Today in Salem: The cruel magistrate Hathorne raises his quill and drops it on the table in frustration. He and the other magistrate have just finished writing two arrest warrants: one for the quarrelsome Elizabeth Proctor, and one for the angry Sarah Cloyce, who’d slammed the church door last week. He’s writing subpoenas for witnesses when it’s suddenly clear that the witchcraft problem is larger than the Village can manage locally.
Five women and one child are already in jail in Salem, at least one woman has been accused in another town, and the afflictions have spread from three young girls to several young women, three married women, and at least one man. And now two more women are to be arrested. It’s too much.
The magistrates set the papers aside and decide to consult with officials in Boston before proceeding. The arrests will have to wait.