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Authors: C. C. Finlay
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the table. “It’s not funny. I feel likemy power’s been drained since I came here. It’s so frustrating.”
“You shouldn’t worry about that,” Deborah said. “It happens to everyone when they start to study and think about their talent. It’s only temporary. We can talk about it another time, if you like. But right now we need to come to unity about the boy.”
“But it’s the boy I’m talking about,” Abby said passionately. “Look how hard it is for me to take the reins of my talent, and I’m surrounded by people who understand. He has to do it alone. It’s not right.”
She fell silent. Proctor agreed with everything she said, but he had a more compelling reason to act: if Cecily and the Covenant wanted this boy, they shouldn’t be allowed to get him. He was opening his mouth to speak when Sukey waved her hand in a circle encompassing the table.
“No offense to the younger members here,” Sukey said, with a nod to Abby and Zoe, “but I think we should listen to the wisdom of the elders present. Yes, it’s frightening for the boy, and yes, he’s in danger, but many others are too, and we should protect ourselves here first. Esther was telling me the exact same thing. Weren’t you, Esther?”
Esther sat silently until Sukey jabbed an elbow in her side. “Yes, I was,” Esther said. “I’m frightening. I mean,
it’s
frightening, very, but we … we … What do
you
think, Mister Dillingham?”
Ezra shifted uncomfortably at the mention of his proper name. His sunburned face wrinkled in deep thought. “I say the ship has sailed. Thems what’s in port get left behind in port.”
“See,” Sukey said. “We are in complete agreement with one another.”
“No, we’re not,” Zoe said. She reached across the table and punched Ezra, knocking over a candle. Esther caught the candle and set it upright as Abby dragged Zoe back into her lap.
“You can’t mean that,” Zoe said. “You wouldn’t leave me behind, would you?”
“That’s not my meaning,” Ezra said.
“Don’t worry, Zoe,” Proctor said. “We’ll never leave you behind. In port. Or … wherever.”
“So would you leave this other boy behind, just because we don’t know him?”
“No,” Proctor said. “I won’t.”
“We haven’t come to that unity yet,” Deborah said, firmly.
“And we won’t,” Proctor said. “For eighty years, the Quaker Highway has been taking witches out of Massachusetts. For the past year, we’ve been trying to gather them again, but the guides are dead, and the witches are missing.” He paused to gather his thoughts. “If the only talent we have is for healing, that’s reason enough to gather people. There’s a war on, and there’s more healing needed than all of us here can do, even if that’s all we did. I know because I’ve been there, firsthand, in the front lines, and it’s bloody work.”
He knew his voice was shaking, that he was upset, but he had to finish what he wanted to say.
“What the Covenant has done, that’s even bloodier. We don’t know what their plan is, but we know the kinds of magic they use—murdering children as part of their spells, breathing life into corpses to make killers of them, trapping the ghosts of witches inside the bodies of scarecrows. It’s all death and ghosts, and every breed of evil.” He pointed at the door. “The Covenant is out there right now, working on their plan. If Cecily wants this orphan, then it’s for the Covenant. And if the Covenant wants him, then I say that’s reason enough for us to get to him first.”
“Proctor,” Deborah said softly.
He knew his voice had been rising, that he sounded angry. He calmed himself. “That’s all I have to say.”
That was the longest speech Proctor had ever given atone of their meetings, probably the longest speech of his life. The group sat silently for a moment.
“Well, Mister Brown is certainly very eloquent,” Sukey said. “But I fear that he lets his heart’s
“You shouldn’t worry about that,” Deborah said. “It happens to everyone when they start to study and think about their talent. It’s only temporary. We can talk about it another time, if you like. But right now we need to come to unity about the boy.”
“But it’s the boy I’m talking about,” Abby said passionately. “Look how hard it is for me to take the reins of my talent, and I’m surrounded by people who understand. He has to do it alone. It’s not right.”
She fell silent. Proctor agreed with everything she said, but he had a more compelling reason to act: if Cecily and the Covenant wanted this boy, they shouldn’t be allowed to get him. He was opening his mouth to speak when Sukey waved her hand in a circle encompassing the table.
“No offense to the younger members here,” Sukey said, with a nod to Abby and Zoe, “but I think we should listen to the wisdom of the elders present. Yes, it’s frightening for the boy, and yes, he’s in danger, but many others are too, and we should protect ourselves here first. Esther was telling me the exact same thing. Weren’t you, Esther?”
Esther sat silently until Sukey jabbed an elbow in her side. “Yes, I was,” Esther said. “I’m frightening. I mean,
it’s
frightening, very, but we … we … What do
you
think, Mister Dillingham?”
Ezra shifted uncomfortably at the mention of his proper name. His sunburned face wrinkled in deep thought. “I say the ship has sailed. Thems what’s in port get left behind in port.”
“See,” Sukey said. “We are in complete agreement with one another.”
“No, we’re not,” Zoe said. She reached across the table and punched Ezra, knocking over a candle. Esther caught the candle and set it upright as Abby dragged Zoe back into her lap.
“You can’t mean that,” Zoe said. “You wouldn’t leave me behind, would you?”
“That’s not my meaning,” Ezra said.
“Don’t worry, Zoe,” Proctor said. “We’ll never leave you behind. In port. Or … wherever.”
“So would you leave this other boy behind, just because we don’t know him?”
“No,” Proctor said. “I won’t.”
“We haven’t come to that unity yet,” Deborah said, firmly.
“And we won’t,” Proctor said. “For eighty years, the Quaker Highway has been taking witches out of Massachusetts. For the past year, we’ve been trying to gather them again, but the guides are dead, and the witches are missing.” He paused to gather his thoughts. “If the only talent we have is for healing, that’s reason enough to gather people. There’s a war on, and there’s more healing needed than all of us here can do, even if that’s all we did. I know because I’ve been there, firsthand, in the front lines, and it’s bloody work.”
He knew his voice was shaking, that he was upset, but he had to finish what he wanted to say.
“What the Covenant has done, that’s even bloodier. We don’t know what their plan is, but we know the kinds of magic they use—murdering children as part of their spells, breathing life into corpses to make killers of them, trapping the ghosts of witches inside the bodies of scarecrows. It’s all death and ghosts, and every breed of evil.” He pointed at the door. “The Covenant is out there right now, working on their plan. If Cecily wants this orphan, then it’s for the Covenant. And if the Covenant wants him, then I say that’s reason enough for us to get to him first.”
“Proctor,” Deborah said softly.
He knew his voice had been rising, that he sounded angry. He calmed himself. “That’s all I have to say.”
That was the longest speech Proctor had ever given atone of their meetings, probably the longest speech of his life. The group sat silently for a moment.
“Well, Mister Brown is certainly very eloquent,” Sukey said. “But I fear that he lets his heart’s
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