Free An Unexpected Sin by Sarah Ballance Page A

the thickening clouds must have turned day to night, for little light found the crevice between the window shutter and its frame. Anne peered through the small crack to find the road empty but for the deluge.
    “It is the guilt that ruins her.”
    Anne turned sharply toward her grandmother. “Who? What guilt?”
    The old woman remained silent, her stare fixed on the window as if she could see through the shutter, now held secure by Josiah’s makeshift rope.
    “What guilt?” Anne tried again, more softly this time.
    “Anne!” Her mother’s sharp voice echoed through the inn.
    Anne stood. “I was just seeing to—”
    “See to the bread for the evening meal.”
    “But Grandmother—”
    Her mother glared, bracket faced with anger. “She needs her rest. You tend to your chores.”
    For all the words Anne wanted to sputter, she chose silence. She cared not if her mother found her rude. A simple nod was the best she could muster as she stalked past her to the kitchen, knowing full well that bread was not needed.
    Her mother wanted her away from her grandmother, but for what purpose?
    Guilt.
    Was her mother the guilty one? Was it because of Samuel’s death? Did she somehow feel she had failed her son? Anne tried to remember the circumstances of his death, but so little had ever been told her. Only that he was gone, lost to the sea.
    It was then that everything had changed.
    Anne worked mindlessly on the dough she had left resting that morn, her hand practiced from years of performing the task. Though she most often found the chore tiresome, this day it proved a respite, though of no benefit to her jumbled thoughts. The world had once seemed so simple. Even in the face of great loss and with their move to the inn, Anne had managed to form a routine that got her through the most sorrowful days. She found it of comfort when nothing else would console her.
    Josiah’s arrival had changed so much. No longer was Anne content to exist in her routine. She wanted to live. It had been there all along—the proof was in the roguishness of which her mother so often accused her—but Josiah had given her something she hadn’t had before.
    He had given her the promise of a life with him—one she couldn’t bear to lose.
    A sudden clatter at the back door drew Anne’s attention from the dough on which she had taken out her frustrations. Just as quickly as the knock began, the light noise turned into pounding. With haste, she wiped her hands on her apron and hurried to the door. When she flung it open, she found Prudence, rain-soaked and frantic.
    “Prudence! What brings you here? Is something wrong?” Though her friend was no stranger to the inn, her responsibilities most often kept her at home. Her brothers and sisters numbered many, and her mother had been poorly of late. Prudence suspected her mother was with child. If so, the babe would be the twelfth for their family.
    “It’s Elizabeth,” Prudence sobbed. “They are taking her to the gallows.”
    Anne’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, no!”
    Elizabeth had been in prison for the many months since she had been accused and subsequently convicted of consorting with the devil himself. No one in all of Salem—aside her accusers and the court—believed Elizabeth guilty of witchcraft, but to take the side of a so-called witch would only bring accusations on oneself. There had been nothing to do but hope reason would come to the minds of those who accused, but these were dark, terrible times in Salem. The innocent could only pray the worst might somehow pass, but instead the trouble seemed only to mount. More accusations were made every day, and arrests quickly followed. Those tried and found guilty were to be hanged. Anne could not fathom how anyone could honestly think Elizabeth guilty of wrongdoing, let alone that so many would believe it that she would be found guilty in the court. The verdict had been devastating and terrifying, but still Anne held hope for