6. TAKEN
Sarah and Abby went to meet the mob outside while Alec and Jane watched through the window. Reverend Parris was the first to speak.
"My daughter tells me that Jane and Alec did some evils things to her. We'd like to take them in for questioning." He snickered.
Sarah shook her head. "I know better than to trust you Mr. Parris. You'll say anything to get a conviction." It was an insult to call him Mr. Instead of Reverend.
"Betty can tell you herself if you don't believe me. Betty, come on up here." The girl came out of the crowd to join her father at the front.
"It's true Miss Sarah, me and the girls were just playing and Jane got all mad and used witchcraft to hurt me! I felt pin pricks all over my body! I think Alec was helping her too. They're just plain evil!" Betty pretended to be on the verge of tears again.
"So you see, Betty is witness to their evil." Reverend Parris concluded.
Sarah's mind was racing. She knew that if they took the twins, they would never come back. He said he just wanted to question them but Sarah knew that something far worse would come of it. She did what any mother would do. The only thing she could offer to save her children.
"It wasn't Jane that did it." Sarah tried to be strong and hold back the tears. "It was me. I am a witch."
The crowd gasped and someone shouted "She admits it!"
"Sarah! What are you doing?" Abby stared at her in disbelief.
"I used my magic and heard those girls at school being nasty to my daughter. So then I used witchcraft to make Betty Parris feel the pricking pain all over her body." Sarah falsely admitted.
Betty's eyes widened and she looked to her father. Then he said "Miss Sarah, I know what you're trying to do here and it is noble of you but it is a sin to lie nonetheless."
"I am not lying!" Sarah defended. "I dance with the devil at night. He makes love to me during the full moon. I drink the blood of beasts!" Sarah was throwing out any wild thing she could come up with to make herself look more guilty.
The crowd began to believe her but Reverend Parris would be harder to convince. "You're sounding like a lunatic but I still don't believe that your children are innocent."
Sarah tried to think of more proof she could give him. "Go into the house. On the shelves there are jars. They are the things that I use for witchcraft."
Reverend Parris smiled for the first time. "Alright then." He walked up to the front door and went inside with Abby and Sarah following. The rest of the mob stayed out. He looked at the shelves and opened a few of them to smell them. "There is nothing more here than a few spices and flowers. You probably use these to cook with. I'm sorry Miss Sarah, but your attempts to save your children have failed." Then he walked over to the children and grabbed them.
"Nooo! Leave them alone!" Sarah screamed. She started hitting the Reverend and when the other men outside saw the commotion they came into the house and pulled her off and pushed her and Abby into a corner. With the trampling of feet came a yelp. It was the puppy.
"Jeremy!" Alec cried. "Put me down! You're hurting my dog!"
"Please, leave my children alone!" Sarah kept screaming through her tears.
Abby didn't know what to do. She couldn't believe that the person she thought was a man of God could be capable of such things.
"Mommy!" Jane screamed. "Mommy! Don't let them take us!" She tried to fight against Reverend Parris but he was much too strong. They made their way out of the house and Sarah and Abby chased after, screaming behind them.
Sarah couldn't let this happen. She had to save them somehow. Just then, a large rat crossed her path. She bent down and grabbed it. She did the only thing she could think of that would convince Reverend Parris that her children were innocent.
"Reverend!" Sarah shouted. "Here's your proof!"
He turned around to see Sarah kneeling on the ground with the fat rodent in her hands. The rest of the crowd turned to watch as well. When she had their attention, she brought the creature to her lips and then bit its head off. She spit out the head on the ground and then held the body above her and let the blood dribble into her mouth. Despite the disgusting nature of the act, Sarah made herself drink it down.
The crowd groaned at the atrocity. It was a sickening site. Even Abby was ill when she witnessed what Sarah had done. The blood from the rat dripped down her chin and onto her dress and hands. Sarah had never looked more sadistic or scary.
"Do you believe me now, Reverend?" Sarah asked.
He stared at her, bewildered. Before he could answer people in the mob started shouting "She's a witch!" "She's as evil as Lucifer himself!" "She must be killed!"
"You heard them, Reverend." Sarah stared him down. "The children are innocent. Take me instead."
Reverend Parris knew that he had no other choice. He let Jane and Alec slip out of his arms to the ground. They ran towards their mother and clung tightly to her.
"Listen to me," Sarah whispered to her children. "Be very good for Abby. I know she'll take good care of you. I can't be with you anymore but I will always love you." She choked up at the words.
Abby stood behind her crying. She knew what was going to happen to Sarah. Reverend Parris came up to them and started to pull Sarah away from the twins.
"Mommy! No! Please, don't take my mommy!" Jane and Alec were both crying. Abby had to hold them back to keep them from following after her.
"Take care of them Abby!" Sarah called back.
Abby and the twins watched as they took her away to the towns small jail. She would be kept there until the judge decided what to do with her. Abby brought the twins back into the house.
"Oh no! Jeremy!" Alec fell to the ground next to his broken puppy. The dog whimpered but the damage done to his body was irreversable.
"Oh Alec, I'm so sorry." Abby said.
Alec cried silently as he tried to pet the dog to offer it some comfort. The dog seemed to whimper more at any touch. Then Abby witnessed something peculiar. Alec laid the puppy on the floor and very lightly put his hands on it. He seemed deep in thought and was concentrating very hard. Abby wasn't sure what was happening but the dog stopped whimpering.
"Alec, what are you doing?" Abby asked.
Alec's concentration never broke. "I'm taking the pain away."
She didn't know whether to believe him or not but crazier things had happened on this day. Eventually the puppy stopped breathing and Alec could let it go. He said he wanted to bury his dog so Abby let him. She and Jane stayed indoors while he went out back. There was such an empty feeling in the house. Abby couldn't believe that this was really happening.
She couldn't let herself give up. She had to find some way to help Sarah. She and the twins went back to the factory that evening. They found Cotton and told him they needed to speak with him so he brought them up to his office. Abby told him everything that had happened to Sarah and he looked perplexed.
"So, what can we do? Can you hire a lawyer to fight for her?" Abby was desperate.
Cotton sat in his chair and stroked his beard thoughtfully. "You say she she drank the blood of a rat right in front of them?"
Abby sighed. "She only did it to save the children." Jane and Alec sat against the back wall staring at the floor. They looked exhausted. "Please Cotton, we need your help."
"I'm sorry Abby but I don't think that there is anything I can do for her. She's outright proclaimed to be a witch. It can't be undone." Cotton avoided making any eye contact.
Abby couldn't believe what she was hearing. Hadn't he cared for Sarah? Hadn't he always been concerned with her well being? How could he give up so easily?
Abby stood up from the chair and twins followed her lead. "Cotton Bishop, you are a coward." She said. Then she turned around and walked out with Jane and Alec, never looking back.
Abby and the twins went back home that night. She threw together something quick for them to eat and then tucked them into bed. She kissed their foreheads and watched them as they quickly fell asleep after being so exhausted. She went back out to the kitchen and sat at the table. What could she do? What could she possibly do? She looked up at the jars on the shelves. She suddenly regretted not knowing more about the craft. Could there be a way to help Sarah? She needed to find out. She checked on the children once more to make sure that they were still fast asleep. Then she went out into the night, determined to talk to Sarah.
