"I here confess I have lived in sin."
The prayer echoed through the plain empty room from the lips of a woman knelt devoutly in the light of the mid-morning sun beaming through the window.
"I have been idle of my duties, disobedient of mine elders, and as of late, neglectful of my prayer." She listed these things with hands clasped before her and her head bent solemnly, forehead pressed to the knuckles of her thumbs.
"I have, in secret, worked upon thy Sabbath, and broken the commandments not in action but in thought… I have followed the desires of my own will, and not the Holy Spirit." She turned her face up and into the morning sunlight, not flitching as the rays penetrated her dark blue eyes.
"I know I deserve all shame and misery in this life, and everlasting hell-fire. But I beg thee, for the sake of thy Son. Forgive me. Show me mercy. Show me thy light…"
"Sarah…"
The voice shook her from her prayer as it echoed outside the door.
"Are you alright?"
Sarah muttered an Amen and stood from her kneeling before moving to open the door. Peering outside, she found her Husband waiting patiently outside, hat in hand.
"Are you ready my dear? The horses await."
She nodded silently and followed him out of their Beverly home, a place she would fondly miss for the foreseeable future. The Reverend's Wife kept her head bent demurely as they passed her husband's acquaintances who came to see them off on their journey.
"God be with you Mr. Hale." One man shook his hand. "If anyone can root out the forces of evil, it would be you."
"I thank you for that sir, and I trust you will oversee the congregation whilst we are away?"
"Of course sir."
Sarah climbed into the carriage silently and waited for John to sit beside her and snap the reigns, setting them off down the dirt road for what would most assuredly be a long, tedious trip.
The carriage bounced and jerked along the road as they sat in silence until John broke the peace, eyes still set straight ahead but occasionally glancing at his wife; her plump, rosy skin and fair brown hair that peeked slightly from under her white bonnet boasted a warm pleasantness that contrasted sharply her currently indifferent, almost chilly, demeanor.
"I am to assume that you are still unhappy with me?" He inquired in a tired tone and Sarah looked down at her sewing, less than graceful stitches mending a tear in a shirt.
"No." she swallowed and squinted, blurry vision and the movement of the carriage making the work a vexing struggle.
"Then why the unhappy silence?"
More tension followed as Sarah closed her eyes and took a breath. "It is not you I am unhappy with, John." She responded through a tight jaw and muffled tone. "It is the situation."
"The situation" John scoffed and Sarah shook her head
"The letter said they are not sure it has to do with witchery…"
"They are not sure is has not to do with it either…"
"The Reverend…what is it? Parris? Says himself…"
"Two Children are ill Sarah, and the doctor is unable to find any earthly problem with them. Would you have me turn them away?" John cut her off again. "I'm sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this and when I find it we shall return to Beverly." He finished and his wife did not reply.
"And if there is...?" she whispered, "Witchery?"
"Then we will expel it whatever way we can." Hale sighed firmly and reached across the seat to grasp his wife's small, soft hand. "Worry not my dear. All will be well."
Sarah swallowed and nodded, sticking the needle in the fabric of the shirt and setting it aside. "I pray you are right."
Salem was two hour's ride from Beverly and when they arrived the carriage was surrounded by curious locals.
"Stay close." He urged her and gently but firmly pushed through the babbling throng of Salem villagers, struggling to get to the back of the cart where his books sat.
"Give the man some peace." A tall, dark haired man pushed through the crowd.
"It's Reverend Hale, John."
"I know who it is." The man cut him off before turning to the newcomers with a welcoming countenance. "Can I help you?"
"I thank you." Hale sighed and handed the man they called John a stack of thick, aged volumes before bending to grab more.
"Heavy books." John noted and Hale eyed him as he straightened up, a few smaller books tucked under his arm.
"Well they must be." He nodded wisely. "They're weighted with authority."
John smiled a little at the reply, and offered his hand to the Reverend. "I'm John Proctor, Mr. Hale."
Hale shook his hand and looked him up and down. "You have afflicted children sir?"
"My children are healthy as bull calves, sir." Proctor's eyes wavers slightly up the upstairs window of the house they had stopped in front of. "As are the other children of this town."
He led them along and the crowd parted for the trio as they approached the open doorway of the large house where an argument of some kind seemed to be taking place.
"There are wheels within wheels here, Mr. Hale. I hope you'll not forget that." Proctor muttered while nodding to the noise from within.
Sarah and Hale poked their heads in the room, overhearing the tail end of the argument.
"I can never offer a single proposition, lest I be met with a riot of argument!" A white haired man bellowed as he stalked around the table and shook a finger in the still air. "I often wonder in the devil be in it somewhere!"
Sarah pulled her full lips in and shared a look with her husband as Proctor caught the exchange and shook his head. "Welcome to Salem."
Proctor's voice seemed to have caught the attention of the raving man who turned and paled slightly. "Mr. Hale!" he sputtered and quickly rushed over to greet them with an open palm "How good to see you, and I see you've brought your wife with you as well. How Marvelous. Goody Hale how are you fairing?"
Sarah dipped slightly with her eyes still cast down. "Very well Sir, Thank you."
"This is Thomas Putnam. " He motioned to a redheaded man who shook Hale's hand.
"How do you do sir? Allow me sir." He took Hale's books quickly and spoke at an equal pace. "This is my wife, Goody Ann." He motioned to a spindly looking woman with a narrow, hook nose.
"Please sir, will you come to our Ruth?" She pleaded. "She is ill, she cannot wake."
"Aye, I will come directly." Hale assured her with a comforting look as Sarah looked past them to an elderly woman standing in the back.
"Goodness me." She breathed and slipped by her husband carefully. "You must be Rebecca Nurse, How do you do?" she curtsied politely as the woman gazed at her in puzzlement.
"Do you know me?" she inquired and Sarah shook her head. "No Ma'am, but you look as such a good soul should. All in Beverly have heard of your charity."
The woman looked past her and around the room. "There is prodigious danger in seeking loose spirits." She warned carefully. "I fear it." She swallowed and looked to her withered husband. "Francis."
The old man nodded to them all as Rebecca took his hand and led him out. "I go to God for you all." She called back and Parris gained a sort of indignant look about him.
"I hope you do not mean that we go to Satan here"
Rebecca froze and looked back at them almost sadly. "I wish I knew"
They exited past Proctor who eyed them all with a sort of disbelieving condemnation. "I hear you be a sensible man Mr. Hale" he set the books on the table. "I hope you leave some of it in Salem." And he to left them.
As soon as they left Parris seemed much more at ease. "Please Sir," He motioned with an open hand to the stairway "the child is upstairs in bed if you would like to examine her now."
"I'd be happy. Sarah." He looked to her and found her still staring out the door where Rebecca Nurse left. "Sarah?"
She blinked out of her daze and looked to him, suddenly alert once more. "Yes?"
"The Child." He urged her expectantly and the woman blinked a few times before nodding quickly
"Oh, Yes. Of Course."