About this story
Condemned at Lancaster, you baptize the wizard Demdike's child in a condemned cell before the abbey gate receives you. Seventy-six years on you are her granddaughter, Alizon Device of Malkin Tower, and a pedlar falls on the Colne road. Forty chapters carry the whispered verse from the font to Gallow Moor above Lancaster.
How it opens
Late in November 1536, eight watchers guarded an unlit beacon above Pendle Forest.
An armistice had paused the Pilgrimage of Grace while the northern rebels negotiated with the king's commanders.
Norfolk offers pardon to the host but reserves named leaders for punishment, including us.
Father HaydockeDarkness comes, lord abbot, and no agreed fire has yet called the country back to arms.
Choose
Hold the summit until darkness is complete; leaving early could break the chain of beacons.
Return toward Whalley and prepare defenses rather than expose the abbey's leaders here.