Acceptable Risk (4 page)

“I am sorry,” Ronald said. “I can be of no help. I am distracted and weary. I still cannot believe Elizabeth to be a witch. I need time. Surely there is some way to secure a reprieve for her even if it lasts but a month.”

“Only Governor Phips can grant a reprieve,” Samuel said. “But a petition would be in vain. He would only grant a reprieve if there were a compelling reason.”

A silence descended over the three men. Sounds of the city drifted in through the open window.

“Perhaps I could make a case for a reprieve,” Reverend Mather said suddenly.

Ronald’s face brightened with a ray of hope. Samuel appeared confused.

“I believe I could justify a reprieve to the Governor,” Reverend Mather said. “But it would rest on one condition: Elizabeth’s full cooperation. She’d have to agree to turn her back on her Prince of Darkness.”

“I can assure her cooperation,” Ronald said. “What would you have her do?”

“First she must confess in front of the congregation in the Salem meeting house,” Reverend Mather said. “In her confession she must forswear her relations with the devil. Secondly she must reveal the identities of those persons in the community who have signed similar diabolic covenants. This would be a great service. The fact that the torment of the afflicted women continues unabated is proof that the devil’s servants are still at large in Salem.”

Ronald leaped to his feet. “I will get her to agree this very afternoon,” he said excitedly. “I beg you to see Governor Phips immediately.”

“I will wait on word from Elizabeth,” Reverend Mather said. “I should not like to trouble his excellency without confirmation of the conditions.”

“And you shall have her word,” Ronald said. “By the morn at the very latest.”

“Godspeed,” Reverend Mather said.

Samuel had difficulty keeping pace with Ronald as they hurried back to Samuel’s carriage in front of the Old North Church.

“You can save nearly an hour on your journey by taking the ferry to Noddle Island,” Samuel said as they drove across town to fetch Ronald’s horse.

“Then I shall go by ferry,” Ronald said.

True to Samuel’s word Ronald’s trip back to Salem was far quicker than the trip to Boston. It was just after midafternoon when he turned onto Prison Lane and reined in his horse in front of the Salem jail. He’d pushed the animal mercilessly. Foam bubbled from the exhausted animal’s nostrils.

Ronald was equally as wearied and caked with dust. Vertical lines from rivulets of perspiration crossed his brow. He was also emotionally drained, famished, and thirsty. But he was oblivious to his own needs. The ray of hope Cotton Mather had provided for Elizabeth drove him on.

Dashing into the jailer’s office, he was frustrated to find it empty. He pounded on the oak door leading to the cells. Presently the door was opened a crack, and William Doun-ton’s puffy face peered out at him.

“I’m to see my wife,” Ronald said breathlessly.

“~’Tis feeding time,” William said. “Come back in an hour.”

Using his foot, Ronald crashed the door open against its hinges, sending William staggering back. Some of the thin gruel he was carrying sloshed out of its bucket.

“I’m to see her now!” Ronald growled.

“The magistrates will hear of this,” William complained. But he put down his bucket and led Ronald back to the door to the cellar.

A few minutes later Ronald sat down next to Elizabeth. Gently he shook her shoulder. Her eyes blinked open, and she immediately asked after the children.

“I have yet to see them,” Ronald said. “But I have good news. I’ve been to see Samuel Sewall and Reverend Cotton Mather. They think we can get a reprieve.”

“God be thanked,” Elizabeth said. Her eyes sparkled in the candlelight.

“But you must confess,” Ronald said. “And you must name others you know to be in covenant with the devil.”

“Confess to what?” Elizabeth asked.

“To witchcraft,” Ronald said with exasperation. Exhaustion and stress challenged the veneer of control he had over his emotions.

“I cannot confess,” Elizabeth said.

“And why not?” Ronald demanded shrilly.

“Because I am no witch,” Elizabeth said.

For a moment Ronald merely stared at his wife while he clenched his fists in frustration.

“I cannot belie myself,” Elizabeth said, breaking the strained silence. “I will not confess to witchcraft.”

In his overwrought, exhausted state, Ronald’s anger flared. He slammed his fist into the palm of his hand. He shoved his face within inches of hers. “You will confess,” he snarled. “I order you to confess.”

“Dear husband,” Elizabeth said, unintimidated by Ronald’s antics. “Have you been told of the evidence used against me?”

Ronald straightened up and gave a rapid, embarrassed glance at William, who was listening to this exchange. Ronald ordered William to back off. William left to fetch his bucket and make his rounds in the basement.

“I saw the evidence,” Ronald said once William was out of earshot. “Reverend Mather has it in his home.”

“I must be guilty of some transgression of God’s will,” Elizabeth said. “To that I could confess if I knew its nature. But I am no witch and surely I have not tormented any of the young women who have testified against me.”

“Confess for now just for the reprieve,” Ronald pleaded. “I want to save your life.”

“I cannot save my life to lose my soul,” Elizabeth said. “If I belie myself I will play into the hands of the devil. And surely I know no other witches, and I shan’t call out against an innocent person to save myself.”

“You must confess,” Ronald shouted. “If you don’t confess then I shall forsake thee.”

“You will do as your conscience dictates,” Elizabeth said. “I shan’t confess to witchcraft.”

“Please,” Ronald pleaded, changing tactics. “For the children.”

“We must trust in the Lord,” Elizabeth said.

“He hath abandoned us,” Ronald moaned as tears washed from his eyes and streaked down his dust-encrusted face.

With difficulty Elizabeth raised her manacled hand and laid it on his shoulder. “Have courage, my dear husband. The Lord functions in inscrutable ways.”

Losing all semblance of control, Ronald leaped to his feet and rushed from the prison.

Ronald shifted his weight nervously from one foot to the other. He was standing at the side of Prison Lane a short distance away from the jail. Sweat stood out on his forehead beneath the wide brim of his hat. It was a hot, hazy, muggy day whose oppressiveness was augmented by a preternatural stillness that hovered over the town despite the crowds of expectant people. Even the sea gulls were silent. Everyone waited for the wagon to appear.

An emotional brittleness shrouded Ronald’s thoughts which were paralyzed by equal amounts of fear, sorrow, and panic. He could not fathom what he or Elizabeth had done to warrant this catastrophe. By order of the magistrates he’d been refused entry into the prison since the previous day when he’d tried for the last time to convince Elizabeth to cooperate. But no amount of pleading, cajoling, or threatening could break her resolve. She would not confess.

From within the shielded courtyard Ronald heard the metallic clatter of iron-rimmed wheels against the granite cobblestones. Almost immediately a wagon appeared. Standing in the back of the wagon were five women, tightly pressed together. They were still in chains. Behind the wagon walked William Dounton, sporting a wide smile in anticipation of turning his charges over to the hangman.

A sudden whoop and cheer rose from the spectators, inaugurating a carnival-like atmosphere. In a burst of energy children began their usual games while the adults laughed and thumped each other on the back. It was to be a holiday and a day of revelry like most days with a hanging. For Ronald as well as for the families and friends of the other victims it was the opposite.

Warned by Reverend Mather, Ronald was neither surprised nor hopeful when he did not see Elizabeth among the first group. The minister had advised him that Elizabeth would be executed last, after the crowd had been satiated on the blood of the first five prisoners. The idea was to lessen the potential impact on the populace, especially those who had either seen or heard of the evidence used against her.

As the wagon drew abreast of Ronald and passed, he gazed up at the faces of the condemned. They all appeared broken and despondent from their brutal treatment and the reality of their imminent fates. He recognized only two people: Rebecca Nurse and Sarah Good. Both were from Salem Village. The others were from neighboring towns. Seeing Rebecca Nurse on the way to her execution and knowing her pious character, Ronald was reminded of Reverend Mather’s grim warning that the Salem witchcraft affair could spiral out of control.

When the wagon reached Essex Street and turned to the west, the crowd surged after it. Standing out in the throng was Reverend Cotton Mather as the only person on horseback.

Almost a half hour later Ronald again heard the telltale sound of metal clanking against the cobblestones of the prison courtyard. Presently a second wagon appeared. In the back sat Elizabeth with her head bowed. Due to the weight of her iron manacles she’d not been able to stand. As the wagon lumbered past Ronald, Elizabeth did not raise her eyes nor did Ronald call out to her. Neither knew what to say.

Ronald followed at a distance, thinking it was like living in a nightmare. He felt great ambivalence about his presence. He wanted to flee and hide from the world, but at the same time he wanted to be with Elizabeth until the end.

Just west of Salem Town, after crossing the Town Bridge, the wagon turned off the main road and began to climb Gallows Hill. The road ascended through a scrub of thornbushes until it opened out onto an inhospitable rocky ridge dotted with a few oaks and locust trees. Elizabeth’s wagon pulled next to the empty first wagon and stopped.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Ronald stepped from behind the wagons. Ahead he could see the noisy throng of townspeople gathered around one of the larger oak trees. Cotton Mather was behind the crowd and still mounted. At the base of the tree stood the condemned. A black-hooded hangman who’d been brought from Boston had looped a rope over a stout branch. One end he’d tied to the base of the tree while the other he’d fashioned into a noose and fitted over the head of Sarah Good. Sarah Good at that moment was precariously poised on a rung of a ladder leaning against the tree.

Ronald could see Reverend Noyes of the Salem Town Church approach the prisoner. In his hand he clutched a Bible. “Confess, witch!” Reverend Noyes yelled.

“I am no more a witch than you are a wizard,” Sarah yelled back at him. She then cursed the minister, but Ronald could not hear her words for a jeer rose up from the crowd followed by someone yelling for the hangman to get on with it. Obligingly the hangman gave Sarah Good a push, and she swung clear of the ladder.

The crowd cheered and chanted “Die, witch,” as Sarah Good struggled against the strangulating rope. Her face empurpled then blackened. As soon as Sarah’s writhing ended, the hangman proceeded with the others, each in her turn.

With each successive victim, the crowd’s cheering mellowed. By the time the last woman had been pushed from the ladder and the first victims were being cut down, the crowd had lost interest. Although some people had drifted over to see the bodies tossed into a shallow, rocky, common grave, most had already started back toward town, where the revelry would continue.

It was then that Elizabeth was commended to the hangman. He had to help her walk to the ladder due to the excessive weight of her chains.

Ronald swallowed. His legs felt weak. He wanted to cry out in anger. He wanted to beg for mercy. But he did nothing. He could not move.

Reverend Mather, who caught sight of him, rode over. “It is God’s will,” he said. He struggled with his horse, which sensed Ronald’s torment.

Ronald did not take his eyes off Elizabeth. He wanted to rush forward and kill the hangman.

“You must remember what Elizabeth did and what she made,” Reverend Mather said. “You should thank the Lord death hath intervened to save our Zion. Remember you have seen the evidence with your own eyes.”

Ronald managed to nod as he vainly fought to hold back his tears. He’d seen the evidence. Clearly it was the devil’s work. “But why?” Ronald shouted suddenly. “Why Elizabeth?”

For a brief second Ronald saw Elizabeth’s eyes rise to meet his. Her mouth began to move as if she was about to speak, but before she could, the hangman gave her a decisive shove. In contrast to his technique with the others, the hangman had left slack in the rope around Elizabeth’s neck. As she left the ladder, her body fell for several feet before being jerked to a sudden, deathly stop. Unlike the others she did not struggle nor did her face turn black.

Ronald’s head sank into his hands and he wept.

Kimberly Stewart glanced at her watch as she went through the turnstile and exited the MBTA subway at Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was a few minutes before seven p.m. She knew she would be on time or only minutes late, but still she hurried. Pushing through the crowd milling about the news kiosk in the middle of the square, she half ran and half walked the short distance on Massachusetts Avenue before turning right on Holyoke Street.

Pausing to catch her breath in front of the Hasty Pudding Club building, Kimberly glanced up at the structure. She knew about the Harvard social club only in reference to the annual award it gave to an actor and an actress. The building was brick with white trim like most buildings at Harvard. She’d never been inside although it housed a public restaurant called Upstairs at the Pudding. This was to be her first visit.

With her breathing restored to near normal, Kim opened the door and entered only to be confronted by several sizable flights of stairs. By the time she got to the maître d’s podium she was again mildly winded. She asked for the ladies’ room.

While Kim wrestled with her thick, raven hair which refused to do what she wanted it to do, she told herself there was no need to be nervous. After all, Stanton Lewis was family. The problem was that he had never before called at the last minute to say that he “needed” her to come to dinner and that it was an “emergency.”