Trapped

VIII

I sat on the front porch of Elias's house and contemplated what to do next. I knew I had to formulate a plan to break the girls out of that cell before they were executed, but I also knew that if that plan failed, I would most likely also be put to death, which was something I did not want to happen, obviously.

I heard footsteps softly padding behind me. I turned to see Elias. He looked stressed, the lines on his forehead deeply engraved. He rubbed his face and sighed. At first, he didn't see me. He just looked out at the horizon, deep in thought.

"Oh, hey Elias," I said, looking up at him. He jumped a little bit, then looked down at me. When his eyes landed on me, the lines seemed to fade slightly, as he became more relaxed.

"Hello Finley." He sat down beside me, his arm rubbing against mine, as he took a seat on the wooden porch. It gave a little creak as he sat down.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, before he broke it. "I sincerely apologize for Ebenezer earlier. He did not mean the things he said to you. There is nothing to worry about, everyone knows you are not a witch. You are perfectly safe here in Salem."

"It's okay. As long as you guys know that." He nodded and looked down at his shoes. I waited around thirty seconds, before asking a question I had been dying to. "Elias?" He looked up at me. "Do you really think Greta, Abigail, and Lydia are actual witches? Do you think that's even possible?"

"I do not know for sure, but everyone else seems to think so, and there have been other cases with more evidence pointing towards the dark arts. I do not know what to think anymore. I do feel bad that they are being put to death, without any real proof, however. Everyone is just too scared and tense right now to think clearly."

"If you feel this way, why don't you talk to your brother? Doesn't he have any power in deciding their hangings?"

"Yes, he has power. He makes the decisions, but he is constantly being ridiculed and judged by everyone else in Salem. Not everything is up to him, and when it is, he has to make hard decisions a lot of the time. I do not want to be just another person questioning his choices. I have to trust what he says. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Yeah, I get it. Even though he might be wrong, he's still your brother, and you have to stick by your family, no matter what." I looked at him, and Elias nodded.

"I do not mean to overstep my boundaries, but you have very beautiful eyes, Miss," Elias said, changing the subject. In that moment, it didn't feel like I was in the 1600's talking to a now dead person. It felt like I was just on a date with a boy I liked. It felt like a normal teenage experience. So, I did the normal teenage thing. I leaned in and kissed him, my arms going around his neck. He was surprised, but gently placed his hand on my hip after a second, and kissed me back. Moments later, I pulled back. He looked at me and smiled. I let out a little laugh.

"You're good at that," I said, looking down. I placed my hand over his on the floor of the porch. He blushed and laughed.

"You are very different from people from these parts," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. I laughed.

"You have no idea."

Elias and I stayed on that porch for at least another hour, just talking about everything we could think of. Even though he was hundreds of years older than I was, he was surprisingly easy to talk to, and we actually had a lot of things in common. I really got to know him as a person, not as just some guy from the 1600's. I started to feel bad for lying to him about myself, where I was from, and why I was in Salem, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. It's not like I could just come out and tell him the truth. I'd probably get arrested.

After we were done talking, Elias had to leave, because he actually had somewhere to be, unlike me. I decided to go for a walk and hope that a plan came to me during it. Without even realizing it, I started walking towards the jail cell.

"Come on, plan, form, why don't you? I know you can do it," I whispered to myself, stuffing my hands in my pockets. It was starting to get cold outside. I sighed and a puff of a cloud extended beyond me. "Where's a heater when you need one?"

Before I could even realize it, my feet were planted in front of the jail. A guard was planted outside of it, holding a musket. He was scanning the terrain ahead of him, but not threateningly. He looked more bored, as he almost dropped his gun, during his accidental yawn. I made a face, realizing I was standing out there suspiciously for too long, and sooner or later I would be spotted. I jumped a little and kept walking. I made a wide circle around the building, trying to discreetly get to the back.

I succeeded in my voyage and faced the backside of it. I tapped the wall of it, like they do in the movies on walls, not really knowing what I was looking for, but still feeling like it was the right thing to do in this case. I tapped one of the ones on the bottom and felt a little give. "It's loose!" I couldn't help but exclaim softly. I bit my bottom lip and pulled. It budged a little, but not enough. I heard a voice on the other side, as I pulled again, this time hard. The board came out, allowing a slit to form in the wall, a couple inches wide and about a foot tall.

"Who are you and what do you want?" I saw half of Lydia's face poke through the hole. She was putting on a brave face, but I could see how afraid she was in the way her lip shook slightly and the dampness in her eyes.

"It's Finley. I was here before. I'm here to help you get out." I gave her a small smile, before glancing around to make sure no one was looking at us.

I heard Lydia whispering something to the rest of the girls. I saw glimpses of Greta and Abigail, as they situated themselves around the hole. "Okay, you guys push on this other board, and I'll try to pull it out," I said softly, gripping the wood. I felt splinters digging into my fingers, but I ignored them and started pulling on it. The three girls pushed on it, and together, we managed to push it out of its place. It made a thud as it came out, which scared me. We pulled out one more board with the same method.

"We have to hurry, the guard will hear us. I think you guys can fit through now," I said. I grabbed Lydia's hand and started helping her through. All that was left to get out of the hole was her legs, when she screamed and was ripped out of my grasp. She disappeared back into the hole, as I heard a man yelling at the girls.

"Shit," I cursed and pressed myself against the wall next to the hole, so if the guard looked out of it he would have a hard time seeing me.

When I didn't see his face appear beside me, I breathed out a sigh of relief. Maybe they covered up the hole with something so he didn't see it. I wiped some dirt off of my knees and stood up. I started to turn around and start walking back to Elias's, when someone wrapped his arms around me and threw me to the ground. I hit my head hard on the dirt, and the last thing I saw before I blacked out was Ebenezer glaring down at me and yelling for someone else.