Bewitching Familiar

by Caroline Burnes

  “But, Your Honor, there is evil that must be cast out.” Appleton clutched Hawthorne’s arm and pushed him forward, Georgianna still in his grasp. “Tell him, Caleb.”

  “This woman, Abigail West, has admitted her powers….” At the steely look in Phips’s eyes, Hawthorne faltered. He turned to Appleton and whispered, “If he reviews each case, there were some discrepancies.” He turned back to the governor. “We shall follow your directive, Your Honor.”

  “Enough of this.” The governor finally released his wife and went to Tituba. Taking the rope off her neck, he moved on to Brianna, and then Abigail. He turned to the crowd. “The acts of accusing, of trying, of convicting and of hanging a person for the crime of witchcraft is hereby halted forevermore in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. We shall not delve into this issue again, except to clear the names of those still charged.”

  “Wait.” Abigail looked at Samuel. “This isn’t over yet. What about the people who made these accusations and profited from them? They have to be punished.”

  “What do you mean, ‘profited by these executions’?” The governor’s interest was definitely piqued.

  “We believe that Magistrate Appleton and Prosecutor Caleb Hawthorne, and Silas Grayson…”

  “And Georgianna March,” Samuel added.

  “Have all profited from persecuting innocent people. They have confiscated prime lands and used the trials to take them over.”

  Brianna March pointed at her sister, who was now struggling in Earl Wadsworth’s grasp. “I never believed greed would so completely corrupt you, but I know now that it has. As the eldest daughter, the land was mine. I would have shared everything with you. Everything there was. But that was not enough for you, was it, sister? Greed has twisted you into a creature far more evil than a witch. Greed has made you a murderer.”

  To the silence that followed Brianna’s speech, the governor touched his wife’s arm. “I believe we’ll be staying in Salem Village for longer than we ever intended. We shall have to look into these matters. If our own court officials are so tainted by greed and wickedness, we may have to stay to be certain the evidence is properly heard. Open the dungeon and release those people who have suffered far more than the bounds of decency allow.”

  He stepped back to allow Samuel to cut the tie that bound Abigail’s wrists. As soon as she was free, Samuel gathered her against his chest where a purring Familiar waited.

  “Abigail!” Hester ran across the platform and embraced all three as Pearl danced around them.

  “Hester! I’d given up hope,” Abigail finally managed to say.

  “It took forever to convince the governor that he had to come here in the flesh. He cared not to leave the conveniences of the city, and he considers the villagers here little more than savages.” She shrugged. “But Pearl and I prevailed.”

  “Indeed you did.” Samuel hugged Abigail again. “I thought for a moment I might really lose you.” He kissed her head. “Dear God, what would I have done?”

  Abigail felt the tears burn her eyes, and she looked up to see Brianna March standing alone on the platform. A struggling Georgianna was being taken away, along with Appleton and Hawthorne. Several men had gone to find Silas Grayson.

  “I should have guessed it was my sister.” Brianna still stood proudly erect. “Since we were little girls, she’s always plotted against me. But so many innocent people! How could she do this?”

  Samuel held Abigail against him as Familiar jumped out of his arms and down to the platform. “I don’t know. Even when I found the masks in her home, I didn’t want to believe it was her.

  “See, when Abigail was captured and they caught me, I decided to pretend to join them. After I finally convinced that fool Appleton that I would prosecute Abigail and get the grandest confession of all, I got away from him and went to Georgianna’s, hoping to find her and Sanshu and Elizabeth. On her table I discovered several packets of herbs that Elizabeth had gathered, and I began to suspect that Georgianna was involved in poisoning the guard. She intended to set Abigail up for murder. I looked harder and found those masks.”

  Abigail was glad of the support of Samuel’s strong arm. It was all too much to take in.

  “And Silas Grayson?” Brianna asked. “Was he a pawn of my sister’s? He’s always been in love with her. When they were younger and he tried to court her, it was her rejection that turned him into such a sour and unhappy man. I’ve always pitied his wife. Sarah has become just like him.” She wiped a tear from her face. “We should go down and watch as they empty the dungeon. Before the storm breaks.” She eyed the sky, which looked filled with the fury of a natural force. “God’s wrath for man’s stupidity,” she said with a wry smile. “’Tis a fitting end to this day.”

  “We’ll be along in a minute,” Abigail said. She wanted a moment alone with Samuel.

  The deep rumble of thunder announced that the storm was moving in in earnest. Abigail’s thick hair, which had tumbled out of her boy’s cap, was caught in a sudden swirl of wind. “Go on, Brianna. We’ll follow.”

  “I’ll walk with Mrs. March,” Hester announced. She leaned over to hug Abigail, and whispered in her ear, “Along with working to stop the witch trials, I’ve met a man. William Amston. He has asked to court me, even knowing about little Pearl. And better than that, he is not a coward like Dimmsdale. He’s there, waiting at the square.”

  Following Hester’s direction Abigail looked to see a tall, well-muscled man standing alertly, a muzzle loader in his hand.

  “If all else failed, we intended to save you by force,” Hester said. She kissed Abigail’s cheek. “I love you, dear friend.” Then she hurried away with Pearl at her side.

  Samuel, Abigail and Familiar were left alone on the platform. For a moment they only looked at each other. Then Abigail stepped into the shelter Samuel offered with his arms.

  “It’s over,” she whispered. “At last.” She felt completely drained.

  “I thought all along it was Silas. I never dreamed it was Georgianna.”

  “Until you found the masks?” Abigail could feel Samuel’s strong heart beating. The pulse was reassuring, and also exciting.

  “Yes. The masks and the poison. Even then it took me several minutes to truly believe the implications. Before I trusted my deductions, I went back to Elizabeth and got her help. The herbs I found at Georgianna’s weren’t the same potion I saw at your house when you so foolishly drank that tea. With that knowledge, I convinced Sanshu and Elizabeth to run for their lives. I knew we were all in the worst danger. We’d let Georgianna into our midst. She knew of our plan.”

  “She intended to kill all of us.” Abigail burrowed closer against him. “Why was Georgianna using the mask? She doesn’t believe in witchcraft.”

  “To frighten Silas. You remember the night of the bonfire?”

  “When I thought you were a warlock?” Abigail kissed his chin. “I remember it well. It broke my heart.”

  “Your wicked imagination broke your heart. Anyway, Silas was out that night. I thought he was going to the bonfire, but he was actually going to Georgianna’s. I gather they’ve been having something of an affair for most of the summer. I believe Georgianna deliberately set it up so Silas would stumble on the bonfire and the dancing figures. That would cinch his belief that witches were around, so she got two tribesmen from Sanshu’s tribe to dance with her. They thought it was harmless.”

  “More of Georgianna’s manipulation.” Abigail felt a new surge of anger at the woman.

  Samuel ran his fingers through Abigail’s hair. Everything about her was perfect.

  “She was using his fear to control him,” Abigail said.

  “Exactly.”

  “Then Silas is as much an innocent victim as the accused.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far. But I do believe that both he and Wadsworth were used, as were the girls who made the accusations. All of this will come out when Governor Phips begins to examine the situation.”

  “And
Appleton and Hawthorne?”

  “Greedy men with a streak of cruelty and malice. But perhaps not as evil as we once thought them.”

  “Oh, Samuel.” Abigail crushed herself against him, holding him tight. “It’s over. Really over.”

  “Let’s go home.” Even as he said the word, he was struck with the reality of that statement. They might return to Abigail’s cottage, but they had no way to really go home.

  In that bittersweet moment of realization, Abigail turned her lips up to him. “We can’t go home, but we have each other. That’s more than any benefits of the future.”

  “I know.” He kissed her offered lips, and desire swept all other thoughts from their minds.

  WELL, ISN’T THIS COZY? They end up with each other and I get stuck in 1692 with Clotilde waiting for me back in Washington, D.C. Back in the land of filet mignon, Blue Bell ice cream, a sample of Brie and caviar. I have news for these two witch savers—I’m not staying here. They may be satisfied with a corn-shuck mattress and wool underwear, but I’m not spending the winter in this hellhole. And it looks like it’s up to me to figure out how to get us out of here.

  The witch trials are solved, and I get small notice for my part. It was me who finally figured out how to stop the whole mess. Had I not attached myself to Madame Phips, we’d all be swinging from the witch tree at this time. And what credit do I get? I think it’s time to draw a little attention to myself! The libidinous duo should at least give me a few strokes and compliments.

  Yeow! Yeow!

  ABIGAIL BROKE the kiss with real regret, but Familiar was having a fit. She rushed over to the place where he’d fallen on his side and was writhing on the hanging platform as if he were in terrible pain.

  “Samuel!” she called as she tried to get a grip on Familiar to examine him. “What’s wrong?” Real panic filtered in her voice.

  Samuel knelt beside them. “I don’t know. He was fine a minute ago when he saved the day.”

  “He was brilliant!” Abigail stroked his sleek fur as he began to calm. “Brilliant and wily.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “I think this was a ploy for attention.”

  “And he deserves it.” Samuel put his hand on top of Abigail’s on top of the cat. “The three of us together, no matter what the future brings.”

  His words were followed by a deep rumble of thunder that sounded as if the sky were being split apart.

  “We’d better hurry home,” Abigail said. “I have no desire to go to the dungeon. Let’s just slip on home and celebrate alone. With Familiar.” She scratched him under the chin. “Our hero.”

  She bent to capture him and the crystal pendant swung free of her shirt. Familiar’s paw reached up to touch the pendant just as a ragged fork of lightning opened the sky with a brilliance so close it blinded Abigail and Samuel.

  There was the sense of falling, as if the platform had collapsed beneath them, the smell of something burning, and then blackness.

  Epilogue

  Samuel felt the harsh asphalt beneath his hands. A large crowd of people was gathered around him, all talking and jabbering as the sound of nearby traffic seemed close enough to run him down. When he looked up, he saw that he was in the middle of a busy street with traffic pouring all around him.

  He looked across at the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. She was helping a huge black cat rise to his feet. The cat staggered a little, then fixed enormous green eyes on the woman.

  “Hey, that cat saved your life!” a man in the crowd called out to the woman.

  For a moment Samuel thought the man was dressed in some type of Puritan garb, but it had to be the heat of a summer day in Washington, D.C. that was affecting his vision. It was, after all, the summer solstice. The very first day of summer. When he looked again, the man was dressed in a perfectly normal business suit.

  “Are you okay?” Samuel asked the woman. She’d stepped right out in front of his car just as he’d been rushing to make an appointment with a client who wanted a new office building designed. If the black cat hadn’t darted out of nowhere and pushed the woman to safety, he would have certainly killed or maimed her.

  “I’m okay.” The woman looked down at the cat. “And I think he is, too. I thought for a minute that he was a goner.” She lifted the cat in her arms and stood.

  “Let me make sure you’re fine,” Samuel insisted. He stood, took the woman’s elbow and helped her across the remainder of the busy street.

  “Hey! Hey! Buddy!” some man was calling to him. “Hey, you! What about your car?”

  Samuel looked back over his shoulder. “Move it for me,” he said, totally indifferent as to the fate of the car. All he knew was that it was his fate not to let the beautiful woman out of his sight.

  Without a word they walked to Cassandra’s Tea Room, where the woman went to a back table. Two cups of strong tea were placed in front of them before they could even order.

  “Do you come here often?” Samuel was captivated by the woman’s odd eyes. One was green and the other gray. And then there were the luminous green eyes of the cat watching him. The whole experience was very disturbing, yet compelling.

  “I come here all the time.” The woman smiled. “Would you like me to read your tea leaves?”

  “Are you a Gypsy?”

  “No, an herbalist. I read the leaves for fun. I’ve been told my grandmother had the second sight.”

  “I think you’ve bewitched me,” Samuel said.

  Abigail put the cat on the table and smoothed his fur. “Then you’re one lucky devil, Samuel Truesdale,” she said with an impish smile.

  Turning to the black cat, she gave him a solemn wink.

  I’M NOT CERTAIN Samuel and Abigail are cognizant—yet—of what’s just occurred. We spent weeks in 1692 and then return to Washington, D.C., without missing a moment of time. Amazing! All I know is that I woke up in Salem Village, a mass of bruises, and now I can tell I’m going to spend the next three days on a pillow in front of the refrigerator, recovering from my cranial attack on the radiator of that car.

  Yes, indeedy, Eleanor will smother me with tender concern, and Clotilde will listen to my tales of adventure with breathless delight.

  Ah, it’s good to be home. I wonder if this tea shop offers anything in the way of an all-beef patty smothered in yellow cheese with a side order of rich cream. I have a real hankering for the kind of food you can only find in America. Modern day America, that is. I’ve lost three pounds at least—of muscle, of course. There wasn’t any fat there to lose.

  But I have a feeling I’m going to need sustenance. I can’t wait until these love-besotted humanoids begin to remember, and to wonder. It should be real entertaining, especially when Samuel has to admit that those witchy little boots Madame Mysterious is wearing make more than a simple fashion statement. Meow! They don’t call me Familiar for nothing!

  CAROLINE BURNES continues her life as doorman and can opener for her six cats and three dogs. E.A. Poe, the prototype cat for Familiar, rules as king of the ranch, followed by his lieutenants, Miss Vesta, Gumbo, Chester, Maggie the Cat and Ash. The dogs, though a more lowly life form, are tolerated as foot soldiers by the cats. They are Sweetie Pie, Maybelline and Corky.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-8399-6

  BEWITCHING FAMILIAR

  Copyright © 1995 by Carolyn Haines

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  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pu
re invention.

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