The Diary Read online

gently. That could really come in handy.

  June 11

  More of Mother’s friends came over today; I think they are all witches like us. I was supposed to stay out back and I did, but I tried to spy on them too. They were mostly whispering so I couldn’t hear very much but I’m sure they were warning her about something just from their expressions and the gesturing motions they were making as they talked.

  June 15

  The last few days I’ve been trying to learn to do several things at once. I’m finally starting to get the hang of it. Today I had a spoon stirring in a kettle, a broom sweeping the floor, a feather duster dusting the furniture and a stick beating out a rug out back, all at the same time. That’s a whole new level of concentration.

  June 19

  Now I know something is up. Abby is no longer allowed to play or even talk with me. She wouldn’t give me a reason except that her mother ordered it. Abby told me that she wasn’t given a reason but I don’t believe it, I think that she’s just being polite. I don’t think that she wants to tell me the reason she was told.

  June 22

  Now I’m learning how to weave a protection spell around me. Mother finally admitted that something was going on, but she won’t tell me what it is though. She made me promise that if anything ever happened to her that I was to grab the spell book leave town and never come back. She said that she’d make sure that nobody would remember me so they wouldn’t come looking. Now I’m scared.

  June 26

  Mother told me today not to leave the house again until she told me it was safe. She said that she was going to start weaving the spells that would make everyone forget that I exist, and then she made me promise again to leave if anything happened to her. She also told me where to go and who to see when I got there. This all seems like a bad dream, I wish I’d wake up.

  June 29

  Sarah Osborne was locked up in the jail today, she’s charged with being a witch. I guess this was what everyone’s been worried about. Mother says that they’ll probably let her go in a few days because they can’t really prove anything. Now I really am scared witless.

  July 2

  Mother got in to talk to Sarah Osborne today, she don’t think that they’ll do anything to her either. I’m not so sure; I’ve got a real bad feeling about this, a really bad feeling.

  July 5

  This bad dream is becoming a nightmare. Tituba, the black woman that belongs to Samuel Parris, just got thrown in jail today. She’s charged with being a witch too. Mother says that proves they are just guessing because Tituba is not a witch. The thing is: she’s locked up just as tight even if she’s not.

  July 8

  Samuel Parris told the authorities that he could get the truth out of his slave. So they locked her up in the stockade outside the jail and stripped her clothes off and Mr. Parris whipped her with a bull whip until she confessed. She not only confessed to being a witch which she’s not, but mother said that she heard that Tituba actually gave them a bunch of names and told them that they were all witches too.

  July 12

  What am I to do? They come and got Mother today, it seems that she was one of the ones that Tituba named. I know what Mother told me to do, but I can’t just leave her here, I’ve got to find a way to get her out. Maybe I can find a way to talk to her at least.

  July15

  I finally got to speak to Mother tonight, through a small back window, but all she would tell me was to leave like I was supposed to. She said that she’d done everything she could to protect me and that all that was left to do was run, as fast and as far as I could, then she turned her back on me and wouldn’t say anything else.

  July 18

  They held a trial for all three of them today. I overheard two men talking about it, they said that Father even testified against her, said her little beauty mark was the mark of the devil, I know him and Mother have been having problems but I can’t believe he actually did that. I’ve got to find a way to get her out of there.

  July 19, 1692

  Mother is dead. They dragged all three of them up to Gallows Hill today and hanged them. They’re still hanging there. I’ve got a bag packed with a few clothes and Mother’s spell book, I’m leaving tonight. I hope I’m not too late. I’m going to leave this diary here in its hiding place; it wouldn’t be good if they caught it on me. I just hope Mother’s forgetfulness spell really worked. I should have left when she wanted me too. Maybe one day I can come back for this diary, if I live long enough.

  That was the last entry. Sarah Good was executed on that day. History says that she was homeless and only one four year old child and it also states that she spent the last five months of her life locked up in jail. I can’t help but believe that somehow the historical record may not be entirely correct, or possibly it may be an outright fabrication. You’ll have to judge for yourself but I do believe that this diary was in fact written by Sarah Good’s daughter and that someone changed the records for reasons that will most likely always remain unknown, or just maybe it was because of a certain spell a witch cast to protect her daughter. You’ll have to decide for yourself.

  Books by Timothy Craig Everhart

  Tianna Logan and the Salem Academy for Witchcraft

  Tianna Logan goes to Camp Weeping Willow

  A Welder’s Handbook to Robotic Programming

  Books by Timothy Craig Everhart written

  with his wife Dawn Michelle Everhart

  Down Home Southern Cooking

  Down Home Southern Cooking 2

  Down Home Southern Cooking 3

  Fun Foods

  The Cook’s Companion

  Books Coming Soon by Timothy Craig Everhart

  Tianna Logan faces Armageddon

  Lean Manufacturing for Everyone

  ***

  Timothy Craig Everhart

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