A Salem Awakening

Chapter 15

It was a beautiful late spring afternoon. The flowers were almost in full bloom and the sweet smell of nectar overwhelmed William's senses when he walked the path in the woods toward the Sampson home. It was a traumatic few days, and this was the first time in a while he felt at ease. "Nothing soothes the soul like doing the right thing," he thought. He was proud of his decision to be proactive with Abi's parents. They would respect him for this, he kept convincing himself. And having such an enjoyable stroll on the way to their house only confirmed to him Mother Nature herself was giving him a pat on the back – a cosmic nod of approval.

Abi ran the entire way to Christina's house. She was excited to see her friend, mostly because she so enjoyed playing the role of teacher. They would first spend a little time with pleasantries, then go through the lessons together. Hopefully, she might get some more information from Christina about her encounter with Mr. Warnock. The effort of trying to figure out his plan was still near the top of mind for her, though other thoughts certainly took precedence of late. "What if Christina asks me about boys I'm interested in?" she mused. "Maybe I'd tell her I'm not interested in any boys, only a particular man," she gleefully thought. "No, I mustn't. Will would be angry if I told anyone, or even hinted at anything. I can't risk it at this point. I'll just spend my afternoon enjoying my time with Christina and then I'll see Will tomorrow for lunch." The thought thrilled her.

When Abi arrived at Christina's house, she raised her fist to knock on the door. But she paused as she realized Christina was not expecting her. "It's rude to show up to someone's house unannounced," she realized. She thought she could say she was there to drop off her class work, though others lived much closer than Abi, so maybe it would have made more sense for them to bring the work. Then again, the other girls didn't speak with Christina too much, so maybe Abi bringing the work actually made more sense. But before Abi could raise her fist again to knock, the door opened.

"Abigail Sampson, is that you?" Mrs. Anderson asked.

"Yes ma'am, hello."

"It's nice to see you, dear. What brings you all the way over here? Does your mother know you're here?"

"Yes ma'am, she does. I apologize for coming unannounced. I came to bring Christina the classwork she's missed and to see if she'd like some company. We've missed seeing her in school the last couple of days. Do you think she'd be interested in having a visitor?"

"That is so nice of you, Abigail. Yes, of course. Please come in."

Abi was never inside Christina's house. It was nice, larger than Abi's house. They owned a large bookshelf filled with books and sitting in front of the bookshelf were two sets of chairs with two small tables in between each of the sets. Each set looked directly across at the other two. Both tables held an unlit candle. The one on the left looked like most of the wax was gone, the one on the right was younger, fresher. In between the two sets of chairs lay a large bearskin rug. It looked very comfortable, but Abi did not dare to get near it. Her father despised cruelty to animals of any kind and he had a keen sense of smell. If he smelled the rug on her shoes, he would be very upset. She was nervous even being in the same room as the rug for fear her father could sniff it out.

Abi imagined the four Andersons – Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, Christina, and her younger brother David, all sitting in the chairs at night, candles glowing, with all four reading. "That is my definition of Heaven," she thought. "A family reading and gathering knowledge together."

"Christina, Abigail Sampson is here for you. Put on your robe and come out," Mrs. Anderson beckoned.

Christina came out from the back room in her pajamas and robe. It was obvious she was in bed all day. "Abi? What are you doing here?" Christina asked.