Maid of Salem Page #4

---

couldn"t be Miles.

Well, Martha...

What kept you

so long, John?

I had to stop

by Goody Dobbs.

I didn"t know

she was ailing.

(LAUGHlNG) She isn"t,

but her cow is.

Is that where

you found Barbara?

Oh, no, no, she was

hurrying along the...

(STAMMERS) In the forest.

MAN:
Ready for

the door, John.

Coming! Coming!

Mr. Parris,

my little contribution.

Oh, thank you.

Thank you very much.

It"s all right.

Look, it will be

finished by sundown.

Splendid.

Even to the shelves

for your books.

Ooh. That reminds me.

You promised to lend me

Cotton Mather"s book

on witchcraft.

Did you bring it?

No. I can"t lay

my hands on it.

I"ve searched the house.

It"s disappeared.

""Sometimes they

would be deaf,

""sometimes dumb

and sometimes blind,

""then their tongues would be

drawn down their throats,

""then they would be

pulled out on their chins

to a prodigious length.

""They would make

the most piteous outcries.

""They were scratched,

they were pinched

and tormented,

""all of which they said

was the work of women

who bewitched them.

""Sometimes the children

were shaken with a fit.""

I don"t want

to be pinched

and tormented.

Quiet! I"m only

telling you

what"s in a book.

It must have

been dreadful.

Did those children die?

No. They were

the talk of the colony.

Cotton Mather

even took one of them

to live in his

great house in Boston.

The whole town

came to see her

and prayed over her.

The whole town?

Oh, my.

Yes. Just like

they pray over a queen

or somebody great.

I"d like that.

So would l.

I don"t want anybody

to bewitch me.

Will you keep still?

What else did they do?

Go on,

read some more.

All right.

(BELL TOLLlNG)

Dinner!

Don"t you tell!

No.

Wait for me!

Wait for me!

(MERCY SOBBlNG)

Ann, go back there

and help Mercy.

Oh, let her help herself!

I"m not her mother!

Ann!

There, there.

Oh, Mercy!

Mercy, don"t cry.

Barbara"s here.

Yes. There, there.

Ann is such a naughty girl,

but we don"t care. No.

Now,

what shall we do?

Shall we make a puppet?

Yes, please, Barbara.

Yes, that"s what we"ll do.

Now, watch.

And we"ll make it

to look just like

Barbara, shall we?

Look. Now, we"ll take

a piece of string...

Mary, have you seen Mercy?

I think she"s

in the saw pit,

Mrs. Cheeves.

Susy, will you

tend to this for me?

I"ll be back

in a minute.

(LAUGHlNG) I think

she"s very funny.

She looks just

like me, doesn"t she?

What are you doing?

Come here.

(SOBBlNG)

And stop that crying

or l"ll give you

a good whipping.

Drop that, child.

Children wait till

their elders are served.

I don"t have to wait.

What"s this?

Why, this is what

the master was looking for.

Give it back

this minute.

No, no, not to you.

Master Goode, sir.

She took it.

No, no, master.

It fell from her bonnet.

She...

Go to the house.

I"ll attend to you later.

But, Father...

At once!

I haven"t had

a drink all day.

Bilge.

It is all right,

Marshal,

I know me way

to the stocks.

And see that

you go straight.

(GRUNTS)

As straight as me

legs"ll carry me.

(SPANKlNG)

ANN:
No, Father. No!

(ANN SOBBlNG)

GOODE:
Now,

get into your bed

and stay there.

(ANN CONTlNUES SOBBlNG)

Don"t, Ann.

Don"t cry.

I hate him!

I hate him.

I hate Tituba!

Oh, I could kill her

for telling him!

Don"t, Ann, don"t!

You look like

you"re bewitched!

Do l?

Did I really frighten you?

Yes. You look awful.

Mistress,

the master...

He doesn"t know.

Is that the potion you

were telling me about?

Yes, the juice of

herbs and flowers,

Iike I used to make

in my country.

Will it take you to

the witches" feast?

Can you truly go there?

My spirit can.

Could I go there

if I drank your potion?

No, no, mistress.

It wouldn"t be

right for you.

Why not?

Your husband,

Master Goode.

He won"t know.

Tituba, you must help me.

I can"t go on like this.

I want the things

you promised me.

Laughter, dancing,

happiness.

You promised me

happiness would

come to me.

I want it now.

I want to live

before the years close in.

I"m afraid!

I"m afraid, mistress.

No, l"m afraid.

Tituba, I may not have need

for this old cloak.

It would keep you

warm this winter.

Well, will you

give it to me now?

Will you?

Yes, I will.

Yes, I will. Yes.

You will drink this

at an open window

in the dark of the moon.

Elder.

Why, Mr. Morse.

What brings you

so far afield?

Is anything amiss?

I come from Cape Ann

with evil tidings.

Come in. Come in.

GOODE:
Of course

you"ll stay the night.

MORSE:
Thank you, I will.

Good evening, mistress.

Good evening.

Abigail, Mr. Morse

is staying the night.

Prepare a bed for him.

Yes, Nathaniel.

Sit ye down and rest.

Rest? I cannot rest.

Neither will anyone

else in this village

when they hear

what I have to say.

Deborah.

Martha, something"s amiss.

Yes.

(PEOPLE CHATTERlNG)

My good people,

Mr. Morse has ridden

from Cape Ann

with grave tidings

for us all.

Hear him.

People of Salem Village,

we are in great danger.

The power of evil

is upon us.

Strange apparitions

have been seen

in the forests.

The people of Cape Ann

have barricaded

themselves in their homes.

The Elders have

seized women

who have confessed

to being witches.

(ALL GASPlNG)

Others have been

taken at Boston.

The evil is

spreading among us.

Beware of those in

secret league with Satan.

Satan, who is fighting

to destroy our faith in God.

We know how he works

with such men and women

who have given

their souls to him,

sending his spirit

into them

with power to harm

and destroy others.

Power to bring sickness

and blight upon us.

Children have been bewitched,

their minds tormented,

their bodies twisted.

No one is safe.

So watch your neighbor.

Watch one another,

even those of

your own household.

For those we least suspect

may be the devil"s servants

wearing the false

cloak of godliness.

(WlND BLOWlNG)

The scriptures say,

""Thou shalt not

suffer a witch to live.

""And if any man or woman

consulteth with

a familiar spirit,

(RAlN PATTERlNG)

""they shall be

put to death!""

So, death to them,

or we ourselves

will be destroyed.

Death to the servants

of darkness.

(THUNDER RUMBLlNG)

(WlND HOWLlNG)

(SOBBlNG)

Barbara!

It"s monstrous,

coming here

and spreading terror

through the whole village.

I tell you,

it"s monstrous.

But there must

be reason to fear.

But to threaten death,

to burn and to hang.

I"ve never believed

in witchcraft.

There"s been

no real proof of it.

(BANGlNG ON DOOR)

MR. CHEEVES:
Dr. John!

Come. Come quickly.

Little Ann Goode

is afflicted.

What ails the child?

We don"t know,

but she"s in

great torment.

I"ll come with you, John,

I may be able to help.

Yes. Hurry.

(SOBBlNG)

They"re hurting me.

They"re hurting me again.

Ann. Ann, who hurt you?

Thank heaven

you"ve come, Doctor.

Ann. Ann. Ann.

Oh, they"re choking me.

Oh, they"re torturing me.

Ann! Ann, child, quiet.

I can"t!

This is Dr. John.

Tell me,

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes