Convincing a man to lay his loving wife to eternal rest was a tough job, but convincing him to let strangers dig her grave and examine her body was even more difficult. Abigail knew he had an impossible task at hand, but if there was anyone the villagers would listen to in these trying times, it was a face they had known all their lives.
The stable owner, Jim, was a stout, rugged-looking man who had spent all his life rearing horses and training young kids how to care for animals. He had always been a sincere husband and a loving father. But one dreadful night had turned his life upside down.
Jim was smoking his clay pipe when Abigail entered his house, next to the butcher's shop. His youngest daughter, a modest girl of nine, was fanning the flames at their fireplace while the older one, a girl in her early teens was sitting huddled in a corner with tears rolling down her eyes.
