When I enter the crypt, I see Tabitha sat on the bench in the cell, quietly sobbing. She looks up, expectantly, as she hears me. I smile at her, trying to reassure her, but I am not sure on what basis. All this is new to me. I have no idea how this will play out. I’m not sure about Dr White’s motivations. He does not seem to be a very nice man. He is clearly not one to be crossed!
“I need to take you upstairs. They want to ask you some questions,” I tell Tabitha, unlocking the cell door. As I help her get up, I glance in the second bucket. I can see that she has relieved herself in it. That’s probably a good thing. I don’t know how long the interrogation is likely to take.
I lead Tabitha upstairs and to the vestry. She walks slowly, her feet are still shackled, although her hands have been released. There’s no chance of her escaping.
In the vestry, I place Tabitha in front of the table and I stand to the side. She looks at the floor. I can see that she is shaking with fear.
“Now,” says Dr White, looking down at the papers in front of him, “Tabitha,” he reads her name. “I think you know why you are here.” He pauses. Tabitha shuffles a little but does not look up or respond.
“Two weeks ago, on the full moon, you were seen in the woods with some other girls. I want you to tell me why you were there and what happened.” Again, he pauses. Tabitha still doesn’t look up.
“Let me be clear,” he continues. “It is important that you are honest with us and tell us, truthfully, everything that happened in the woods, that night. If I, …” he stops and glances sideways at Reverend Gaunt. “If *we* suspect that you are lying or not telling us everything, it could go very badly for you.” He glances at me, as he tells her this.
“So, let’s start with an easy question, shall we? How many girls were with you in the woods, that night?”
Tabitha doesn’t answer. She just stares at the floor, shaking.
“You must answer, Tabitha!” Dr White tells her, sternly. “It is the work of the Lord that we are doing here. You cannot conceal anything from him!”
“Four,” mutters Tabitha, still looking at the floor.
“Louder!” demands Dr White.
I see Tabitha almost literally jump at the force of Dr White’s command.
She looks at him for the first time.
“There were four white girls and me,” she says. “And that’s the truth, sir,” she adds, meekly.
“Good,” says Dr White, writing on his notepad.
“And what were you doing with the four white girls?” he asks.
“We were just dancing and having fun,” Tabitha replies. “It was no more than that!” she adds, quickly. “I know dancing is a sin, and I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have done it. But they wanted me to show them some of the things I learned from my mother and grandmother; stuff from the old country!”
“You mean witchcraft!” declares Dr White.
“No! Not that,” sobs Tabitha, in reply. “It was just dancing. Like in the old country!”
“Do you deny that you were naked?”
I’m sure that, if Tabitha was able to blush, she would have done so!
“No, not, naked, sir,” she answers, hesitantly.
“What then?” Dr White asks.
“We took off our dresses,” she replies, after a short pause. “Like in the old country. The women in the old country never cover their breasts!” she explains. “We kept on our drawers,” she adds, apparently in her defence.
“That’s because the women in the ‘old country’, as you call it, are savages and heathens!” declares Dr White. “Shameless! That is what it is! It is just one of your heathen practices!”
“How do we know that you were not doing more? How do we know that you were not all fully naked, as we have been told? God have mercy on you, if you lie to us!”
“It’s the truth,” whispers a fearful Tabitha as she stares at the floor again.
Dr White writes on his notepad. In my mind, I imagine a topless Tabitha dancing with some of the local white girls of around her age. I try to guess which girls they were. The image from this morning, of the young girl, clinging to her mother in her nightdress, comes to mind. Was she one of them?
[Comments and feedback are welcome.]
Source: reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/lqr7mc/mmm_ffff_the_devils_work_part_three