43 pages • 1 hour read
The Parris family settles into their Salem home. Tituba decides the house is not haunted so much as it is neglected. A neighbor agrees to repair the loom in the house—and Tituba anticipates getting back to her spinning. Neighbors caution Tituba that Salem has a problem with witchcraft and that she must be careful about whom she befriends. Reverend Parris is already quarreling with his congregation over the provisions of his contract, particularly the agreement that the church provide firewood. Tituba inspects the abandoned garden and the barn, where she smells a foul odor. She notices that the hay is tamped down and concludes someone is sleeping in their barn.
Exasperated over the congregation’s unwillingness to provide firewood, the Reverend tasks John to cut wood between shifts at the tavern where he is contracted to work. John tells Tituba that the talk in the pub is critical of Reverend Parris and that the people find him arrogant and too worried about money. The door leading into the minister’s private study slowly opens as they talk. Tituba is spooked, but John assures his wife that this is a quirky old house.
Tituba works long hours getting the house into shape—at night, she dreams of Barbados.
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By Ann Petry