Post by The Convicted on Oct 11, 2018 15:54:26 GMT -5
Gallows Hill in Salem Town
Salem, Massachusetts
October 11, 2018
He stands at the top of the notorious Gallows Hill the infamous hill where they hung fourteen women for accusations of being witches. He remembers the stories he learned in school about the Salem witch trials and all of the stories he was told by the elders in his community as a kid. So he couldn't dare come to Salem and not visit the spot where it all went down. As he walks around the hill he can see the actual tree where they hung the women still standing there, old as Hell and about to fall over but it's marked with a plaque stating what it was used for. So tourist will know what this place is.
The wind has a cold creepy chill to it as he walks about the area, almost as if he could feel a presence surrounding him as he moves about. The leaves fall from the tree as landing all around him as a gust of wind whips past him, he can see storm clouds moving in. He has always loved the fall weather, the storms, the dark atmosphere.
He walks back over to the tree where they hung them women and he slides down to the ground leaning back against it. As he sits there relaxing and enjoying this historic place, this place of relevance for him. A group of school-aged kids comes walking along with their teacher and what appears to be a tour guide talking about the importance and historic value of Gallows Hill.
Guide
The infamous Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. As a wave of hysteria spread throughout colonial Massachusetts, a special court convened in Salem to hear the cases; the first convicted witch, Bridget Bishop, was hanged that June. Eighteen others followed Bishop to Salem’s Gallows Hill, the place we stand right now. While some 150 more men, women and children were accused over the next several months. By September 1692, the hysteria had begun to abate and public opinion turned against the trials. Though the Massachusetts General Court later annulled guilty verdicts against accused witches and granted indemnities to their families, bitterness lingered in the community, and the painful legacy of the Salem witch trials would endure for centuries.
He leans forward as he tries to listen to everything the guide has to say, he can't help but get excited as this type of stuff has always interested him. The children all seem to be distracted by other things or are trying to ask a hundred different questions of there own as the guide continues to talk.
Guide
Belief in the supernatural–and specifically in the devil’s practice of giving certain humans (witches) the power to harm others in return for their loyalty–had emerged in Europe as early as the 14th century, and was widespread in colonial New England. In addition, the harsh realities of life in the rural Puritan community of Salem Village (present-day Danvers, Massachusetts) at the time included the after-effects of a British war with France in the American colonies in 1689, a recent smallpox epidemic, fears of attacks from neighboring Native American tribes and a longstanding rivalry with the more affluent community of Salem Town (present-day Salem). Amid these simmering tensions, the Salem witch trials would be fueled by residents’ suspicions of and resentment toward their neighbors, as well as their fear of outsiders.
The children have started to calm down as they begin to get seriously into the story that this guy is telling them the teacher watches the students in amazement as she can't believe what she's seeing. He leans back up against the tree as he can hear the guide clear as day now that the children are quiet. He can't help but compare some of the things being said about the witches and the way that people feared and treated them with the way people fear and treat convicts and just the way they treat people they don't know. He can't help but think about how Bobby Barratt treats others and how people treat and judge Bobby Barratt also. He snaps out of his train of thought as he hears the nest line from the guide.
Guide
In January 1692, 9-year-old Elizabeth (Betty) Parris and 11-year-old Abigail Williams (the daughter and niece of Samuel Parris, minister of Salem Village) began having fits, including violent contortions and uncontrollable outbursts of screaming. After a local doctor, William Griggs, diagnosed bewitchment, other young girls in the community began to exhibit similar symptoms, including Ann Putnam Jr., Mercy Lewis, Elizabeth Hubbard, Mary Walcott, and Mary Warren. In late February, arrest warrants were issued for the Parris’ Caribbean slave, Tituba, along with two other women–the homeless beggar Sarah Good and the poor, elderly Sarah Osborn–whom the girls accused of bewitching them.
Guide
The three accused witches were brought before the magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne and questioned, even as their accusers appeared in the courtroom in a grand display of spasms, contortions, screaming and writhing in pain. Though Good and Osborn denied their guilt, Tituba confessed. Likely seeking to save herself from certain conviction by acting as an informer, she claimed there were other witches acting alongside her in service of the devil against the Puritans. As hysteria spread through the community and beyond into the rest of Massachusetts, a number of others were accused, including Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse–both regarded as upstanding members of church and community–and the four-year-old daughter of Sarah Good.
Presided over by judges including Hathorne, Samuel Sewall, and William Stoughton, the court handed down its first conviction, against Bridget Bishop, on June 2; she was hanged eight days later on what would become known as Gallows Hill in Salem Town. Five more people were hung that July; five in August and eight more in September. In addition, seven other accused witches died in jail, while the elderly Giles Corey (Martha’s husband) was pressed to death by stones after he refused to enter a plea at his arraignment
He stands up as the story is coming close to an end he loves this town and the history it beholds is creepy to some but it is worth learning as it helps in so many different ways if you think about the different life lessons it teaches. He heads back down Gallows Hill and begins to walk down the road where there is a small cottage about a mile or so before you get to the center of town. It was marked "Fortune Teller" he's in the mood to have a bit of fun and see what the future holds for him. As tonight is a night for fun and freedom of all burden's and worries.
After a twenty-three minute walk down a dusty road in the cold windy evening, he makes it to the small cottage, feeling wonderful as if he was about to have the biggest party ever. He walks into the place as the door creaks open he pushes aside the strings of beads strung throughout the doorway. He instantly notices the aroma of sage and allspice in the air a smell he's used too as a few of the Wiccans in prison use to burn them some of the Pagans did too.
A younger looking middle-aged woman dressed somewhat as a gypsy appears out of nowhere welcoming him to her place, he smiles as he's enjoying the ambiance of the place.
Madame Kouveay
Welcome to Madam Kouveay's home of Knowledge, I have been expecting you, Eric.
He smiles at her as he wonders how she knew his name.
Eric Chronister
Hi, so if you have been expecting me you must know why I'm here, right?
Madame Kouveay
Madam Kouveay knows all my son, you want to know your future, everyone wants to know what lies ahead of them. But not everyone can handle knowing what lies ahead.
He stands there as she speaks in riddles and he realizes how she probably knows his name, the End of Days posters all over town, he's on them along with his name. That's got to be it so he sits down as she points to him to have a seat.
Eric Chronister
So tell me Madam Kouveay what is in my future.
Madam Kouveay
First things first Eric, you must please the mystic spirits and donate to help keep things running.
He begins to laugh as he knew that was coming and didn't have to be psychic to know it either.
Eric Chronister
So how much would please these mystic spirits Madam Kouveay?
Madame Kouveay
That depends on you and how much you want to know.
Eric Chronister
Well, I'm feeling generous and free tonight so I want to know whatever you can tell me about the next year that's significant.
Madame Kouveay
Then that will cost you at least fifty dollars my dear child, for me to conjure enough energy from the spirit realm for that will cost you.
He pulls out a couple crumpled up bills from his pocket grabbing a fifty and placing it on the table in front of her. Madame Kouveay begins to moan and chant as she lights a few candles next to her on the table then lights the incense as she begins to rub the crystal ball in front of her. About a five minute ritual as he watches and smiles he feels like he's watching an episode of "Charmed" or something.
Madame Kouveay
Eric, I see great things in your future, with big success and lots of friends.
Eric Chronister
Now come on Madame Kouveay I can get that in a fortune cookie, I want details for that price.
Madame Kouveay
It takes a bit of time, be patient the spirits are working, I see you winning a huge match against a giant man in a ring of some sort.
That gets his attention a little but he figures she knows he's a wrestler and could say anything he continues to listen.
Madame Kouveay
I see you driving down a dirt road in an old caprice car talking to some guy you keep calling Homie.
That really gets his attention as he sits up and gets a bit closer but still a bit skeptical but excited at the fact this is just something he's never done before.
Eric Chronister
Okay, okay Madame Kouveay can you see further in the future what about this time next year what do you see?
Madame Kouveay
Calm down my child I will look let the spirits guide me as they will show us what they feel is needed to be seen.
He leans back and listens as he places his hands on the table she rubs the crystal ball a little more as she chants louder.
Madame Kouveay
Oh my, I see you sitting behind a glass window talking to some man using a telephone. You can't touch each other or anything it appears that it's a prison of some sort.
Eric Chronister
So my last opponent got his wish and I end up back in prison, what does my visitor look like whats he wearing?
Madame Kouveay
No, no Eric your not the one in Prison the other person is, the man your visiting is in a grey uniform with a name tag on it that says Department of Corrections on it.
He looks in shock as he sits there trying to think of who he would be visiting behind glass as Missouri prisons are open visits so it's got to be an out of state prison. He doesn't have anyone out of state.
Eric Chronister
Madame Kouveay can you see the name on the name tag? Is there a name on the tag?
Madame Kouveay
Yes, there is it's Bobby Barratt...
