TheTitanichad struck an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean and sunk, taking the lives of over one thousand five hundred people. We were still onboard theOceanicin 1912, making our way back to New York, and that made it even more troubling. There was a somber stillness on the ship as everyone grappled with the news. The knowledge that we should have been on that ship, and that Hope, Luc, and I could have died, still left me numb. Our disappointment at not reaching the boat on time had turned to gratitude that God had protected us from atragedy. But it had diminished coverage of Hope’s flight, since all the newspapers were filled with articles about the sinking.
Sweat ran down my back as I worked the ground and planted cabbage, carrots, turnips, squash, and more. I loved the smell of the soil and the feel of the cool dirt under my fingernails. Mama said that her grandmother, Theodosia, loved to garden. Had I inherited her green thumb?
A noise brought my head up. The wind ruffled a loose tendril of my hair as I saw Father walk around the side of the ordinary with Susannah. She wore a pretty new dress she had fashioned from fabric obtained in Boston with a silk scarf and gold buttons—something that would have been frowned upon had she not been married to a man of wealth and social standing.
Father glanced toward the road and then lifted Susannah off her feet and pressed her into the corner between the back of the building and the lean-to. He kissed her long and hard.
My cheeks grew warm as I looked away, squeezing the soil beneath my hands. My stomach felt queasy. Intimacy between married couples was not only approved by Puritans but encouraged from the pulpit. Yet to do it in plain sight could fetch Father a fine or time in the gaol. It was more proof that Susannah had beguiled him. He would never put himself into such a position if he were in his right mind.
Susannah giggled as she returned Father’s kisses. I didn’t want to see them—or hear them—but I had nowhere to go. If I moved, they’d know I was there, so I remained absolutely still.
The back door opened, and Hope exited the ordinary. Father pulled away from Susannah, and there was an awkward silence as Hope stared at him. He left Susannah’s side and pushed past Hope into the building.
Susannah lingered, a taunting smile on her face as she righted her dress and coif, then she, too, pushed past Hope and went inside.
Hope scowled at them and crossed her arms as she walkedacross the yard to join me. She wore a brick-red dress with a white apron and white coif over her blond curls. Even in her simple clothing, she was beautiful. It was such a strange reality that she was one of the most celebrated women in 1912, but here she was simply a servant in her father’s home. Overlooked and underappreciated. What would Father and the others say if they knew how important Hope was in a different time and place? How she had broken barriers for women everywhere? They wouldn’t know how to fathom such a thing.
“They’re questioning Mary Warren today,” Hope said as she squatted next to me and moved some of the soil around with her finger.
Mary had been one of the afflicted girls, but she had recanted and said the others were dissembling or pretending. The afflicted girls didn’t like her confession—and so they had begun to see Mary’s specter attacking them. Mary had been arrested and was now facing questioning by the magistrates.
More and more people were being accused every day, including men like John Proctor and Giles Corey. The afflicted also grew in number and now encompassed older women and men—including John Indian. He had begun to have fits and saw specters that tormented him. He was brought in to testify against several of the accused, though all denied witchcraft.
I sighed. “Will you go to Mary’s questioning?”
“I think we should both go.”
I hadn’t been to a questioning, though I had heard about them from Hope. “Why?”
“Mary Warren is the first of the afflicted girls to admit they are playacting. Don’t you want to hear what she has to say? She’s the only one courageous enough to stand up and put an end to this.”
I knew this wouldn’t be the end—but Iwascurious about Mary. “Mayhap I will go.”
“Good.” Hope stood and wiped the soil from her finger. Shehated working in the garden even more than doing the inside chores. I’d much rather be in the sunshine, even if it meant getting my hands dirty.
Hope continued to stand near the garden as I worked, and I sensed she had something else on her mind. I finally stopped planting the carrots and looked up at her.
“What?”
She squatted so we were eye-level. “Do you think Luc is in love with me?”
I couldn’t meet her gaze because the truth would hurt her. “Why do you ask?”
“Because I kissed him.”
“You kissed him?” I sat up straight. “When?”
“Right after the flight—didn’t you see?”
I shook my head, shocked. “Why haven’t you mentioned it before now?”
And why did it bother me that she had kissed him? It shouldn’t matter to me—but for some reason, it did.
“I assumed you saw.”
“Why would you kiss him in front of so many people?”
“I was overcome with the moment.”
