Wheels in Motion
Something had happened that day in Harmony, something had altered the motion of the Universe. Tabitha had felt its inextricable force by the time she reached her cottage in the woods that night. She was terribly exhausted and her sensibilities told her that things would get a lot worst before they got better. There was no need to consult the oracles, astrological charts or the crystals to know that ill will would soon come for her.
Weeks passed by without incident until a spring thaw unearthed an ugly picture of things to come that showed itself up early in March. The trails were now open to carriages and foot traffic. All the same, Tabitha felt the disturbing sense that she was in danger. Tabitha had just fallen asleep for a nap when she heard the smashing of a window. Sometimes a bird would misjudge the glass pane of a window and try to fly through it. It would kill itself by the impact. But no, she thought, there were voices just outside. She got herself up off the bed, grabbing the shawl about her shoulders. When she stepped outside the cottage doorway to see what might have happened, there was a group of children a few yards away yelling and calling out to her. They held sticks in their fists, scrambling around the muddy trail for rocks and leftover snow.
"Witch! Witch! Witch!" The group began to chant.
The children seemed to be braving their way closer to her cottage doorway beyond the hedges. One of the eldest boys in the group led the way. The children followed the leader and packed a new arsenal of rocks encased in hard packed muddy snowballs in their mittens.
Her appearance seemed to halt their advance for a few minutes. They gaped at her curiously, expecting an old haggard woman. Instead, they found a young pregnant woman in her shawl staring back at them. Whereby the eldest boy leaped forward without further dealay and slung his snowball with all his force. His aim was true. The rock snowball struck her hard on the shoulder, throwing her back against the doorframe. The pain of the impact knocked the wind out of her. Tabitha clutched at her shoulder and lifted her eyes to stare at the group.
The children hung back, waiting to see what she would do to retaliate.
"Witch!" The eldest boy bravely cried out, having regained his courage. The other children now laughed, tossed theirs off only missing her by a few feet.
"Kill the evil witch!"
Tabitha's heart sunk deep down within her, fear and sadness overwhelmed her whole being and she disappeared behind the door, securing the latch. There was more taunting and she heard the bombardment of rocks against the walls of the cottage for another hour. Tabitha hid herself behind the wall, out of their sights. She hoped they would go away soon. Eventually, the group ran away and scattered when a wagon passed the trail. Not before the boys had torn the new spring plants out of their flats within the cold shed, and had thrown them every which way.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The bark Passion Flower had smooth sailing most of the way back from England. Conveying Alistar Stoke Crane's cargo of guns and ammunition to Boston. Jeremiah Fitzgerald had unloaded the cargo in Portland in late March. By the time he reached Harmony in early April. All proceeds from his journey had been placed into the bank account of Alistar Stoke Crane.
"So---" Jeremiah said to Mary Standish, his First Mate's sister as she set a plate of dinner before him. He usually stayed at the Inn while in Harmony. "What news in Harmony?"
"Haven't you heard?" Mary said excitedly while pouring him apple cider. "The town is abuzz!"
Jeremiah laughed congenially, sharing a glance with Mark before shrugging. "I've been kinda busy---"
Mary adjusted her dust cap over her red hair. "It all started when the Magistrates signed a Proclamation of Indecency."
He paused with his fork, ready to hear Mary's latest gossip.
"The Magistrates ordered Tabitha Lennox's child to be taken away at birth and to be adopted by Alistar Crane as his own."
"You're kidding, right?" He placed both hands flat on the table.
"No-I'm not." Mary's face confirmed it. She was not a woman to joke around in any casual manner.
Jeremiah's eyes peered at her. "He has no god damned right to do that. Didn't anyone stop them?"
"Well, a few on the committee like Sam Bennett and Silas Russell had strong opposition. My own Uncle Morgan Standish, along with Abigail Winthrop tried to stop it too-until----well, they had to drop the appeal."
"Why? How is Tabitha? Did she have her child yet?"
"Oh-yes!" Mary blushed deep scarlet. "Her boy child has been sent off to England with Susanna Crane. Tabitha's child was delivered two weeks ago in Harmony jail---without a physician or midwife present, nothing but the jailers." She covered her mouth with the shame and indecency of it all.
"Good God!" Jeremiah punched the table top. "Haven't you women any compassion? Why were there no midwives or women to help her?" Jeremiah ignored his untouched plate of stew. He thrust his chair violently backward with a backhanded shove and stood up.
"What is all this about, Mary? We've been away at sea and you toy with the captain's patience." Mark said. Mark knew his captain fairly well. It seemed to him that his captain had grown fond of the Lennox woman the last time they were in Harmony. He knew this for certain because Jeremiah had asked him to help him purchase a wedding ring while in London. Jeremiah had confessed to him that he wished to marry Tabitha Lennox.
"Well," Mary said blushing with modesty "---considering the circumstances of her being in prison---no decent woman would ever go there!" Mary stared up into the rafters piously. "When the Magistrates arrived, she was into the 4th hour of labor, giving birth to her infant boy. The jailers watched beyond the cell door, impervious to her wicked cries of pain and mock tears. Everyone just stood back and watched for fear of what she might do to them if they came closer."
"This is unbelievable! I can't believe my ears." Jeremia said.
"After the child took its first breath, before Tabitha could take the child into her arms, perhaps to kill it, they unlocked the door and took him straight away---" Mary blushed scarlet at the image of such a scene.
"Holy Christ! That's barbaric! My God, what is wrong with you people?"
"You might think it's harsh, if you didn't know that she was a witch. That's what witches do---kill babies. Save your sympathy. Witches feel no pain." Mary said with the conviction of an expert.
"Oh-sister, and you're sure about that?" Mark said.
There were no words to express Jeremiah's disgust and outrage. He paced the floor, wrenching his cap in his clenched knuckles. The image of poor destitute Tabitha, all alone, with all those men, gaping at her through the bars while she labored in agony to deliver her child. Jeremiah raged internally, that these men could do this, with the support of the whole town. It made his blood boil. "She's not the first unmarried woman to have a child. How could they treat her like a common criminal, like a beast of the field? She's a good woman." His mind wandered to thoughts of his sister Penelope and Alistar Crane. Then, to the vision he had imprinted in his mind during those lonely nights at sea, of Tabitha staring up at the stars.
Mary's eyes fell upon the dashing sea captain. She was attracted by his well fitting uniform, his deep tan and his misplaced gallantry. "No, she is not a good woman. Listen Jeremiah....here...you can read it in the Harmony Gazette, if you don't believe me." Mary fetched the handy newspaper and placed it into Jeremiah's hands.
The sea captain was surely taken with the Lennox whore, Mary thought. Could Jeremiah be the father of Tabitha's bastard? Is that why he takes on about her so violently? No, Mary calculated the dates of conception quickly in her mind. The captain and his ship would have been far away in the West Indies last June. Thank God! Mary was determined to douse his feverish passion for that wicked harlot. "She's been tried and proven guilty of Witchcraft in England. She somehow escaped the death sentence and came here. Harmony will proceed with the execution." Mary pointed the front page article.
His eyes scanned over the newsprint to a woodcut sketch of an ugly old witch with warts, a hooked nose who was about to boil a baby in a cauldron. The picture had accompanied the article. "This is garbage!" Jeremiah crunched the newsprint up in a ball and flung it away.
"No-its true! Alistar Crane showed court documents that had the King's seal. It's all true. Tabitha Lennox is a witch!"
"I don't believe in witches. Alistar Crane is a liar, a thief. How do you think he's gotten hold of my ship, and I am now indebted to him? Why do you think my sister killed herself? He has been a villain to many more women than Tabitha Lennox."
Mary could not believe that Alistar Crane could have seduced Tabitha Lennox. "Lies or not," Mary said, "they are going to execute the sentence of death and burn her at the stake."
"Damnit! This is a travesty!" Jeremiah buttoned up his pea coat and tossed on his cap.
"Evil is being up-rooted from our Christian town." Mary lifted her chin up stoically. She felt a growing irritation against Tabitha for capturing the handsome young sailor's affections before she could. It was going to be difficult to bring him round. Whether he was bewitched, under her spell or not, Mary would be glad when Tabitha was dead.
"By God-I'll stop them!" Jeremiah raged.
"There's nothing you can do. You'll be implicated in her evil schemes---Please Jeremiah! Think of your good family name! It will be dragged down in the mud with her." Mary reached out to Jeremiah and clutched at his strong forearm.
He shrugged her away. "Get away from me, woman."
Mark stood up, but did nothing. He watched his captain pass through the door, and slammed it on his way out.
Something had happened that day in Harmony, something had altered the motion of the Universe. Tabitha had felt its inextricable force by the time she reached her cottage in the woods that night. She was terribly exhausted and her sensibilities told her that things would get a lot worst before they got better. There was no need to consult the oracles, astrological charts or the crystals to know that ill will would soon come for her.
Weeks passed by without incident until a spring thaw unearthed an ugly picture of things to come that showed itself up early in March. The trails were now open to carriages and foot traffic. All the same, Tabitha felt the disturbing sense that she was in danger. Tabitha had just fallen asleep for a nap when she heard the smashing of a window. Sometimes a bird would misjudge the glass pane of a window and try to fly through it. It would kill itself by the impact. But no, she thought, there were voices just outside. She got herself up off the bed, grabbing the shawl about her shoulders. When she stepped outside the cottage doorway to see what might have happened, there was a group of children a few yards away yelling and calling out to her. They held sticks in their fists, scrambling around the muddy trail for rocks and leftover snow.
"Witch! Witch! Witch!" The group began to chant.
The children seemed to be braving their way closer to her cottage doorway beyond the hedges. One of the eldest boys in the group led the way. The children followed the leader and packed a new arsenal of rocks encased in hard packed muddy snowballs in their mittens.
Her appearance seemed to halt their advance for a few minutes. They gaped at her curiously, expecting an old haggard woman. Instead, they found a young pregnant woman in her shawl staring back at them. Whereby the eldest boy leaped forward without further dealay and slung his snowball with all his force. His aim was true. The rock snowball struck her hard on the shoulder, throwing her back against the doorframe. The pain of the impact knocked the wind out of her. Tabitha clutched at her shoulder and lifted her eyes to stare at the group.
The children hung back, waiting to see what she would do to retaliate.
"Witch!" The eldest boy bravely cried out, having regained his courage. The other children now laughed, tossed theirs off only missing her by a few feet.
"Kill the evil witch!"
Tabitha's heart sunk deep down within her, fear and sadness overwhelmed her whole being and she disappeared behind the door, securing the latch. There was more taunting and she heard the bombardment of rocks against the walls of the cottage for another hour. Tabitha hid herself behind the wall, out of their sights. She hoped they would go away soon. Eventually, the group ran away and scattered when a wagon passed the trail. Not before the boys had torn the new spring plants out of their flats within the cold shed, and had thrown them every which way.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The bark Passion Flower had smooth sailing most of the way back from England. Conveying Alistar Stoke Crane's cargo of guns and ammunition to Boston. Jeremiah Fitzgerald had unloaded the cargo in Portland in late March. By the time he reached Harmony in early April. All proceeds from his journey had been placed into the bank account of Alistar Stoke Crane.
"So---" Jeremiah said to Mary Standish, his First Mate's sister as she set a plate of dinner before him. He usually stayed at the Inn while in Harmony. "What news in Harmony?"
"Haven't you heard?" Mary said excitedly while pouring him apple cider. "The town is abuzz!"
Jeremiah laughed congenially, sharing a glance with Mark before shrugging. "I've been kinda busy---"
Mary adjusted her dust cap over her red hair. "It all started when the Magistrates signed a Proclamation of Indecency."
He paused with his fork, ready to hear Mary's latest gossip.
"The Magistrates ordered Tabitha Lennox's child to be taken away at birth and to be adopted by Alistar Crane as his own."
"You're kidding, right?" He placed both hands flat on the table.
"No-I'm not." Mary's face confirmed it. She was not a woman to joke around in any casual manner.
Jeremiah's eyes peered at her. "He has no god damned right to do that. Didn't anyone stop them?"
"Well, a few on the committee like Sam Bennett and Silas Russell had strong opposition. My own Uncle Morgan Standish, along with Abigail Winthrop tried to stop it too-until----well, they had to drop the appeal."
"Why? How is Tabitha? Did she have her child yet?"
"Oh-yes!" Mary blushed deep scarlet. "Her boy child has been sent off to England with Susanna Crane. Tabitha's child was delivered two weeks ago in Harmony jail---without a physician or midwife present, nothing but the jailers." She covered her mouth with the shame and indecency of it all.
"Good God!" Jeremiah punched the table top. "Haven't you women any compassion? Why were there no midwives or women to help her?" Jeremiah ignored his untouched plate of stew. He thrust his chair violently backward with a backhanded shove and stood up.
"What is all this about, Mary? We've been away at sea and you toy with the captain's patience." Mark said. Mark knew his captain fairly well. It seemed to him that his captain had grown fond of the Lennox woman the last time they were in Harmony. He knew this for certain because Jeremiah had asked him to help him purchase a wedding ring while in London. Jeremiah had confessed to him that he wished to marry Tabitha Lennox.
"Well," Mary said blushing with modesty "---considering the circumstances of her being in prison---no decent woman would ever go there!" Mary stared up into the rafters piously. "When the Magistrates arrived, she was into the 4th hour of labor, giving birth to her infant boy. The jailers watched beyond the cell door, impervious to her wicked cries of pain and mock tears. Everyone just stood back and watched for fear of what she might do to them if they came closer."
"This is unbelievable! I can't believe my ears." Jeremia said.
"After the child took its first breath, before Tabitha could take the child into her arms, perhaps to kill it, they unlocked the door and took him straight away---" Mary blushed scarlet at the image of such a scene.
"Holy Christ! That's barbaric! My God, what is wrong with you people?"
"You might think it's harsh, if you didn't know that she was a witch. That's what witches do---kill babies. Save your sympathy. Witches feel no pain." Mary said with the conviction of an expert.
"Oh-sister, and you're sure about that?" Mark said.
There were no words to express Jeremiah's disgust and outrage. He paced the floor, wrenching his cap in his clenched knuckles. The image of poor destitute Tabitha, all alone, with all those men, gaping at her through the bars while she labored in agony to deliver her child. Jeremiah raged internally, that these men could do this, with the support of the whole town. It made his blood boil. "She's not the first unmarried woman to have a child. How could they treat her like a common criminal, like a beast of the field? She's a good woman." His mind wandered to thoughts of his sister Penelope and Alistar Crane. Then, to the vision he had imprinted in his mind during those lonely nights at sea, of Tabitha staring up at the stars.
Mary's eyes fell upon the dashing sea captain. She was attracted by his well fitting uniform, his deep tan and his misplaced gallantry. "No, she is not a good woman. Listen Jeremiah....here...you can read it in the Harmony Gazette, if you don't believe me." Mary fetched the handy newspaper and placed it into Jeremiah's hands.
The sea captain was surely taken with the Lennox whore, Mary thought. Could Jeremiah be the father of Tabitha's bastard? Is that why he takes on about her so violently? No, Mary calculated the dates of conception quickly in her mind. The captain and his ship would have been far away in the West Indies last June. Thank God! Mary was determined to douse his feverish passion for that wicked harlot. "She's been tried and proven guilty of Witchcraft in England. She somehow escaped the death sentence and came here. Harmony will proceed with the execution." Mary pointed the front page article.
His eyes scanned over the newsprint to a woodcut sketch of an ugly old witch with warts, a hooked nose who was about to boil a baby in a cauldron. The picture had accompanied the article. "This is garbage!" Jeremiah crunched the newsprint up in a ball and flung it away.
"No-its true! Alistar Crane showed court documents that had the King's seal. It's all true. Tabitha Lennox is a witch!"
"I don't believe in witches. Alistar Crane is a liar, a thief. How do you think he's gotten hold of my ship, and I am now indebted to him? Why do you think my sister killed herself? He has been a villain to many more women than Tabitha Lennox."
Mary could not believe that Alistar Crane could have seduced Tabitha Lennox. "Lies or not," Mary said, "they are going to execute the sentence of death and burn her at the stake."
"Damnit! This is a travesty!" Jeremiah buttoned up his pea coat and tossed on his cap.
"Evil is being up-rooted from our Christian town." Mary lifted her chin up stoically. She felt a growing irritation against Tabitha for capturing the handsome young sailor's affections before she could. It was going to be difficult to bring him round. Whether he was bewitched, under her spell or not, Mary would be glad when Tabitha was dead.
"By God-I'll stop them!" Jeremiah raged.
"There's nothing you can do. You'll be implicated in her evil schemes---Please Jeremiah! Think of your good family name! It will be dragged down in the mud with her." Mary reached out to Jeremiah and clutched at his strong forearm.
He shrugged her away. "Get away from me, woman."
Mark stood up, but did nothing. He watched his captain pass through the door, and slammed it on his way out.