Free Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill Page B

menace!”
    â€œâ€™Tis true.” One calls from the crowd.
    I crumble to see it be Isaac.
    He motions for me to follow him
    after he speaks.
    â€œThese girls be innocent,” Uncle says.
    Aunt Ann clasps my hand
    meaning to reassure me,
    telling me to stay with my family.
    I know not whether to move my feet
    to Isaac or stay.

A GIRL OR A WIFE?
    Margaret Walcott, 17
    â€œMargaret, be you part of the group?”
    Ann looks on me like I be a traitor.
    â€œYea,” I say. “I have nothing
    against your group.”
    Ann shakes her head.
    â€œWe are not fools, you and I,” she says.
    â€œI beg thee, cousin. Thou art given warning.”
    I pick up my skirts and march
    from the room. I could smash
    all around me to shipwreck.
    â€œThink on this well,”
    my cousin’s voice rattles
    down the hallway.
    I will pack and leave this house.
    I will go back home and stay
    quiet in my house till spring
    and I wed Isaac. I’ll not be ruled
    by some little brat and her servant.
    â€œMargaret, that dress looks smart on thee.”
    Aunt Ann waves me into her room.
    â€œDidst thou sleep with peace
    or were the witches at thee?”
    I nod. “The witches were ’bout.”
    â€œPoor dear,” she says.
    â€œCome and stay with me as I spin.”
    She drafts the wool between her hands.
    â€œI am so glad that you are here.
    Ann needs a proper influence.
    She looks to that Mercy.”
    Aunt spits as she says the servant’s name.
    Aunt quits her drafting.
    She sits me at her dressing table
    and pulls from a box
    a necklace of red jewels
    liken I never laid eyes ’pon.
    â€œLet me see how this does look on thee.”
    Aunt gasps and my jaw does fall wide.
    â€œYou shall wear it on thy wedding day.”
    â€œBut ’tis very—”
    Aunt shakes her finger at me, “I insist.”
    â€œNow come, I shall teach you
    how best to treadle the wheel.
    When you make a wife
    you must know these things.”
    She lumbers a bit into the chair
    but then her foot
    be like one possessed and pumps
    fast as a horse at gallop.
    â€œYou must keep a constant pressure.”
    She releases her foot and the threads
    do twist apart.
    â€œNow tell me. What witches?
    Who didst thou see last night?
    John Willard, did he visit thee?
    Our old preacher, Reverend Burroughs?
    Or perhaps Charlotte Easty, the other
    sister of Rebecca Nurse?”
    Aunt looks on me
    like I be not only
    the light in the room,
    but the greatest light
    in the house.

JOHN WILLARD
    Margaret Walcott, 17
    â€œOh, he bites me!”
    Ann cries and rubs her arm.
    The court orders John Willard
    to stop biting his lips
    and keep his mouth wide.
    Abigail screams
    and all eyes draw to her.
    Elizabeth’s seizures mount
    and her joints double and turn
    nearly inside out.
    Fingers point at the wizard Willard,
    but still he claims, “I am innocent
    as the child unborn.”
    Susannah Sheldon shrieks,
    â€œThe Devil whispers in his ear!”
    She takes watchful steps
    across the courtroom
    and collapses ten feet
    in front of John Willard.
    Constable John Putnam,
    another uncle of mine,
    carries her forward,
    tips a bit under her weight.
    They place John Willard’s hand
    â€™pon her forehead. Susannah screams
    when he touches her
    like she’s been branded
    by a hot iron,
    when instead she should silence.
    The good folk rumble,
    â€œWhy does not the touch test work?
    Is Willard not a wizard?”
    I be not sure what to do.
    Isaac’s eyes spear the other girls.
    Ann mouths, “Margaret, please.”
    I scream loud enough to curdle milk
    and tumble into fit, jerk and twitch
    better than them all.
    I be lifted by Marshal Herrick
    and before I feel my feet
    leave the ground, my shaking bones
    are brushed by the scaly hand
    of Goodman Willard.
    He touches me, and as the touch test says,
    the wickedness flows back into him.
    I stop all my rattling.
    Pointed fingers and righteous eyes
    hang