Escaping Salem: The Other Witch Hunt of 1692 Read Online Free PDF Page A

during their fits. Clearly she could not be left alone. Abigail would have to keep an eye on her as Kate dressed and made ready for breakfast. Watching her during meals was easy enough. But she would also have to be supervised closely while doing her household chores. Whenever Kate went outside to work in the yard, someone must accompany her. And night would bring no reprieve, for during the hours of darkness she was constantly afflicted by strange visions and torments. One night she had near forty such episodes.
    The Wescots followed their pastor’s instructions, but their close observation of Kate disrupted completely their routine duties, while their constant dread of her next fit played havoc with their nerves. Husband and wife were soon exhausted. After consulting with his wife, Daniel decided to ask their neighbors for help in keeping watch over Kate so that he and Abigail could get some rest. Neighbors could also help his wife to cope while he was away from home. Though the timing was unfortunate, Daniel had to leave on a trip to Hartford, over sixty-five miles away.
    The Wescots’ neighbors responded readily. To request assistance in time of need was customary and expected in a place like Stamford. At harvest the men would help each other gather their crops; women would often meet in each other’s households to give help and companionship as they spun and wove, prepared to give birth, and struggled through illness. These were, in a very practical sense, communities of households, sharing labor, exchanging goods, and providing Christian fellowship.
    But Daniel Wescot had other reasons for calling in his neighbors. They could confirm that something supernatural was indeed plaguing his home. Daniel knew that some neighbors suspected Kate of feigning her fits and he did not want it put about that he was being duped by his own maid. Besides, if neighbors shared in watching over Kate, they could help identify the witches afflicting her. Kate’s descriptions of the women who came to her during the fits were so far very hazy, but Daniel was determined to ferret them out. He thought he knew who might have tormented his daughter several years ago. Might not the same person be involved in his servant’s bewitchment? If Daniel had witnesses to confirm Kate’s reports or, better still, if the watchers themselves saw women entering the house as afflicting specters, that would strengthen his hand, should he seek to prosecute the malefactors.
    Daniel Wescot had no intention of letting Kate’s tormentors get away with their attacks. Left unchecked, the afflictions might spread to other members of his household. It would break his heart if Joanna’s fits returned; and there were the other children to consider. Whoever was bewitching Kate might well be doing it to spite him and his wife rather than Kate herself. If so, the witches had to be stopped before they tired of tormenting the servant and went after his own kin.
    It was over twenty years since anyone had been tried for witchcraft in Connecticut, but Daniel remembered hearing that an Irish woman had been hanged for witchcraft in Boston just a few years ago. He wanted the witches responsible for his household’s afflictions punished and he wanted to be rid of them. “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” That was, after all, God’s Word.

    David Selleck was feeling extremely anxious by the time he and Abraham Finch arrived at the Wescots’ house to watch over Katherine Branch through the night. Mister Wescot and his wife looked worn and tense, which did nothing to calm David’s nerves as he and Abraham sat with the Wescots and drank a cup of cider. The rituals of hospitality over and done with, the master of the house led them up to the room where Kate was sleeping.
    Mister Wescot told his neighbors they would need to take turns keeping watch over Kate as she slept. Someone had to be within easy reach to restrain her once the fits began and David agreed to go first,