The Witch of Blackbird Pond / Ведьма с пруда Черных Дроздов. 10-11 классы
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“You have been homesick,” said Hannah softly.
“Yes,” agreed Kit. “I guess I have. But most of all, I miss my late grandfather so much.”
“That is the hardest,” nodded the woman. “What was your grandfather like, child?”
Tears filled Kit’s eyes. No one, since she had come to America, had ever really wanted to hear about her grandfather. She told the old woman about the happy days on the island, the plantation, the long walks together, the swimming, the library and the books. Then she described her voyage to Connecticut and all the confusion of the past weeks. “I hate it here,” Kit said. “I don’t belong. Mercy is wonderful, and Judith tries to be friendly, but I’m just a trouble to them all. Uncle Matthew hates me. Everything I do or say is wrong!”
“That’s why you’ve come to the meadow,” said Hannah. “What went so wrong this morning?”
The older woman listened to the school story, nodding her head. As Kit told her about the schoolmaster, Hannah started laughing. Suddenly, Kit was laughing with her, too. “What should I do now?” she asked when they calmed down. “How can I go back and face them?”
Hannah said nothing for a long time. Her eyes studied the girl beside her. “Come,” she finally said. “I have something to show you.”
Outside the house grew a single green stalk with one huge scarlet flower.
“It looks just like the flowers at home,” Kit said. “I didn’t know you had such flowers here.”
“It came all the way from Africa,” Hannah told her. “My friend brought the bulb to me, a little brown thing like an onion. I doubted it would grow here, but it was very determined and now look what has happened.”
Kit kept quiet. Was Hannah trying to preach to her? “I’m sorry but I really must go now,” Kit said. “You’ve given me an answer. I think I know what you mean.”
The woman shook her head. “The answer is in your heart,” she said softly. “You can always hear it if only you listen to it.”
Kit walked back with a lightness and freedom she hadn’t known since the day she came into Saybrook Harbor. Hannah Tupper was not a witch, but certainly she had a magic charm. In one short hour she had made all the worries of the girl disappear. Only one thing must be done before Kit could finally be at peace. Without speaking a word, Hannah had given her the strength to do it. She walked straight up the path to a big house and knocked bravely on the door of Mr. Kimberley.
Chapter Ten
Mercy couldn’t believe that Kit had talked to Mr. Kimberley himself! “But he was very fair,” said Kit. “He listened to me and finally agreed that I could have one more chance.”
“You surprise me, Kit,” Mercy said. “You must have surprised Mr. Kimberley, too. He doesn’t normally change his mind.”
“I surprised myself,” Kit laughed. “I think I was bewitched.”
“Bewitched?”
“Yes. I met the witch who lives in the meadow. It was she who gave me the courage.”
Mercy and her mother exchanged glances. “You mean you talked with her?”
“I went into her house and ate her food. But I was joking about being bewitched. She’s the nicest person I have ever met.”
“Kit,” Aunt Rachel said seriously. “I think you should not say anything to the others about meeting this woman. That is just gossip that she’s a witch. But no one in Wethersfield has anything to do with Hannah Tupper because she is a Quaker. [2] The Quakers are strange people. They don’t believe in some of the things we believe in.”
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“Why, Aunt Rachel? What difference does that make? Has she ever done anything bad?”
Rachel looked down. “No, probably not, but there’s been talk. Quakers bring trouble wherever they go. They speak against our faith. In Boston, I’ve heard, they even hanged some Quakers. This Hannah Tupper and her husband were branded and forced to leave Massachusetts. They were thankful just to be let alone here in Wethersfield. Kit, I know your uncle would be very angry about this. Promise me that you won’t go there again.”
All Kit’s fine thoughts about trying to understand and to be patient have disappeared, and already she felt rebellious again. “I can’t promise that, Aunt Rachel,” she said unhappily. “Hannah was good to me, and she’s very lonely.”
“You are very young, child,” insisted Rachel. “You don’t understand how sometimes evil can seem innocent. It is dangerous for you to see that woman. You must believe me.”
On the way home through the meadow everything had seemed so simple, and here it was all complicated again. Only one thing Kit was sure of. She had found a secret place, a place of freedom, clear sunlight and peace. Nothing and no one would stop her from going back to that place again.
Should she tell William Ashby about Hannah? No, he would probably be horrified. William was still a stranger to her, although he came every Saturday evening and even on some evenings during the week. She would like to tell John Holbrook, she thought, but there was never a moment when she could speak to him alone. John often joined the family as they sat outside in the evening. He had never asked formal permission to come. There had never been any sign that John was seeing Judith, but sometimes he agreed to her proposal to go for a walk in the twilight. That was all Judith needed to show the whole family John’s intentions. Even her father could tell that Judith was in love, although she had never said anything. Kit thought that, compared to ambitious William, the young biblical scholar was unsuitable for Judith’s high hopes. Probably, Kit decided now, it wouldn’t be good to tell John about Hannah Tupper.
Soon Kit started waiting for another opportunity to visit the Meadows. With Mr. Kimberley’s permission she was teaching the school again. There were no more stories, no games, not even small poems. After school the girls weeded the gardens and helped to harvest the first crop. Finally, one hot afternoon, Kit and Judith finished their weeding of onion rows a little early. As they started walking back along the path, Kit looked across the fields to the house by Blackbird Pond and knew what she would do now. “I am going there to see Hannah Tupper,” she informed Judith.