built a smaller set of stocks, the right size for the wrists and neck of a twelve year old girl, and mother and daughter would have been stoned to death together by the people of the village. People who had been their friends just minutes before.

     Her mother had succeeded in hiding her witchcraft, but would Tala be able to? And if she was found out, what would happen to Dougal and his family? She'd only been living with them for a couple of days. Would they be able to plead innocence? Would the Knights believe them if they said they'd had no idea they'd taken in a witch?

     Part of her wanted to run. To leave town and head for a faraway part of the Kingdom where she wouldn't be a threat to Dougal's family. Except it was too late now. Everyone knew they'd taken her in. The only way to protect them now was to pass the testing. To have the same kind of strength and self control that her mother had had. If she could pass the test once, she'd be able to pass it every time the Knights came and, so long as she was careful never to use her witch powers, to live as an ordinary woman, she and they would be safe.

     She remained in the alley for another few minutes while she regained her composure and forced her heart to slow to its normal rhythm. Then she smoothed down her dress, put a confident expression on her face and marched back out into the street. Today she would teach mathematics to her class, she decided.