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

“Humph!” said Uncle Matthew.

There was an awkward silence. Then her aunt put an arm on Kit’s shoulder. “Poor Katherine! It must have been terrible for you! You were absolutely right to come to us. Wasn’t she, Mathew?” said Aunt Rachel.

“Yes,” her husband agreed. “She was right, I suppose, since we are her only relatives.”

At the door he turned again. “Your grandfather was a King’s man, I believe?”

“He was a Royalist, sir. Here in America aren’t you the subjects of King James?”

Without answering, Matthew Wood left the room.

Chapter Four

As the door shut behind him, the atmosphere in the room became friendly again. Rachel began to wrap the bread in a clean napkin. “I must take this to Widow Brown,” she said, “She’s still too weak to cook for herself. I’ll be back very soon.”

“Soon!” exclaimed Judith when her mother was gone. “She’ll have to make the fire, cook porridge and tidy the whole cabin for that lady.”

“Judith,” Mercy said gently. “You know what the Bible tells us about caring for the poor and the widows. And anyway, we should start the work that is waiting right here.”

But Judith did not move. She was looking at Kit’s trunks. “Did you say that every trunk is full of beautiful dresses? When are you going to open them?” she asked.

“Well, I can open them now, if you like. You have the same things too, don’t you?” said Kit.

Mercy laughed. “We don’t! We can’t even imagine! But I don’t know if we should open them now,” she said doubtfully. “There is so much work that we need to do. Father says the Lord doesn’t like laziness. But then, the Lord doesn’t send us a new cousin every day. Perhaps He would forgive us for a little joy…”

Kit opened the first trunk. “Here are the gloves,” she said. “Please, you must take them.”

“What a beautiful dress with ribbons and bows!” cried Judith excitedly. “Our minister preached against such things, and Father won’t let us make one.”

“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.”