Read Online The First Book of the Pure by Don Dewey - Free Book Online

have me know,
Max?” The question was a gracious one, asking not for information
per se, but rather giving Maximus an invitation to share as much or
as little as he felt a need to share.
    That earned Mu’dar a long stare from his
current student, his last, he’d decided some time ago. “Let me tell
you a tale my teacher, my friend, and you must not doubt the fact
that I am indeed your friend, as I speak.” He said it in a tone
that made it a question as he held his teacher’s eyes with his own.
Mu’dar nodded solemnly, oddly still trusting this man he had come
to know, in spite of the bodies lying on the road behind them.
“There was,” Max began, “some centuries ago, a soldier of Imperial
Rome, the sub-commander of a legion. He fought in the service of
Caesar, his Emperor; he was a very good soldier, and his name was
Maximus Palamos.”

Chapter
11
     
    Session 4
     
     
    “You still don’t believe me, do you
Kenneth?”
    “I’m trying to, really,” protested Kenneth,
looking a bit glassy eyed. He thought his host was way better
looking than the Grinch, but just as nuts.
    “Let me share some history closer to home for
you, and a wonderful example of your own country’s horribly immoral
actions. This was in 1692, I believe. Ruby was going by another
name by then, and living another life. She picked the wrong place,
filled with folks who couldn’t accept anyone different from
themselves.” He looked down at Kenneth. “Although that seems to be
the general attitude of the majority of you Normals. She’d married
and outlived her husband yet again. I don’t know what happened to
him; perhaps she offed him, and then again perhaps he died a normal
death.” He paused and seemed lost in thought for a moment. “I would
guess it was not old age though; we can’t hide our age until a
spouse actually is old enough to die from old age. That would make
us freakish, and open to investigation and even
experimentation.
    “Dear old Ruby was one of the witches your
people burned at the stake; no wait, she was hanged, actually. I
want to get this right, even though your people didn’t manage to.
She was hanged by the neck as it’s said, but not actually until
dead. Witch or not, convicted or not, they just couldn’t get her
dead.” He laughed loudly, and Kenneth did not find it a
pleasant sound.

Chapter
12
     
    Mary Parker (Ruby)
    Condemned Witch
     
     
    “The Salem witch trials occurred in colonial
Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. More than 200 people were
accused of practicing witchcraft—the Devil’s magic—and 20 were
executed.”
     
    Smithsonian.com
     
    Mary Parker was a wealthy widow who had moved
to Salem alone. There was, coincidentally, another family named
Parker in the town as well. It’s obvious where this is going. Mary
Parker was really Ruby, and she was accused of being a witch.
    Her background wasn’t viewed as proper by the
people around her. After all, she was a woman who was in charge of
her own affairs, and a woman of means at that. It was a combination
almost unheard of in that day and age. Yet Mary seemed very
comfortable with her position and her independence. Many of the
other women in town were quick to criticize her. Perhaps their
outward dislike of her came from a deep, secret place inside where
they envied her freedom. That brought about a resentment for her
living as they would wish to live.
    She was at the general store in Salem one
day, with its plank floors and stacks of merchandise. It was the
only place to obtain supplies and foodstuffs, and so was frequented
by the entire population of the town. In that quaint and necessary
place, one simple, helpful action triggered her demise. A child, a
young lady actually, the daughter of the other Parker, Alice, was
running loudly through the store. That wasn’t done either, even
though she was a child. Alice had a terrible time controlling her
daughter, and realized too late, as parents often do, that she was
getting out of