The Blithe Hollow meeting house was nearly full to capacity - it had seemed that almost every citizen of the village turned out to witness this dire event. All were abuzz in hushed whispers and murmurs, wondering of what would transpire. With a deafening boom, the front doors of the court room suddenly burst open, heralding the arrival of two town jailors and the accused girl. Her eyes flooded with tears, Agatha looked about at the assembly in a terrified state, as she was nearly half dragged by her captors to the front of the court.

Sitting nearby in the front of the room, the girl's six accusers watched her with cold eyes and menacing glares. Yet, despite these looks, each one of them wrestled internally with their own emotions about the events to come. At the sight of the weeping, frightened girl, they pondered almost exactly the same question: how could such an innocent child have sold herself to Satan? How could she have turned herself away from her own faith to practice such diabolical acts against each of them? None of them truly wanted to testify against her, but after the sights that they had witnessed, there was no doubt in their minds - the girl surely possessed powers of witchcraft.

"HEAR YE! HEAR YE!" the court clerk shouted, pounding his staff upon the wooden floor. "This Royal Court of His Majesty's Province of Massachusetts Bay will now come to order! This day August twenty-second in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and twelve! The Honorable Jonathan Hopkins presiding!"

With a startling slam, the dour Judge entered from the door leading to his quarters. To herald his arrival, the entire assembly dutifully rose at once to greet Hopkins to his seat. Glaring down upon the innocent victim from the bench, his visage could strike fear into the hearts of any hardened criminal.

With his skeletal like frame, and a long hawkish face enveloped by white fraying hair, the judge's appearance in any court room was one of immediate concern. In all the cases he had tried in the diminutive town of Blithe Hollow, he proved his reputation for sadistic law. It was more likely to say that the respect from his fellow residents had come more from fear of his wrath than one of any pure reverence for the man's reputation. Above all, Hopkins held his Puritanical beliefs in the highest regard. Seeing himself as the true purveyor of the Lord's duty, he frequently claimed that he would not rest until every inch of the Massachusetts province had been wiped clean of Satan's hand.

His cold eyes narrowed into icy slits, it was quite obvious that the Judge held no mercy for the child at the bar.

"Agatha Prenderghast," his voice reverberated throughout the court room, "you have been hereby charged under this sovereign court for the crime of committing heinous and sundry acts of witchcraft. Amongst the charges leveled against you are conjuring the dead, inflicting your neighbors with diabolical afflictions, and vengeful supernatural abilities. Upon which if found guilty of these charges, the penalty, as according to the Bible writ by Almighty God, be death. How do you plead?"

Agatha responded with a shiver, tears streaming down her cheek. She wrung her hands fearfully, not daring to make eye contact with the powerful magistrate. "I...I was only..."

"HOW DO YOU PLEAD?" Hopkins barked impatiently. "GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY?" He hunched over the front of the bench, giving himself the appearance of an eagle ready to strike at its prey.

Agatha trembled and clutched her eyes shut in terror. A wave of fearful emotions flooded her brain, as she felt her knees buckle from the anxiety. After a minute's hesitation, she finally mustered the courage to quietly whisper, "Not guilty."

"Very well," Hopkins answered with a displeased sneer. "We shall begin with hearing testimony from those who have witnessed your grievous sin to conjure the dead. Call the first witness!"

"THE REVEREND EBEN HARDWICK!"

A very haughty looking, short gentleman now marched to the stand in an austere manner. As minister, Hardwick held himself in the very highest regard. Clothed in a pious plain brown outfit, his long wavy brown hair and sideburns flowed from under his immaculate Puritan hat. He had an exceedingly large prominent nose, over which his brown eyes stared.

Hardwick had only been minister of Blithe Hollow Church for four years, yet many in the community held him with tremendous esteem. In fact, it was an invitation from the town's congregation that convinced the preacher to make the journey from his home in Boston, to preach in the sleepy hamlet. Soon after joining the clergy, the young Hardwick had grown dissatisfied with the waning of Puritanism throughout much of the colony, and he zealously accepted Blithe Hollow's offer.

"Reverend Hardwick," Hopkins began, "would you please to inform the court, in your own words, the events involving your family and the accused which transpired in the month of March 1712?"

Holding his arms across his chest, the Reverend recollected his tale. "At the time, your honor, my daughter Susannah and Agatha Prenderghast were close companions. After chores and lecture were finished for the day, I would permit my daughter to visit the other children in the village for diversion. It was about this time I assume that she frequently accompanied Agatha Prenderghast on certain outings..."

"For how long would you say that your daughter had made acquaintances with the accused?" Hopkins interrupted.

"My daughter informed me, sir, that they had known one another for close to a month," the Reverend continued. Hardwick suddenly narrowed his eyes down into a chastising glare, his vocal inflection now growing more solemn. "At which point thereafter, I forbade my daughter to see the Prenderghast child again."

"Would you proceed to tell the court why you ordered your daughter to sever ties with the accused?"

Hardwick lowered his eyes to the floor, almost ashamed himself to confess that a member of his own family would be acquainted with such an act. "It was at this point that my daughter, confessed to me that Agatha Prenderghast would lead her to the cemetery...and claim she would speak with the dead."

Instantly, an audible gasp of shock and amazement rippled through the crowd in the meeting house. A flurry of hushed whispers fluttered amongst the townsfolk at the mere mention of communicating with spirits.

"Tell me, Reverend Hardwick," Hopkins mused, his left eyebrow raising in pure curiosity, "did your daughter ever witness this apparition herself?"

"No, sir," the minister replied with a relieved sigh. "However, she spoke to me of witnessing the Prenderghast child carrying on conversations with these spirits. My daughter herself witnessed no tangible apparition, but she made mention that Agatha Prenderghast confessed to the other children that she could speak with invisible spirits."

"And being a pious minister of the Lord you reacted as accordingly?"

"Naturally, your honor," Hardwick sniffed, tilting his chin and large nose up in the air haughtily. "I had made special mention to lecture both my daughter and the Prenderghast child on the evils of pretending to conjure for sport. And as most shall remember, I even dedicated one particular sermon to the sinfulness of playing such diabolical games. However, after the sermon, I was informed by a number of parishioners that this child had been more than playing a simple game. I received word from a dozen or so of my congregation who have witnessed the Prenderghast child speak with spirits, in the same manner that my daughter hath seen."

Withdrawing a scroll of parchment from the lining of his coat, Hardwick walked over to the stand, presenting it to Hopkins. The list of a dozen signatures were scrawled upon it.

"I present you this deposition, your honor," the minister proceeded. "It includes signatures of several of my parishioners who wish to remain anonymous in front of this assembly, but swear that they have all witnessed the Prenderghast child speak with the dead. Brother London was in our company of signing this sworn testimony and notarized this legal document."

With a menacing grin, Hopkins satisfactorily mulled over the paper, carefully reading the signatures of the congregation and the legal approval seal. "Thank you, Reverend Hardwick. You may be seated."

The minister strode his way back across the court room floor to his seat with the other accusers.