Devil’S Salt: A Novella by Ruthie Marlenée

By Ruthie Marlenée

Devils Salt
by Ruthie Marlene,
adapted from the play by Jovanka Bach

In a forested glade in New England in the early seventeenth century, Governor Hooker Wainwright Mulwray spies on Hannah Mulwray and her husband making love. Marulla, an old crone, comes upon Hooker unexpectedly, and he threatens to kill her if she should ever relate to others what she has seen.

In the chamber of the tribunal house, Wainwright launches into a vicious attack against Hannahs character, proclaiming her to be a witch to Henry Skiers and Samuel Webcott, two of the colony elders. At the same time, in the bedroom of John and Elizabeth Mears, Hannah helps deliver Elizabeths first child, stillborn and deformed. Looking upon it, the grieving parents proclaim it to be a devils child and that God has abandoned them. Hannah assures them that it is not and takes the infant to the Reverend Learned Shepherd for a full Christian burial.

Meanwhile in the Wainwright parlor, Margaret watches as her husband, Hooker, peers out the window, spying on those gathered at the Mulwray house across the way. He writes their names down in his notebook. Finally, he spots Hannah as she hurries home carrying something in her arms. In the Mulwray home, Hannah explains to all that Elizabeth Mears baby was stillborn. Suddenly, Margaret Wainwright enters and warns them that her husband has taken down all their names; but to what purpose, she does not know.

Reverend Learned Shepherd wants no part of her plan, believing that it would be a sacrilege. But Hannah calls upon the feelings that she and Shepherd had for each other long before she was married. Shepherd weakens and agrees to bury the child.

In the church, Shepherd is conducting the funeral service in front of a small casket as John and Elizabeth Mears look on. Suddenly, Wainwright storms into the church, screaming sacrilege and demands that they open the casket. The casket is opened to reveal nothing more than a white silk cloth. Wainwright rants on about Hannah being a witch, beguiling everyone with her wanton carnality.

Hannah is brought to trial and ultimately hung, and then sometime later, Wainwright is walking in the same forest where he first spied Hannah and her husband making love. He thinks he sees Hannah. Wainwright hurries forward and grabs her, but its only Marulla, who offers him a bit of henbane to calm his lovesick heart. To her surprise, he grabs a handful and shoves it into his mouth. After swallowing it, he kneels over, dead.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543464924

Ruthie Marlenée

Ruthie Marlene is a published novelist, an award-winning screenwriter, ghostwriter and poet. Shes earned a Writers Certificate With Distinction from UCLA and was a nominee for the James Kirkwood Literary Award for her novel Curse of the Ninth. Some of her work can be found in Silver Birch Press, Long Story Short and Los Angeles Poet Laureates Coiled Serpent Anthology. Her novel Agave Blues is coming out soon.

Book preview

Devil’s Salt

A Novella By Ruthie Marlenée

Based On A Play By Jovanka Bach

Ruthie Marlenée

Copyright © 2017 by Ruthie Marlenée.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-5434-6493-1

      eBook         978-1-5434-6492-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 11/16/2017

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

769578

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter One

King James Colony, Plymouth Bay, New England, 1700’s:

Peering through the shrubbery in a forest glade, Hooker Wainwright was getting aroused.

In the King James Colony, no one would have suspected the sixty-year old governor to be standing in the bushes, behaving like a Peeping Tom. His usual haughty, aristocratic face frequently set in the grim determination of someone who likes control was currently pinched into frustrated non-restraint.

Hooker parted the undergrowth to get a better view of a handsome couple making love. He’d first taken notice of Hannah Mulwray, a striking tall woman in her thirties, a few years ago. One day she walked past him on the sidewalk of the village and his heart stopped. He thought she was a vision having come back from the dead to haunt him. Under a dark green velvet cloak that set of her skin, she sauntered with her shoulders pulled back. The hood had slipped off her head to reveal her flaming copper hair that flashed like fire under the sunlight. She projected a powerful, sensual presence that took Hooker’s breath away.

And now, the wild river of red hair cascaded above her husband’s face. Hooker could only vaguely hear the sounds Hannah was making only a few feet away -- the sweet nothings she was whispering into William’s ear. Hooker imagined she was saying those words to him. As their lovemaking became more intense, Hooker breathed harder, his own body heating up as he became increasingly agitated. Groaning now, he watched as Hannah put the stem of a white poppy into her mouth. He licked his lips, as if he could taste her sweet tongue. As Hannah gently rolled over onto William, Hooker lost his footing and fell backwards.

* * *

They’d been in the forest on a return from a trip to Plymouth when the idea struck Hannah to make love to her husband. In a clearing, Hannah spread her green cloak across the cool forest floor, where no one could see them. Soon she was wriggling above William, feeling the warm skin on skin, the beating of heart to heart; her hair tumbling onto his face as she lifted her head. Flower of love, William, she whispered, stem clenched between her teeth.

William slowly nibbled the flower from her mouth.

Hannah laughed. You are the elixir.

And you, the golden chalice, he added, moving now rhythmically with her. Oh, Hanna—

* * *

The sounds of their lovemaking were now echoing throughout the forest dell, driving Hooker wild. He strained to watch the couple, now barely visible with the dimming of the light.

I will not look, Hooker said under his breath. Agitated, he turned away. And yet I must. He then parted the bushes once more. Unholy union. This is unholy. He peered through to see her hair tumbling all around. Her gentle-swaying breasts, the color of sweet cream, glistened in the moonlight. Oh, she bedevils me! He felt himself becoming more stirred and reached down to prevent an erection. No! You will not! I will not permit –

Struggling for control, he held himself as he witnessed the wild and yet tranquil culmination of their lovemaking, so different from what was happening in the bushes where he writhed in shame-faced pleasure.

He grunted. No - uh - uh - perversion - witch! No - stop! Uh - uh - stop - oh - ooh - oooh – He grabbed a branch, practically yanking the whole bush from its roots and then his knees finally gave out.

Distressed and sweaty, Hooker was still breathing hard when Marulla, the colony’s wiry-haired old crone, approached to find him still holding himself in one hand and the branch in the other.

Nosy foot, nosy foot. You have your reward, she said with a titter.

A seizure. Hooker stuttered. I stumbled.

Mistress Mulwray’s seizure. That’s the disease.

Hooker sprang to his feet and grabbed Marulla by her bony shoulders.

Hag! I’ll kill you. No one will care. He shook her violently; her head snapping back and forth like a rag doll.

Mercy, Governor. Have pity.

They’ll say you fell onto a rock.

I saw nothing, she said, shaking her head. Nothing.

Hooker then threw her to the ground. And nothing there was to see.

Marulla covered her eyes with a withered hand.

Witchery has been done here. Hooker jabbed an accusing finger. Witchery!

Aye, your honor. A witch for sure. Marulla stood, dusting off her raggedy clothes.

I will have an end to it.

As Marulla stumbled off, she stopped and bent down to pluck a little white flower. She then turned and held it out to Hooker.

A little something, she said with a gap-toothed cackle. A little honey.

Wretch! The stockade is too good for you, Hooker yelled, hurling a rock at the old woman as she rushed away, dropping the flower behind her.

As Hooker made his way out of the forest, he couldn’t help but take notice of the flower. Slowly, as if it were a snake that might bite him, he picked it up and brought it to his nose, taking in the scent of the flower’s fragrance, the scent of Hannah. His face grew hot with embarrassment and then he glanced around, quickly and tossed the flower aside.

The red-haired she-devil. I will purge her from my blood.

Chapter Two

The next day, inside the chamber of the tribunal house, Hooker was seated behind the table on a platform. His ruffled shirt poked out above the collar of his black robe. In a fevered pitched, he addressed the seated elders. Henry Skiers