The Witch

Julia opens the first letter, which has come unsealed with age. In it, Ethel reveals to her mother that Howard, a soldier whom she was planning to marry after his tour, was killed in Vietnam and that she’s pregnant with his child. Ethel says that Pemberton’s housekeeper, Celia, who is engaged to Mick, the groundskeeper, has been a great support. However, she hasn’t yet told her sister due to Letty’s struggles with infertility. 

The letter’s contents make Julia sympathize with Ethel, changing her perception of her. Later, when Ethel calls Julia for lunch, Letty mistakes Julia for Celia. Ethel then notices that Letty’s keys are missing. Julia confesses to taking them but lies about her reasons. A visibly frightened Ethel warns Julia to stay out of the attic, insisting that it isn’t safe.

That night, Julia is awakened by a howling wind. While looking out her bedroom window, she’s horrified to see a noose hanging from a large oak tree in the backyard. As she steps back from the window, she notices a clear handprint on the inside of the glass. The fingers of the print are elongated, as if the person’s hand was dragged downward. Terrified, Julia decides she can no longer stay in the room.

The story shifts to 1692, where Caroline is being held in a small, squalid jail cell. From his nearby cell, Jonas tells Caroline that he knows her name because Hitty spoke of her before her death. He warns Caroline that she will be found guilty at her trial because the magistrate accepts “spectral evidence”—testimony about spiritual visions. He predicts that she’ll be hanged within a week. Caroline remains confident that Archie will ensure her innocence is proven.

Returning to the present day, Julia wakes up in her old childhood bedroom, having been too afraid to stay in Caroline’s room. From her window, she sees that the noose on the oak tree is gone. She goes outside and asks Mick if he saw a rope on the tree. He confirms that he sometimes sees the noose, as well as other strange phenomena. He believes that it’s the ghost of Caroline, whose presence he claims has recently become angrier and more active.

In 1692, Deputy Strickland and Sheriff Bixby enter Caroline’s cell to search her for a “witch’s teat,” a supposed mark of the devil. Strickland rips her clothing off and inspects her naked body. He declares the burn on her forearm to be suspicious evidence of witchcraft. The men deny Caroline’s requests to see her husband or “a man of the law” to help with her trial (160). They inform her that her trial will be on Monday and that, if found guilty, she will be hanged the following day.

In the present day, Julia waits in a coffee shop in Woodhaven. Henry runs into her and awkwardly asks her for another date. Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Julia’s appointment, Alistair Dixon, a professional ghost hunter. Henry is immediately skeptical of Dixon, who claims to have a “digital accreditation” in ghost hunting. After Julia describes the events at Pemberton, Dixon proposes a formal evaluation of the house for a fee. He and Henry argue about the existence of ghosts, and Dixon shares the story of his own paranormal encounter. After Dixon leaves, Henry warns Julia that Dixon is “a con artist” (168), but Julia feels that she needs his help. Henry gives her his phone number, and she leaves with Dixon’s business card.

In 1692, Deputy Strickland brings Caroline her dinner of two slices of rye bread, stopping at Jonas’s cell first and making him reach through the bars for his plate—a moment that reveals Strickland’s fear of Jonas. He taunts Caroline about her torn clothes and cold cell. Before giving her the food, he looks at her lustfully and forces her to promise that she’ll cooperate with him in the future. As he leaves, Strickland remarks that it will be “a shame to see [her] hang” (172).

Later that night, Caroline is awakened by a strange noise and discovers Jonas trying to break through the floor of his cell with his boot buckle. When she threatens to alert Deputy Strickland, Jonas warns her that if she does, he will kill her as soon as he escapes. He stares at her with such intensity that she feels as if she’s being choked from across the room. Terrified into submission, Caroline promises to keep his escape attempt a secret, privately dismissing his chances of success.

In the present, Julia decides to ask Ethel for permission before inviting the ghost hunter to Pemberton. While they’re in the kitchen, Julia explains that she wants an expert opinion on the strange occurrences in the house. To her surprise, Ethel is very receptive to the idea and readily agrees. Ethel’s only concern is that the ghost hunter might harm Caroline’s spirit, but Julia reassures her that his goal is to help.

Dixon arrives at Pemberton and immediately claims to sense a strong supernatural presence. His first device, an REM (radiating electromagnetic) pod, overloads and begins screeching loudly, which he attributes to an unusually powerful energy field. He then uses a K2 meter, which registers activity near the grandfather clock and the portrait of Archibald and Molly Eldridge. As he approaches the painting, the K2 meter’s lights flash uncontrollably before the device breaks. Visibly unnerved, Dixon concludes that the investigation activity is making Caroline angry. He leaves an EVP (electronic voice phenomena) recorder on the mantelpiece below the portrait of Archie and Molly to capture spirit voices and promises to return in a week to analyze the recordings.

In 1692, Deputy Strickland brings Caroline a new dress but insists on watching her change. When he reaches out to touch her breast, Jonas throws a bowl from his cell that hits Strickland in the head. Enraged and distracted, Strickland drops the dress, and Caroline seizes the moment to snatch it and dress herself. Strickland then locks her cell and enters Jonas’s, beating him brutally with a baton until he’s left unconscious and bleeding on the floor. Before leaving, Strickland informs Caroline that Jonas will be transported to Boston for his trial on Tuesday, the day after her own.

Hours later, Jonas regains consciousness in his cell. He’s severely bruised but tells Caroline that he believes no bones are broken. The shared trauma of the assault leads to a brief moment of dark humor and laughter between them. Soon after, however, Caroline becomes emotional, sobbing that she does not want to die. Jonas quietly agrees that her fate is unfair.

In the present, Julia realizes that her grandmother is missing from the kitchen and frantically searches the house. Unable to find her, Julia fears that Letty has wandered off and is about to call 911 when she spots her in the backyard. Letty is on her knees, crying and apologizing to Ethel, who isn’t present. She holds a human bone in her hands.

Julia rushes outside to Letty and takes the bone, which appears to be a human pelvic bone. She follows her grandmother’s footprints to a freshly dug hole near the large oak tree, next to an abandoned shovel. Julia realizes that Letty has unearthed remains from what must be Caroline Eldridge’s unmarked grave. Wondering how Letty knew where to dig, Julia speculates that Caroline’s ghost guided her. To avoid involving the police, she decides that she must find someone who can help her determine the age of the bone.

On the morning of her trial in 1692, Caroline prepares in her cell. She asks Jonas if he’s afraid of his own trial, but he remains calm. He tells her that Hitty said something to him about Caroline that he hasn’t forgotten. Before he can explain further, Sheriff Bixby arrives to take Caroline to the courthouse. As she’s led away in manacles, Jonas calls out and wishes her good luck.