The Witch of Blackbird Pond / Ведьма с пруда Черных Дроздов. 10-11 классы

“Try it on,” suggested Kit. Judith quickly put the silk dress on and looked at herself in a small mirror. Truly, in this dress Judith was gorgeous. “If only William could see me in this!” she sighed. “Just wait till I walk into Church in this on Sunday morning. They won’t hear a word of the sermon!”

Kit laughed. “Well, it is yours, Judith. You can take it. Now, which one will be best for Mercy?”

“Please, I do not need such things,” Mercy laughed. “I don’t even go to Church very often.”

But Judith saw a light blue woolen shawl. “This would be perfect for Mercy,” she cried.

Kit put the shawl on Mercy’s shoulders.

“Oh, Kit, how lovely! I never felt anything so soft!” Joy and protest struggled in Mercy’s face.

“Girls! What is going on here?” Rachel Wood had come back and stood now looking at her daughters. “Judith, you look gorgeous!”

“You, Aunt Rachel,” Kit said, “looked just like that yourself. I know because Grandfather told me how beautiful you were.”

The two girls stared at their mother. Kit took something else out of the trunk. “Put this bonnet on, Aunt Rachel,” she said. Rachel did and looked at herself in the mirror. Her two daughters stared at her in disbelief. “Oh, Mother! You look so beautiful! Wear that on Sunday!”

But Rachel’s face suddenly turned white. The door opened and there stood Matthew Wood. “What is this?” he demanded.

“The girls were helping Katherine to unpack,” Rachel explained. “Why are you back so soon, Matthew?”

“Look, Father!” Judith said. “Kit has given me this fine dress.”

“Can a man not come back when he wants to his own house? And you, give it back to her at once! Do as I say!” Matthew shouted. “No one in my family needs any of such things.”

“But they are gifts,” cried Kit, hurt.

“Be quiet, girl! It is time you understood one thing. This will be your home because you have no other, but you will live our ways and not spoil my daughters with your vanity. Now close your trunks and do the work you have to do. Rachel, take off that stupid thing! No member of my family will appear in public like this.”

Mercy had said no word, but quietly folded the blue shawl and put it on top of the trunk.

“Will you let Mercy keep the shawl?” Kit asked quietly.

Matthew looked at the shawl and into his older daughter’s eyes. “All right, Mercy may keep the shawl. I thank you for it.”

So there was one weakness in this hard man!

* * *

“Well,” said Rachel when her husband had left the house again, “it’s my fault. And the table has not even been cleared from breakfast.”

Kit looked at the table. “Don’t the servants do that?”

“We have no servants,” said her aunt quietly.

Kit was surprised and disappointed. “I can help with the work,” she said finally.

“In that dress?” Judith protested.

“It is the simplest I have,” answered Kit. “Give me something of yours then.”

Judith turned red, “Oh, wear that one. You can help Mercy with the carding. You won’t make yourself dirty at that.”

For four long hours Kit sat on a wooden bench and struggled with wool. Mercy showed her how to do it. Carding looked so easy, but the moment Kit took the wool into her hands she admired Mercy’s skill. “Do you have to do all that by yourself?”

“Oh, the others help sometimes. But of course, there are so many things I can’t do. It’s so nice to have you to help.”

How terrible it must be for her, working here day after day. Suddenly, seeing Mercy’s friendly smile, Kit decided to ask a very important question, “Do you think I did wrong, Mercy, to come here? Your father…”

“You did exactly right,” smiled Mercy. “Father doesn’t mean to be unkind. It has been very hard for him here in Connecticut.”

Since Kit’s grandfather died, there had been no one whom she could trust. Now she found the words to say what she had never dared to say. “I had to come, Mercy. There was another reason. There was a man on the island, a friend of grandfather’s. He used to come often to see my Grandfather, and then I found out that he wanted to marry me. He tried to make me think that Grandfather had wanted it, but I’m sure that it was not so. He wanted to pay for everything and save the house. Everyone expected me to marry him. They said what a wonderful match it was. He wasn’t a bad man; actually, he was very kind. But Mercy, he was fifty years old! You see why I couldn’t wait to write? You see why I can’t go back, don’t you?”

“Of course you can’t go back,” said Mercy. “Father will not send you back. You will just have to show him that you can be useful here.”

* * *

By the end of that first day Kit understood that work in that house never stopped, and much of it Kit didn’t even know how to do. By the evening her eyes hurt, and she had burns and blisters on her fingers.

After dinner the candles were lit and Matthew put the great Bible in front of him on the table. Matthew’s reading was monotonous. Kit could not keep her mind on the words. Her head felt heavy, and she almost fell asleep. The others did not notice. Finally, her uncle closed the book and bent his head for the long evening prayer.

That evening, when Kit was going up the stairs to the chilly bedroom, she overheard some unpleasant words. “Why does she have to sleep with me?” Judith complained. “If I have to share my bed, will she share my work? Or will she expect us all to serve her like her black slaves?”

“Shame on you, Judith,” her mother told her. “The child does her best, you know that.”

“I wish our cousin were a boy!” cried Judith.

Kit ran upstairs. When Judith came to bed, she was already under the covers, crying silently. For a long time after Judith blew out the candle Kit lay there awake. Suddenly, she heard something. It was a strange long sound. Indians?

Chapter Five

On Sunday morning the Church bells rang. Matthew Wood stood at the door of his house and examined the three women. Aunt Rachel and Judith were dressed in home-made gowns, but Kit’s flowered silk was obviously out of place. “Your looks will disgrace the Lord’s assembly,” Matthew shouted.

“But these are the only clothes I have,” protested Kit. “If they are not right, then I’ll stay here with Mercy.”

This was the second time this morning that her uncle was mad at her. An hour ago she had said that she wouldn’t go to church because she and her grandfather had only attended the Christmas Mass. Her uncle got so angry! There was no Church of England in Wethersfield, he had informed her, and, since she was now a member of his family, she should forget all her stupid ideas and attend the church meetings like a good woman.

Now Rachel put her hand on her husband’s shoulder. “Matthew,” she said, “everyone knows that the child has not had time to get new clothes. Besides, Katherine looks very pretty, and I’m proud of her. Please, let her go with us.”

As they left the house, Kit became excited. If they were going to church, then there must be a town somewhere. The sky was blue and the air was delicious. The family walked along the street past simple houses and came to a small square clearing. Kit looked about. “Is it far to the town?” she whispered to Judith. There was silence. “This is the town,” said Judith. The town? There was not a single stone building or shop there. The church, or as they called it the Meeting House, was just a square wooden structure which stood in the center of the clearing. Kit was shocked to see the objects that were there: a pillory, stocks and a whipping post.

Inside the small building on rows of benches sat the good people of Wethersfield, men on one side and women on the other. At the door Matthew Wood left his family and walked to the bench right in front of the pulpit. Rachel and the girls went to the family bench. As Kit walked behind her aunt, she noticed the silence and felt the astonishment of the townspeople. She knew that they were watching her, and her cheeks turned red.

The Puritan service was plain and boring. Kit was surprised when her uncle stepped forward to read the psalm, and the congregation repeated it after him line by line. Secretly, Kit looked at the other people in the church. Some were as fashionably dressed as Kit, but the majority was poorly dressed. One time Kit looked around and saw John Holbrook. He turned away. All of the people sat still and silent. It was impossible that they were listening to the sermon, Kit thought. She couldn’t concentrate on it for a second!

There were about twenty small boys sitting shoulder to shoulder near the door. Four of them couldn’t keep quiet and started giggling a little. A man with a long stick stepped from the corner and hit the misbehaving boys on the head. Kit couldn’t believe her eyes! Finally, in about two hours the sermon ended with a final prayer.

When they were standing outside the Meeting House, most of the people from the church did not come near Kit. At the distance she saw Goodwife Cruff, surrounded by women, all looking suspiciously in Kit’s direction. Kit waved to Prudence who was clearly glad to see her. Then she saw John Holbrook walking to her. “I was glad to see you at the Meeting,” he said. “I hope you enjoyed the sermon. We were lucky to hear Dr. Bulkeley. He seldom preaches now. It was a remarkable sermon. Every word of it was inspired.”

Kit didn’t know what to say and just stared at him. She was still looking for an answer when Judith, who was standing near, spoke. “Dr. Bulkeley’s sermons are always inspired,” she said, “especially when he preaches about the final judgment.”

John looked at Judith with surprise and respect. Under the white bonnet he noticed her serious face and her blue eyes. Now Dr. Gershom Bulkeley himself came up to them, too. He took Kit’s hand in his. “So this is the orphan from Barbados?” he said. “How grateful you must be, young lady, for the kindness of your aunt and uncle.”

Had Uncle Matthew informed the whole town that he had taken her in out of charity? If so, then she was obviously a surprise to them because she didn’t look poor.

“You must bring your new pupil with you when you come to dinner at our house on Thursday,” smiled Rachel Wood. “And now, Katherine dear, here are other neighbors you must meet. This is Mistress Ashby and her son, William.”

Mistress Ashby was a fashionably dressed woman, and her son William Ashby looked at Kit with admiration. She noticed that and gave him a big bright smile. Now poor William was speechless.

On the way back Judith quietly asked Kit about the handsome man she had talked to.

“Handsome? Do you mean John Holbrook? I met him on the boat. But most of the time he sat by himself and studied.”

“You seemed to know each other quite well. Do you fancy him?” asked Judith.

“Oh, no!” protested Kit. “What made you think of such a thing?”

“I just wondered,” Judith said. “But you certainly impressed William Ashby.”

That was true. “But only because I was someone new,” said Kit.

Chapter Six

“Such an excellent dinner, Mistress Wood. Especially your apple pie,” said Reverend Gershom Bulkeley, putting down his linen napkin. The preparation of this dinner had taken almost four days. Dr. Bulkeley had been pleased, but had anyone else? Matthew Wood had Eaton little and not spoken a word. Rachel looked tired, and even Mercy was unusually quiet. Only Judith had enjoyed herself. In the candlelight she looked beautiful, and Reverend Bulkeley smiled at her. But mostly he paid his attention to Kit as he had understood that her grandfather had been Sir Francis Tyler. “Was your grandfather a loyal subject of our good King James?”

“Well, of course, sir.”

“And you yourself? You are a loyal subject also?”

“How could I be not, sir?”

Matthew pushed back his chair. “Her loyalty is in no danger in this house! What are you trying to say, Gershom?” he asked angrily. “I am a selectman in this town. I am not disloyal!”

“I didn’t mean to offend you, Matthew,” said the older man. “I know that you are not disloyal – not yet.”

“Are you saying that because I don’t like this new King’s governor?”

“Governor Andros was appointed by King James. Massachusetts has accepted that.”

“Well, here in Connecticut we will never accept it!”

“You are wrong, Matthew!” cried Gershom Bulkeley. “If you do not live to see the evil results of it, your children or their children will. Such views can lead only to revolution and war!”

The two men sat staring at each other across the table. Tears filled Rachel’s eyes. Then Mercy spoke. “Reverend Bulkeley, would you read to us this evening?” she asked gently.

Dr. Bulkeley smiled. “I need some rest, but my young pupil here is a very good reader.”

Matthew Wood put the heavy Bible in front of John Holbrook, and Rachel moved the candlestick nearer. John had been silent all evening, and now he seemed pleased to be in the center of attention. Now he looked at the Bible in his hands and asked his teacher, “What would you like me to read, sir?”

“I would suggest Proverbs 24:21,” said the old minister.

John began to read: “My son, fear the Lord and the King…”

Matthew Wood was about to say something when his wife stopped him gently. When the reading was finished, Reverend Bulkeley began the evening prayer. At one time Kit opened her eyes and saw that Judith was studying John Holbrook. Then one phrase of Dr. Bulkeley’s prayer caught Kit’s attention. “And bless our sister in her weakness.” Was he talking about Mercy? After a few days in this house Kit had stopped noticing Mercy’s lameness. No one ever mentioned it. Mercy certainly wasn’t weak. She did a full day’s work and more. Also Kit saw that Mercy was the central figure of this family. She softened her father when he was in his bad moods, supported her gentle mother, preached her younger sister, and had helped Kit to join their family circle.

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Примечания

1

Пуританство – крайняя форма протестантизма в англиканской церкви, возникшая в 60-х гг. XVI в. Пуритане (от лат. purus, т. е. чистый) стремились очистить церковь от остатков католицизма и вернуться к Библии в чистом виде. Они находились в оппозиции к королеве Елизавете и её приемникам Стюартам, в том числе к королю Якову (англ. King James), отказавшемуся от проведения реформ. Гонимые властями и завлечённые обещаниями наделов земли, пуритане стали первыми поселенцами в Новом Свете, в частности в Массачусетском заливе, где они основали колонию и создали свою независимую церковь. К сожалению, пуритане привезли с собой из Старого Света мрачный европейский религиозный фольклор – мифы и легенды о колдунах и ведьмах, нашедший в Новой Англии благодатную почву.