Today in Salem: The wheels of accusations, arrests, and hearings continue to turn. The witchcraft fervor has by now spread from Salem into an arc of neighboring towns as far as 15 miles and a full day’s ride away: Andover to the northwest, Ipswich to the north, and Gloucester, a northeast seaside harbor.
In Gloucester today, two very sick women want the afflicted girls to look into the Invisible World to see who is tormenting them. It’s a day’s ride, but one of the local men rides to Salem as quickly as he can to fetch the girls, including the doctor’s niece Elizabeth Hubbard.
The girls are certain they see the evil specters of two other local women. But it’s one thing to accuse them while there in the sickroom. Accusing them in court is another matter. So on the ride back to Salem the afflicted Elizabeth Hubbard declares that she can’t. One of the specters says so, and Elizabeth isn’t powerful enough to defy them.
That doesn’t stop the driver from filing a complaint, though. His mother is one of the sick women. Once in Salem he finds the judges, who issue arrest warrants for the tormenters.