The Ragged Man

"Burn her!"

The mob were shouting as Carys was brought to the pyre. The ragged man watched from the cover of the building. Carys looked demure, resigned.

He would not let her die.

Carys was terrified but she would never show it. She heard the screeching and jeering, and felt the spitting. But she would not give them the satisfaction of seeing her true emotions. They were hers and hers alone.

Her heart pounded along with her head. She saw the pyre, an innocuous pile of sticks on the common which would transform with just one spark into the heat of Hell.

She was bitter and she hoped that its acrid smell would permeate the air as she burned, and suffocate them all. They deserved nothing less. She was a talented healer, not a witch. People always feared what they did not understand. The irony was not lost on her. They prayed for a miracle to save old Rhea and then, when she provided the means, they cursed her for it.

She could see Rhea in the crowd. She wished no ill on her. Rhea had tried to speak on Carys' behalf but had been shouted down. Carys knew that Rhea would be concerned for her own safety and would not want to draw attention to the taint that Carys' care conferred on her.

I'm a weak old woman, Rhea thought, her lack of courage having shamed her into witnessing what she did not stop.

The ragged man watched intently as Carys was tied and the straw and tinder sticks at the base were lit. Soon, smoke was billowing and the crowd was cheering, their bloodlust palpable.

Carys wanted to be sick, her chest heaving as the smoke infiltrated it, its choking hold gripping and tightening. She was slipping into unconsciousness, head lolling.

Through the haze, noises. Loud, treacherous bangs, emanating from the pyre!

Rhea gasped. What sorcery was this? The ragged man smiled. The mob mobilised and scattered in confusion, as he knew they would, frightened sheep.

Confusion bred opportunity and running to the pyre, knife out, he quickly cut Carys' immobile form loose.

Saved.

Rhea cried with relief but who was the ragged man?

***

366 words

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