Bewitched

By Erin Byrne

One day in the frigid forest of Massachusetts in 1692 the Seaton family sat cozily in their small log cabin.

Anne, the mother and wife of the family, sat curled up on the couch facing the fire holding their 8-month-old daughter, Ellise.

Anne had so much love for her daughter and valued her family she had created with her husband, Matthew. The two napped on the couch waiting for Matthew to come home so they could tuck their daughter into bed together.

Their neighbor, Margery Crawft, stood on her windowsill watching Anne and her daughter; Margery and Anne had grown up together and used to be friends.

But, Margery had a vendetta against the family ever since Anne and Matthew moved in. She had always longed for the life Anne had with her hard-working husband and beautiful child.

—

One evening, as the night grew darker, Anne felt footsteps coming towards the door. She jumped up, laying Ellise down. Matthew opened the door careful not to wake his daughter.

“Hey honey, how has your night been?” he whispered as he gives Anne a hug.

“Uneventful, just waiting around for you to get home,” she whispered back while looking up smiling.

Screams came from the outside startling the couple. Matthew ran out the door to investigate the sounds.

“Anne, stay here with Ellise !” He shouted as he slammed the door behind him.

The screams continued as Matthew ran into the center of the town.

There was a circle of the town’s people surrounding a young girl, everyone was screaming and yelling.

“Witches! Beware of her witchcraft, she is going to curse us all!” A woman in the midst of commotion yelled.

“Stay away from her she’s bewitched.” Another man yelled.

Matthew looked around frantically trying to understand what was going on, he looked in the distance and saw the mayor running to the scene.

“Everyone stays quiet. And everyone stay away from the girl! We don’t know what these witches are capable of,” he yelled as he walked through the crowd to the little girl.

“I heard the women who sells jewelry by the bakery is also a witch,” someone said.

Everyone panicked at the thought of witches in their town.

“May God help us through these times and let these witched beings come free of the devil,” the mayor proclaimed. “And if they cannot part ways with the devil, they shall be HUNG!”

Everyone went quiet and stared at the mayor. Then, the crowd yelled in agreement. “God help us,” they chanted.

Matthew ran back to his house scared by the town’s decision.

Anne was waiting by the porch for Matthew; she had heard all the chants.

—

Days went by as more and more people were accused and charged with witchery. Matthew and Anne stayed huddled in their home, scared of everything going on in the town; some of the people accused were people they knew, people they had liked.

“Do you really believe Marie is a witch?” Matthew said breaking the silence between the family at the dinner table one evening. “I mean she was so kind to me at the bakery, always gave me things for free, it’s hard to think she has got the devil in her.”

Anne stared at him blankly. “I do not think she has the devil in her Matthew; she always went to church with us, and she might be one of the most religious people in this town. If I am honest, I’m not sure any of these people have the devil in them.”

Anne was always a laid-back woman; she never believed the gossip and was never deeply religious. Matthew stared at her in concern, as if he had seen a ghost.

“What do you mean? Of course these people have the devil in them. What else could explain their behavior? I mean the stories some people are telling are insane.”

“I just do not believe it. Who is to say those people are telling the truth?”

“It’s like you are defending them Anne, defending the devil!” Matthew said raising his voice at her.

Anne got up out of her seat, heart racing, skin burning red, appalled at the idea of her own husband thinking she could defend actions by the devil. She walked away into the bedroom taking Ellise with her.

Matthew sat on the couch for a couple of hours thinking about the conversation he had just had with his wife.

—

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. He stood up and looked out the window to see who could be stopping by so late in the night. The mayor stood tall with some dark smaller figure standing behind him.

“Excuse me, Mr. Seaton, we are going to have to take your wife for questioning.”

The mayor stood confidently peering behind Matthew looking into his home.

Anne came around the corner after hearing the noise. “What’s going on?”

“Well, Mrs. Seaton, it seems that Margery Crawft saw you in the backyard preforming witch spells through her window last week.”

“I’ve done no such thing; she is lying to you!” Anne yelled, while coming closer to the doorway.

Margery stepped forward out of the shadows. “It is true, I swear, I saw it all and Mr. Seaton has no idea about it; he is always at work and cannot see that his bewitched wife is dangerous and possessing their child with the devil’s ways.”

Matthew stepped away from the door looking at his wife, who just minutes ago was defending the witches. It was all adding up in his head. “Take her!” He exclaimed, “I can’t have her near my child if she has the devil in her.”

He opened the door fully to let them inside.

“Matthew, are you crazy, you cannot be taking this seriously?” Anne exclaimed.

“I am sorry, but I am doing this to protect Ellise; she needs no relationship with the devil or his affiliates!” He snatched Ellise out of Anne’s hands as she was dragged out of their home.

“I am so sorry,” Margery offered as she walked further into the home as Anne was pulled out the door. “Matthew, who could have known Anne would do such a thing?”

“I cannot believe she would do this to our daughter,” he said sobbing. “Now I’m going to have to raise this girl all by herself until Anne gets the help she needs, and we can be a family again.”

“If you ever need anything done around the house just let me know. I can watch the girl too while you are at work,” Margery said while scooting closer to Matthew on the couch, “If you want me to watch Ellise while you go to the hanging of all the witches tomorrow, I’d be more than happy. I hope they rot for what they have done, but I just can’t watch something like that.”

Matthew felt a lump come up his throat. “Hangings?” He said while staring deeply into Margery’s eyes.

“Of course, didn’t you hear ? That’s what they are doing to the witches.”