Trial by Love

Short story about two best friends and a Salem witch trial. I wrote this for English class and wound up liking it a lot...hope you like it!

The sky was a bright, deceitful blue, filled with puffy white clouds. The sun shone through the multi-colored leaves. There were shades of brick red, bright fire orange. Branches crunched underfoot as Elizabeth and Makenna’s boots carried them through the woods on the familiar paths that they had walked for years. They strolled along matching each other’s footsteps the entire way. As the houses of Old Salem moved along through the bright yet bare trees, you could see the similarity between the girls and the houses. The girls wore torn stockings that barely fit after years of use. Scuffed boots became more worn on the soles, as old, brown dresses became spattered with mud when they passed through a puddle. The houses were painted in dull colors, with few rooms and small fireplaces. In their left arms they carried their school books; spines down. Most of the townspeople of Salem said they were like twins, inseparable. Of course, they said so jokingly. In these dark days of Salem, twins were thought to be a sign of witchcraft, and only one would be allowed to survive. Everything seemed to be a sign of witchcraft. They passed the Judge’s house. Ever since the witch trials had begun, he had been treated special; like he was so much better then everybody else. The one who decided between life and death; could be merciful or cruel.

     His daughter Libby was rocking on the porch, fanning herself. They laughed at how superior she thought she was in her pink, frilly dress, trying to imagine themselves wearing that instead of their usual garb. When Makenna looked up, Libby caught her eye and began to scream. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she dropped her fan. The whites of her eyes were showing, matching the foam erupting from her mouth. She was on the ground now, contorting in pain. Her limbs were spassing out wildly. Just as a bewildered Judge opened the door to see what was going on, Makenna, horrified, dropped her books and ran. After picking up the fallen books, Elizabeth was right behind her. Elizabeth stopped to catch her breath when she saw Makenna collapsed under a tree. She sat with her head back and her eyes closed, attempting to take deep breaths, but sounding more like a baby bird after falling out of its nest while learning how to fly.  

     Oranges and blues, pinks and purples, all blended together harmoniously across the sky like streaks of water color on an endless canvas. The sun spread the last of its buttery yellow light over Salem as it slowly sunk beneath the horizon. Fires were made brighter and larger to keep out the ever approaching darkness and cold. The shouts woke Elizabeth first, and she quickly roused Makenna as men on horseback came galloping into the clearing. Their fathers jumped off their horses and came running, gathering the girls up in their arms. Elizabeth buried her nose in her father’s shoulder and breathed in the familiar smoky, sweaty, smell. The mens’ bodies visibly relaxed at having found their daughters. Only Makenna remained uneasy as she warily watched the strange man on the third horse.

     “Who is that?” she asked her father.

     “A messenger from Judge Collins. He wants to see you at the courthouse,” he replied, obviously more focused on her than on the stranger. The look on Makenna’s face caused not him, nor anyone else to pry, or try to find out if she knew anymore about what was going on. The pairs rode back to town on the muscular horses, and all the while Makenna was eerily calm.

     Worn handles chilled Makenna’s skin as she opened the creaky door to the courthouse. All that the girls caught a glimpse of before being embraced by their mothers were rows packed with all of Salem, Judge Collins in his wig, and Libby in the witnesses stand. When she saw Makenna, she began twitching uncontrollably. Judge Collins banged on the desk.

     “Makenna Langston! You have been accused of witchcraft by victim and witness, Libby Collins. Please come forward.”

     His booming voice sent ripples of whispers through the crowd. Elizabeth looked like she was going to throw up, their mothers were stunned- Makenna’s had her hand over her mouth- yet the calmest of all was Makenna. She gently unwrapped herself from her mother’s embrace and walked with her head up and her shoulders back to the front of the courtroom. Only Elizabeth, who knew her better than anyone, could tell that she was shaking inside, and snuffing out her fear like a candle. Makenna was skilled at hiding her feelings, but Elizabeth could read her like an open book. She noticed how white her knuckles were as they tightly gripped her apron so hard it must have hurt. Elizabeth knew that all the stares and eyes boring into her felt awful. Makenna would always rather stay in the background and blend in. Libby was still thrashing, but her eyes were her own as she snuck a peek at Makenna, who took her seat with dignity, refusing to let Libby get to her. The crowd quivered with the excitement of a new witch in town.

     “Makenna Langston!” the Judge said when she was at the front of the room. “I will make this simple. Are you a witch?”

     Makenna swallowed. This was the moment she had prayed would never be hers to own. She knew there was no point in denying it, so she did not. She did nothing, merely sitting there wiping her sweaty hands on her dress, and trying not to run sobbing into her mothers arms. Very few things could weaken Makenna. As strong as Elizabeth was, Makenna had always been stronger. She was the majestic oak in long lasting winds. Elizabeth was the true blue; like the familiar flower that popped up again every spring.  She could hear shouts of “Witch!” and “Death!” and “I knew she seemed funny!” ring out across the room in once familiar, but now traitorous voices she had known since birth. She heard the gasp of her mother and could feel the shock of her family and friends as all just assumed this meant she was admitting it, when in truth she felt like she was an entirely different person from the girl sitting in that chair.

     Before Makenna knew it, it was over. She could numbly feel hands in hers, and in the back of her mind she knew that that meant she was being led home, but more pressingly she could only wonder, “What happened?”  No one could tell her because she couldn’t get the words out to ask.  Her mom laid her on her parents’ bed, pulled off her boots, and whispered in her ear,      “They will tell us the verdict in the morning.” 

Makenna nodded off within seconds, haunted by nightmares of so-called witches being drowned and burned alive.

     Elizabeth forced herself to stay as calm as Makenna had.  Good Lord, how had she managed it?  Her best friend, a witch?  Impossible!  Suddenly, it all came rushing back to her and she fell to her knees in the doorway.  She could feel the shock of the whole situation, the disbelief at the fact that Makenna could be a witch�"nonsense, of course�"and about to die, the sadness of losing her, and the guilt of just standing by and watching.  She stood up and took a breath, knowing what she had to do.

     Makenna bolted upright at the sound of a crashing door.  She could see her mother in the corner, her father trying to reason.  All the man would say was that they had come to collect Makenna. Finally, he pushed past and roughly grabbed Makenna by the wrists.  She had no chance to say “Good-bye,” or “I love you,” to her parents.  The black of night swallowed them as the cart got farther away from Makenna’s beloved home.  It was hard to believe that earlier that day she had been skipping along with her best friend Elizabeth, with no idea of future horrors.  Her wrists were bound with rope, and it dug into her skin and left burn marks where it had been.  When the ride was over, she was thrown roughly into a cell covered with hay and smelling of horse manure.  “This is it,” she thought.

     Elizabeth screamed.  Makenna was a prisoner. She was sentenced to death!  This meant she would really have to follow through with her plan.  She stood up and gave both her parents hugs with so much more love than usual.  She set out with a basket of fresh rolls and cheese for Makenna.  When she got there, she snuck in and brought them to Makenna, who was sitting alone in the stillness, left to ponder everything that was happening.  A weak smile and “Thank you,” was the only response to the food, but once Elizabeth sat down and showed she wasn’t leaving, they talked until Elizabeth was kicked out and sent home.

     Makenna was disturbed the next day by chants of, “Witch! Witch!  Witch!” coming from outside.  She was gagged and bound and dragged none too gently out of the cell.  She saw a crowd of people waiting nearby a row of trees in the sick anticipation of watching an unjust murder.  Through the brambles creating a cage on the cart carrying her to her death, she could see her family straining to reach her, Elizabeth looking strangely grim and determined, and Judge Collins with his family in front-row seats.  Through all this, however, the thing making her vision blur and her knees buckle was the tree.  A pile of bonfire wood was set around the base of it.  She could tell it would light easily and devour whatever was in its path.  ‘Oh, Lord,” she thought.  “Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord!”  She was stabbed with sharp pains as rocks were thrown at her, most aimed at her face, and others at her body.  Two men waited with flint for lighting the fire as another two tied her to the tree.  Sobbing and screaming, her mother tried to reach her, but to no avail.  Finally, Makenna broke down and her body shook as she cried.  Her life was flashing before her eyes, and she closed them as the images crumbled.  She did not want to see any of it.  Not her family, or the hateful crowd, or the men struggling to send her up in flames. 

     “Wait!” Makenna raised her head to see Elizabeth pushing to the front of the crowd.  “No!  Don’t burn her!  Please!”

     Makenna gave her a slight shake of the head, begging would do no good.  Witches had to die. 

     “Please!  I’m the witch!  Put me up there, not her; I deserve it. Think about it! I was always with her during the attacks! Libby hates Makenna, you all know it! Please! Don’t punish her for my crime.” 

     Like the wind being knocked out of your chest, there was compete silence. 

“Elizabeth!” Makenna screamed desperately, but no one was paying attention to her now.

     “A confession!  Tie her up there and take the other vermin down!” shouted Judge Collins, and the men scrambled to obey.  Makenna was thrown to the ground, but she sat up in time to see Elizabeth staring at her from where she had been until now.  Their eyes met. It was like everything around them was in slow motion, and on mute.  Makenna’s mother’s embrace, Elizabeth’s mother’s screams�"all went away in that moment.  The flames were rising now, tentatively touching Elizabeth’s toes.  Makenna could feel the heat and taste the smoke on her tongue.

     “Elizabeth! Nooooo!” Makenna cried.

     She struggled and strained, kneeling on the ground where she had been tossed, but the ropes that still bound her kept her from doing anything but watch her best friend burn.

Author's Note

Thank you, if you took the time to read this. Let me know what you think of the ending. :)