Hiding From the Light

Hiding From the Light
Barbara Erskine

From the three million copy bestselling author of Lady of Hay comes the big new novel by the bestselling author of WHISPERS IN THE SAND is a gripping tale of witchcraft and romance, past and present, as her modern-day characters are caught up in a battle that has been raging for hundreds of years.The parish of Manningtree and Mistley has a dark history. In 1644, Cromwell's Witchfinder General tortured scores of women there, including Liza the herbalist, whose cottage still stands. Some say the spirits of his victims still haunt the old shop on the High Street…Emma Dickson gave up her high-flying career to live in Liza’s cottage, but as Halloween approaches, visions of a terrible past are driving her to madness. In despair, Emma turns to the local rector for help, but he, too, is in the grip of something inexplicably dangerous…

Copyright (#ulink_e806d31a-ab16-512a-9360-9d5c0458d657)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 1998 This edition published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2016

Copyright © Barbara Erskine 1998

Maps and chapter head illustrations by Rex Nicholls

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2016

Cover photographs © Gary Ombler/Getty Images (woman); Stuart Brill/Trevillion Images (chapel with mist); John James/Alamy (grave stone)

Barbara Erskine asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780007288632

Ebook Edition © March 2016 ISBN: 9780007320974

Version: 2017-09-08

Epigraph (#ulink_306e0e0d-10b7-5bc6-a8dc-0c02254fe882)

Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

The Book of Common Prayer

He who has once seen a ghost is never again as though he had not seen a ghost.

Cardinal John Henry Newman, 1870

God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

I John 1,5

Contents

Cover (#u0cb04ab9-fe56-57bc-9695-c2359df8764f)

Title Page (#u3e815e34-68be-5f97-9447-d4cf0fb09235)

Copyright (#ubb636f2b-5cd8-547e-9164-22a448395bcf)

Epigraph (#ude2a6d0b-0604-5046-b239-5568ea5aa4c4)

Map (#u02cccf09-ae80-56da-8e00-7d62ee84b7cc)

Note (#u4ec0f0b5-add7-5dab-9c26-1c36c5b42854)

Part One (#u2b8709ae-cd27-56e7-8388-256f5b7bb54e)

Chapter One: The Present Day (#uc8acd2f9-5478-5948-befc-d3355a3994a2)

Chapter Two (#ufd69a48d-a3f7-58d6-abc2-51a93b1d0357)

Chapter Three (#ud6e74d2f-b214-5287-8aad-7f76701c81a6)

Chapter Four (#u3788de86-efbf-5bbd-9880-00e458c41e50)

Chapter Five (#u23164a19-2403-5169-8a35-f9cb9f42ae89)

Chapter Six (#ue14571f3-6539-583e-b2cb-7003f5b3beca)

Chapter Seven (#uf54fe9d7-2b7f-5bc2-a7f2-f8b125ead545)

Chapter Eight (#ue421aa10-2c32-5e83-a0c4-cf5cb43163aa)

Chapter Nine (#u60661106-4a13-55d0-a821-f8a9b3c99242)

Chapter Ten (#u8f666e1b-d177-54fb-a1b6-09c9560ece9a)

Chapter Eleven (#ua158bdfd-c2ce-50be-8716-274dff08767d)

Chapter Twelve (#u885531e6-bf30-5e08-8d72-b904eff47f02)

Chapter Thirteen (#u63f65d0e-6687-5cd0-82fd-c2d084ad9f64)

Chapter Fourteen (#u78de694e-6dba-5fb8-858d-0af02024dcab)

Chapter Fifteen (#u7a1189b4-d457-58cc-b475-fa720b33fa88)

Chapter Sixteen (#u37eeed00-8c5f-5069-a5c3-925648e03302)

Chapter Seventeen (#ud5fa5f38-8bf3-58c9-b318-127c4a9be87a)

Chapter Eighteen (#ucc58f793-4308-5958-be5e-23ae1a715a7c)