Salem Moon (12 page)

Witches!
Gabriel thought
.
My,
how the times had changed, when a member of the Snow family was labeled a witch
.
The very family who
’
d accused him and his sister of witchcraft.

“
What is…Wicca?
”
Gabriel asked.

“
It is a religion of wisdom, knowledge and magic. Its philosophy is one of empathy with nature. We consider ourselves a part of nature, not separate from it,
”
Lilac explained.

“
Its origins come from the great, ancient Celtic
lands. The word
‘
Wicca,
’
actually means
‘
The Wise Ones.
’
  Because they used potions and spells to cure the ill, they were greatly revered. The church changed all of that. The rituals of the Pagans and Wicca became the religion of old. And the Gods of the new religions, Christianity
for one,
made the gods of old the demons of new. Some things never change.
”
Lilac sighed.
“
Anyway, people still look at us like we
’
re freaks. At least they don
’
t burn us like in Scotland and Europe, or hang us like the in the olden days of Salem.
”

“
I remember reading about the burnings in Europe when I was a child
,
”
Gabriel mused.

“
How
awful
to make the accused build the pyre themselves
. To watch them stack
the wood so they could be tied to it and the fires lit. I suffered many a nightmare after reading these tales. I visualized the agony of such a death…
”
Gabriel
’
s voice trailed off as he remembered his own suffering.

As awful a thing as it was to be buried under layers of stone, to be slowly crushed to death, the very thought of being burnt alive, no matter that it took less time to die was unimaginable
.
He couldn
’
t help but remember the burning death of Thomas Snow. He felt a pang of guilt that he
’
d felt no mercy for him, even though Thomas was far from innocent.

Lily, Lilac
,
and Gabriel sat on the shores of Salem Willows, each with their feet in the water.
They persuaded
Gabriel to remove his boots
, even though he felt
somewhat shy an
d already exposed by the modern-
day clothes he wore. The clothes revealed much more than the white linen shirt, leather jerkin,
britches
and boots that were his normal attire.

He was at once enchanted by the breeze coming off of the ocean as it played with Lily
’
s hair, whipping it about her face and neck, untamed and lovely. She continuously tucked the strands carefully behind each ear, and Gabriel thought, even her ears were small shells of perfection.

He wished he was alone with her, that Lilac would leave them, but then again he feared what he would say to her without Lilac to fill in the empty gaps of conversation. He knew
he
’
d
most likely become mute in his awe of her.

Although
Lucien had read her thoughts, how could Gabriel be sure about what she felt in her heart and soul? And what were Lucien
’
s intentions toward Lily? He suspected what his intentions were when it came to Lilac. How could he prevent him from touching her? He was silent now, but what would he be capable of as time went on and he drew strength from Gabriel
’
s own soul?

As the long summer day drew to a close, twilight emerging along the ocean
’
s horizon in all its glorious colors, Lily and Lilac said they needed to get home.

“
May I…call on you tomorrow?
”
Gabriel shyly asked Lily.

“
That would be nice.
”
Lily gave him her address.
“
I
’
ll show you around Salem if you like.
”

“
I would love that.
”

Before then, he must try to find out more information about Lucien. What it meant to be a fallen angel. Gabriel knew of angels only as t
he peaceful and reverent cherub
s carefully carved into many seventeenth century gravestones.

W
hen Gabriel returned to the Blackstone residence, he marveled at the new gambrel style home that had been constructed in the late nineteen-eighties. He stopped just before the front gate and that was when it first came to his attention that the
Blackstones
had considerably less land now than they did
300
years ago. There were no traces of the farm life of his day.

While he admired its simple architecture and the abundant flowers that flanked the walkway on either side, he longed to see something still standing from his own time. He would ask Lily about it. He was amazed that she loved history, just as he did.

As he stepped through the front door, still feeling like a trespasser, he quietly observed his unsuspecting hosts. Chloe Blackstone was setting the table for dinner. Her husband, Lawrence, sat on the fine Italian leather couch in front of a large, wall size television set
.
The thing was a ghastly monstrosity and Gabriel wondered why anyone would want such a contraption in their house.

The Blackstone
s
’
only child, James
,
sat opposite his fat
her, listening to music on his i
Pod. He was sixteen years old and had the sullen, disgusted with the world look parents of the times associated with teenagers.

“
Gabe!
”
Chloe Blackstone called out. She insisted on calling him Gabe. He cringed every time she did so.
In his day, the Puritans
used their proper given names. However, they had welcomed him into their home, believing him to be one of the many cousins in the family.

“
So, tell me what
’
s goin
’
on in York, Maine these days, Gabe,
”
Chloe asked as she passed him a serving dish filled with steaming hot fresh vegetables.

“
Hmmm, nothing much really, the usual tourists everywhere on Long Sands and Short Sands beach.
”

He
’
d
been
gathering all this information
from Lucien. The only thing he really knew about York, Maine was what he had read
300
years ago about the Candlemas massacre.

“
Yeah, I remember going up there years ago. Such
a beautiful
place
.
No chain restaurants allowed
. It
’
s really kept its
old colonial charm. Why, if I didn
’
t love Salem so much, I
’
d live there!
”

Chloe was a big woman, but still pretty, with dirty blonde hair, fashionably cut short with twinkling hazel eyes. Her husband looked like a Blackstone, with the same thick brown hair and pale grayish eyes. James was the spitting image of him. The resemblance to Gabriel was remarkable, save for the violet hue of his eyes
;
he and James could have been brothers.

James picked at his food quietly.
It was obvious that h
e had no interest whatsoever in anything his parents had to say and certainly none in Gabriel. Ever since he
’
d shown up, his parents had doted on him.
Gabriel knew
James thought he was…
strange
, unlike any eighteen year old he knew. He was ingratiatingly polite, didn
’
t watch television or have a cell phone, he just wasn
’
t
like the normal teenagers of this time
.
Things were very different back in the
1600
s
, at eighteen, Gabriel was considered a man.

“
So what did you end up doing today? Must have been something good, you
’
ve been gone all day,
”
Lawrence Blackstone asked Gabriel.

“
I walked a little and ended up at the Witch Museum. I
might
have gotten lost if not for the kindness of two young ladies I met. They invited me to Salem Willows.
”

“
Tell, Gabe! Minglin
’
with the girls already. And why not? You
are
very handsome,
”
Chloe said teasingly.

“
Of course he
’
s handsome,
”
Lawrence said.
“
He
’
s a Blackstone
,
after all
.
”

Lawrence and Chloe laughed as they touched hands. They were obviously a couple still in love after all these years and it warmed Gabriel
’
s heart to see; perhaps because his own parents may have shown the same familiar affection if his mother had lived.

“
So, who were these girls you met? Anyone we know?
”
Chloe asked casually as she sipped on her glass of wine.

“
Umm, maybe, their names are Lilac something or other, I don
’
t really remember and the other girl
’
s name is Lily…
”
Gabriel never got to finish his sentence.

“
Snow,
”
Chloe finished for him as she placed her glass down and looked at Gabriel disapprovingly.

Gabriel looked around the table. A hush fell over
all.
They were staring at him, even James had become interested in the turn the conversation had taken.

“
What…did I say something wrong?
”
Gabriel was puzzled. Was i
t possible that they Blackstone
s still har
bored a grudge against the Snow
s after 300
years?

“
Since you asked, yes, there is plenty wrong with Lily and the Snow family. The Blackstone and Snow families
never
associate
with
each other. There
’
s a long history here in Salem that goes back to the time of the witch trials. It was two members of the Snow family that accused Abigail Blackstone and another Blackstone family member of witchcraft,
”
Chloe said.

Gabriel was speechless, pondering on what he should say and how much. Instead
,
he asked who the other family member was that had been accused.

“
No one knows. We only know that it was a young boy, around your age, but there is nothing at all in the family history about him, and believe
me;
all the
Blackstones
have tried to find information on him for generations. All searches have led to a dead end,
”
Lawrence Blackstone explained.

Seeing that Gabriel didn
’
t seem to know the family history, Lawrence Blackstone offered to show him some of the old papers as well as daguerreotypes and tin type images of family members of old, these methods being the only way to get pictures of the family before the invention of modern photography.

“
How about tomorrow?
”
Lawrence asked.

“
I…sort of made a date to call on Miss Snow tomorrow.
”
Gabriel was extremely curious about his family history, but not at the expense of spending time with Lily. His heart ached to see her and it had only been a few short hours since he
’
d left her.

“
Well, you
’
re
eighteen years old, so we can
’
t tell you who to see or not, and of course you
’
re
always welcome here, but to speak plain,
she
is not welcome here and never will be. Whatever goes on between the two of you, you must understand we cannot give you our blessing,
”
Lawrence said, not unkindly, just as a matter of fact.