“Leave here and walk toward the sun. Find the path and follow it. Do not return to your home. I will give you money, but you must never return to this house, either.”
“But why must I go right now? No one followed me, certainly not Bjorn. Why would you be afraid of him?”
“So it is true?”
“What?”
“And you did not run to me? You did not run thinking I would save you, just like the others?”
Mia shook her head. Others?
“You know nothing?” She kicked with one foot at Mia, spraying dirt over Mia’s feet. Mia just shook her head again, lost. “I don’t believe you.”
Mia reached down and brushed the dirt away. What did the woman want her to say? Some sort of confession or accusation? Mia would not accuse anyone, not for Bastion, and not for this strange woman.
“Thank you for the night’s shelter,” Mia said, standing. Mia walked to Alma and whispered in her ear, wiggling her hands underneath the sleeping child to lift her. Mia did not acknowledge the surprised expression Hilda wore.
“You really know nothing? And you would walk through the forest, without any protection, for what, you said? Your daughter? She’ll get eaten.”
Mia removed her hands from underneath Alma, who stirred and woke with the interruption.
“You do not want to give me help,” Mia said. “You are no different than any other woman I know.”
“It’s remarkable,” the woman said, moving to sit on the pallet Mia had slept on.
Mia closed her eyes and shook her head before answering. “What is remarkable?”
“That you ran straight to me, that I was out collecting toadstools at that very moment, that I saved you. We must think of what it means.”
Mia frowned. “Do I owe you money? Is that why you tell me to leave and then tease me into lingering and asking questions? Do you want to be paid?”
The woman gasped and kicked more dirt at Mia, as if punishing her, or pushing her to reveal something more.
“Stop doing that!” Mia said.
The woman sneered. “You are not what they say.”
“Why are you teasing me? Do you want me to stay? Or do you want accusations? I won’t give you names.”
The woman’s face grew dark and angry. “I do not want names. I know their names. And I know that many of them will die.”
“If some women have become witches and consorted with the Devil, how is that my burden? Let each pay for her own sins.”
“Do you believe that? Each one of us must pay for our own sins? Our own sins and not the sins of another?”
The door stood only a few paces away, if she could get past the woman. Hilda could not be trusted. She was not even a Christian woman. She would only lead Mia deeper into deception and danger.
“I know more about you than you know,” Mia said. “You are a witch, a forbidden healer. All the women know about you. We see you in town, buying herbs, scowling at Father Stefan. If Bastion knew of you, where you lived, he would burn you on the spot.” Mia hoped the woman did not miss the threat in her words.
Hilda laughed and patted her knee. She had no reaction other than amusement. Mia must have made a poor enemy. “Come and sit with me.”
“No, I will not. If you consort with the Devil, then you are no good Christian woman.”
“You are the one who consorts with the Devil.”
Mia gasped.
Hilda grinned as her eyes narrowed. “I have heard stories of you, Mia, an innocent who married Bjorn without thinking, without caution. Rose tried to befriend you, to help you see who he was, but that ended so soon, didn’t it? Yes, I have heard the stories.”
Mia could not let Hilda sense the dread building in her heart. What Hilda said might be true. And Mia had made it all possible for Bjorn.
“You speak nonsense.”
Hilda crossed the floor in three fast steps. “Do you wonder where Bjorn goes at night? Do you wonder why women are cold to you? Can you not see fear on their faces?”
“Can you not speak plainly?”
“I want you to say the words to yourself first. They should not come from me.”
Mia laid her hands on Hilda’s shoulders. “Whatever it is, say it.”
“No.”
“Then I will leave.”
“There is a monster in your village—a man who creeps round at night, finding women alone. He does terrible things. He holds all power. They do not resist. But they hate.”
“If you accuse Bjorn …”
“He has never been able to find me. He would like to, for he knows that I am a refuge for the women. When they come to me, I give them medicines for pain, for sorrows, and to make sure he does not give them a child. I cannot give them justice. I give them a chance for survival.”
“Nothing you say is true.” Mia grabbed Alma and rushed her out the door. Rain spattered the ground. Thunder roared overhead. Mia did not know where to find the path.
Hilda came up behind her.
“Tell me, did you get your pearls back? They were given away to shut a woman’s mouth. Bastion returned them, yes? And you rewarded him well?”
Mia stopped and turned to face her. Raindrops pelted her cheeks.