The witch purge
Author: NYWCgirl
Fandom: White Collar
Pairing: Peter/Elizabeth
Characters: Neal, Peter, Elizabeth
Warning: none
Spoilers: none
Rating: Gen
Genre: AU, Historic AU, Witches, hurt/comfort, injuries, witch trials
Author's Notes: The fic fills the ‘Witch hunt’ square on my H/C Bingo card.
Happy Halloween!
Word Count: ~1457
Disclaimer: Characters are not mine…
Summary: Peter is a Constable and part if a ‘watch’, made up of six watchmen, one constable and several volunteers who patrolled at night, walking the rounds. Neal is one of his watchmen and they are very good at finding evidence for courts, so they are a sought after duo.
The fic can also be found on AO3.
‘Do you really have to go?’
‘Yes, Elizabeth, we cannot treat this lightly, Anne Moore has been accused of witch craft and I must see to it that she is not wrongfully accused.’
Peter´s face takes a darker expression. The only thing Anne Moore did was assist with the birth of a baby and the infant died. These things happened, but it was common to accuse the mid wife of witch craft when things got bad. The prosecutor in the trial was a bit obsessed by Hopkins so Peter wanted to make sure she was given a fair trial.
‘Will you take Neal with you? It will make me feel better if you don´t go alone.’
Peter nods, ‘yes, I was planning on taking him with me. We will be home by the end of the week.’
Elizabeth brings out his coat and Peter dresses and goes outside to ready his horse. When he is ready, he walks up to the front door to kiss Elizabeth and she hands him a cloth bag with some good in it.
‘There is enough for Neal as well.’
‘Thank you, be safe, we will be back soon.’
Peter mounts his horse and rides to the cabin of the widow Ellington, where Neal has found a home in exchange for doing chores.
* * *
They are back sooner than expected as it was clear to everybody at the trial, that Anne Moore was indeed not a witch.
During questioning, they had found the witches’ mark. So the court had called out for a swimming test. Unsurprisingly, Anne had died from her repeated immersions. And with her death, her innocence was proven.
Neal had taken the woman´s death rather poorly and Peter had taken him back to his home.
Neal is watching the fire when Elizabeth hands him a bowl of soup. He gives her a small smile thanking her. Peter can see the questions Elizabeth has in her eyes, but he shakes his head and Elizabeth just hands Peter his soup and returns to her quilting.
‘She was innocent, Peter.’ Neal whispers.
‘I know. I…’
‘This is all so wrong.’
‘Look, Neal, hopefully next time we will be able to safe someone. We have proved that some accused are not witches. We need to believe that everything happens for a reason.’
Neal nods, but it is clear that he doesn´t agree. Peter guesses Neal´s dark expression comes from the falling of the leaves. It is getting cold and dark and Neal never does well in winter. He is more a spring, summer type. He enjoys spending time outside and not cooped up in some cabin. Peter however enjoys his time hauled up in the cabin with Elizabeth and his dog, hunting the forests. Maybe that is why they work good together, they are like opposites.
‘Why don´t you come with me tomorrow, we will hunt some deer so Elizabeth can make us some nice steaks. And then you will have more horn to carve.’
Neal can make the prettiest things out of antlers Peter gives him and he always seems to enjoy creating them and giving them to people. He can see Neal looking at the small statues he made for them in the past, they have a prominent place in the cabin. It will give him something to do when the snow starts.
‘Come on Neal, what do you say?’
Neal nods, ‘but only if Elizabeth has some apple pie for when we come back.’
‘Deal.’
* * *
Snow came early this year and there is thin layer of white covering the forest floor. It makes tracking a whole lot easier and when Peter is convinced they are getting closer to the deer they are hunting, they leave their horses and continue on foot.
They have been following the animal for some time now and Neal starts to worry that they won´t make it back before dark, but Peter is determined. They are close, Neal can sense it, but still.
Not long after, the deer is killed and Peter is filleting the carcass. He told Neal to track back and get the horses.
When Peter hears branches break, he first thinks it is Neal returning. But out of nowhere a bear appears. Its roar makes Peter hold out his knife to defend himself, but he knows his chances are slim against the predator without his gun. The bear attacks and Peter stands his ground, but the large claws rip through Peter´s clothes and he can feel blood welling from the lacerations. He sinks his knife into the animal, but it is just too big and powerful and he realizes he doesn´t have a chance against the animal. The last thing he thinks before everything goes black is that he didn´t warn Neal for the bear.
* * *
When Neal reaches the horses, he can hear a bear roaring. It can only mean one thing. Peter is in danger. He quickly mounts his horse and gallops back to where he left Peter. The scene he encounters is horrific, there is blood everywhere and the bear has dragged part of the dear away. Peter is lying on his side and isn´t moving.
‘PETER!’
Neal jumps of the horse and kneels next to Peter, who is pale and barely conscious. He can see the large lacerations oozing blood and he knows Peter will never make the trip back. He has to do something now.
Without thinking any further he casts the spells he was taught and it doesn´t take long before Peter starts to get more color in his face. When He thinks Peter is well enough to ride back home, he gently rouses Peter.
‘Come on Peter, you are doing fine. We need to get home before it gets dark. It is not safe here.’
Peter´s eyes roll towards Neal´s voice, but it is all too clear he is not really with Neal.
Even though Peter is a big man, Neal manages to get him on his horse. He quickly ties whatever is left from the deer on the other horse, no need to waste some perfectly good meat during these cold months and mounts behind Peter, so he can keep Peter in the saddle.
It is slow going, but his horse knows where it needs to go and by the time they reach the cabin, Peter´s wounds are closed. He can´t help the blood loss, but they will take care of that.
He calls out to Elizabeth. She opens the door of the cabin and her smile disappears when she sees Peter leaning against Neal. She quickly runs towards them.
‘What happened?’
‘He was attacked by a bear. I managed to closed the wounds, but he already lost a lot of blood when I got to him.’
‘Get him inside. I have just the thing.’
Elizabeth hurries inside and starts mixing some potion that will help Peter regain his strength. With their combined effort, they manage to get Peter to drink the potion and undress him so Elizabeth can wash him and redress him before they help him to bed. Peter is not really aware of what is going on around him, Elizabeth has taken care of it with her potion.
When Peter is settled in, Elizabeth walks back to the living room but Neal isn´t there. She looks out of the window and can see Neal taking care of the carcass and the horses. So she lets him, he probably needs to get his mindset straight and the horses can´t stay outside in the cold night. It doesn´t take long before he walks back inside, rubbing his hands.
‘How is he?’ Neal´s voice is laced with worry.
‘Peter is sleeping, he is alright, you did good.’
‘I wasn´t there, Elizabeth. I didn´t see the bear, I didn´t even sense it. It attacked Peter and I wasn´t there to help him.’
‘But you helped him afterwards and he is going to be alright. Don´t worry.’
Elizabeth spoons some pigeon stew in a bowl and hands it over with a piece of bread.
‘You need to eat, Neal. I know you are worried, but he really is alright. So now let´s take care of you.’
‘I´m fine.’
‘Of course you are sweetie, but still.’
Neal smiles to reassure her that he is indeed alright and eats. Only now does he realize how hungry he really is.
‘Will he remember?’
‘No, I took care of it. Don´t worry. Our secret is still safe. He doesn´t know.’
Neal nods.
‘Did you say you had apple pie?’
Elizabeth smiles, they are alright.