~~~~~~~~~~
"Mary, come here," John called from the kitchen.
"Yes sir," She walked to the kitchen to find her master and his wife, arm and arm, waiting.
"Mary; Elizabeth and myself are going out. Tend to the house while we are away. We will be back sometime tomorrow afternoon," John turned with his wife and walked out the door. Mary felt like she had just been slapped. It was like this anytime the master went out with his wife. It was just so hard to waste away loving someone who would never love you back. Mary was lost in her own wave of self pity and jumped at the sound of the doorbell. She pulled the door back and although the visitor's face was covered in the shadows there was no mistaking the sight of the devil herself, none other than Ann Putnam Jr. **
Ann pulled back her shawl and looked expectantly at Mary. Her pupils were dilated, almost invisible in the great depths of her green eyes. It reminded Mary of the look of feasting in the eyes of a big cat as it bore down on its prey. Ann continued to stare at Mary as if she was a foreign creature never discovered before by mankind. As Mary pondered the options and the choice that would forever change her life; Ann looked on knowingly as if every time she went to someone’s house they had to ask themselves if they were safe. Deciding that she had nothing to lose, Mary stepped back and let the little not-so-innocent Ann into her heart. Ann removed her jacket and Mary led her to the parlor where she poured the visitor a cup of steaming tea and they sat down with heavy hearts.
"We want you to join our circle," Ann stated.
"What are you talking about?"
"You have to swear not to tell a soul," Mary contemplated the offer and the responsibility.
"Fine Ann. Whatever you say," she replied
"We are a group of underestimated unnoticed girls who meet twice a week with Tituba,"
"Wait- Tituba the pastor's maidservant? Why would you want to meet with her?"
"Yes, she practices the black arts. We see the future and perform dangerous spells in order for us to understand hidden information, lost to us by precarious laws that forbid it"
"Why would I want to join a group of villainous girls doing illegal things for their own amusement?"
"What if I made you a deal?"
"What are you talking about Ann?" Mary knew she was falling into Ann's trap, but she just couldn't resist the temptation. She was embarrassed by her actions but she continued play along.
"Don't think we don't know about your little secret with John. We know how badly you want him to be yours instead of that evil Elizabeth's. We can get rid of her, no strings attached. Imagine the life Mary. You would have everything you ever wanted." Mary's mouth began to water.
"I am very suspicious of you Ann,"
"No need to fear fate. Let your heart lead you in our direction. I expect to see this Thursday." Anne stood up and dusted off her dress, preparing to leave. Mary went to get her jacket and held it out to Ann. The door that had betrayed Mary slammed shut and, thankfully; Ann with it.
The snow fell in dirty clumps and landed ungracefully on the frozen ground. Mary hunched down and pulled her sweater closer to her body. The church stood tall in the distance, a beacon of light in a world of dark. The pastor and his wife were out on another mission trip and the faint light of a candle flickered in one of the windows. The hard brass knocker of the church door mocked her. It sat there day in and day out, never having to make a decision or worry about what might happen because of it. Reaching up to grab the brass knocker she was surprised when it swung open in front of her and the too familiar face of Ann Putnam Jr. stared into her soul.
"I'm glad to see you. Please come in."
Mary felt like she had just jumped off the side of a building and found out she could fly. The meeting had gone wonderfully. All the other girls respected and honored her even though she was considerably older than them. Tituba had told her that she saw love in her future! Love! Mary’s spirits were higher than they had been in months and then she opened her mouth, and let the cold white snowflakes land blissfully on her warm tongue. Life was good.
Mary slept late and woke to the sound of the large front wooden door opening and slamming shut.
"Mary!" John yelled with such ferocity that made Mary bury her head into the blankets. He stormed into her room and threw the bed sheet off her.
"How dare you! I take you into my house and I give you food and water and a room and you repay me by breaking the law! Get up you lazy cow!" Mary did as she was told and hung her head guiltily. How had he found out so quickly? Who told him? Why would they want to betray her? Questions flooded through her mind as John took the whip out of his shirt and threw Mary against the wall.
Mary went to the next meeting, and the one after that. She loved the meetings; they made her feel alive, unlike anything she had felt before. The Pastor’s daughters were a little quirky, they had spells of mindless terror and panic, but otherwise the meetings were fantastic. John no longer beat her, and she wondered if maybe one of the girls in the group had tried to test her faith to the group by making her put the group before her wellbeing, but no one seemed surprised when she came back. Ann of course had many crazy ideas about how they could become noticed and respected among the other villagers noticed, but all had been shot down and called stupid by the others. Everyone made her feel welcome, but by being welcome to the outcasts, wouldn’t that make you and outcast as well?
“Who did this to you? Tell us; who is putting you poor girls through all this painful suffering?” Ann’s lip quivered and she looked like she might cry. She looked up, for an omen or something of the sort to reach out to her. As she opened her mouth to speak, all that escaped was a shrill scream that bounced off walls and made the audience cover their ringing ears with shaking hands. The pastor reached over to comfort her but Ann swatted his hand away and went on shrieking. Mary, standing nearby had absolutely no idea what was going on. What is he talking about? Witches and temptations? Had everyone lost their minds? One by one the other girls of her circle fell into hysterics of screaming and hissing, and Mary followed along, falling onto her hands and knees and coughing her lungs out , but her heart was not in it as much as the other girls’. Mary knew this was wrong but it was so exhilarating to finally be noticed by someone! The pastor sank to his knees and began praying vigorously for the poor tormented girls’ souls. The audience had also fell into hysterics, their eyes closed and their heads bowed to their feet, obviously following the pastor’s lead. Those of them who couldn’t seem to handle the hysteria had stood with trembling legs and made their way to the door. Even some of the very weak hearted had passed out in their pews, oblivious to the chaos around them. The pastor rose from his pew, his praying finished and once again he attempted to speak to the girls.
“Children who is causing this ruckus on you poor hearts; do tell us, they will pay,” The reached out to pat Ann’s shoulder and this time she did not revoke him. She opened her mouth ever so slightly and uttered one word before collapsing-
“Tituba.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The entire town of Salem was in chaos after the event at the church that afternoon. There had been three accused as witches; Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba. No one trusted anyone and if any type of outcast was seen in the street they were given at least a nine foot diameter circle around them and no one dared step within it. People’s eyes had a certain look of evil in them that wasn’t there before. These innocent people were bloodthirsty and only witch blood would be sufficient. Mary walked with her head down, sure of her punishment once she got home. She walked as slowly as possible, but eventually she found herself scared to death facing the large door of the Proctor household. As Mary considered entering through the back way she was ambushed from behind by the strong arm of John Proctor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eating her way through a bowl of cold cabbage soup, Mary could barely hold back groans with each swallow. She had washed the blood off her back but the horrible sting remained. Mary debated whether or not she should continue to go to the meetings, now that Tituba was gone, and was about to go see Ann to tell her about her decision when a sharp knock echoed through the house.
“Mary, go answer the door,” Elizabeth called from the kitchen. Mary did as she was told and was surprised again by the horrifying sight of Ann Putnam Jr.
“Who is it honey?” Came the voice from the kitchen.
“It’s no one Elizabeth. Just a friend of mine,”
“Oh. Okay then, have fun.”
“We need to talk,” Ann whispered.
“I agree,”
“I agree,”
“You are now an official member of the circle. You may not leave or tell anything that you know about us to anyone. You hear me, Mary? There are no second shots. You can leave now and give up on ever having your only true love or you can stay. What do you say?”
“I will stay. I have a question Ann,”
“Yes?”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Why are you doing this?”
“What am I doing Mary?”
“Pretending to be tortured,”
“Who ever said anything about pretending?” Ann giggled but there was as much innocence in that gesture as there was in a killer’s guilty weapon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The accusations continued and Mary played along grimly. One of the accused, as Ann promised, was none other than Elizabeth Proctor. John was absolutely crushed and every time Mary tried to comfort him he would send her to do some obnoxious chore that would eat up her entire day and then some. Second thoughts bounced around in Mary’s head and she wished with all her might that she could go back to that first day Ann came to her door and slam the door in her face. Unfortunately Mary could not, and there was only other choice. She had to expose them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mary stood in front of the entire congregation and choked. She had everything planned. She would call out on the girls, day that they were faking it, prove it somehow, and everything would be over. The “witches” would be let go and everyone would thank her and pat her on the back. Unfortunately that was not to be because as soon as she tried to speak all that came out was a squeak and with all those evil eyes staring into her she fell to the floor without a sound.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She woke in small room that was certainly not her room. The decorations were sparse, the wallpaper peeling, the entire room was falling apart at the edges and was completely bare of furniture except for a small bed in the far corner of the room and a chamber pot in the other. Mary did not have much time to look around because as if she was watching for when the victim awoke, Ann burst in shaking her fist and frowning like a crazy maniac.
“Just tell me. What could possibly make you betray us like that?” Mary shrugged.
“I don’t know,” She whispered
“That is not an answer! Did you think I was joking when I said there was only one try at this? Are you trying to test me? “
“No-”
“Then what was it? Temporary insanity?”
“Well now that you mention it.”
“Silence. Do not try that stuff with me,”
“I guess I just wasn’t happy,”
“You’re not happy? How about Elizabeth? How do you think she feels- rotting away in a cramped jail cell while her servant tries to make it good with her husband?”
“That’s not what I mean…..“
“Okay then- What do you mean?”
“I mean it was better before I even joined the circle and I want to go back and make everything like it was before,”
“Okay then- What do you mean?”
“I mean it was better before I even joined the circle and I want to go back and make everything like it was before,”
“Well life is not fair. And since you don’t like us at all you can’t leave. You will be forced to come to every meeting and follow along just like you were doing very well before.”
“But Ann….”
“I said life is not fair. You think I don’t have total control over you?
“No,”
“No what?”
“No nothing,” Mary sighed.
“Exactly what I thought. Good day.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next few weeks passed in a blur and with them more accusations and more “witches”. One of the very first accused, after Mary’s little outbreak, was none other John Proctor but Mary was too numb to take any notice. They came to take John’s belongings now that neither he nor his wife was living there anymore. This left Mary completely homeless. The nights were cold, the days were hot, and all she fed on were the compliments of the other girls in her circle when they came to visit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The trials started soon after the accusations slowed and many of the accused were sentenced to death by hanging. Gallows Hill was abuzz with nasty witchy spirits. John was hung while in the meantime Elizabeth was released home with a broken heart and a mourning spirit. Mary lost track of time and her heart ached to go back to the start and change it all but that was not to be, as the only consolation left in her heart were in her dreams
Bibliography
Important Persons in the Salem Court Records . (n.d.). Retrieved October 25, 2011, from Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project: http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/saxon-salem/servlet/SaxonServlet?source=salem/texts/names.xml&style=salem/xsl/dynaxml.xsl&group.num=all&mbio.num=mb30&clear-stylesheet-cache=yes
Rinaldi, A. (1992). A Break with Charity. San Diego: Gulliver Books.
Linder, D. O. (n.d.). Dead. Retrieved October 25, 2011, from Salem Trials: http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/ASAL_DE.HTM
Rinaldi, A. (1992). A Break with Charity. San Diego: Gulliver Books.
** People during the time of the Salem Witch Trials-
Mary Warren- An indentured servant living and working in the household of John Proctor.
John Proctor- A regular everyday person in Salem.
Elizabeth Proctor- John’s wife.
Ann Putnam Jr. - The daughter of the drama queen of the town. Her mother is very mean to everyone but also quite influential. Everyone knows Ann as the spitting image of her mother.
