A Break With Charity: A Story About the Salem Witch Trials (21 page)

"We've been talking here for two hours," Johnathan told me.

"Didn't you get any sleep, Joseph?" Elizabeth came into the kitchen, yawning, with Mary in her arms. "She's been fretting all night. I think she's cutting teeth. Joseph, I'll have to beg off going to Alden's this day. It looks like rain, and the baby is feverish. And my own body groans with lack of sleep."

"I shall miss your company," Joseph said, "but these two young people will accompany me."

I watched him reach across to Elizabeth and pat her shoulder; then he took Mary and balanced the baby on his knee. How did the man do it, I wondered. He was freshly shaven. He wore a clean shirt and waistcoat. He looked more bright-eyed than any of us.

"Have you heard, Elizabeth?" he asked her. "Johnathan's father has told him that Corwin is having doubts. It's the occasion we've been waiting for."

"Yes, but Corwin will never give public voice to those doubts," Elizabeth predicted. "The man is too fearful."

Joseph ate his breakfast while he jostled baby Mary on his lap. His brow was furrowed, and he chewed slowly. "If I could push him along a bit, move him..."

"And how could such be done?" Elizabeth asked, as she poured her tea. "The man won't even speak with you."

"True, but he'd speak with Magistrate Richard Pike of Salisbury. These magistrates always give succor to one another."

"Joseph, you are plotting." Elizabeth laughed. "Tell us, so we can help."

"When Saltonstall resigned from the bench, Pike rode over here to see why," Joseph said. "And when people came to Pike in Salisbury, to give depositions about Susanna Martin when she was accused, he made several remarks indicating he was against the whole business."

"And don't forget," Johnathan intoned, "that Pike has been called a heretic for standing up for Mary Bradbury. He testified to her charity and piety."

"Who is Mary Bradbury?" I asked.

"She is accused of witchcraft," Joseph explained. "She has been married fifty years and has eleven children."

"Is that the same Mary Bradbury who has the butter business?" Elizabeth inquired.

"The same," Joseph said. "You are right, Johnathan; Pike came out strongly in her defense. He does not seem to mind being called a heretic. He is the one who must get to Corwin. I must ponder on how to bring this about."

"Corwin is upset because his mother-in-law, in Boston, was cried out on by the girls," Johnathan said.

"That's right," Joseph said. "We have that in our favor."

"Was she arrested?" Elizabeth asked.

"No," Joseph answered. He and Elizabeth started to discuss the matter.

"Mary Bradbury was accused of haunting ships at sea," Johnathan told me. Then he fell silent. Everyone did.

I felt my face go white.

"If there is something I should know, please tell me," I said.

Johnathan looked to Joseph, as if for permission, and Joseph nodded solemnly. Johnathan explained. "Sam Endicott, a Boston shipowner, testified against Mary Bradbury. He lost a ship that had just left Barbados. In a storm. He said he saw her on the windlass, cackling at him as the ship went down. The rest of the story is silly and deserves no attention."

"Tell me," I said.

"Oh, very well." Johnathan sighed. "Sam Endicott claims Mary Bradbury boasted of leading pirates to the
William and Susanna.
And of haunting many Massachusetts Bay ships in the Caribbean."

I felt a sense of dread overwhelm me. "Where," I asked, "is this Sam Endicott now?"

"In Boston," Johnathan said.

"Can you take me to see him this day?"

He and Joseph exchanged looks again. "No," Joseph said. He got to his feet and handed the baby back to Elizabeth. "We have much to do, and you should not give credence to such gossip, Susanna. I am also making arrangements to bring your parents to Alden's after the prayer meeting. You won't have time to run around looking for Endicott."

"But, Joseph—" I started to protest.

He scowled down at me. His face was flushed with some of the anger I had borne witness to earlier this morning. "Don't you want to see your parents? And would you give me argument, when I have much to concern me?"

I did not know whether to answer yes or no. So I said nothing.

"Finish your breakfast if you would come with us," he said gruffly. "I must gather my things."

I ate. Elizabeth jostled Mary on her shoulder. "Don't pay heed to Joseph," she said. "Lack of sleep has made him boorish."

"I pay no heed," I said. But to myself I made a promise. I would see Endicott this day. I would prevail upon Johnathan to take me to him.

We made the trip to Boston in good time. Joseph kept his twin bays at a swift pace to make the ten o'clock ferry. As we rode around the Lynn marshes, the skies, already overcast and brooding, threatened to open upon us at any moment. But the rain held off, and we were able to get out of our carriage on the ferry to get benefit of the breezes in Boston Harbor.

Johnathan and Joseph were deep in conversation as they stood near the horses' heads on the ferry. I could scarcely get two words in with Johnathan.

It was hot in Boston, but the town's rhythms seemed different from Salem's. There was a gaiety everywhere, whereas in Salem people avoided each other on the streets, ducking their heads and going about their business like frightened crows, intent upon not attracting attention.

It was hot, too, in John Alden's frame house, which was filled with people. They were assembled in the company room for prayers. I had never met Alden, but like every young girl in Massachusetts Bay Colony, I had heard much of his exploits as a sea captain and a famed Indian fighter. I looked forward to meeting him. Wouldn't my sister, Mary, love to meet him, too, I decided. Perhaps she would have the opportunity later.

The room was filled with all manner of persons, lowly and distinguished. Joseph moved through the crowd slowly, greeting them in soft tones. All about the walls and on the chests were curios from Alden's adventures—Indian artifacts and other treasures from around the world.

A sudden hush came over the room as Alden entered. He stood by the hearth to welcome everyone. He was a tall man—very tall—and lean. His eyes were deep set and his movements cautious, like a cat's. He was well muscled, and his strong-jawed face was browned. He wore a soldier's rough clothing: leather breeches and doublet, rough shirt, and woolen stockings.

"Good and gentle people," he said in a voice that was at once kind and strong, "the tall man from Boston welcomes you and thanks you for coming to pray with him."

There was a murmur of appreciation that this man could have any humor left in him. For his accusers had identified him as "the tall man from Boston," echoing Tituba's words for the Devil.

"Where is your black hat, John?" someone asked.

"I have sold it to the Indians along with some powder and shot."

Soft laughter. But Reverend Cotton Mather scowled. Not yet thirty, the younger Mather, whom my father had called a dunderhead, was dressed all in black. He wore a wig and looked like the very incarnation of evil, rather than a man of God. I heard him whisper to Judge Sam Sewall that Alden was irreverent and in need of prayers. Then Mather began to pray in a great and thundering voice.

The praying lasted nearly an hour. Halfway through, a rumbling of thunder sounded, lightning flashed in a most fearful manner, and the room grew dark. Then the downpour came. Rain! After weeks of drought. Mather paused and acknowledged the rain, acting as if his prayers had brought it on. Alden's maidservant went about lighting candles. As I watched her move through the kneeling figures, Joseph came over to whisper something in Johnathan's ear, then slipped out a side door.

In the kitchen, after prayers, cakes and cold cider and ale were laid out. As the others moved back into the company room with food and drink in hand to hear Judge Sewall read a sermon, I put a hand on Johnathan's arm.

"Stay a moment."

"Gladly. I have no desire to hear Sewall preach. We've scarce had time to ourselves. Joseph means well, but he often keeps us apart."

"You're one to complain. You spend all your time talking with him."

He smiled, but I saw the hurt in his eyes. His smile, the even white teeth, made him seem so innocent, and I was reminded how attracted I was to him. "Where has Joseph gone?" I asked.

He shrugged. "He doesn't tell me everything. Nor do you, Susanna. Sometimes I think you have more secrets with him than I have conversations."

"What secrets could I have with Joseph?"

"I don't know. But there are times I feel you are keeping something from me. And you look up to him so and are so anxious to do his bidding."

"I am living under the man's roof. I must show respect."

"You worship him, Susanna. Anyone can see that."

"Are you accusing me of being his jade? Like Mary Warren was John Proctor's?"

"No, Susanna, I know you too well. And I know Joseph."

"You worship him no less."

"Aye. He's been part father and part adviser to me since my father removed himself from that responsibility. He has those qualities of leadership that attract loyalty.... Let's not quarrel, Susanna. Our time together is scarce."

"I don't do Joseph's every bidding, Johnathan," I insisted.

"Nor do I."

"Prove it to me, then."

"How?"

"Take me to see Sam Endicott. I would see him today. You know where he is to be found. You know everything to do with the trials, and he's a witness."

He shook his head in wonderment. "You mean to go now?"

"This very minute," I said.

"It's raining. We have no transportation. And Joseph told me, before he went on his strange mission, that later on today he's having your parents and sister brought here."

"At what hour?"

"Five this afternoon."

"We can rent a carriage. And be back by then."

"Susanna, why must you see this man? Joseph won't like it."

I sipped my cider and set down the mug. "Now who's following Joseph's every command?" I moved toward the company room. He grabbed my wrist and looked down at me with those blue eyes of his. A lock of his curly hair fell over his forehead, and I went weak. "I'll take you, Susanna. Though I indulge you and will get into trouble for it."

***

Johnathan hailed a carriage, and we drove down to the wharves, through winding streets, past the marketplace, past the Town House, where the General Court sat, past elegant brick houses, silversmith shops, taverns, countinghouses, and, finally at the wharves, shops sporting the wares brought in by ships from all over the world.

That street was crowded with carts and carriages, rowdy young boys, sailors from distant shores, and women of ill repute.

"Joseph will have me hanged if he finds I took you here," Johnathan mumbled. We got out of the carriage. The rain had stopped, and the cobblestones glistened. As I turned to the waterfront, I saw rows of ships at anchor and men unloading goods, hawking wares in carts, and just loitering about. Gulls cried overhead. My eyes filled with the sights, my nose with the rich sea smells.

Overhead, a sign that said Endicott Shipping creaked in the breeze. Johnathan guided me with a firm hand under my elbow as we skirted some sailors and went through the door.

A blackamoor fetched Mr. Endicott from a back room. The shipowner was my father's age, well dressed, but limping and using a cane.

"How can I help you two young people?" he asked.

Johnathan explained who we were. Sam Endicott knew my father, of course, and shook his head in bewilderment to hear my parents had been accused of witchcraft. "All of the Bay Colony seems to be in the Devil's grip these days," he said. "Everywhere you look, you see the Devil's minions."

"My parents are no minions of the Devil, sir," I said.

"There is no doubt, child, that some are innocent. But they have the chance to clear their names at the trials. Sit, both of you."

We sat. His blackamoor brought a tray of tea and cakes.

"What do you wish to know, Susanna English?" he said.

"They say you are accusing Mary Bradbury of being a witch."

"Aye. She's every inch a witch, child."

"Do you have proof?"

He sipped his mug of ale and regarded me with eyes so old, eyes that had seen so much, that his words were as afterthoughts to what I saw in them.

"I lost two firkins of butter because of her on one occasion. On another, I lost a ship. She has the powers. She made restitution on the butter when I demanded it but muttered curses at me as I left. Then, when I was in the Caribbean on my next voyage, those curses worked her evil. My ship was ripped apart during a storm."

"How can you blame her?"

"I saw her likeness with my own eyes, child. Right in the middle of that storm. First I saw a cat on board. We had no cat, yet there it sat on the windlass. Then, before my eyes, it became the shape of Mary Bradbury, cackling at me while my ship ripped apart."