Page 60 of The 13th Daughter
Laura was forced to one of the poles that had been shaped out of the trunk of a tree they'd cut down. Ropes bound her hands and the man started on her feet. Dizzy, she frantically fought as the man worked to secure the ropes. She managed to pull a foot out of his grasp and kicked him in the face. Blood poured from his nose and he rose up, enraged. He pulled his hand back to strike her, but was stopped by Sheriff George Corwin.
"Cease, Henry. Let us get this business done with." He looked grim and not at all pleased. We were not making this easy for him. All along the line, many struggled to free themselves, but more men came to subdue them. Fighting was a pointless gesture. These men, women, and children had been damned by the good people of Salem. A mantra of 'burn the witches' echoed through the summer night from the crowd gathered. Laura shook with fear. It blinded every other emotion.
He began to read out the death sentence. I couldn't focus on his words. I tried desperately to wake up. I started making spells up, but nothing worked. I begged and pleaded with the Elements. There was no escape from this nightmare I'd trapped myself in.
Laura screamed in blind terror. That jerked me back to attention. A torch had been thrown into the hay used as kindling among the wood below her. It caught fire quickly. The heat and smoke hit her in the face. I screamed with her. Screams echoed up and down the line of burning poles.
"Papa!" she cried, the skirt of her dress catching fire. Real terror set in for both of us. The heat of the flames intensified, gaining strength as they licked their way up the cloth. Agony bloomed as the fire ate through the cloth to the skin underneath.It caressed us as it spread, climbing its way up our body. The smell of burning skin assaulted our nose. We couldn't breathe. Our skin swelled and blackened as the fire charred it.
We were dying.
A scuffle broke out. We could barely hear the shouting over the screams of the others as they burned. Our throat was raw from the smoke and our own screams. There were no tears left, the heat drying them. Someone tried to break through the crowd, but fell before he reached us. We heard Sara cry out and we managed to turn our head to see her staring in a rage born of grief and helplessness. It was her betrothed who had fallen. To our left we heard someone chanting. No. No, not that. It was forbidden.
Sara began her own chant, but the pain overwhelmed us. Laura and I could no longer bear it. The fire consumed us...
Chapter Twenty-One
"PleasepleaseEmswakeup!"I shook her frantically. Her mouth hung open in a silent scream while her body, covered in sweat, convulsed and twisted. I tried to shake her awake again, but her arms flailed, knocking me down.
What was wrong with her? When I woke up she was lying on the floor. I thought maybe she was sleeping, but I wasn't sure. I didn't know what to do. She wouldn't wake up. Emily always told me what to do. She was older than me. I was only five and she was eight. She knew everything.
What should I do? Daddy. I'd get Daddy. Standing up, I started to run to the door, but stopped when Emily groaned and rolled over. I flew back to her. "Ems! Are you still sweep?"
She pushed out blindly, knocking me away from her. I fell and hit my head on the dresser. "OWW!"
The door opened and Daddy came in. "What is going on in here, girls? You're supposed to be asleep."
"Ems is having bad dreams," I told him, rubbing the sore spot on my head.
"Bad dreams?" he frowned and came over. "Emily?"
"I had a bad dream too," I told him, careful to stay out of Emily's reach. "When I woke up, she was on the floor."
He picked her up and put her on my bed. "What did you dream about, Pumpkin?"
"Fire, Daddy." I shivered, remembering. "I was scared. The fire..."
"You dreamed about being in a fire?"
"Uh-uh," I shook my head and crawled into his lap. "A mean man tied me up and set me on fire."
He looked down at me in horror. "You were tied up?"
"Yes...no...I don't know. I can't member." I started to cry. I could still feel the heat of the fire on me and smell the smoke.
"Shh, Pumpkin." He stroked my hair. "It's okay now. Daddy's here."
Emily came awake with a gasp. Daddy covered her mouth with his hand to keep her screams silent. "It's okay, honey, Daddy's here. You're okay now."
"Burning," she croaked when he pulled his hand away. "Set...on...fire..."
"You dreamed of being set on fire too?" he asked.
She nodded and took several deep breaths. "Heard CJ crying. I came in to see what was wrong. She was shouting something."
"What was she shouting?"
"I don't know," she said. "I touched her and then I was there. I couldn't talk or move. I was being burned, Daddy, just like they told us in kindergarten."
