A Salem Awakening

Chapter 1

They all ran in quickly and pushed hard on the heavy door behind them, trying to close it as fast as possible. It moved too slowly for their liking. "Hurry, slide the crossbar," yelled James. Thomas pushed the large wood crossbar through the metal latches on either side. The door was now tightly secured. Nobody from the outside was going to get in - there was no way they could. The five men of the Salem Town Council found their places around an old, large wooden table. Four of them were breathing heavily from a combination of excitement and fear. The fifth, their leader Tobias, calmly sat at the head of the table and crossed his legs with a feeling of ease, just as he always did.

The other four men were discussing what just happened. They were trying to figure it out, attempting to find words to describe what they saw in a way that made sense. They were debating against each other, but were somehow all in agreement – all except for William. Tobias enjoyed watching them argue. But rather than stopping the discussion, he wanted to see where it would lead. Tobias considered himself a keen observer of others and he liked to collect information about people based on how they reacted under different circumstances. This was the perfect case study for him - four frightened men trying their best to exude bravery, while trying to understand the incomprehensible event they just witnessed. Well, incomprehensible to them – Tobias certainly understood what happened. He would learn much about these men today – information he would stow away in his memory for a later date when it would benefit him.

James stood and stepped away from the table, a tactic intended to focus the attention of the others on him. He paced around the room looking down at the floor and then up at the ceiling, talking as if he knew the answers but was only able to speak in questions.

"Did that actually prove she was a witch? Did we have to burn her at the stake so quickly? Why couldn't we have taken some time to discuss this? What will this do to the women and children of the village?"

James found his way back to the table, but instead of sitting down, he leaned on it with both hands. He thought better while standing. The other three men quickly stood at their spots around the table and leaned against it as well. All four men were now standing on opposite sides, leaning in toward each other, repeating the same futile questions over and over hoping someone would have the answers.

The old wooden table could barely hold the weight of everyone leaning against it. Only Tobias was still seated, the one who always remained stoic and calm during town council meetings. He saw no reason for the agitation, though he certainly understood the fear the other men felt.

"We can't allow this to happen again. The women and children are already fearful – now they see that a true witch lived among us," Matthew yelled. He banged his fist on the table so hard that even he was surprised it didn't collapse.

Thomas spoke next, "How many others are there? We need to speed up the trials to make sure we find each and every witch - and kill them all."

The other men roared in agreement, mostly because they were afraid of what would happen if they didn't. Each man wanted the tribunal to make sure it eradicated all witches from Salem and the Massachusetts Territory. On this point they could all agree with no debate.

After about thirty minutes, the men had nothing left to say. They quieted and settled back down around the table. Still not having said anything, Tobias sat rubbing his chin, appearing to be deep in thought.

Finally Matthew spoke as the silence was too uncomfortable for him to bear. "Tobias, you've been very quiet. Have you nothing to contribute?"

Tobias slowly drew in a deep breath and held it for a couple of seconds, rubbing his chin throughout. He exhaled loudly, though it was more of a sigh than a deep breath. He lowered his hand away from his chin and after a moment, he stood and turned around, facing his back to the others with his hands clasped together behind his back. At first he was looking down, but still with his back turned, he raised his head. This captured the attention of the other four men who all leaned in to listen to his words, inching closer assuming he was about to whisper his thoughts. Tobias stepped forward slowly, moving away from the table, still with his back facing them.

Finally he spoke calmly and intently, annunciating each word quite distinctly, "There are two competing issues you are discussing."

He stopped walking and turned half way around so the men could now see his profile, his head leaning back as if he were speaking to the ceiling.

"First, you all rightfully understand the need to rid our village of witches. On that we all agree - there is no need for debate." He leered at William, but his comment seemed incomplete, as if everyone knew the missing words implied they should not have been debating in the first place.

He turned fully toward the others and walked forward, slowly. When he finally arrived, he placed both hands down onto the wood slab, extending out past his shoulders quite a bit. The result was him leaning against the table, but his head was at almost the same level as the others who were all seated. He looked at each person for what seemed like minutes as he continued to speak.

"Second, you all seem to believe we should be worried about how the women and children will feel learning we have witches in our town. It is this point with which I take issue."

He stood upright and smiled, and with a welcoming gesture of outstretched arms continued, "My friends, we are the leaders of this town. They expect us to make the difficult decisions and to deal with the difficult situations. We must show no fear in the face of evil, and these witches are most certainly evil. Instead of worrying that our women and children will be frightened, we should determine how to frighten those wretched witches. We should realize that witches are women and children, and we need to show them that they should be afraid of us - not the other way around. I came here into the Town Hall after the burning so that we could discuss our next steps. But you four put down the crossbar in fear that the villagers would riot. Why?" He paused for a moment that felt longer than reasonable. "Are you afraid yourselves?" He paused for even longer this time. "Listen outside - do you hear anything? There are no villagers banging at the door. They have all gone home. Our God-fearing residents now know we will do whatever it takes to defend them, and the witches in town now know we will do everything we can to eradicate them. We are doing exactly what the town wants and expects. There is no riot, there is no mob trying to enter this building, and there is no reason for the crossbar."

Three of the four sat back in their seats, satisfied with that explanation. Tobias had appeased them – they now realized they were doing exactly what they should be. They felt good, even though the stench of Jane's burning flesh still filled their nostrils.

But the fourth man was puzzled and spoke in objection, "Tobias, let us pause for a moment and reflect on what happened out there. You admit we are targeting women and children."

Tobias blithely interjected, "Well the witches are women and children. That's a simple fact."

William ignored Tobias' interruption and continued, "Even though the concept of witches is not founded in any scientific basis, we put an accused witch on trial by trying to drown her. Her hands were not constrained, and after she was dropped into the ocean, she used her hands to untie the ropes from her legs and ankles. It wasn't some kind of spell. When she emerged from the water, that was not an indication that she was a witch. Rather, it was an indication that she was human and found a way to survive."

Tobias had no use for William's brand of ungodly science and responded, "By definition, if a person survives the witch's test of water then they are a witch. And once we know someone to be a witch, our laws stipulate, in no uncertain terms, that they must be put to death immediately. Today we did everything we were supposed to do, and we did it completely by our laws. We did our jobs and if any of you don't have the stomach for that, you should immediately resign from the council."

William responded slowly and softly while unconsciously shaking his head back and forth, looking at Tobias with an incredulous stare. "I knew Jane to be a good woman, and a good mother. She did not deserve this. Nobody does."

Tobias stood and replied with finality, "Her death removed one witch from our town but has also resulted in another positive outcome. From now on, any accused witch performing the test of water will have her hands bound to her body."

Tobias removed the crossbar from the door, opened it while looking back at the other four members of the council, then turned and walked out with nothing but confidence at his side. William was left confused wondering how Tobias could view his last comment in any way positive. As the other three men stood to leave, William muttered, "He is leading us down an evil path, and we are blindly following him because that's easier than resisting." The other men heard William's warning but paid no attention.