Dearest Mary,

The days have grown chilly lately, leaves swirl around this dreary town. It seems as if no one is cheerful. The houses are much plainer here than yours. Ours is simple, no fancy colors like the house back home. The walls are plain; I miss seeing the portraits of our family that grace the walls of European estates. The streets are plain; hardly any grass grows alongside of them. Out by the edges of the town, where we live, houses are scattered. Farmland is spread between neighbors. We tend to stay to ourselves, as we haven't met many yet. Each day, I feel as if everything becomes more and more colorless.

But I haven't written to describe the landscape or the state of our house. It is with a much heavier heart that I write you today. My hands are trembling even now as I think about the tragic events that have transpired overnight. Terrible things have come about in this strict and plain little town. A beast has been awakened and set loose on the innocent people of the village in the form of a group of girls about Johnathan's age. The girls fall to the ground in strange fits and convulsions. They be crying witchcraft and naming their tormentors. My dearest, Mary, they have named your sister a witch!

Last night, they came in the dark. My throat grew dry and my fists tight as the sound of the cart drew nearer. Susannah laid her hand on mine and bid me be farewell as they entered with those iron chains, dark as death against her pale skin. When they led her out, my blood boiled inside my veins and my stomach went sour. Johnathan and I resisted the arrest Mary, but Susannah cried out to us. She told us to leave it be, she would be all right. The wind was fierce and I could barely see as I held Johnathan back. He was still struggling to break free as the wooden cart creaked away down he hill.

In an hour, I shall take Johnathan and travel to the courthouse to attend Susannah's hearing. The court orders the confessed witches to be held in jail, but not killed. All those who claim innocence will be hanged Mary! I visited Susannah earlier this morning and I must warn you Mary, I am prepared for the worst. She is planning on pleading innocent! I have tried to talk her out of this madness but she'll not have it. Over and over she be repeating, "God damns all liars!" I fear for her life! She will not sway Mary. Her mind is set. She would rather die and go to heaven than lie in the court and be damned to Hell. You know your sister as well as I, she will not have a change of heart once her mind has been set. Please, be strong Mary. I know comes a s a shock.

I know not who accuses her, but I know that those girls must be stopped. They lie Mary, I am sure of it. Why, they be nothing but a group of silly teenagers longing for a way to break free from this boring lifestyle. I am seething with the thought that they would condemn innocent to die as sport! It is a sin and they will all burn in Hell. They say Reverend Parris' own daughter is among the group of afflicted. How can it be that this town has fallen into such a dark and evil pit?

I will write after the trial. After I know the verdict. After I find if my wife shall live, or hang as a witch. If they name her a witch, I shall leave this place. Johnathan and I shall move back home, to England. It was a mistake to come here, and we have paid for it dearly. Moving home will make us free from this Puritan culture and reminders of the hysteria of this so-called witch-hunt. If I were to stay, I would not be able to bear the memories, Memories that shall haunt Salem forever…