Dear Readers.
Does anyone else feel the horribleness of the lack of Crucible stories on facebook? This is my fanfiction. It is Hale/OC. Enjoy.
How about the lack of Hale fanfictions?
Well...I do. AND I AM HERE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
Disclaimer: I do not own Arthur Miller's The Crucible in any way, shape, or form. Oh, and just like Arthur Miller, in the first two chapters I wil have AUTHORIAL INTRUSTIONS. Its the words in italics that discuss
I can claim the right, though, to my own characters Natlia Paddock, Buffy Barron, and Peter Paddock.
and give information on the characters that the author, I, think you might need to know.
Read and Review
Chapter One.
A Stain on Salem.
As the carriage was pulled quietly through the night, a sudden darkness overcame it as it came closer to its destination. Salem, a town known for its utopian ideas and rich Puritan goodness, was drawing nearer.
The man that lay inside the carriage gave a soundless cough, wrapping his hands around his arms as he silently shivered. He tilted his head outside the window, checking the distance between his carriage and Salem. He sighed, tilting his head back inside the carriage and shutting the window, warming himself from the cold wind of the outside.
John Hale sighed, reading the letter he had received from the minister of the town, a man by the name of Reverend Samuel Parris. It seemed that his daughter would not awaken and was in a deep, fixed slumber, and he wanted to know if the cause was supernatural. John frowned, praying quietly that the little girl, Betty Parris he said her name was, was not in the grasp of the devil or one of his witches. It seemed ever since he graduated from Harvard that he was called to and from different places to help drive away evil spirits.
Salem. He smiled, knowing he was about to meet Rebecca Nurse, a woman who he had heard of so much about in his traveling. Yes, he had heard of her goodness and was quite excited to meet the woman.
Rebecca Nurse had inspired him throughout his teenage years, and even now, as a young minister from the town of Beverly, he was still inspired by such a woman. He hopes he would make her proud by showing the town his knowledge of spirits and by taking away whatever demon haunted Betty Parris.
…..
Natalia glared out the window, watching the retreating figures run off into the distance and into the woods that lay outside their village. She huffed, scrubbing the stain on the window more forcefully, cause a loud squeaking sound to be omitted from the window. Grinding her teeth, she scrubbed harder and growled in frustration at the imposing stain.
Natalia is sixteen years of age, with long black hair and dark brown eyes. She is quite beautiful, the envy of most of the town's young females. She is the daughter of an Englishman who married an Italian maiden, both of which had died when crossing over to the new world. She now lives with her elder brother, Peter, who works as a farmer in Salem.
Elizabeth came out from under the cellar, rolling her eyes at Natalia's antics as she put the clothes down on the table to be folded.
"Keep glaring at them, they won't come back." she stated, grabbing a towel from the laundry basket and slowly folding it. Natalia scowled, turning her attention from the window to her friend, leaving the stain behind.
"Why aren't we invited, Buffy?" Natalia asked, folding her arms, "Since when did Mercy Lewis and Susanna Walcott decide to stop conversing with us?"
Buffy smiled, "Ever since you and Abigail Williams decided to hate each other with a passion."
Natalia snorted, muttering profanity about Abigail under her breath, "At least I didn't bed with a married husband." she snapped, "The whore is a menace, and she's stealing all our friends away just like she is with women's husbands!"
"Natalia!" Buffy exclaimed, " You best not be spreading those rumors about town. You know not if that is true! Besides, Abigail would kill you if she heard you say those things about her."
"Oh please, Abigail is worth nothing more than the annoying stain on this window! The girl is a stain itself!" she declared, "Why else would Goody Proctor dismiss Abigail from her work?"
Buffy shrugged, returning to her work, folding the clothes, "Dear God, Natalia, your brother sure wastes a lot of clothes. Doesn't he know that pants can be worn for more than a day? This pair wasn't even dirty when he put it in."
Natalia laughed, "Peter's a farmer not a scholar, what do you expect?" she stopped scrubbing, looking over at Buffy in confusion, "Why do you suppose they brought Tituba along with them?"
"Hmm? What are you talking about, Natalia?" Buffy responded absentmindedly, "Who's Tituba again?"
Natalia rolled her eyes, leaning her arm against the table, "Tituba is the slave of Reverend Parris, Elizabeth Barron," Buffy narrowed her eyes at the use of her full name, "Why would they bring her along with them to whatever sport they are playing in the forest?"
Buffy looked up, confusion, "I…I don't know. That is rather odd, isn't it?"
…..
Natalia Paddock walked about the village on the young Sunday morning, greeting neighbors as she walked by them. She found old Giles Corey plowing his yard, and Goody Barrow smiled at her as she went to see her pigs. Goody Booth and Goody Bibber waved passively as the two women gossiped about the town, and George Jacobs greeted her along the way.
"Natalia!" called a voice, and she looked around only to be face to face with Susanna Walcott, "Have you heard what has happened to Betty Parris and Ruth Putnam?"
Natalia shook her head, raising an eyebrow in confusion at the normally quiet, nervous girl's fretful antics, "No. Why, what has happened?"
Susanna looked around her, making sure nobody was around and lent in to whisper in Natalia's ears, "Betty and Ruth won't wake up, its as if they're in a ghostly state. The doctors don't know what is wrong with them, as he cannot discover any medicine for their illness in his book. He bids us to look for unnatural causes for it."
Natalia frowned, "Unnatural causes? They think that witchcraft is behind it?"
Susanna nodded, her gray eyes widening, "Yes, Reverend Parris has even sent for a minister from Beverly, Reverend Hale. Apparently he's much learned in the subject of witchery." she looked down, "I pray for her."
Natalia nodded, "Aye, so do I. But witchery? Here, in Salem? It just does not seem believable."
The younger girl shrugged, muttering something and walking away, leaving the older girl to contemplate the news she had received. The rumors of witchcraft had spread through the town like wildfire, and Natalia could hear that the whispering gossip was about Betty Parris and Ruth Putnam.
She ignored the whispering, making her way to church where Reverend Parris was starting his sermon. She took a seat near the back of the church, listening as he preached of the angry hand of God and the Devil's grip on our backs. She shivered, listening to his cold, angry words echo off the walls and into the minds of all the parishioners who attended church.
The sermon ended, and a psalm of "going up to Jesus" sang throughout the church. A sudden shriek erupted during the psalm, and Natalia looked for the source of the sound. She narrowed her eyes as Reverend Parris excused himself and rushed out the doors, having Thomas Putnam and his wife, Goody Anne Putnam, following him. She vaguely noticed that Mercy Lewis also joined in, and Natalia got up silently and followed them to the source of the shrieking.
She entered the Parris house, running up the stairs to where she knew Betty Parris's bedroom to be. She stopped outside the door, listening in on the conversation.
"She heard you singing and suddenly she's up and screaming" said the voice she knew to be Abigail's; Natalia blanched at the very thought of the girl.
"The psalm! The psalm! She cannot bear to hear the Lord's name!" called out a voice that sounded vaguely like Goody Putnam.
"No, God forbid, Mercy, run to the doctor! Tell him what's happened here!" Parris's voice said, and Natalia heard heavy footsteps rush towards her.
"Shit." Natalia whispered, trying to run down the stairs before Mercy could see her. But before she left, the door opened and she heard her name called by the girl.
"Natalia?" the heavy girl drawled, walking closer to where the smaller girl stood fixed near the doorway, "What are you doing here?"
"I-" Natalia started, but was stopped when the door behind her opened and answered for her.
"She is here with me to visit the sick child, Betty Parris. Come, dear, lets see what the fuss is about." the figure of Rebecca Nurse answered, coming into the room with her walking stick. Mercy looked over at Natalia, glared once before bowing to Rebecca Nurse and hurrying out the door to fetch the doctor.
Natalia joined Rebecca, walking behind her into the room where she came face to face with the people she hated the most: Abigail Williams and the Putnam family.
Next chapter will be posted in about a week.
Tell this story to your friends, family, and everyone you know!
And please remember to review. i need to know if this is what you peoples like :) With love,
(cause i can make more...mwahahhaha)
Soldier of Passion
Elizabeth is sixteen as well, with long, curly blonde hair and blue eyes. She was also beautiful, but was soft-spoken and quiet around others. Her best friend, Natalia, calls her Buffy.