Hi, we're your host's Anthony Delaney and Maddie Pelling.

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In 1646, a young and unassuming servant girl claimed to be visited by six fairies. She alleged that the creatures gave her powers, powers that allowed her to heal the sick, see the future, and perform spells

that would deeply shock witnesses for the rest of their lives. But in a world rife with paranoia,

at the end of the first English civil war

and the very peak of the witch trials, her gift was also a curse. This is the incredible true

story of Anne Jeffreys, a woman born with nothing who defied physics, logic and authority. Welcome to After Dark.

In a large house down one of the twisting lanes of Cornwall, a boy of about six years old

is peering through the keyhole. It's the keyhole of a room that belongs to his beloved servant, Anne.

She's told him to wait outside while she finishes eating, but he can guess the real reason why she's making him wait.

His eye strains desperately to see what's going on inside the sunny room.

He watches as Anne puts down her plate, then stands up and curtsies.

Who is she cursing to?

Is it to them?

Are the fairies in there with her now?

Anne comes to the door and lets the boy in, gives him a piece of her bread to eat.

Decades later, after the boy has grown and gone to London and has suffered all of life's ups and downs,

he still remembers that one piece of bread.

It was the most delicious thing he had ever or would ever eat.

...