It wasn't the sort of gathering one would have expected in Salem Village, especially after

months of intense fear, public executions, and personal betrayal.

It was the sort of thing you might have expected the year prior, or many years later, just

not now, not on October 30th, after nine months of devoting every ounce of attention and

energy toward the witchcraft trials.

It was a baptism, two, actually, from two different local families, and they all gathered

in the Salem Village meeting house to partake in that essential tradition that put their

children on the path toward membership.

It was a ceremony that was meant to feel special and encouraging.

It was a sign of health and growth, and honestly, it was normal, and maybe everyone in the

village needed a bit of normalcy for a change.

But there was a darkness surrounding this baptism, because both families had recently experienced

death, and the pain was still fresh.

This yet, each of those families blamed the other for their loss.

So while the baptisms were meant to signify a new beginning, each of them was more likely

to be consumed with the past.

The first of these families was Thomas and Ann Putnam.

We know them as the parents of Annie Putnam, one of the most vocal afflicted girls over

the course of the trials.

Annie and her mother Ann had both provided mountains of spectral evidence for the courts,

while Thomas had been working with the court to bring as many witches to justice as he

could.

...