The Shadow Collector (31 page)

When he reached the open front door he called out a nervous hello. But there was no sound of movement so he stepped into the
small, shadowy hallway. He stood for a moment and listened but all he could hear was the faint cawing of the crows in the
nearby trees.

He called out again. ‘Hello. Anybody there?’ And when there was no reply he pushed open the door to the parlour and held his
breath.

Lilith Benley lay sprawled across the old sofa, her eyes bulging, staring at him accusingly. He could see the red marks on
her neck. Alex had big hands for his age. Strong.

He bent over her and closed her eyes with shaking fingers before wiping all the surrounding surfaces with a duster he found
lying on a side table and tiptoeing out.

It was time to leave the poison behind. It was time to go to London and make a new beginning.

Although the Hadness family and Mercy Hall are figments of my imagination, the story of the siege of Tradmouth is based on
historical fact.

Few places in Devon would have escaped the effects of the English Civil War as there was continuous destructive campaigning
in the county from 1642 to 1646. In September 1643, King Charles I’s nephew, Prince Maurice (brother of the more famous Prince
Rupert), decided to attack the port of Dartmouth while he was en route from defeated Exeter to Plymouth. Like many sea ports
heavily burdened with the King’s taxes and duties, Dartmouth espoused the cause of Parliament. The town offered spirited resistance
to Maurice’s army, even fortifying the church towers, and the siege lasted a full month (in appalling weather). When Prince
Maurice fell ill the King sent his physician, William Harvey (later famed for his discovery of the circulation of blood),
to attend him. In early October
the Royalist troops finally attacked and took the town but the defenders fought hard with the loss of seventeen men.

The fortifications built by the Royalist garrison to defend the defeated town can still be seen at Gallants Bower above Dartmouth
Castle. Gallants Bower is a well-preserved earthwork and a fine example of Civil War military engineering on land owned by
the National Trust.

The 1643 siege must have been a time of great strain for the people of Dartmouth but the seventeenth century in general was
a period of paranoia when accusations of witchcraft were rife throughout the country (although there is no evidence to suggest
that Dartmouth suffered in this way at that particular time). This was the century of the Pendle witch trials when ten alleged
witches were hanged up in Lancashire in 1612. Bideford in Devon saw its own witch trials in 1682, resulting in the last hangings
for witchcraft in England.

Some of the world’s most famous witch trials were held in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. In late December 1691 about eight
girls were afflicted by convulsions and strange delusions. This may have been a result of mass hysteria but one theory put
forward was that the girls were the victims of ergot poisoning, caused by consuming bread made of affected rye. Of course,
this will never be known for certain but it does seem a likely explanation for the strange phenomenon and it is one I have
used in this book.

Returning to the Civil War, the forces of Parliament, under Oliver Cromwell, defeated the Royalists and King Charles I was
executed in London in 1649. England was then ruled by Parliament for the next eleven years, during which time Puritanism was
in the ascendant (and even the celebration of Christmas was banned).

However, in 1660, the country having tired of years of Puritan rule, Charles I’s son, Charles II was invited to return to
England to take the throne. Charles II, unlike his father, turned out to be a popular king (whose lifestyle was far from puritanical)
and he was known by the affectionate title of ‘The Merry Monarch’.