Salem Moon (6 page)

Gabriel, Abigail
,
and the five others accused were led outside to face the frenzied crowd. Jeers and insults
loudly
assaulted them as soon as they stepped out.
“
Witches, spawn of the Devil! Blasphemers, all of you! Your death will be our salvation from the wickedness you
’
ve brought to Salem!
”

Gabriel felt something sharp hit him in the small of
his
neck. When he looked down, he saw a rock at his feet. Someone had deliberately thrown a rock at him
.
He looked at the Snow brothers as they seemed to be the most likely candidates, but they were still. Thomas stared unceasingly at Abigail. Was there guilt in
those eyes
? Joshua looked down at his boots, shuffling his feet from side to side, his arms crossed over his chest. No, they had not thrown that first stone.

It could have been anyone. It seemed that all of those with whom he
’
d shared this once lovely place were crazed with an infectious madness.

One of the young girls
standing
beside Abigail had a wet spot on the front of her dress. She could not stop shaking and apparently had soiled herself. Gabriel did not know her, only that her name was Sarah. Another young girl named Elizabeth stood tall and stared defiantly at the crowd
.
She even went so far as to address them.
“
God knows I am
innocent!
”
she yelled.

That was enough to incite the mob to violence. Gabriel watched, mortified as the women among the crowd scurried about, bending over, picking up fistfuls of rocks and bringing them to their men.

“
Stone them
!
Stone them until they confess
,
”
said a voice Gabriel recognized as Priscilla Snow. The rest of the village
rs
followed suit chanting
“
Stone them
.
”

They threw all manner of rocks, large and small at the accused with brutal force. Gabriel watched in horror as a large stone hit Abigail in the head, just above her left eye. She put her hand to the spot, withdrew it and stared, mortified at the sight of fresh red blood upon her hand. Before she could look up again, stones flew at her from all angles.

Gabriel tried to shield her, taking the brunt of the assault. However,
she was
flanked on both sides as well as behind
and
the stones found their mark. Finally, in a futile effort to protect herself, she collapsed in a tight ball, crouched in the fetal position.

It was nothing short of bedlam as the crowd became of one mind
,
a phenomenon known as
“
group think,
”
doing something as one entity
,
that which one would not do alone.

From a distance, Gabriel heard the sound of a growling animal
.
Hunter! He was being restrained by
the
constable himself, John Mayflower.

He growled and snapped, spit coming out of his mouth, looking downright vicious as his head whipped from side to side. He was determined to gain hold
of
the man
’
s hands. When that was unsuccessful, he went for his ankles, his legs, trying to shake free of his grip
,
to attack those who threatened his family.

Finally, he grabbed hold of the constable
’
s ankle and bit down
—hard.

Screaming in pain, he released the dog
.
“
I shall kill you, you mangy mutt!
”
he
shouted furiously
. He held up his gun and took aim, fired, hitting only a tree. Hunter was too fast for him.

The dog ran to Gabriel and Abigail and stood in front of them. Crouched down, ready to spring, his fur in a straight ridge across his back, his teeth bared and ears down
, in warning
to anyone who dared come close that he would indeed attack
.
He
’
d protect his family to the death if needed
.

The constable couldn
’
t very well fire at Gabriel. No, he
’
d have to wait for the court to sentence him; although he knew that Gabriel would surely hang. Then, he
’
d kill his damn dog.

“
The dog is a hound from Hell!
”
the mob yelled, focusing their crazed hatred on Hunter now.

As stone after stone hit the dog, he refused to leave his post. He stood in front of his master, even as Gabriel stood in front of Abigail. Until, a large boulder hit him full force in one eye. The dog yelped in pain, dazed, he shook his head as if to clear it, staggered and finally fell to the ground. A large glut of blood gushed from behind his eye and Dr. Blackstone rushed to the three of them, kicking and punching those who would try to bar his way.

Before Dr. Blackstone reached them,
the
loud, ear shattering sound of gunfire broke through the commotion. A voice commanded them to
“
Stop
!
”

The entire village came to an abrupt halt, all were silent and still.

For some unknown reason, Hunter ran off, disappearing from the clearing and into the surrounding woods.

Judge Moffat had seen enough. After he
’
d fired the musket, he held it up in front of him, its barrel aimed toward the empty air, a look of stern warning on his face. He could not in good conscience allow these people to make a mockery of his court. Although the trial of witches was new to him, it was still his job to dole out justice and he meant to do it
.

“
A
bigail, how do you plead?
”
the j
udge asked.

“
I plead…guilty,
”
she whispered, her head hung, her beautiful locks of hair, now appearing stringy and dirty as they fell across her eyes.

Gabriel looked at his sister in shock, as did Dr. Blackstone.

“
Abigail, why would you say you are guilty when you are not?
”
Gabriel asked, incredulous that she would just…give up
.

“
It is better to have it done with. It will make no difference what we say
. T
heir minds are already made up. No one has ever been cleared of these charges, even at trial, nor will they be.
”

“
Abigail, please
.
Do
not
do this
.
I beg you!
”

“
I
’
m sorry, my brother
.
”
She touched
his cheek gently.
“
It is done.
”

At once, two guards stepped forward, shackling Abigail
’
s hands and feet. She glanced back only once at her brother and father before willingly leaving the court room

“
Gabriel Blackstone, how do you plead?
”
the judge asked not skipping a beat
.
To Gabriel, it seemed the man didn
’
t care about this trial, that he just wanted to get it done and go back to Boston.

“
I am innocent
,
”
Gabriel
said quietly
. A noisy buzz arose from those in the courtroom.

“
Silence in the court!
”
Judge Moffat
banged
his gavel as he called for order.

“
So, you are pleading not guilty then? That you are innocent of the charge of practicing witchcraft
and
making a covenant with Satan himself?
”

“
No, I shall not
enter a
plea at all
.
I
shall
not give you the satisfaction. Nor will I be persuaded to confess to a crime I did not commit.
”
His
voice was hard and cold
,
his gaze never wandered from the judge
’
s own.

“
Very well, then. Gabriel Blackstone, we the court of Oyer and Terminer find you guilty of forming a covenant with Satan and practicing witchcraft.

“
Since you were arraigned on this felony charge and refuse to enter a plea, you give me no choice but to pass sentence upon you. You are hereby sentenced to death. But, not by hanging. Oh, no, we will make an example of you. You will die by
piene forte et dure.
Your body will be laid flat on a board and stones will be put upon that board until you either confess or you die. I
warned
you earlier that it would come to this, and still, you will not confess your sin. Are you sure you do not want to change your plea?
”

“
I will take care of thee, always
.
”
It was the
entity, its voice crystal clear in his mind
’
s eye
. It had come
back
.

Gabriel felt an overwhelming sense of relief as he answered.
“
No sir, I will not change my plea. I am innocent of all the charges laid against me.
”

Gabriel was led out of the court room, still not knowing what had become of his sister. If a public hanging was commencing at Gallows Hill, surely all of Salem Village would be there, not here.

In the tiny clearing behind the courthouse, an old and splintered wooden door had been laid on the dewy grass. It was now dusk, with the fullness of night approaching. The dew was visible already on the grass, the result of the intense heat of the day. It was illuminated by the eerie light cast by the lanterns of those who remained, surrounding the door where Gabriel would soon
lay
. In an impossibly large pile were huge, ominous stones. These would be placed upon a second wooden door that would lie on top of Gabriel
’
s body.

The constable called for able bodied men to help pick up the heavy stones. Six men came forward, none of them were Thomas and Joshua Snow, nor was their father anywhere to be seen.

As he was lying flat on his back and the stones were piled on top of him, he saw his father being led away by the constable, his wrists tied together behind his back.
His father had done nothing to deserve being treated as a common criminal, but then again, neither had he or Abigail.

A
s the night wore on, the townsfolk grew weary and drifted off toward their homes.

Gabriel stared up into the sky, where the large and unusually full moon still hung low. Wondrously, the stars were bright and sparkly appearing as they would on a clear night,
one
without a full moon. This one should have given off so much light, that the stars would pale in comparison, but such was not the case.

The only soul now left to witness this night of agony was Hunter, who
’
d
appeared from the woods after everyone had gone. Gabriel thought perhaps Hunter knew he had to get away in order to be able to lie next to his beloved master in his last hours on Earth.

He lay next to Gabriel, whining softly in his throat. The eye where the large rock had hit earlier was now a mangled, murky mess, barely hidden beneath a cloak of dried blood.

Breathing was becoming more and more difficult for Gabriel as the night sky began to pale and give way to dawn. Sweat was pouring profusely from every part of his anguished body. He
’
d been breathing at a shallow pace all night so that the rocks might not shift. But now, his body was racked with pain. He allowed himself to take deeper breaths and when he did, the rocks did in fact shift, so that each breath came harder than the one before.

On occasion, he heard a curious snapping noise coming from inside his body as the door and rocks further settled and he realized that the sound was his bones fracturing and
possibly even
breaking under the ponderous weight
.

It was
becoming increasingly difficult
to expand his chest and abdomen to be able to breath in the fresh night air. When he was able to
breathe
in, it was only with tremendous effort that he could push the air back out. Push against the staggering amount of weight on top of him.