‘Like the Stout curse?’ Kim asked. If she knew her stuff, she was bound to know about that.
‘Of course. Every generation that passes proves its validity.’
‘You believe in it?’ Kim asked.
‘Inspector, there is no doubt in my mind.’
Fifty-Three
‘You’re saying there’s no way it could all just be coincidence?’ Kim challenged, unnerved at the woman’s conviction.
‘Find me another family where every male descendant for one hundred years has died before the age of fifty.’
‘But back in the day, fifty would be old, wouldn’t it?’ Kim asked as Bryant coughed beside her. She knew she was testing his tolerance, but there was more she wanted to know.
‘Absolutely, but not so much now. And yet they keep on dropping.’
Kim thought about the oldest Stout son who was currently battling terminal illness. He looked unlikely to be the one to break the pattern.
‘What do you know about it?’
‘Not much more than has already been recorded,’ Monica said, standing and moving to the bookcase. She perused the shelves before shaking her head. ‘We did have a book written by a local historian charting all the family trees, but it’s gone, so I’ll tell you what I know.’
‘There was a coven of five witches at the turn of the twentieth century: Ma Hubbard, Ma Stout, Ma Grimshaw, Ma Smith and Ma Davies. The families were all very close, and the Hubbards and Stouts were neighbours.
‘There’d been rumours about Edgar Stout’s penchant for young girls long before the accusation from Ma Hubbard’s daughter. His farm was a thriving business back then and he was pretty well connected, so the complaint went nowhere. Some time later, Ma Hubbard’s daughter drowned herself. They said it was when she found out she was pregnant. Ma Stout had already left the coven, believing her husband innocent, so the remaining witches placed a hex on the family. The rest is history, and it’s no secret that the hatred between the two families has festered over the decades.’
‘Okay, for the believers out there, what can break a curse?’
‘The problem is that curses are classed as sorcery, a manipulation of supernatural forces with malicious intent. It’s not easy.’
‘But there is a way?’ Kim pushed.
‘To my knowledge, any witchcraft, good or bad, can be defeated in one of three ways.’
‘Go on,’ Kim urged.
‘Using benevolent protection magic.’
‘Next,’ Kim said, feeling sure that Ma Stout would likely have tried that.
‘Forcing the witch to retract his or her spell.’
Too late for that.
‘And the last?’
‘Destroying the witch physically.’
‘They’re all dead, so why does the curse live on?’ Kim asked.
‘If none of those things occurred, the curse will just continue.’
Kim wasn’t after a remedy that would actually work because she didn’t think one existed. She was just looking for something that the family would believe had the power to lift the curse.
Kim thanked the woman for her time and headed out of the shop.
‘Hang on,’ Bryant said, moving back towards the counter. He picked up the roll of sage and paid for it.
