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Authors: Susan Meissner
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to shake my hand.”
I could say nothing.
“This is my cousin, Lars. I mean, Lauren,” Cole said. “We call her Lars. Had to make her one of the guys.”
“Nice to meet you, Lauren.” Still the wide smile; still the calm composure. I noticed at that moment his oxford shirt was almost certainly custom-made. It probably cost him $200.
“Nice to meet you too,” I whispered.
Cole stared at me. “Lars, you look like crap. You sick or something?”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.” Cole took the paper towel wad from Rauland started for the kitchen. “Bathroom’s just down the hall to the right, Raul, if you want to wash your hands.”
Raul lingered a moment.
I swallowed hard. He had made a fool of me, but I was the only one who knew it. “I owe you an apology,” I said.
“Dont worry about it.” He cocked his head, flashed a half smile, and turned to follow Cole down the hall, disappearing behind the bathroom door.
I just stood there, mindlessly rubbing my ankle.
A hired maid appeared from within the dining room, carrying a tray with empty glasses. She stopped when she saw me.
“Can I get you something, miss?”
I told her I was fine.
Eleven
23 January 1692
Papa went out for a little while today. After three weeks abed, he was near frantic for want of news and activity. He came home from the tavern with news that his brother’s ship is expected in harbor next week. But he also brought with him strange tidings. He told me two young girls in the Village have been afflicted with a terrible sickness which sends them into awful fits. Betty Parris is the daughter of the minister. I know her. She is but nine. The other girl, Abigail Williams, is her cousin. She is eleven. Papa said the talk is that some terrible disease has fallen upon them. They are quite ill. He told me to stay away from the Village. Except for worship at the meetinghouse, he wants me to stay at the cottage
.
I am afraid for the girls. James Luddy’s sickness began with awful fits
.
Wanderer flew away today. The sun was shining. He thinks winter is over.
24 January 1692
I did not think much of the sermon today. Rev. Parris is much interested in warnings of doom and the prospect ofthe fires of hell. He speaks of Satan as though the Devil is God’s equal instead of a mere created being. God could whisper Satan out of existence with a word. Surely Rev. Parris knows this
.
And it was so cold in the meetinghouse. Too cold to imagine the fires of hell consuming our sinful souls
.
The tithing man saw me looking at John Peter. But John Peter was looking at me, as well. And since he was closer to John Peter than to me, it was John Peter he poked with his long stick. I had to look away so as not to laugh
.
28 January 1692
Papa went into the Village again today to make ready for the arrival of the ship at Marblehead. He came home with news that the King has appointed for us a new governor. Papa said all the talk in the tavern was if the new governor would stand in the way of the colony’s having its charter restored. I listened to Papa because he wanted me to, but I am not of a mind to worry about a charter. Which of us can truly say we do not need another soul to help us tend to our affairs?
Betty Parris and Abigail Williams are still afflicted. The younger Ann Putnam has become ill as well. There is word that the girls are afflicted with the same condition as the Goodwin children five years past. Papa said he read the account of the Goodwin children. A minister from Boston, Cotton Mather, wrote of it. Papa said it was believed the children were bewitched. I do not like that word, bewitched. I did not care to hearmore, but Papa bade me pour him some cider and he told me what Cotton Mather had written. The older Goodwin girl was afflicted first and then her siblings. Rev. Mather wrote that their jaws were out of joint and they barked like dogs, that their necks would be as dissolved one minute, then stiff the next, that they
I could say nothing.
“This is my cousin, Lars. I mean, Lauren,” Cole said. “We call her Lars. Had to make her one of the guys.”
“Nice to meet you, Lauren.” Still the wide smile; still the calm composure. I noticed at that moment his oxford shirt was almost certainly custom-made. It probably cost him $200.
“Nice to meet you too,” I whispered.
Cole stared at me. “Lars, you look like crap. You sick or something?”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.” Cole took the paper towel wad from Rauland started for the kitchen. “Bathroom’s just down the hall to the right, Raul, if you want to wash your hands.”
Raul lingered a moment.
I swallowed hard. He had made a fool of me, but I was the only one who knew it. “I owe you an apology,” I said.
“Dont worry about it.” He cocked his head, flashed a half smile, and turned to follow Cole down the hall, disappearing behind the bathroom door.
I just stood there, mindlessly rubbing my ankle.
A hired maid appeared from within the dining room, carrying a tray with empty glasses. She stopped when she saw me.
“Can I get you something, miss?”
I told her I was fine.
Eleven
23 January 1692
Papa went out for a little while today. After three weeks abed, he was near frantic for want of news and activity. He came home from the tavern with news that his brother’s ship is expected in harbor next week. But he also brought with him strange tidings. He told me two young girls in the Village have been afflicted with a terrible sickness which sends them into awful fits. Betty Parris is the daughter of the minister. I know her. She is but nine. The other girl, Abigail Williams, is her cousin. She is eleven. Papa said the talk is that some terrible disease has fallen upon them. They are quite ill. He told me to stay away from the Village. Except for worship at the meetinghouse, he wants me to stay at the cottage
.
I am afraid for the girls. James Luddy’s sickness began with awful fits
.
Wanderer flew away today. The sun was shining. He thinks winter is over.
24 January 1692
I did not think much of the sermon today. Rev. Parris is much interested in warnings of doom and the prospect ofthe fires of hell. He speaks of Satan as though the Devil is God’s equal instead of a mere created being. God could whisper Satan out of existence with a word. Surely Rev. Parris knows this
.
And it was so cold in the meetinghouse. Too cold to imagine the fires of hell consuming our sinful souls
.
The tithing man saw me looking at John Peter. But John Peter was looking at me, as well. And since he was closer to John Peter than to me, it was John Peter he poked with his long stick. I had to look away so as not to laugh
.
28 January 1692
Papa went into the Village again today to make ready for the arrival of the ship at Marblehead. He came home with news that the King has appointed for us a new governor. Papa said all the talk in the tavern was if the new governor would stand in the way of the colony’s having its charter restored. I listened to Papa because he wanted me to, but I am not of a mind to worry about a charter. Which of us can truly say we do not need another soul to help us tend to our affairs?
Betty Parris and Abigail Williams are still afflicted. The younger Ann Putnam has become ill as well. There is word that the girls are afflicted with the same condition as the Goodwin children five years past. Papa said he read the account of the Goodwin children. A minister from Boston, Cotton Mather, wrote of it. Papa said it was believed the children were bewitched. I do not like that word, bewitched. I did not care to hearmore, but Papa bade me pour him some cider and he told me what Cotton Mather had written. The older Goodwin girl was afflicted first and then her siblings. Rev. Mather wrote that their jaws were out of joint and they barked like dogs, that their necks would be as dissolved one minute, then stiff the next, that they
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