Today in Salem: The prison is dark and awash in the overwhelming smells of dung and filth. But while the other women lie in the dirty hay or lean against the cold walls, the flamboyant and rebellious Sarah Wilds manages to sashay even as she paces.
The beloved Rebecca Nurse has been reprieved. But Sarah has no illusions about her own fate. She is too pretty, too eager for love. She touches her neck, thinking about the noose that surely awaits her, and the silk scarf she’d worn many years ago. The judges had been so self-righteous about that scarf! But she’d confessed and accepted punishment for it, just as she had for other offenses, even fornication.
She turns and paces back to the other wall. It’s a rich irony, and a difficult choice. If she confesses to witchcraft, like her other sins, the judges will spare her life. If she doesn’t confess, if she clings to innocence, she will die.
Live with a lie? Or die professing innocence? She touches her neck again. She has always told the truth, even when she’s broken the law. And she would confess if she was guilty. But this time she’s innocent. It’s the truth.
Tomorrow in Salem: REVOKED: the beloved Rebecca Nurse’s reprieve