Mary trembled as she was led into the Meeting House. Giant metal chains were wrapped around her wrists. Two men walked on each side of her, holding her arms, scared of a 13-year-old girl. Her skirt was ripped and dirty, her bonnet had flown off long ago. She took a deep breath as she walked in. People glared at her, others yelled at the sight of her, another started crying. She was corralled into a small fence. Mr. Hathorne stood beside it, glaring. Mary could tell that he already made up his made. It didn't matter what she said. She had already been proclaimed a witch. “Miss Mary Chester has been accused of witchcraft, and will now be tried,” he said. "What evil spirit do you instruct?" His voice was cold and hard. "I do not instruct any evil spirit," she answered, her voice shaking. She heard unbelieving muttering from the crowd. She swallowed hard. "Have you signed the Devil's Book?" he asked, but he said it as if he were accusing. "No," she said, gasping at the thought. "Why did- do- you hurt these children?" His pockmarked face was filled with hatred. "I have never hurt those children." She was beginning to become angry. Where was the proof? "Who does your evil work?" His every word was like a dart striking her. "No one." "Where do you hide your dolls?" She looked confusingly at him. "What dolls?" she asked. "The dolls which you prick to hurt the people of their likeness," Mr. Hathorne continued. "I have no dolls." She struggled against the chains. "I am not a witch!" The crowd in front of her pulled back, gasping and muttering. "Bring out the children!" Mr. Hathorne shouted. Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, Ann Putman, and Elizabeth Hubbard were led in by their parents. They looked around the room, then spotted Grace, her face red, her arms in chains. They began shrieking. Abigail fell to the floor, Betty and Ann ran to each other and began crying in each other's arms, and Elizabeth struggled to free herself from her parents’ grasp. All the adults tried to calm them or turned and began yelling curses at Mary. Mr. Hawthorne calmed the crowd, and the girls were eventually quiet enough to talk over. "Girls, is Mary Chester the witch who has been afflicting you?" he boomed. "Yes!" the girls cried out. Mary stood there, shocked. She had done nothing to them! "I-I have not hurt them!" she stammered. The girls screeched louder. "I do not even sit with them!" "Her spirit is here pinching me!" Ann cried, waving her arms in the air. "I can see her! Stop! Nooo!" Betty began rolling on the floor, crying. Abigail and Elizabeth wailed, acting as if they were thwarting off invisible spirits. "No!" Mary shouted. The girls became louder. "I am not a witch!" She struggled against the chains and kicked out at Mr. Hathorne. "This girl should be hanged!" Mary turned and saw her neighbor, Goodman Corey, standing and pointing at her. "She has caused my chickens to stop laying!" the bread boy shouted, nodding his head and pointing at Mary. The seamstress, the woman she visited just yesterday, yelled, "She tried to curse me yesterday! She brought me bad eggs!" "That was a gift! Not a curse!" Mary shouted. She couldn't believe this. These were her neighbors! She looked to her family that sat in the crowd looking utterly confused. "Tell them of my innocence, Father!" she shouted, tears streaming down her face. "Now she acts more powerful than the head of her household!" Mr. Corwin shouted. "She is always snapping at and questioning her authorities!" The neighbor girl put a hand on the shoulder of Mrs. Chester, Mary's mother, as if to comfort her. Mary could see her dumbfounded mother stare at her. Mary looked pleadingly into her eyes. Her mother stood up, and the crowd calmed, prepared to see what she said. "It is true she often snaps at us," Mrs. Chester said, her voice wavering, "and it is true that she carries a book she does not allow us to read," Mrs. Chester continued, and someone muttered, "Devil's book." "That's my journal!" Mary choked. "But Mary has never done anything that a witch would do." Mrs. Chester finished. Mary let out a sob. She knew that wasn't enough. "Mary is not a witch!" her father yelled. Mr. Chester stood up abruptly, followed by her three brothers. "And anyone who says otherwise will be looking down the barrel of my rifle!" All four of them, followed by Mrs. Chester, walked to the door. They slammed the door behind them. Mary was proud of her father, for a moment. Before she realized that she was completely alone. Silence filled the room. Mary could hear the crowd's brain working, then she heard the girls'. "Ahhhhhhh!" Ann yelled so loud Mary tried to cover her ears, but the chains prevented her. Elizabeth joined in, followed by Abigail and Betty. The crowd again began shouting, throwing accusations, spit flying from their mouths. Hatred was boiling in the room. Mary could feel the heat rising off her neighbors. She yelled, "I am not a witch!" She continued struggling against the chains. "I am not a witch!" She sobbed. "I am not a witch!" She looked at Mr. Hathorne, stock still, glaring at her. "I am not a witch!" She finally sank to her knees, gasping and spluttering. "I am not... a witch! I... am not a witch! I... am not a... witch!" Mr. Hathorne's eyes darted around the room. He took in the flaming mad crowd, the thrashing girls, and the sobbing accused. "Order!" he yelled; his voice drowned in the crowd. "Order!!" he yelled louder, but only a few people heard him. "SILENCE!!!" he bellowed, spit flying from his mouth and his gold tooth gleaming. The crowd drew in a breath as one and sat down in unison. The girls stop for a split second before continuing. Mr. Hathorne drew in a long breath, puffing out his chest. "Miss Mary Chester has been tried for witchcraft. Her final test will be the reciting of the Psalms. As all of you know, a witch cannot recite the Psalms." Mary stood shakily from her place on the floor, silently praying to God that she could recite the Psalms. She had a terrible memory. Mr. Hathorne turned to Mary. "Please recite the 100th Psalm." Mary took a deep breath. "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come... into His presence with singing," she began. But then someone shouted, "Witch! That's incorrect!" The crowd began to rile up again before Mr. Hathorne quieted them. "The proper verse is: Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. You have recited the Psalm incorrectly." Mary gasped. She had said the wrong word! How could she have done that? "Miss Mary Chester," Mr. Hathorne said, "has been tried of witchcraft and proven guilty." Mary gasped again. "No!" Mary yelled. "Please take her away," Mr. Hathorne said. "NO!" Mary kicked and screamed and struggled, making a louder noise than the afflicted girls. She was dragged away, screaming and crying out for her parents, yelling for proof. She joined the 150 citizens who were accused, and the 19 people who were executed.
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*** I recently read a book about the Salem Witch trials, called, "Dear America: I Walk in Dread." This is based on that book, and I used it for reference. The questions are legitimate accusations, and all the names mentioned, except for the Chester’s, are real people. Mary is a fictional person, but she is based on real "witches," such as Sarah Goode, and their "trials." In 1692-1693, the Salem Village hosted a "witch hunt." Many girls(and eventually women and men) claimed to be afflicted by witches, and there is a verse in the OT that says "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,(KJV)" so they decided they needed to execute the witches. (Christians today believe that Jesus fulfilled the OT laws through His death; that's why we don't obey them today.) 150 plus people were accused of being witches or wizards, and 19 of them were executed purely on the accusations of school-aged girls. There was no proof. Historians don't exactly know why the girls behaved as they did; some think it was poisoning, and some believe that the girls were over-worked and not heard, so the needed some "sport," and a break from work. All we can say for sure is that people were wrongly accused and killed for a crime they did not commit. Many decided they would rather die in truth than live in a lie. (Those who "confessed" and "repented" could be touched by the afflicted and would no longer be witches, thus forgiven.) **
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