Dark Corner

Chapter 29

Witch Hunters

Biscuit Head was Asheville’s best biscuits and breakfast servings, short of course of Mrs. Twiggs’s muffins and scones. The ladies of the Biltmore Society sat around the small café, drinking tea and picking at dinner-plate-sized biscuits although none had an appetite. They rallied around Mrs. Twiggs.

“Beatrice, you said that they were wearing Confederate uniforms. Did you notice any special markings?” Mrs. Loblolly asked.

“Yes, June, they all had the North Carolina home guard patch on their sleeve.”

“That was the colonel’s regiment. After he was wounded, he ran the entire Western North Carolina home guard. Those men would have been under his command,” Mrs. Loblolly said.

“They weren’t looking for deserters or protecting the boarders, June. They were witch hunters trying to turn the tide of the war by harnessing Agatha Hollows’s power. Think of all the innocent humans who were abducted or killed by them believing they were witches.” Mrs. Twiggs swirled the cream in her coffee.

“But I’ve never read anything about the Confederates using supernatural powers to fight the Union,” Mrs. Loblolly said.

“It’s not something in the history books. It was a very secret task force.”

“I can’t believe my great-great-grandfather would have anything to do with hunting witches. The Loblollies have always had some touch of magic in our bloodline. My grandmother would tell me stories of clairvoyants, mediums. It wasn’t until my turning that I realized I come from a long line of witches as you all. My great-great-grandfather must have had some inkling that he, too, came from a bloodline of magic.”

“Maybe that’s why they were hunting Agatha Hollows. They believed that magic was real and that’s why he carried the silver-bladed saber. He knew from the folklore of the Appalachians that silver could kill a witch.”

Mrs. Loblolly stood up and pounded the table. “That’s enough. I won’t have you talk about my family like that. I’m sorry, Beatrice you’ve been through so much. Forgive me but I will not hear that.”