“That’s not fair!” cried Judith. “I think it’s just his stubbornness!”
Mercy spoke too now, “I think you should be proud of him.”
“Well, I’m not,” answered Judith. “Now John won’t get his own church, and he can never get married or build a house!” Tears were running down her cheeks.
“He will come back,” Rachel comforted her. “It will be only a few weeks.”
Mercy spoke thoughtfully again. “Try to understand, Judith,” she said slowly. “Sometimes it isn’t that a man doesn’t care. Sometimes he has to prove something to himself. I don’t think John wanted to go away. I think, somehow, that he had to.”
Chapter Seventeen
Five days after John Holbrook’s departure Judith fell ill. Her mother put her to bed, thinking it was just the broken heart fever. However, in two more days the alarm spread all over Wethersfield. Sixteen children and young people had a mysterious fever, and nothing seemed to help them. On the fourth day Kit also felt chilly and dizzy. Her fever was short, however. Barbados fruit and sunshine made her young body strong. Now poor Mercy was seriously ill and coughing violently, too, staying in something between sleeping and waking. Fear settled in Matthew Wood’s household. On the fourth morning of Mercy’s illness Matthew didn’t go to work, but just sat at the table, reading the Bible. The young doctor, called for the third time, stood helplessly at Mercy’s bed. Then Rachel spoke to her husband, “Matthew, do you think that Dr. Bulkeley might know something to help her? He is so skilled.”
“I said that man would never come into my house,” Mathew answered her angrily.
At noon there was a sudden knock at the door. “Let me in. I’ve something to say,” announced the voice and in came the Reverend Bulkeley. “Matthew,” he said, “you’re so stubborn. But this is no time for politics. Your Mercy has always been like my own daughter. Let me see her, Matthew. Let me do what I can, with God’s help, to save her.”
Matthew silently agreed. Dr. Bulkeley’s presence brought new hope to their house. “I have a theory,” he told them. “I’ve read something. Cook me some onions.”
When the onions were cooked, Dr. Bulkeley put them on a napkin and onto Mercy’s chest. As soon as the onions cooled, he replaced them with a new portion, which Kit had been helping Rachel to make for many hours. Late in the afternoon the exhausted doctor left to help other patients.
Then without warning a new fear came. In the evening there was another knock on the door. Matthew Wood opened it, and there stood a little crowd of local people. “There’s illness everywhere!” shouted the angry voices. “Three young people are already dead! We’ll all die! Let’s stop it! Come with us! It’s the witchcraft! We’re going for the witch!”
“Who’s the witch?” asked Matthew.
“The Quaker woman who lives by Blackbird Pond! She’s been a curse on this town for years with her witchcraft! She’s with the devil!”
“This is nonsense,” said Matthew Wood. “No old woman or witchcraft could bring a plague like this. I won’t help you with any witch-hunt.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” a woman’s voice cried suddenly. “You have a witch in your own household! Ask your niece where she spends her time!”
Suddenly Matthew Wood turned red with anger. “Be gone from my house!” he shouted. “My niece is a good God-fearing girl! How dare you all?” There was a silence. Then the crowd turned and walked away to knock on other people’s doors.
When the angry crowd was gone, Kit asked, “What will they do to her? She’s just a poor helpless old woman! Will they harm her?”
“This is Connecticut,” answered Matthew gravely. “They will go by the law. I suppose they will have a trial. If she can prove herself innocent, she will be safe.”
“But what will they do with her tonight?”
“How do I know? This is none of your business, girl,” answered Uncle Matthew angrily.
“Go and get some rest, Kit,” suggested Rachel.
Kit looked from one to the other. They were not going to do anything. Upstairs, in her own room, she stood thinking. She would have to get to Hannah. No matter what happened, she could not stay here and leave Hannah to face that crowd alone. If only she could get there in time to warn her! Kit took her coat and crept down the stairs, then through the back door into the garden, and then she started running along the road. In the Meeting House Square the crowd was gathering: there were about twenty men and a few women, carrying torches. Kit ran on, unnoticed.
The misty meadows were peaceful and still. In the dark Kit found the path easily. Ahead she saw the Blackbird Pond and a slight glow in Hannah’s window. The door was not locked. Inside, Hannah was sitting in her chair, asleep. Kit touched the woman’s shoulder gently. “Hannah,” she said. “This is Kit. Wake up! We need to go, quickly.”
“What is it?” Hannah asked. “Is it a flood?”
“Don’t ask, Hannah. Just get dressed. Now!” There was not a moment to spare. As they stepped into the darkness, in the distance they heard voices of the coming crowd and saw their torches. The two women quickly walked down the path to the river. “Kit! Why are those people coming?” Hannah kept asking. “Oh, I know that sound. I’ve heard it before. They’re coming for the Quakers!”
Finally, on the shore they hid behind some bushes and watched. The crowd had reached the cottage now and started vandalizing it. “Find the witch! Fire the house!” the angry people were shouting. Soon a red glow lit up the meadows.
“My house!” cried Hannah faintly. “The house that Thomas built! My cat!” Tears were running down her cheeks. Kit put her arms around the crying woman, and together they watched till the red glow died away and the angry crowd left. For a long time they didn’t dare to move. It was cold and damp by the river. What should they do now? Where could they go? Hannah was exhausted. Kit thought that she could take Hannah home with her, where at least there would be warm clothes and hot food. But her uncle was a selectman. He will have to hand Hannah over to the law. And would she prove herself innocent? Old Hannah couldn’t even answer the questions straight, talking about her Thomas all the time. But there was no other solution. Whatever might happen, Hannah needed some care now. Finally, Kit made up her mind: they would walk through the meadows and back to her uncle’s house.
Then, unbelievably, out of the mist came the miracle. A mast, then sails… The Dolphin, steadily moving down the river toward Wright’s island! The most beautiful sight in the world! Kit jumped to her feet. “Hannah! Look!” Kit could hardly speak, so she started waving her arms. Thick fog covered the river, and she was afraid that the men on the ship wouldn’t see her signal. On impulse Kit took off her shoes, walked into the water and started swimming toward the ship. This time she was noticed. There were cries above her, “Man overboard! No, a woman!” Then the lifeboat was lowered into the water. Nat and another sailor were inside, and she had never before been so happy to see anyone.
“I knew it,” cried Nat. “Kit! What kind of a game is this?”
“Hannah…she’s in terrible trouble, Nat. They burned her house. Please…can you take her on the Dolphin? She is here, on the shore.”
The two men pulled Kit inside the boat. All at once she was crying hard like a baby. Nat put his hand on her shoulder. “Tell the captain we’re going to the shore,” Nat shouted to the sailors on the deck. “It’s all right, Kit. We’ll take you both on and get you some dry clothes. Just hold on a few minutes more till we get Hannah.”
On the shore Hannah was sitting in the company of her yellow cat which miraculously managed to escape the crowd and the fire. The old woman accepted the offer and climbed into the boat. “Where are we going, Nat?” she asked.