The Witch of Blackbird Pond / Ведьма с пруда Черных Дроздов. 10-11 классы
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Prudence nodded. “Nobody cares where I go.”
“Then if you meet me there this afternoon, I’ll bring you a book and teach you to read it. You know the path that leads to Blackbird Pond?”
“The witch lives there!” cried Prudence.
“Don’t be silly! She’s a nice old woman. There’s a big willow tree, and I’ll wait for you there.”
This was the third time Kit and Prudence were sitting in the shade of the old tree. At first Prudence had been scared and speechless. But now she was learning the letters so fast that Kit was amazed. “It’s late, Prudence. We must go back. You can take the book, if you like,” Kit said, ending the lesson.
“Ma will never let me have it,” the little girl said.
“I know what we’ll do then,” Kit suggested. “We’ll leave the book here with Hannah. Then any time you want to use it, you can come and get it from her.”
The child was terrified. Kit tried again, “Come with me. I promise you, no one will hurt you.”
Together they walked up the path to the little hut. “I’ve brought another friend to visit you,” Kit announced, as Hannah came to the door.
Hannah’s eyes twinkled. “What a wonderful day!” she said to the girls. “Four new kittens, and now visitors! If you’re very careful, child, you can pick one up and hold it.”
With a black kitten in her hands, Prudence watched them find a place for her book.
“You are welcome any time, child. I’ll keep your book safe for you. Now, there is a piece of blueberry cake for such a smart pupil.”
Kit smiled to see the cake and the kitten working their magic on Prudence. But there was one more secret ingredient in this cure: love.
“Why do they call her a witch?” Prudence asked when she and Kit were walking back home.
“Because they don’t know her. People are afraid of things they don’t understand.”
“I see,” Prudence said finally. “I think Hannah is lonely. Of course, she can talk to the cat, but sometimes she must want somebody to answer her.”
For a moment Kit was doubtful. What was she doing, teaching Prudence behind Goodwife Cruff’s back? As always, she had acted on impulse, never thinking about the consequences. Now it was too late. Yet Prudence had looked so happy. She needed a friend. Wasn’t that worth a little risk?
Kit walked home to spend another dull evening with William. He could talk only about his house these days. Every evening he reported which trees had been cut. Sometimes Kit wanted to cover her ears. She was tired of the house already, even before it was built. Judith, however, took much interest in such details, as if she was comparing it with the house she dreamed for herself.
When the young people all sat together, John Holbrook would bring something to read to them. He loved to read aloud, and they were happy to listen. For all of them the days were filled only with hard work, and the books that John read to them had opened a window to the world. Listening to his voice, Kit thought that John had already become a part of the family. They all liked him now. Yet Uncle Matthew still thought he was weak. For John everything in his life, even the girl he marries, would always be second to his work. Does Judith understand that? Or does she think she can change him?
Suddenly, Kit made a discovery. Mercy sat, as usual, in the shadow beside the fireplace. Her beautiful eyes were fixed on the face of the young man reading from his book. For an instant Kit could look into Mercy’s heart: she was clearly in love with John Holbrook! Kit quickly looked around at the others. Judith sat dreaming with a little secret smile on her face. No one else had noticed. Kit thought that she must have imagined it and wished she hadn’t seen it. Yet she knew she would never forget it as long as she lived. The flame burning in Mercy’s eyes was so pure, so selfless, that Kit felt very sad. Mercy and John Holbrook! How right and how impossible! What must it be to care for someone like that?
Chapter Twelve
School ended in mid-August, and a hundred new jobs waited to be done. Often Kit, Judith and Rachel worked side by side with Matthew in the fields until sunset, and there was not the time to visit Prudence and Hannah.
One sunny day Kit finally had a whole free afternoon. She was walking out the door when her aunt called her, “Where are you going, Kit?”
Kit looked down, not answering.
“Wait,” her aunt said then. “I don’t approve it at all. But I can’t help it either.” She went into the kitchen and brought a small package. It was a piece of apple pie. So Aunt Rachel had known! Kit hugged her aunt and went out. She had hoped to find Prudence at the Blackbird Pond, but instead, as she came around the corner of the cottage, she saw Nat Eaton. “Oh,” she exclaimed, confused, “I didn’t know the Dolphin was here again.”
Hannah stood in the doorway. “More company!” she said happily. “Come inside, you two.”
“Not yet,” Nat said. “The next job is to fix that old thatched roof.”
“Can I help?” Kit asked.
Nat’s eyebrow lifted. “Maybe you could,” he replied. “You can gather the grass while I cut.”
Together they went into the swamp to gather long grass. Then back at the cottage Kit surprised Nat by climbing the ladder on to the rooftop after him where they managed to fix the roof very quickly. When the job was done, they just sat on the roof and rested, looking at the sunny meadows and the river. This was the way Kit used to feel in Barbados. Light as air! For a long time neither of them spoke. “The river is so blue today,” she said finally. “Just like in Barbados.”
“Homesick?” asked Nat.
“Not here,” she answered. “Not when I’m in the meadow, or with Hannah.”
He turned to look at her. “How has it been, Kit?” he asked seriously. “I mean really. Are you sorry you came?”
She paused. “Sometimes I am. They’re good to me, but it’s very different here. I don’t seem to fit in, Nat. It’s these Puritans,” Kit said. “I’ll never understand them. Why do they want life to be so solemn?”
Nat stretched back. “If you ask me, it’s all that schooling and Latin. It takes the fun out of life, day after day. Books, now, that’s different. There’s nothing like a book to keep you company on a long voyage.”
“What sort of books?” Kit asked, surprised.
“I like the old logbooks best, and descriptions of voyages, but once there were some plays from England that were good reading.”
“There’s another thing I wanted to ask you about, Nat,” Kit said. “All this talk against England and the King – I don’t understand it. Why are they so disloyal to King James?”
“I suppose you couldn’t understand because you weren’t brought up here,” said Nat, looking suddenly serious. “There are two sides to loyalty, Kit. If the King respects our rights and keeps his word, then he will have our loyalty. But if he cancels the laws he has made, then we will be disloyal, too.”