The First Witch of Boston

Thomas Jones boards a ship bound for Barbados, hoping that none of its passengers will recognize him. When the ship begins to list dangerously to the starboard side, he hears his name and that of his wife’s whispered: He has been outed as the husband of the “witch” Margaret Jones. As the whispers turn to shouts, the captain makes his way over to Thomas. He tells Thomas that although he himself is too intelligent to have attributed the ship’s strange tilt to the devil working through Thomas, he cannot now keep him on board. To do so would risk the rest of the passengers and his livelihood. Without protest, Thomas agrees to leave the ship.

After he disembarks, Thomas makes his way to the home of the only friends he has left, Samuel and Alice Stratton. After dinner, he sifts through the contents of his trunks. He has kept Margaret’s wedding dress, but he thinks that it might be better to get rid of it. She told him during her final hours alive before being hanged that she wanted him to move on. Tucked within its folds, he finds a small, leather-bound journal.