9
Audrey tried to keep her mind on her work, but her thoughts kept straying back to the mysterious Prudence Stillwater.
At length, she departed for The Haven Herald, only to find that Vince and Dave were not in.
"Are they on a paper delivery?" she asked Jill, the girl who was working in the office.
"No, they said they had business to attend to," Jill replied.
"I don't suppose they mentioned anything about Prudence Stillwater, did they?" Audrey asked on a hunch.
"Vince was talking about that, now that you bring it up," Jill replied. "He was saying now that he's found new evidence regarding Prudence Stillwater's trial, that Betsy Hannigan was going to have to rewrite her witch trial book."
"Would she know more about her, you think?"
"Are you kidding? Betsy is our resident Prudence Stillwater expert," Jill laughed. "She's-eccentric."
"So is most of Haven," Audrey grinned.
"Yes, but she's very eccentric, even by Haven standards," Jill said peering over her glasses at Audrey. "She runs that kooky little shop at the end of Wainwright Alley, Alchemy Tea. She's got copies of her book for sale there also. She could tell you all about Prudence Stillwater."
"Thanks for the info," Audrey said, and headed back out of the door.
Audrey walked along the streets. She passed Rosemary's, and was tempted to stop in, but restrained herself.
She was feeling proud of her willpower, when she rounded the corner and found herself standing outside of Alchemy Tea.
It was somewhat rundown, and Audrey could see copies of Betsy's book, Witch or Woman? The Trial of Prudence Stillwater by Elizabeth Hannigan.
There was an image taken from a woodcut carving, depicting a courtroom scene with a woman pointing to another woman in the witness box on the cover, and Audrey studied it for a moment, and then noticed the woman in the shop beckoning to her.
Audrey went inside, the brass bell announcing her arrival. She could also see that Jill was not too far off from her description of Betsy-she was most definitely eccentric.
"Welcome to Alchemy Tea," she greeted. She was dressed in a flowing duster, a peasant blouse, and had a myriad of necklaces with assorted carved figures on it. Her gray hair was swept up in a bun, with lots of tendrils escaping from it. She reminded Audrey of an aging hippie, and she came forward towards her.
She peered through her round glasses closely at Audrey, giving her the appearance of a blue-eyed owl before she straightened up.
"Mrs. Hannigan?" Audrey asked.
"It's Miss Hannigan, but please, just Betsy," the older woman smiled. "You seem familiar to me somehow," she mused, studying Audrey. "Perhaps we met in another life."
"Perhaps," Audrey got out. She glanced around the shop, and her eye fell on a rather dusty picture on a top shelf in a silver frame. It was Betsy from younger days, and standing alongside her, their arms around one another was herself, as Lucy Ripley!
Audrey decided not to question her about it. She wasn't here for information on Lucy, she was here to learn about Prudence.
"I understand you're the town's expert on Prudence Stillwater," Audrey began.
"Oh, I wouldn't say I was an expert, per se," Betsy fobbed offhandedly, but looked secretly pleased at Audrey's remark. "I researched Prudence for twenty years before I wrote my book about her. She was a fascinating study," she enthused.
"I'd like to buy a copy, but would you tell me a little about her too?" Audrey questioned.
"According to everything I uncovered, Prudence Stillwater was not a witch, at least, not an evil one," Betsy answered. "She was a healer, descended from the Mik'Maq. I suspect that had a lot to do with it also," she muttered. "But Amos Flagg accused her of witchcraft and she was put on trial. They found her guilty, big surprise from a jury full of men," she went on. "I'm sorry," Betsy chuckled. "I think Prudence was railroaded. There were-occurences happening in Haven then, and Prudence and one or two other women were blamed, but it was Prudence who paid the price."
"What did they do to her?"
"She was locked into an iron box and they threw her into the sea," Betsy said solemnly. "Supposedly, they said that she could not be killed by any other means."
"What do you mean?" Audrey questioned.
"Here, on page 145," Betsy told her, opening a copy of the book. "From Amos Flagg's journal-'Todaye we cast the unholy creature into the depths of the sea. Her pact with Lucifer has prevented her from dying by mortal hands; so shall she spend her Purgatory thinking on her sins at the bottom of the sea," she read aloud.
"What do you think that means, that she couldn't die by mortal hands?" Audrey interrogated.
"It is said that Prudence was quite lovely. Maybe her executioners couldn't bring themselves to do the bloody deed," Betsy said. "Other accounts say that perhaps Prudence really did make a pact in order to keep from dying."
"What do you think really happened?"
"I think that perhaps Prudence might have had some power as a shaman or healer, but people being as they were-and are, even in this day and age," Betsy continued as though she were giving a lecture. "People don't understand what they don't know. An all-too-common occurence here in Haven, don't you agree?"
Audrey nodded, noticing Betsy was once again studying her intently.
Does she remember me as Lucy? she thought. But aloud she said, "Did you-ever come across anything that might have said whether or not Prudence was married?"
"Oh, she was married-Stillwater was her married name. Her maiden name was Crocker. I've often wanted to ask Mr. Crocker if he knew anything about her," Betsy said. "I once made the mistake of questioning his father if he knew anything about it, but he got rather nasty about it," she muttered. "My friend Lucy-" she trailed off, her eyes widening at Audrey. "That's it!" she gasped. "You look so much like my friend Lucy! Are you her daughter?"
"We're-related," Audrey said, not wanting to go into how she was really Lucy. "What about Lucy and Simon?"
"Lucy said something about Simon had discovered the whereabouts of Prudence's coffin, and he wanted to dredge for it. He seemed to be of the opinion that she was still alive."
"Do you think she might be?"
"Oh, that's just a legend," Betsy waved her off. "No one could possibly be alive after hundreds of years on the bottom of the ocean," she chuckled.
Audrey wasn't about to contradict her. But she knew that when Duke and Prudence came for dinner, she had some questions for the both of them.
Vince handed Prudence an ancient square of paper, and the two of them carefully unfolded it, as Dave and Dwight opened up a map of modern-day Haven.
"I think what you're looking for may be located in this area," Vince told her.
"What are you looking for?" Dwight asked.
"There is a place in the woods where I placed something before I was-accused," Prudence replied, reading over the map. "I believe it to be in this region," she gestured at Dave and Dwight's map.
Dave looked at it, and paled a little.
"The Keegan place," he said.