Chapter 1

My Grandfather, William Fuller, sat down at our kitchen table, staring at an untouched cup of coffee. Haley, my little sister, stood across from him expectantly."Grandpa Bill, why do you look so depressed? Today is the Sabbath!" She said.

"Yes, Haley, I know. But how can one be happy on the day when..."Grandfather looked up as if seeing her young age for the first time. She is only 8, she musn't know about the two girls from Salem coming to our town. "Never the mind."

" I am but old enough, Grandpa Bill! I just turned 8 last week, don't you remember? Now you can tell me most anything!" She whined.

Grandfather sighed."Haley, there are some things that you musn't know until the time is right."

"But-" She nagged. I strolled into the room, deciding now was the best time to interrupt.

"Haley, i expect you aren't badgering Grandfather. Not on the Sabbath." I said to her, getting out the pan and putting it over our fireplace to warm before I made her and Grandfather eggs.

"Of course not, Rosaline! The Sabbath is the day we are forseen to be on our best behavior!" Haley said, as if she needed to remind me.

"Yes, yes, I've heard." Grandfather said glumly.

"Grandfather bill, why must you be in such dismay about the Sabbath today?" She asked.

"Leave him be, Haley. Get into your finest dress and meet us for breakfast in an half hours' time." I said, understanding his mood.

Haley stomped off, rattling the pots hanging from the ceiling on the way out.

"Granddaughter, if you so much as slam that door of yours, expect my whip the minute after the Sabbath." Grandfather said. I smiled, knowing he would never lay a finger on my little sister.

At Church, people crowded the field in front of the doorway, children playing tag, women gossiping, and men talking about politics and buisness. I stood next to Sarah Miller, the schoolteacher and my best friend. She taught me last year, yet she is only a couple years older than I.

"Whats going on?" I asked her when I'd finally reached where she was standing, almost all the way at the back of the field.

"I don't know.. The Minister wouldn't let us in, so we just started to crowd the field." She said.

Just then, the Mayor walked into the middle of the field and stood on a chair. Two young girls stood behind him, looking cleaner than the whole town put together. " Ladies, Gentlemen. There have been rumors that two girls were coming to our town to find witches." He paused. Sarah and I looked at one another in unison. " I am in dismay to say that those rumors are true."

Rapid whispers ran throughout the crowd. " Yes. The matter itself is extremely unsettling. It is possible that your neighbors have been practicing the work of the devil in their homes. These girls have been sent over from Salem to find and send these witches to the Salem Town Prison , where they will be kept until given a trial." The mayor said.

As if on cue, the girls behind him started to moan, grabbing their arms frantically and itching their skirts. " Why are they doing such embarrasing things in public?" Haley whispered, somehow finding me throughout the huge crowd.

"Hush now," I said. " The more you talk about them, the larger chance you have of being accused."

"But I have not been practicing Witchcraft, Rosaline. I am but a girl." She said innocently. At times, I admired her innocence and her everlasting curiousity. Others, I wanted to strangle her for it.

"Hush!" I hissed in her ear.

"Do you believe they are tormented by the devil?" Haley asked, ignoring my question.

"Of course I don't. They are causing trouble to innocent people! Those girls are just filthy, rotten-" Sarah nudged me.

I realized that the townsfolk had gone quiet for a while, and that I was the only one speaking. the crowd looked at me, wide eyed, while the two girls fell silent. Grandfather coughed, but under that cough u could faintly hear him choke out, "whip."

" All right. Everyone, get into a line." The mayor smiled, knowing he wouldnt be part of that line.

I was mortified. Grabbing Haley's hand, I led her into the line that was slowly forming. Grandfather was up first, and he went up cautiously, spreading his arm out towards the girls. They continued to moan and scream, unfeeling by his gesture.

I held my breath as Sarah went up after the entire Gringdone family had been accused. Her face had drained of all it's color and her whole body was shaking as she held her hand out towards the girls.

At once, their cries stopped. They stood up from their mangled position on the floor, their eyes still hidden by the blindfold but obvious that they were open.

"No! It must be a mistake!" I cried out from the crowd. Letting go of Haley's hand, I ran out of the line and hugged Sarah. "She is innocent!"

"But you two are not." One of the blindfolded girls hissed in a raspy voice. "You are both working for the devil."

"No we aren't!" I screamed at her, tears in my eyes. " We love and believe in the lord!" I started reciting the Lord's prayer, but ended up getting dragged away by the Mayor and Grandfather.

The accusations ended at that. The townsfolk drifted off to their homes, relieved they hadn't been convicted. In the meantime, Haley, Sarah, Grandfather and I stood, saying our goodbyes.

"Grandfather, I swear I haven't been-" I said quietly, but was cut off by him.

"Stop now." He said. "I cannot forgive you for what you've done."

The mayor strolled up to us. " There is little time left to say your passings." He said.

"Rosaline hasn't been practicing the devil's work! She is completely, utterly, innocent. You musn't send her to such a terrible place!" Haley said to the mayor.

" You musn't talk to the Mayor like that.Stop it." Grandfather said.

"Stop it? My sister is in Danger! She has been accused of Witchcraft, and your just going to let her go on to the Salem Town Prison with but a word?"

Grandfather struck Haley on the cheek. Hard. I pulled her towards me, comforting her,holding her. Grandfather had never hurt her before, and now I couldn't help her through it because I was getting sent to some jail where I would be next to people that might or might not be witches.

"I will come for you, Rosaline. If my words be the only thing that keeps you alive, so be it." Haley said, crying. She was acting older than she was, and that made me cry with her for staying strong in this situation.

"Of course you will. You are my sister. You have my blood. I shall not doubt you for a second, no matter what age you be." I said, knowing it to be true.

"Your parting time is up. I shall see you to the cart, Rosaline." The mayor said, coming up to us.

" Goodbye, Rosaline. Remember what i have told you," Haley whispered. I nodded and kissed her forehead.

" I love you, so much." I said to her as I was dragged off by the Mayor.

"I will come for you!" She screamed in my direction as the cart was pulled off in the direction of Salem.

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"Sarah, do you believe we will survive jail in Salem?" I asked her as we rode.

" I do not know what I believe." Sarah sighed." All I know is that we must hope for the best."

"Maybe this is all but a nightmare." I said hopefully. "A figment of my imagination, perhaps."

"A hallucination." Sarah added.

Herman Shillman turned to face us. He was the banker in our town, yet he looked like he was fresh out of school."I've heard that when the water floods, the jail cells can flood with it. Imagine that!" He said.

"Why does mr.shillman think of this as but an exciting movie?" I whispered into Sarah's ear.

"I'm expect he feels he can have the experience of these terrible moments and survive it unscathed." Sarah whispered back.

"But, why? That is simply impossible." I pointed out.

She shrugged and turned away from her for a second, and came back holding a Water Lily."I almost forgot to give you this." She handed it to me. "Happy birthday, Rosaline!"

I delicately took the flower from her hands. " Oh!" I said, then started laughing. " Why, thank you! This is but the most pleasant way to spend anyone's birthday!" I smiled. " I had forgotten!"

She gasped dramatically." How could you forget the day you turned 17?" She sighed happily. " The parties, the romance.."

Herman grinned. " The romance?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sarah laughed."Oh,Herman! That was one night. You musn't think that I really meant any of that!"

"Oh, but I did." His eyes glazed over for a moment, as if he was remembering some moment where him and Sarah had a romance.

" I was under alcoholic influence!" She said with exasperation.

"Yes, but-"

" But nothing, Herman! The only 'romantic' thing I did with you was give you a hug!"

I laughed at his foolishness.

"Fine, I see. I shall find another woman to tend to my housework." He said, eyeing me.

"No." I said plainly, holding back giggles.

Herman sighed, and scanned the cart for any other women. Finding no sign of any other women except for Sarah and I, he turned his head and started making small talk with the Gringdone children.

" He is quite foolish." Sarah said once he had stopped listening.

" Insane..Crazy.. any other words to describe a 'Herman'?" I joked.

" I believe that sums it up." Sarah laughed. " Happy birthday, Rosaline Fuller."

"Happy birthday to me" .

I thought to myself.

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"This is where we shall be staying?" I heard a voice in our group saying. I knew exactly how she felt. The prison smelt like a mix of salt water, urine, and mold. There were people crowding the cells, some large enough for an entire family, others, less than the size of a closet. I prayed that we'd at least get a decent cell, one that we wouldn't be so crowded as to have to sit because we couldn't stand.

The guard ignored the person, simply shoving people into cells randomly. Me and Sarah linked arms, refusing to let go of one another. We got pushed into a big cell with a lot of women, right next door to all the men's cells.

Sarah and I ran to a bed,the one in the farthest corner away from the other women. We were lucky to have found that one, too. Other women were finding places on the cement floor to sleep. "Oh, my.." I whispered. Two women were fighting over who got the last blanket, and both of them were bleeding heavily from their lips and nose.

Sarah hid our thin blanket behind her back, a smart idea. If the women looked at us for one, they would only see two innocent girls that would have to huddle for warmth at night without a blanket.

"Sarah.." I said quietly to her. " How are we expected to survive in here?"

She opened her mouth to respond, but another voice said it for her. " We just have to be strong, i guess." Said a huddled figure in the corner.

I didn't even notice her sitting there on the bed, in the corner. I had mistaken her for a pillow, she was so small and frail. "I'm Anne." She said quietly. " Do you mind if I stay here?"

"No,no. You can stay here if you'd like. At night we'll need body heat, anyways." Sarah said calmly, as if she knew Anne was here all along.

"Thank you." She said shyly.

We sat there for a while in silence, slowly breathing in reality.As night came, the air became colder, causing us to see our breath. Sarah and I huddled against Anne,and although she resisted us at first, she eventually gave into the cold and sagged against Sarah.

Late into the night, long after Sarah and Anne had fallen asleep, I sat up in the dark and braced the cold. I thought about Haley, and how I'd just left her there with Grandfather after he'd hit her for the first time. I thought about my Father and Mother, and how'd they feel when they came back from England to find i'd been accused of being a witch, and if they would believe the accusations to be true. I'm sure Grandfather did.

Then I cried. I cried for myself, for Sarah, for Anne, who I thought too frail and tiny to survive, and for everyone who had to go through the cold, harsh, ways that they treated the accused. "Crying ain't gonna help you in this place," I heard from behind me. I almost screamed, it was so unnatural. All that was behind me was a wall. I looked around, and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

There was a little hole in the wall, just big enough for an eye to see through. Scrambling towards it, I stuck my eye in. A black silhouette was in the shadows of the cell. "Hello?" I whispered into the hole.

A green flash sent me stumbling backwards, almost causing me to fall off the bed. "Careful," the voice in the cell said.

"Who are you?" I whispered, once I had regained my balance and was sitting in an upright position on the bed.

"Charlie. May I ask who you are?" The green eyed silhouette said.

"Rosaline.What are you doing there?" I asked.

"What everyone else is doing here: I got accused by those accursed girls." Charlie said.

"Are you a witch?" I asked suspiciously.

"Naw, i'm a priest's son." He said, making me laugh.

"Then why did they accuse you?"

"Because I like the nighttime 'far too much'. Damn swines.." He said nastily. "Excuse my language, fair lady." He joked sarcastically. " They're almost 10 years younger than me, yet they have the power to decide my life's fate."

"I know.. How old are you?" I lowered my voice, thinking we'd wake someone up.

" I'm 18. Same question to you."

"I turned 17 today. " I said. "Do you know what time it is?"

"No, but soon we'll all be on a schedule. It happens after a while, to everyone. We cannot help it. We just go with the flow, until the flow don't run no more."

"Where are you from? I've never heard that kind of accent before."

"Illinois. I'm guessing your from around here?" He asked.

" Danvers." I said, yawning. "Well, Charlie, thanks for helping me get tired. I think I will go sleep and dream of home."

"Yes, home does seem very appealing right now." He said quietly. "But I guess we'll have to make do with who we've got for now and see where that takes us. Right now, i've got you and Benjamin who's sleeping in the bed next to me. A real pain in the arse, if you'd met him." He sighed. " God, he'd be head over heels for ya' if he saw you right now. "

I blushed, but thank God he couldn't see it in the dark. He might start getting ideas.

"G'night, Rosaline." Charlie said, and I heard him lie down.

"Night, Charlie." I whispered back, and huddled into Sarah, dreaming of home.

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I awoke early in the morn to a woman who was stuck sleeping on the floor. She was having terrible fits. Her whole body was shaking all over, and her leg was in a very painful looking position on the ground. At times, her eyes would roll into the back of her head, exposing the whites of her eyes. She would yell unnintelligabe things to no one in particular, and then start hitting herself.

At one point, she frightened me to the point where I almost started sobbing. While she was yelling, her head went around almost 360 degrees, stopping at the point where she broke her neck. The last words she spoke were shouted, and she looked me directly in the eye when she said it.

"The devil be upon you"

Those 5, simple, but horrifying words were spoken. Spoken to me. Spoken to the girl who's father went to a catholic college to learn how to become a minister. Spoken to the girl who'd prayed to God whenever she could, and now did more than ever.

My cries were enough to arouse Sarah, who held me as I sobbed, yet all the while looking at the bloody mass on the ground in front of us. I heard Charlie get up, and saw him look through the hole at me. I managed a teary smile at him, knowing I wasn't completely alone in this hell, before Sarah blocked my sight of him and pulled me against her.

Later on, when the guard came down to give us our food, some tastless mash of god-knows-what and bread, he saw the woman's body on the ground and simply sighed."Another one? This is the 3rd one today." He called up the stairs. " William, we are in need of a trash bag!" And then strolled off to give people their food.

"Are you okay?" Sarah asked when I had eaten a little bit of my food.

"Could be better." I said, sticking my tounge out at my meal, which I seemed to think would move at any second.

"What happened?" She asked, genuinely concerned. I looked up at the wall behind her, and saw that green eye watching me from the whole. I smiled and made a face at it, then continued to talk.

" I woke when she was having a mental breakdown. Her eyes would roll into the back of her head, and she would be yelling at nothing in particular. " When I saw the confused look on her face, I added, "You didn't hear her?" She shook her head no. " Whatever it was, it was completely unnintelligable. Then her head twisted enough and she broke it.. and then she looked me in the eye and said.." I couldn't finish for a moment. ".. She said 'the devil be upon you'."

Sarah gasped. " Rosaline! How could she.. Were you the only one up?" I nodded. " That must be it!" She convinced herself. " She was looking for someone to say it to, and you were the only one available." She nodded rapidly.

I didn't know who she was trying to convince; her or me.

Later on, I was back at the hole, talking to Charlie.

" My God." Was all he said after I said hello to him. "Did that really happen?"

"Yeah," I said. " Your a preacher's son." I laughed. "Bless me."

"That requires a kiss, madam," He joked.

" I'll stick with the whole 'devil be upon me' thing." I smiled, forgetting he probably couldn't see it.

"Your loss, Rosaline. I've heard i'm a pretty good kisser." Charlie said.

" Oh, yeah? Did your mother say that to you?" I giggled.

"Damn, girl. How did you suddenly become so smart?" He sighed.

" Suddenly?" I gasped with mock surprise. " I was born with the gift of intelligance, unlike you."

"Yeah.. I was born with the gift of charm and good looks." I laughed.

"Right."

" Whatever, Rosaline. Your gonna miss this-" I swear he was showing his muscles to himself-" when it's gone."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, mr. good-looks-and-charm."

"Okay, Miss intelligant-and-pretty." he said.

" Hey, wait.." I paused. " I never said pretty!"

"Well I did." Charlie said.

"Why, Charlie, are you flirting with me?" I teased.

"Told you: The good looks and charm are kicking in as we speak."