When all Hope is Lost (One-shot)

When all Hope is Lost

Salem, Massachusetts 1692

Annabel Cardwell was waiting to die. It was only a matter of time. She’d been wrongly accused but there wasn’t a point to fight anymore because she’d been convicted. She sat on the cold and dirty floor of her prison cell, fretting about the next day’s events. Tomorrow at noon, Annabel was to be hanged for committing the crime of witchcraft.

She was certain she had done nothing wrong but after finding her husband dead from a heart attack, Salem Village was convinced she was a witch. They’d accused her of bewitching her husband to death, which she thought was utterly ridiculous.

No one believed her plea of innocence. Not even her own parents believed her. Annabel felt lost, her hope was completely gone. She was also terrified, dreading the next day.

In her prison cell there was a small window that allowed her to see the beginning of a storm outside. There was nothing she wanted more than to be outside in the rain, to be free. Closing her eyes, she tried to imagine how the water would feel against her skin. Would it be cold? Would it wash the dirt from her long blonde hair? Annabel could only imagine and try to enjoy the time she had left.

“Your sister’s hanging is tomorrow at noon. Are you going to witness it?”

Gabriel Cardwell’s mouth dropped, his eyes furrowing in concern. He wondered if Lucy was being truthful or just messing with him. If this was a joke, he didn’t see the humor in it.

“What do you mean?” he hesitantly asked, getting off his horse. He looked at Lucy, waiting for her to explain.

He noticed she was nervous because she started to twist the ring on her finger. She finally said in a quiet voice, “you haven’t heard? Well I suppose that’s reasonable since you’ve been away for two years. Is your father’s brother still ill?”

“Lucy,” he said, his voice pained. “Please.”

She sighed, meeting his eyes. “I’m sorry to tell you this, Gabriel. Edmund is dead.”

He gasped. “What happened?”

Gabriel had been away for two years helping his father’s brother. His uncle had been incredibly ill, unable to tend to his crops. He’d asked Gabriel to help him because he was younger, only twenty-seven years of age. Gabriel didn’t think anything would change in the two years he’d been gone, but he was proven wrong.

Edmund Durham was a good man- married to Gabriel’s sister, Annabel. Now that Edmund was dead, that made Annabel a widow at only twenty-four.

“Edmund was killed, bewitched to death by your sister.”

“Nonsense!” Gabriel shouted, startling Lucy.

“It’s true,” she insisted. “Annabel is to be hanged tomorrow for witchcraft.”

He shook his head vigorously. He couldn’t believe his ears. He couldn’t believe that Lucy thought Annabel was a witch. Lucy was Annabel’s friend, they’d known each other for years. How could she not think this was all nonsense?

Gabriel certainly didn’t believe that his sister was a witch, that much was for sure. He knew he had to help her, he had to do something and not sit back helplessly. He was going to save his sister from death but first he needed a plan. Ideas were spinning around his head but nothing he thought of would work. After a few minutes of thought, he decided for what ever plan he’d come up with, no one could know his whereabouts. Lucy was the only one who knew he was back in Salem Village.

“Lucy, I need you to do something for me.”

Her head slightly tilted and her eyes widened with curiosity. “What is it?”