“Thanks,” Olivia muttered the programmed response.
“And what brings you to the museum today?” the old lady asked.
“A mystery. I was clearing out the lake house and stumbled upon an old trunk belonging to Hester and found some of her personal journals inside,” Olivia began to explain.
“Is that so?” Ms. Gershon asked, her dark eyes sparkling with interest.
“The funny thing is, I found another journal in there and a kind of sketch book, and I don’t know who they belong to. They’re definitely not Hester’s, but I get the feeling they were important to her somehow. After all, she went to all the trouble of keeping them.”
Olivia didn’t add that she’d gone to the trouble of protecting them with magic. That wasn’t something Ms. Gershon needed to know.
“Did they have a name in them?”
“No.” Olivia shook her head. “I think they belong to someone who may have lived in Salem or Mercy. They did reference someone called Temperance, and they may have had a brother named Logan. Oh, and I have the date of their journal entries.”
“Hmm,” Ms. Gershon mused. “That’s not much to go on.”
“The drawings were all marked with the initials TB,” Olivia added.
“TB?” Ms. Gershon repeated as Olivia nodded. “Come, walk with me.”
She began shuffling along the glass-fronted exhibit that was surprisingly extensive to be dedicated to just one family, but then again, the Wests had been the town’s founders.
“Why is it important for you to know who it is?” Ms. Gershon asked as they turned a corner.
“I don’t know,” Olivia answered, thinking hard before giving a little shrug. “I guess I don’t like unanswered questions.” She also badly needed a distraction from the dead body in her woods, but she didn’t mention that.
“You always did have the soul of a historian,” Ms. Gershon replied fondly. “I am not surprised by the career you have chosen. The subject was always a particular fascination to you as a child.”
“You know about my career?” Olivia replied, somewhat surprised.
“Of course. I hear you are starting to be regarded as somewhat of an expert in the field of New England and the history of witchcraft.”
“I don’t know about expert.” Olivia shrugged as her cheeks flushed.
“Don’t be so modest, I have read your books, and they are well thought out and most compelling.”
“Oh, um, thanks,” Olivia mumbled unable to help the little rush of pleasure at the compliment.
“We stock several of them in the museum gift shop.”
“Really?” Olivia almost bumped into the tiny woman when she came to an abrupt stop.
“Really.” She tapped her cane against the display case, drawing Olivia’s attention.
Behind the glass were huge illustrated panels, one of which depicted two small girls wrapped in a huge, heavy cloak and sitting astride a brown mare. Olivia’s gaze scanned down the story panels of the display and began to read quietly.
In August of 1695, Hester and Bridget West were arrested on the charge of Witchcraft after the death of their mother although the trials had ended. At only eight years of age, they were among the youngest to be accused, but before they could be examined, they escaped with the assistance of a young man named Theodore Beckett.
“Theodore Beckett,” Olivia whispered, her eyes widening slowly. “TB…” Olivia murmured. “Do you think they’re the same person?”
Ms. Gershon smiled. “Come, I have something to show you.”
She beckoned Olivia toward a door marked ‘private’. It opened into a large room with a study area and rows upon rows of shelves, holding not just books but manuscripts and file boxes.
“What is this?” Olivia asked curiously. “This never used to be here.”
“This has been my personal project for the past several years. It’s everything I could find on Salem and Mercy that has to do with witchcraft, magic, the occult, and the trials, including copies of all the original documentation. The curator of the Peabody and I are on particularly good terms.”
