Free The First Book of the Pure by Don Dewey Page A

of us.”
    With that accusation, the small crowd
erupted. Accusations abounded against her, against Alice and Sarah,
and against people Mary didn’t even know. The old magistrate was
beside himself, clutching his chest and rasping as he breathed.
Suddenly he dropped to his knees. Seeing him, and suspecting what
was happening, she did the only thing she could do: she laid him
back, ripped open his terribly tight coat and shirt, and massaged
his chest, trying to calm him. “Breath deeply, and slowly.
Concentrate on that - just breathe. Your heart is having trouble.
Breathe with me.”
    The crowd had grown, and now was watching
silently as she worked. His breathing eased, and slowly his pasty
pallor regained a bit of color.
    “There. Much better. Your jacket was
constricting your breathing and you were upset. You should be fine
now.”
    Slowly he got to his feet, clutched his open
garments about himself as if to hold his dignity close, for which
it was far too late. He stood there staring at her for too long.
Anticipation was so ripe in the room that people found they were
collectively holding their breath. He suddenly lifted his hand and
pointed one boney finger at her. “Witch! Witch!” The crowd rushed
around her and she feared they’d crush her or beat her to death.
She knew she could die, but she hoped it wouldn’t be like this. The
crowd pushed her to the main hall by simple force of numbers, where
she was locked in a cell. The old man stood staring at her. “For
your witchcraft you shall be hanged. Mark my words, witch !
Your trial shall be quick.”
    “You would say thus after I saved your life?”
She was incredulous at the dense and twisted mind of the man.
    “You used the arguments of Satan to trick me,
and his talents to cure me. You’re of the devil, and shall be
hanged for it. We found ointments and demonic enchantments in your
home. You have condemned yourself!” He turned and stalked off with
all the grace and ceremony as could be mustered by an emaciated old
man, still beet red, with his garments disheveled, leaning on his
walking stick for support as he hobbled away on his skinny
legs.
    “Fool,” she screamed after him. “You’d be
dead except for me. All I did was help you breathe.”
    He paused and turned back to her. “I shall
continue breathing, but you shall not...” After a long pause, he
added the one condemning word: “ Witch! ”

Chapter
14
     
    Conviction
     
     
    The trials went on for two months. There were
a few men arrested, but mostly women were the victims. Several were
imprisoned and died while incarcerated. Others were indeed hung by
the neck until dead. Alice and her daughter Sarah were accused,
tried and convicted. The charges were ridiculous of course, but
Mary ached for them; especially for young Sarah. During Mary’s
trial her nimble mind almost got the better of her thick minded
accusers. Her arguments were so logical that those in charge were
hard pressed to respond intelligently. At one point when she was
doing well, and had the proceedings turning in her favor, some
young girls, among the accusers of Mary, Sarah and Alice, began
writhing in the courtroom, pretending to be possessed. They made a
real show of it, playing to the magistrate with their antics. One
of them leaped to her feet and pointed to the rafters, claiming she
saw Mary’s spirit there, watching them as she inflicted this pain
on them. The testimonies and spirited acting of the girls served
their purpose. Mary was convicted.
    How can these girls find this amusing? They
toy with people’s lives! In all of my years, all my identities,
I’ve never been so cruel.

Chapter
15
     
    Execution
     
     
    Mary was in her cell when Alice and her
daughter Sarah were hanged, and she cried out for the injustice of
it. She was sure the gallows was positioned so close to the cells
to add terror for those still on trial, and for those waiting their
turn for the noose.
    Alice and Sarah were hanged together.