She headed downstairs and into the kitchen and began to brew the coffee for both of them. As she waited for the coffee in the quiet of the early morning house, she could hear in the distance a bell chiming. Not a church bell but it sounded more like a hand held bell. She listened intently, yes she could hear a bell. Puzzeled she called up the stairs to Nuala, "Hey sleepyhead, can you hear that?"
"Hear what" came the drowsy reply. They had left the house late and gone chasing wisps. They'd had good fun and not returned until the early hours of Saturday morning. Both of them were tired and the chase had taken a lot of energy, despite their small size. So Nuala was reluctant to be dragged out of her comfortable dreamy state. Nuala, getting unsatisfactory responses from her friend burst into her room and bounced on the bed to rouse her. "Listen.... Can you hear that bell?"
Laura held very still and Nuala strained to listen, "Yes, and someone is calling out along with it"
As the girls listened the bell ringing got louder and the voice began to become audible.
"Hear Ye, Oh Hear Ye, The Mayor has called a general meeting of the towns folk. The meeting will be noon at the town hall." 
'Ding Dong Ding Dong'
"Hear Ye, Oh Hear Ye, The Mayor has called a general meeting of the towns folk. The meeting will be noon at the town hall." 
'Ding Dong Ding Dong'
...

"What the hell is going on?", asked Laura. "I don't know" mumbled Nuala into her pillow. The criers voice fading now, having passed their small cottage.
Laura went back down stairs and poured two cups of coffee, now having brewed and made her way back into Nuala's room. Nuala now sat up in bed and Laura purched at the bottom sipping at the steaming mug of energy. "What ever was all that about?" Laura asked again. 
"I don't know, Maybe it's some fair or celebration of the village. We don't have a town crier nowadays!" Must be a spring fate or some fair has come the next town. I bet that's what it is and they are trying to drum up trade."
"Ooo a fair, Like a circus or something?", asked Laura, staring to get excited.
"Maybe, we'll have to go to the town hall at noon..? Who talks like that? To find out what's going on" replied Nuala, none too pleased at being woken, despite it now being mid morning. 
The girls snoozed and chatted for another hour before finally emerging from their bedrooms and going downstairs for breakfast.
"You want eggs?" asked Nuala
"Yes, but can we get a move on, I want to know about the fair. Or I want to find out what all the commotion was about"
"Ok, scrambled it is then......"
Nuala grabbed a frying pan and began to prepare the breakfast whilst Laura peered out of the window looking for something to explain the strange goings on.
"Do you think that man on horseback was part of the fair?" Asked Laura.
"That would make sense. I guess he went to clear it with they Mayor before waking us all up this morning with his sales pitch."
Having figured out, they believed, what was going on they were looking forward to the weekend and the fair. The girls set to and made breakfast for themselves then dressed and headed into the village for the 'noon' general meeting. When the arrived they were met by other villagers milling around in front of the town hall, all equally baffled by the strange morning. They saw their friend, John, and stood next to him. Nuala relayed what the girls had decided the events were all about. John listened and absorbed the plausible scenario that the girls had come up with and looked thoughtful. When Nuala had finished, he said,"I heard that he was some law man come to investigate something."
"A lawman?" Asked Laura, "Has there been some sort of crime?"
"I don't think so, not that I am aware of, I guess we'll just have to wait and see."
It was that moment that the doors of the town hall opened and the Mayor and the strange man stepped out. The Mayor looked uncomfortable and kept shifting on the step, but the strange young man who'd entered the village wasted no time and took charge, speaking up before the Mayor had had time to introduce him. He pulled a document from his coat and held it aloft, facing outward to the small crowd of villagers. Bellowing in a resonant voice, commanding their attention, he said "My name, is Matthew Hopkins. I am The Witch Finder General, by parliamentary decree." 
He paused dramatically whilst his words settled on the villagers. They began to whisper amongst themselves. It wouldn't be long before everyone in the village knew of the strange mans arrival and what he had to say.
"I have travelled great distances, through time and space, searching out the evil in this world. My gift for sensing this evil has brought me to this village in this time." Another pause for dramatic effect, "There is evil here! And I, The Witchfinder General, shall hunt it out! The witch or witches of this village will be hunted and identified. They will pay for their evil with their lives." Another pause. The whispering growing louder.