Misguided Witch Hunt

A few years back. I'd visited a couple of acquaintances
who together had purchased some acreage in farm country.
In the eastern regions of New England. They had acquired it
at a fair price,as it was in need of brush clearing and farm
house modernizing.

One smoldering hot moist afternoon. They had invited me
to take a stroll through the section of land they had already
cleared. Not ten minutes into our walk. We came upon an
old dilapidated cottage boarded up. They had pried the
rotting boards off the door to gain entry.

With a strange controlled excitement in their eyes, one
spoke in a hushed giddy kind of voice. Explaining to me,
how they had found this cottage. Unaware of it's existence
when buying the place. And after having a look around.
They had become frightened by what they'd found inside.

Seems strewn about the heavy laden dusty remain was
a table with one broken legged chair. And a modest straw
bed moldy and old. Hung from strings strung across the
ceiling were severed claws of various wild animals of
this part of the country. A huge pentagram painted in
what appeared to be red/brownish paint. Or dried old
blood around the one room cottage floor.

It also had a large fireplace hearth with rusted old
pots hanging as if intended to cook something. I assumed
food. But that idea was soon to evade my thoughts. As he
went on to explain what the small town's older inhabitance
had told them concerning a legend. It seems the tale went
something like one, that carried a warning.

A somewhat vague tale had been handed down of
an old woman who had resided there in that cottage.
The entire town had an almost reverenced fear of
speaking her name out loud. As though it might bring
some essence of evil down upon there families to do so.

Two old bench sitters in front of a general store
relayed the name and tale to the couple only after asking
many others, who bolted when asked. "Esmerelda Beliot",
was her name and she had been what was a self described
witch. Or she was at the very least,accused of such by most
of this little tight knit burg. Many odd events had been lied
at her door step.weather provable or not!

They hung such things as children dancing in what was
described as charmed mesmerized states of autism. To
down right murdering of anyone found expired in their beds.
Regardless of age and illnesses. Or even noted severe family
squabbles of a heated nature. Didn't seem important what else
might of transpired. She was obviously the one and only
scape goat of preference. By virtue of her professed practises.

As they put it. "Why would she stay all alone out there in
the woods if she wasn't up to foul deeds?" The prime and
proper society all lived in town or on area farms. Of this
tightly strait laced community. This all supposedly took
place two generations ago, I must add.

They went on to tell the couple. One night in a late
October. They town's folk had had enough of her evil
accused deeds. And had organized a capture and confess
party intended to make her fess up to a bloody murder.
So they had tied her to boards with boulders anchored
to the other end. And dunked her head under the water
at the creek that ran at the edge of town,until she confessed.

So sure was the town's people of her forced confession.
She was tied to a wood pole in the center of town.
And was burned to death in a stoked flame added to
by all. Bare in mind this had been prior to the Salem
witch hunts. That appears to my mind as a validation
to that ugliness.

All I could think was. In this day and age. More
modernized thought would of deemed her mentally
certifiable at worse. And the actions of the town's
people,even more so. So, I guess we'll never know
what the truth of the deranged matter was.

By Suseann;
4/24/2007