After the service, Betty and I could see Pastor Parris straining his ears to hear the blur of chatter against the moan of the wind as he stood outside shaking the hands of his brethren. We thought we heard mothers talking of their girls performing wild behaviour. But when we looked their way, the mothers stopped talking and smiled.

My uncle later called in his neighbour and friend, Captain Walcott, to talk about his conversation with Dr Griggs. I was going to rush to the door to let him in but Tituba beat me to it. But I took the captain to the parlour where he and my uncle warmed their hands in front of the fire. Then I left to find a place where I could put my ear to the wall so I could hear what they said.

Captain Walcott sounded shocked. ‘Do you think it is just your two girls?’

‘I’m sure I heard the mothers talking about their daughters this morning,’ said my uncle.

‘We have to wait. These people like to keep their secrets. But they will not for long. I will watch them and have my ears open.’

I went back to our room to tell Betty.

‘I bet it’s all of us. It’s all of us who went to the woods with Tituba.’

‘I don’t think it’s got anything to do with Tituba,’ she said.

The following week, the captain knocked on the door of the parsonage. Letting him in, I felt my cheeks reddening but I smiled at him. I took in his shiny boots and his uniform that fitted him so well. He looked very handsome. I took him to my uncle’s private room and he thanked me politely. The room was so small; it was more like a cupboard. Only two chairs fitted in tightly. The two men would have smelt each other’s breath and looked at each other, eyeball to eyeball. I listened in, finding an adjacent wall.

‘Your two girls are not the only ones. I have seen one other with my own eyes. Plans have to be put into action. I will have to find all the girls who are afflicted. I can only do that by a search. It will take time.’

He waited for my uncle’s response.

My uncle was silent.

‘The girls need to be questioned. We need to find out who exactly is doing the bewitching. It will be hard. Anyway, I’ll get the names of those afflicted girls. When I do, can we interview them in the meeting house?’

‘Yes,’ said my uncle sounding weary. ‘Captain, we may have to rely on God. I will call for a fasting on the eleventh of March and we all must pray. Additional pastors may need to come here. We may need exorcism.’

I walked back on cat’s paws to our room. Betty was already there.

‘Betty, they think the Devil has got us, but it’s Tituba. I saw Betty’s shocked face.

‘Abigail, it was you who started it all by asking Tituba to teach us magic.

Don’t blame Tituba. She only did your bidding.’

‘Oh Betty, you’re still on Tituba’s lap.’

I walked out of the room. Betty annoyed me at times. I went out into the garden where the chickens strutted towards me in greeting. It was cold but I didn’t care. I pondered over the excitement we girls were causing. My uncle and Captain Walcott were worried. My uncle looked to God’s punishment. I saw it as an opportunity to best Ann. I would tell stories that would stand the hair up on their heads.