Sarah Of Salem Home Again

This is another story set in the world of Sarah of Salem. There are seven previous stories in that series, in order: Sarah of Salem, Sarah's Story, The Tribunal, The Dark Valentine, The Dark Son, and Circe's Enchantment, and the Redemption of Talos. Most are in Loving Wives, but Dark Valentine is in SciFi/Fantasy, Dark Son in Erotic Horror, and Redemption of Talos in Romance.

Again, a question of where to place this story. I decided on Romance. I hope you agree.

Sarah of Salem -- Home Again (Part 8) 10/14/2024

In 1653, Sarah Good had been born into a loving, prosperous household. Her father, John Solart, was a successful innkeeper. Sarah and her family, while not wealthy, were part of the upper class of the town. Tragically, her father committed suicide when she was 18, not long after Sarah's hymen had been harvested, and her powers began to manifest. His estate was left in his widow Elizabeth's control, with the children's shares to be awarded once she remarried and they had reach adulthood (21). In 1672, Elizabeth remarried to Ezekiel Woodward, a powerful wizard rumored to lean towards the darker arts. As husband, Woodward controlled his wife's assets, and when Elizabeth suddenly died in 1678, Woodward dispensed part of the estate to the children. Sarah was given 3 acres of meadowland, far less than she was entitled to. Her siblings were likewise short changed.

Appeals to the law and the courts yielded threats of punishment for maligning the honorable, churchgoing Ezekiel Woodward. Sarah became convinced that not only had Woodward been involved in both her parents' deaths but had either bribed or bewitched those in authority in order to steal the Solart estate.

When Sarah persisted in her complaints, Woodward warned her that she could lose more. Shortly thereafter, her husband Daniel Poole, unexpectedly die. Woodward's message had been delivered.

Depressed, frightened, and bitter, Sarah fell for the charms of William Good, a sometimes weaver and laborer. Charming and handsome, he promised to help Sarah recover her true inheritance. Sarah never realized that his plan was to gain control of the "fortune" once Sarah received it.

Feeling alone, abandoned by her family who saw Daniel's death as a warning to them all by the powerful witch who was their stepfather, Sarah clung to the hope of an ally in her fight, and agreed to marry William.

It was shortly after the wedding that they discovered that Daniel Poole, with the expectation of a large inheritance for his wife, had purchased suits and petticoats that would be befitting of his new, wealthy status. The substantial debt for those purchases and other debts now belonged to William and Sarah.

After selling the meadowlands she inherited and all their property, Sarah and William found themselves homeless. Working as a laborer, William was able to find rooms for them to rent, but with Dorothy, their daughter, and now Mercy on her way, and a husband who angerly regretted his marriage, Sarah grew more and more bitter, lashing out at her landlords and forced to beg on the streets to provide food for her children. In her anger, she often cursed those she encountered, whether they helped her or not. Her strongest venom was saved for Woodward and the officials who she felt her stepfather had bribed. Her family avoided her, not wanting to incur Woodward's wrath.

Now in her mid-thirties, it was hard to see the beautiful woman Sarah had been in the cursing crone who begged on streetcorners.

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William Lawton arrived in Salem from England in 1686, commissioned to build a house for the wealthy Towne family. It would be the largest in Salem, with all the modern conveniences that the 17th Century had to offer. Why, Lawton promised a chimney system which would keep the whole house snug in winter, and a pump and boiler which would provide and heat water for bathing. The iron stove for baking was quickly the talk and envy of the town, once the plans for the house became known.

Lawton rented a house not far from the building site, which had a barn where he allowed casual workers to live. He found that many of the day laborers were living outside or in lean-tos and were often weakened by disease and hardship. Letting them occupy the barn ensure him heathier workers.

When Lawton hired William Good, Sarah and her children took up residence in the barn. When by accident the architect came upon Sarah washing herself and her children, he didn't see the begging crone, but the beautiful woman in her thirties. As she bathed herself and her daughters, Sarah laughed and smiled, and her youth shone through. When she realized she was being observed, she covered her full breasts with her arms and blushed, shyly smiling at the architect. Whether Sarah used witchcraft or just her beauty, William Lawton was smitten.

William found himself crossing paths with Goody Good often after that, and soon they were meeting in secret. Sarah began smiling more often, and her beauty slowly returned, and was commented on by church and town officials. Commented on with suspicion. How could an old crone begin looking young?

Their affair lasted until 1692, when a pregnant Sarah was accused of witchcraft, convicted and hung. Her husband, William Good, had known of her affair and had testified against her at the trial.

William Good had become aware about their affair, although he didn't know that he had been cuckold by his employer. No, he knew of the affair because he hadn't slept with his shrewish wife for over a year before she became pregnant.

Lawton desperately tried to save Sarah, risking his life and reputation. However, his efforts to help his lover came to nothing, and as history knows, Sarah Good was to be the first to killed for her crimes, but her sentence was delayed due to her pregnancy. She was kept prisoner until the baby was born. The child, a girl, died before the mother was hung.

So says history. Here's what history didn't know.

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Lawton was in a panic. His child would soon be born, to a mother accused of being a witch. He couldn't save the mother, but his child would be doomed to a life of virtual slavery, to be ostracized by society while marked with the sins of the mother. They would have the threat of being branded a witch their whole life. Who would hire a 'witch'? What family would consent to have one marry into their family? While visiting Sarah, he expressed his fears. Sarah told him to go see Goody Haskins. She told him to tell her, and her only, "The Mother seeks repayment."

Until that moment, Lawton had no idea that witchcraft was a reality. He was in for an education, but still couldn't believe that his Sarah was evil in any way. Anything that could save her or her child could only be good and God blest.

Suspicious of the wealthy architect of the now finished Towne House, Goody Haskins tried to avoid him, but once he got her alone and whispered the phrase "The Mother seeks repayment," her nose twitched and her eyes darted to the four corners of the room, ensuring that there were no prying eyes or ears. She turned and scrunched her face as she regarded Lawton. "Well, what is it she wants?"

When he explained his fears for his child, and his woe at Sarah's impending death, the Goody gave a twisted smile, and asked, "Would thee give thy life for thy child?"

Surprised, Lawton paused only a second, before responding. "Yes, if it would be granted a good life."

"Well," chuckled the good widow, "Would thou give thy life to save Sarah's?"

William fell to his knees, overwhelmed by months of worry and anguish, and declared, "I would give my life a hundred times over to save her."

Goody laughed. She looked at the sobbing man and said, "And thee shall!"

Two nights after Sarah's child, a boy, was delivered, a spell was cast over the prison, putting the mundanes therein asleep. Only the one witch, Sarah, remained awake. Goody Haskins and Lawton entered without challenge. Goody carried a bundle.

When she unwrapped it, Lawton saw it was the small body of a dead Indian child. A female child.

"Here!" Goody said as she thrust the dead infant at Sarah. "Give me thy child!"

Realizing the switch to be made, Lawton protested, "But that's a girl! And as red as cardinal. No one will believe it to be Sarah's child."

Goody chuckled. "They'll just believe it to be bewitched. They'll think it be dark as a mark of Satan. They'll be relieved when the child is dead. Besides, there be no other dead children. So, it has to do."

"Thanks be to God," Sarah whispered, elated that her child, her's and William's child, would be saved. She gladly handed the child to her lover, his father.

"We have to go," said Goody. She handed Sarah and William a glob of sweet sap and took the child from William. "Thee need to swallow this, and thee both say, 'I give my life to thee with love.' Say it three times, together."

They did, and William fainted at the third repeat.

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I woke to see the face from my mirror leaning over me. "NOOOO" I saw and heard myself say. "No, no, no, Goody, NO."

Goody chuckled. "He offered his life for thee and the child. This was the only way."

I was feeling my long hair, within my bonnet. I looked down and saw that I was in Sarah's dress. Then I realized I was in Sarah's body.

She (me? I?) hugged me to his (her) breast, still saying "No." Then I (she) looked at me (her?) and said, "NO! I can't let thee do this, William. They'll hang thee."

It struck me that that was the Goody's plan. But strangely, I was fine with it. I would be saving two lives, our child's and my love's. "No, it's a blessing, Sarah. A blessing that I can save thee and our child. Please, go and live. I'm happy and glad to do this."

Sarah looked at me and then at our child. She slowly shook her head but was accepting the situation. Goody interrupted, "Sarah, we must be gone. Now! The spell will wear off soon."

"Wait!" Sarah yelled. Reaching into Goody's bag, she pulled out another glob of sweet sap. Mumbling over it, she spat in it and then rolled it into a ball in her hands. Handing it to me, she said, "I don't want thee to suffer. When they put the noose around thy neck, I want thee to swallow this ball, and repeat three times, 'I gave my life to that house!'

"Think of that beautiful house thee built. It will distract thee and save thee from the pain of the hanging." I looked at that spit wad with not a little disgust but promised to do as she asked. She kissed me and was gone before I got over the strangeness of being kissed by myself.

So, I was the Goody Sarah Good who walked to the gallows that day. When assistant minister, Rev. Nicholas Noyes, demanded that I confess and save my immortal soul, I was able to scream in his face with a clear conscious, "You're a liar! I'm no more a witch than you are a wizard! If you take my life away, God will give you blood to drink!" I don't know where the 'blood to drink' came from, but it was worth it to see that pissant Noyes panic at my words.

So, there I was on the gallows, ready to die for my love. Looking over the crowd, there was I, William Lawton, holding my son. Remembering my promise, as they put the hood over my head, I got that spit wad in my mouth first and held it there until I felt the noose follow the hood. Then I swallowed it, and repeated the three times, "I gave my life to that house." I thought of the beautiful lines I had created, the wonderful rooms, and then I fainted as the noose tightened around my neck.

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I didn't die. At least, I don't think I did. I was having trouble recovering my consciousness. There was a confusing jumble of images, like I was viewing the world through a kaleidoscope. And sounds from all over. I felt stiff and weak. I think I slept.

I woke when a strangely familiar voice said, "I hope thee will permit me to tour thy house once more, before I leave for Providence. I won't be back to Salem and just want to wish the house 'goodbye.'"

I could feel, somehow, someone running their hands along my sides, and heard the voice again. "I am sorry, my darling, but I couldn't let thee die. Thee are too good, and I know someday thee'll appreciate thy new life. I will always love thee."

With that, my Sarah, the new William Lawton, left my life for good.

Over time, I came to understand how to deal with the images coming to me from all over the house, every room and wall. Eventually, the kaleidoscope made sense, and I would just ignore the parts I wasn't focused on. The same with the sound. Over time, I even learned how to manipulate my new body, entertaining myself by raising or lowering stairs to make guests trip, or bonking them on their heads when they went through the doorways. It was entertaining, especially when I was just in a void, alone and unable to communicate other than through my tricks.

I learned to open and close doors and windows but stopped it when they kept having a minister perform an exorcism to drive out the spirits. At first it worried me, but since it had no effect other than making me (me the house) smell like incense and burnt sage, I stopped doing those tricks for a long time.

For many years, I was left in solitude, with only my attempts to manipulate my new 'body' for a distraction. That was until the mid-19th century that Lucilla Towne married Matthew Goode, and the house passed onto the Goode family.

When Matthew moved in, I felt a connection. I could feel when he was cold or warm. I would move a blanket (yes, I had learned to manipulate things in the house, apparently part of my enchantment) to warm him or open a window to cool him. At first, he would be surprised, but soon would just say, "Thanks, house." Like a family dog, I practically panted in loving response. You spend a couple of hundred years alone and see how well you do with a symbolic pat on the head.

Years later, when Sarah Goode-Lawson would leave on a TV to keep me company during the day, I watched the movie "Big" with Tom Hanks. When he's playing with the prototype of the transformers that turn into buildings, he says "What's so fun about playing with a building? That's no fun." Yeah, Tom, try being a building for a couple of hundred years.

Matthew was a witch, as was the rest of his family. I learned they were descendants of William Good's family but were no blood descendants of my Sarah. But over the years, the practice of magic within me seemed to increase my abilities to communicate with my family. Eventually, I was able to project images to some of the witches, but not to all of them. And they would talk to me. In any case, it was so welcome after years of being unable to communicate with the Townes.

Over the years, I was modernized several times, in the kitchen especially. While it didn't really change my personification, other than making it easier for me to assist in preparing meals and disposing of waste, it had the strangest effect on my speech. I noticed almost immediately that I no longer used the personal forms of speech. Gone were the thees, thous, thys, and thines from my speech (in my head, granted). Or maybe it was just years of hearing yous and yours from my family.

Anyway, I was content, although there were many years when I stood empty. For a while, I even let mice come into me, although usually I kept the rodents and pests out, but I was desperate for company. So, when Sarah Goode and William Lawson moved in, you can imagine how happy I was. Especially with a mundane to torture. I can't tell you how many times I made him bump his head, tripped him and had him screaming in the shower as I flipped the water from cold to hot and back again. I hadn't had that much fun in a century, at least.

But strangely, I began to feel a connection to this non-witch. He had no powers, but I could feel his connection to Sarah, and later to the children.

And I felt him. I felt a feeling I hadn't had since 1692. I felt Sarah Good. My Sarah Good, not Sarah Goode-Lawson. At first, that feeling was subtle, but it grew and made my heart sing. I grew to love William Lawson, almost as much as Sarah Goode did.

Eventually, I came to realize that what I felt was my Sarah. A variation of Lawton was often Lawson, and I think my Sarah might have used that to change her name in Providence, if that is where she ended up, to distance herself from the architect, William Lawton. Sarah had many skills, but being an architect wasn't one of them.

All these years, centuries really, the spirit of Sarah Good ran down through the Lawton/Lawson descendants, our descendants, Sarah's and mine, down to our William Lawson of today. But he has no magic, and the Lawson family wasn't one of the Hexing Families. Why?

Sarah had retained her magic after transferring to my old body. The proof of that is that little spit ball that gave me my new body. But over the years, watching and listening as the Goode family performed rites, taught their children and discussed magic, I've learned quite a bit.

The question is, did Sarah, sorry, that first William Lawton/Lawson retain his magic? I was already 40 when we transferred, and as such, too old and too experienced to perform any of the retaining rites or virgin rites that would anchor magic in a witch. Magic is easy for children, but without the retaining rites magic can weaken and slip away. Maybe William returned to being a mundane. We'll probably never know.

But William Lawson of today has no magic? I know that he has the power of that love and devotion that I had known all those years ago, that Sarah Good/William Lawson surely passed down to our offspring.

They wonder how William Lawson of today could do the things he does?

I know how.

But that's my secret.