Bannister must travel to Chelmsford with Thomasine to put on a show trial for the Witchfinder General. But his captive is the worst possible travel companion and threatens to make a straightforward journey a life-changing ordeal. As civil war rages, a tense encounter with pissed-up Cavalier soldiers might just stop their journey in its tracks. Meanwhile, Bannister's rival Hebble sets off in pursuit.