The Silver Witch

Tilda can’t help wondering if his credulity would stretch far enough to believe what happens to her when she wears the bracelet.

Dylan gently takes the list from her. ‘Let me,’ he says. ‘First up, who was the woman in the boat, and is she the same as the woman you saw the other day when you put on the bracelet?’

Tilda grimaces. ‘See, I told you.’ She glances at the professor.

Here goes nothing. If I want him to help me I’m going to have to tell him.

‘Professor, something strange happened when I was wearing it,’ she explains. ‘I saw … things. Saw a woman. And yes, I do think I’ve seen her before. That morning when I was down by the lake.’

‘The morning we met, I believe,’ he replies. ‘I didn’t know you then, of course, but it was clear to me something had shaken you.’

‘I wanted to tell you, but…’ She leaves the sentence unfinished as the professor nods his understanding.

Dylan reads on.

‘Next, who is the woman in the top half of the grave being dug up? Third, were they the same person? Why is the frightening ghost trying to attack you? What was she saying when she leapt at you in the studio? And last, but not least, who did the bracelet belong to?’ He waves the piece of paper. ‘Simple.’

‘Says you.’ Tilda swigs some more wine, ignoring the growling of her empty stomach. ‘Actually, I don’t believe the scary creature that keeps threatening me can be the same as the woman in the boat. She is terribly disfigured, her face all broken up, but no, now that I really compare the two, her body shape is all wrong. She is shorter. Fatter. And darker, I think.’

‘There you go,’ Dylan says. ‘One question answered already.’

‘So now I’m definitely dealing with two ghosts. Great. Oh, and there is something else. The scary ghost; I’ve been thinking about the words she spat at me in the studio. They were Welsh, I think, and very hard to make out. All I could get was something that sounded like “bewit”? Or “buwid” could it have been? I’ve looked, but I couldn’t find anything.’

‘Hmm,’ the Professor, without so much as questioning the fact that Tilda is talking about more visions, more ghostly women, closes his eyes, mumbling words over and over until he comes to one he thinks could fit. ‘How about bywyd? It means “life”.

Tilda nods. ‘Yes. That could be it. She … the ghost … she said it twice.’

Dylan looks at her. ‘A life for a life?’

There is an uncomfortable silence. At last, Professor Williams picks up the bracelet from the desk. He fetches a magnifying glass from the mantlepiece and sits in the armchair beside the fire to examine it again. ‘I do feel some of the answers you seek lie here,’ he says. ‘This is a very fine piece of jewelry and would have been of considerable value. It must have been owned by someone important.’

Dylan tops up Tilda’s glass. ‘Do you remember seeing it on any of the women in your visions?’

‘No. I’m sure I would have remembered if there had been anything like it.’

The professor holds it up to the light. ‘It occurs to me that it is rather large.’

‘It is.’ Tilda nods. ‘When I put it on, it was much too big for my wrist. I assumed it was meant as a band to wear on the upper arm.’

‘Possibly.’ He sits up, an idea striking him. ‘Of course! It isn’t a bracelet at all.’

‘Not?’ Tilda is confused.

‘It’s a torc. Look. How dim of me not to see it before. Dylan, pass me that book on the end of my desk, would you? The one with the red binding. Thank you.’ He flicks through the tome until he finds what he is looking for. ‘Here, see? These are plain, I know, not beautifully decorated as yours is, but the shape is identical. A loop not completely closed, rounded edges, with slight thickening at the ends. It is a torc, meant to be worn around the neck. I’m certain of it.’

‘But, I’d never get that around my neck,’ Tilda points out.

The professor whips off his glasses with a smile. ‘That my dear, is because you are an adult. This marvelous object was made for a child.’





SEREN