Plot:
"Who was there anywhere who could help her?
John Holbrook, perhaps. In his quiet way he had a sort of strength and
conviction.
They might have listened to John. But he was far away in the wilderness of
Massachusetts.
Nat Eaton? He was halfway down the river and banished from town as
well.
William? Why of course! William could help her. . . .
The thought steadied her. She thought of him coming to champion her,
confident,
unruffled, those wide dependable shoulders like a fortress between her and
the
angry face of Goodwife Cruff. Dear dependable William! Perhaps he would
come
tonight. Kit drew a deep breath, and sitting on the floor, her knees drawn
tight
against her chest, she waited for William."
(183; cf. 54, 56, 108-09)
Title
"Only a few feet away a woman was sitting watching her, a very old woman
with short-cropped white hair and faded, almost colorless eyes set deep
in an incredibly wrinkled face.... Those thin stooped shoulders, that
tattered
gray shawl – this was the queer woman from Blackbird Pond –
Hannah
Tupper, the witch! The girl stared, horror-struck, at the odd-shaped scar
on the
woman's forehead. Was it the devil's mark? ... The woman peered up at her.
Her
eyes, almost lost in the folds of leathery wrinkles, had a humorous gleam.
A toothless smile crinkled her cheeks.... Whatever this queer little woman
might be,
she was certainly harmless, and unexpectedly appealing.... The little hut
with
its sparsely thatched roof sagged in one corner.... Hannah had set a
wooden trencher
on the table with a small corncake studded with blueberries, and beside it
a gourd
filled with yellow goat's milk.... Outside the house, against a sheltered
wall to the
south, a single stalk of green thrust upwards, with slender rapierlike
leaves and one
large scarlet blossom.... Hannah Tupper was far from being a witch, but
certainly
she had worked a magic charm. In one short hour she had conjured away the
rebellion
that had been seething in the girl's mind for weeks. Only one thing must
be done
before Kit could truly be at peace, and without speaking a word Hannah had
given
her the strength to do it. Straight up Broad Street she walked, up the
path to a
square frame house, and knocked boldly on the door of Mr. Eleazer
Kimberly." (85-91)
"There was a pleasant humming sound in the small cabin. Hannah sat before
her small
flax wheel, her foot moving briskly on the treadle.... She reached down
and scooped
up the sleeping cat from the floor, settling its limp weight in her lap
and
tickling the soft chin until a contented purr almost matched the hum of
the spinning
wheel. The late afternoon sun slanted through the open door and fell
across Hannah's
gnarled hands as they moved swiftly and surely. Peace flowed into Kit. She
felt warm
and happy.... There, unbelievably, was Nathaniel Eaton, the captain's son,
leaning
easily against the doorpost.... Hannah's face crinkled up with
pleasure.... It was
not just coral trinkets and flower bulbs that this seafaring friend of
Hannah's
brought from afar!" (96-101)
"'You know the path that leads from South Road over to Blackbird Pond?'
Prudence
gulped. 'The witch lives down there!'" (105)
"Kit ... stole down the stairs again and took a winding path through the
back Meadow
to Blackbird Pond.... Why hadn't she remembered that ever since he was
eight years
old Nat had been finding his way to Blackbird Pond through devious meadow
routes?
Hannah knew that no threats could keep Nat from coming again.... Kit ...
had
plunged headlong into the only other reading matter available, Hannah's
tattered
Bible. Kit had chosen the Psalms to begin with, and slowly, syllable by
syllable,
Prudence was spelling out the lines, while Hannah sat listening, her own
lips
often moving with the child's in the lines she remembered and could no
longer read."
(153-59)
"She would have to get Hannah. No matter what happened, she could not stay
here and
leave Hannah to face that mob alone.... She had never before seen the
Meadow by
moon light.... She ... saw ahead the deep shining pool that was Blackbird
Pond and a
faint reddish glow that must be Hannah's window.... Kit succeeded in half
dragging
the sobbing woman through the underbrush.... The crowd had reached the
cottage now....
Hannah was exhausted; all her strength seemed to have died with the dying
flames
of her house.... If she could not attract their notice the Dolphin
would
sail past down the river and their chance would be gone.... All at once
she was
sobbing and babbling like a three-year-old, about the witch hunt, and the
chase
through the cornfield, and the man who had come so close. Nat's hands
closed over
hers hard and steady.... Still dazed, Hannah accepted the miracle and the
prospect
of a journey like a docile child." (165-73)
Chapter 1 (7-18)
Kit travels aboard the brigantine Dolphin on its way from Barbados
to
Connecticut Colony in mid-April of 1687. Taking pity on Prudence Cruff,
who drops
her doll in the Saybrook harbor, Kit dives in to retrieve the doll but
alarms the
Puritans, especially Prudence's mother, who thinks the ability to swim is
a sign
of being a witch. John Holbrook, an aspiring Puritan clergyman,
acknowledges Kit's
kind intentions but warns her of Wethersfield prujudices. Nat explains
that the
"witch's trial" determines a suspect to be innocent if unable to swim, a
witch
if able to survive the dunking.
Chapter 2 (19-31)
Nat asserts that the "good honest stink of
horses"
on the Dolphin is preferable to the shame of transporting slaves.
Goodwife
Cruff insists that Kit is not welcome around Prudence. Nat accompanies Kit
to the
home of her Uncle Matthew and Aunt Rachel Wood.
Chapter 3 (31-39)
Kit meets her gray-haired Aunt Rachel, who
was beautiful in her youth. As Nat leaves, he warns, "Remember ... only the
guilty ones
stay afloat." Matthew Wood is shocked to find that Kit has arrived,
intending to
live with them, but without writing first.
Chapter 4 (39-49)
As Kit unpacks, she gives gloves to her relatives, a peacock blue
dress to Judith, a light blue wool shawl to Mercy, a bonnet to Aunt
Rachel. Matthew
Wood, returning briefly from his work, scolds Kit for her "vanity." Mercy
explains
that Kit will have to prove that she can be "useful."
Chapter 5 (50-57)
Kit angers Matthew by refusing to go to Sabbath Meeting, claiming she was
accustomed
to attending Anglican divine service, but generally only Christmas Mass.
He has no
answer to her readiness to go in a flowered silk dress, inappropriate
attire in
Matthew's view, but Kit notices others at the meeting similarly dressed.
Judith
responds with envy. At the town square, Kit discovers the Meeting House,
the pillory,
a whipping post, and stocks. At the Puritan service, Matthew, a deacon,
"lines" the
psalm. William Ashby is charmed by Kit's smile, and Judith enviously
thinks he was charmed by her dress.
Chapter 6 (58-64)
Invited for dinner with Matthew and Rachel Wood, Reverend Gershom Bulkeley
confronts
Matthew Wood about his opposition to Governor Andros. Kit is charmed by
John's
rhythmic reading, conveying "the beauty of the ancient Hebrew verses." To
Judith's
dimay, her father announces that William Ashby has asked permission to
court Kit,
so Judith determines to marry John Holbrook.
Chapter 7 (64-71)
William was given three acres of choice land at the age of sixteen, and he
has
determined to not start building his house until he has decided who he
wants to
marry. William announces that he has been cutting oak trees to begin
building in
the fall. Kit begins to enjoy William's visits because he seems to
understand Kit's
aversion to "the work of slaves."
Chapter 8 (71-77)
Out to weed the onions growing in the Meadow, Kit notices a little house
with smoke
curling from the chimney, and Judith tells her it belongs to Hannah
Tupper,
a widow who many think is a witch. Kit returns home to find Mercy excited
about
conducting a dame school during the summer months. Kit tells Mercy that
she overheard
Judith saying that a boy would be preferable to Kit, so Mercy explains
that Matthew
and Rachel's first child was a boy, and that a fever killed the boy and
left Mercy
lame. Another boy died when only one week old, and this second loss of a
son
affected Matthew's personality.
Chapter 9 (77-91)
Kim indulges in some innovative teaching, creating rhymes using the
children's names,
telling stories at the end of the day to reward them for good behavior,
and then
dramatizing the Good Samaritan. The robbers in the drama happen to dislike
the
boy chosen to be the victim, and the drama becomes chaos. Mr. Eleazer
Kimberley and
Reverend John Woodbridge, who have come to inspect the school, witness
this scene
and threaten to close the school. Distressed, Kim runs out into the
Meadow, where
Hannah Tupper soothes Kit and treats her to blueberry corncake and goat's
milk. Kit
notices that Hannah has a piece of coral brought by a seafaring friend,
and Hannah
shows Kit a single scarlet flower brought as a bulb from the Cape of Good
Hope from
this seafaring friend. With hope restored, Kit dares to discuss her
teaching problem
with Eleazer Kimberley.
Chapter 10 (91-102)
Rachel explains to Kit that the malicious gossip in Wethersfield about
Hannah Tupper
being a witch is because she is a Quaker. Quakers were sometimes hanged in
Boston,
but Hannah Tupper and her husband Thomas were branded and exiled from
Massachusetts.
Kit decides that talk about a Quaker woman would be too much for
conversation with
William, and she realizes that John would have been influenced by Dr.
Bulkeley.
Kit discovers that Hannah's seafaring friend is Nat, who discovered Hannah
when he
was eight years old and lost in the Meadow.
Chapter 11 (102-12)
Prudence Cruff has been bringing flowers to Kit at "school"; her father
wants her to
attend the school, but her mother insists Prudence is "too stupid," so the
best Prudence
can do is stand outside and listen. Kit persuades Prudence to meet her out
in the Meadow
by Blackbird Pond for reading lessons, and Kit takes Prudence to meet
Hannah. Back at
the house, Kit reacts irritably to William's discussions of house
building, but Judith
enjoys this topic. Kit notices that Mercy is in love with John Holbrook.
Chapter 12 (112-21)
Kit finds Nat out at Hannahs preparing firewood for her, and Kit helps him
thatch Hannah's
roof. Kit and Nat discover a common interest in Shakespeare's The
Tempest. Kit returns
home to find William has been waiting, and when she explains the delay was
caused by
thatching Hannah's roof, Matthew forbids Kit to ever go to Hannah's again,
explaining
that Hannah is a heretic and is not to be given charity without repenting
of her sin.
Mercy assures Kit that Hannah will be fine with "that seaman" to help her.
Chapter 13 (122-33)
At the husking bee, Judith contrives to display an ear of red corn and get
William Ashby
to "claim his forfeit." Meanwhile at Blackbird Pond, Prudence is
voraciously reading. On
the way back from Hannah's to her aunt's home, Kit meets John Holbrook,
who informs Kit
that twice Hannah has been accused of witchcraft. When Kit discovers that
John Holbrook
is in love with Mercy, she "could dance a jig." Pondering the matter, Kit
realizes that
Judith "has set her cap" for John. When John tells Judith he has something
to talk about
with her father, Judith contrives for her father to understand that John
wants to court
her, frustrating his plans to announce his desire to marry Mercy. When
William suggests
a formal courtship, Kit dissuades him, claiming she is "a stranger" with
much to learn.
Chapter 14 (133-39)
Kit happens to "eavesdrop" on her uncle, near the garden patch and gazing
out toward
the river and the autumn fields. A "lonely defiant figure in the garden,"
he scoops
up some garden soil and fondles it "with a curious reverence," as though
it were
"a priceless substance," then crumble the soil "in a sudden passionate
gesture."
Kit and Judith go out to meet a trading ship, which happens to be
Dolphin.
Nat asks Kit to deliver a package of woolen cloth to Hannah, then with
"biting mockery"
informs Kit that William ordered from England sixteen diamond-paned
windows for the
house for his bride, "a hoity-toity young lady from Barbados." "No oiled
paper in her
windows, no indeed!" he exclaims. Judith complains that this "common
riverman" has bad
manners, but Kit is relieved by the distraction at home occasioned by
Governor Andros'
intentions to rescind the Connecticut charter.
Chapter 15 (139-48)
Dismayed by the British threat to their "free commonwealth," Matthew is
now joined
by William, who is disturbed by higher taxes on his land. Other issues are
taking
oaths "on the Holy Book" in court and fear of being ordered "to kneel and
whine tunes
like their Church of England." William, a member of the Hartford militia,
announces
that Connecticut has been annexed to Massachusetts, but the charter has
"disappeared"
on All Hallows Eve.
Chapter 16 (148-60)
Nat is in prison because on All Hallows Eve he was involved in a prank
that involved "illuminating" William Ashby's house with jack-o-lanterns.
Kit goes out to the Common and witnesses Nat's treatment while in the
stocks. When Kit delivers Nat's package to Hannah, she discovers that
Hannah was once in the stocks, too. Hannah is confident that,although
Nat has been exiled, he will find "devious routes" through the swamps
to visit her. Hannah warns Kit that escape from the Wood family to
William in a loveless marriage would be no escape at all. Prudence says
Nat has been listening to her read when they were together at Blackbird
Pond. Kit has been using the Psalms in Hannah's
tattered Bible for Prudence's reading lessons, and she has taught
Prudence to write her name. John enlists as a medical assistant in the
militia and volunteers to join the campaign against Indians in
Massachusetts. When Judith objects to John's growing resistance to
Gershom Bulkeley's defense of Governor Andros, Mercy defends John. The
root of the problem for Judith is the interruption in her plans for a
house and marriage. Judith pouts, "Now he has spoiled everything!"
Chapter 17 (160-75)
A high fever spreads through Wethersfield, and Judith becomes ill; medical
treatment is bleeding and a roasted toad potion. Kit experiences a mild
case, but Mercy becomes seriously ill. Kit becomes significantly helpful
during this crisis, assuming responsibility for cooking and laundry. Dr.
Bulkeley, previously unwelcome in the Wood home, prescribes a boiled onion
poultice, prepared by Kit. A witch-hunting mob accuses Kit as well as
Hannah
of witchcraft. Kit slips away to warn Hannah, and she arrives just in time
to rescue Hannah from a mob that sets Hannah's house in flames. Kit takes
Hannah to the Dolphin, and Nat rescues Hannah's cat and provides
a refuge for Hannah with relatives in Saybrook. Kit chooses to return to
her relatives at Wethersfield.
Chapter 18 (175-86)
As Judith and Mercy are recouperating from their serious illness, Matthew
Wood expresses appreciation for Kit's efforts, as though she were a daughter,
and Kit determines to her share to support the family. A Wethersfield
delegation – a church deacon, the town constable, and Goodman Cruff
and his wife – confronts Kit with his formal accusation of witchcraft.
Goodwife Cruff claims that Hannah was changed into the mouse seen in the
mouth of Hannah's yellow cat and that she has transferred "her work" to
Kit. They found Kit's hornbook near Hannah's house, and when Goodman Cruff
suggests that the hornbook is inscribed with "the devil's own writing," the
constable corrects, "Has the Lord's Prayer on it." Kit spends the night in
the constable's shed. When Kit asks the constable what they'll likely do to her,
he suggests they might brand her or cut off an ear. Terrified, she hopes William
will come to save her, but Rachel comes to comfort her. Kit realizes she has
undermined Matthew's authority by disobeying him, and she worries about the
consequences of her influence on Prudence Cruff.
Chapter 19 (186-201)
At the Town House, Captain Talcott conducts the hearing to determine if Kit
is to go to trial at Hartford. Kit is charged thus: "Katherine Tyler, thou
art here accused that not having the fear of God before thine eyes thou has
had familiarity with Satan the grand enemy of God and man, and that by his
instigation and help thou hast in a preternatural way afflicted and done harm
to the bodies and estates of sundry of His Magesty's subjects, in the third
year of His Majesty's reign, for which by the law of God and the the law of
the Colony thou deservest to die." Kit is accused of being heir to Hannah's
presumed witchcraft and caused illness in the colony. Nat Eaton shows up,
with Prudence Cruff. Prudence is invited to testify, and she demonstrates
her ability to write her name and to read the Bible. Goodman Adam Cruff,
delighted by his daughter's intelligence and ability to read the Bible to
him, dismisses his wife'd further accusations and dismisses his charges
against Kit.
Chapter 20 (201-13)
William and Kit agree that marriage is not appropriate for them. Thinking
that John Holbrook has died, William and Judith pair up. John Holbrook
returns after his ordeal, and falls on Mercy's lap.
Chapter 21 (214-23)
Judith marries William, and Mercy marries John Holbrook. Realizing Nat Eaton's
effort to rescue her even at such risk to himself since he had been exiled,
Kit responds with love for Nat and decides to search for him. When they meet,
Nat has become the owner of his own ship, the Witch, and they make
plans for life together.
|
