Life Curse: Taber Blood I

Chapter 35

Macey's head felt like it weighed a ton as she tried lifting it to search for the strange noise she heard. She turned on her side and inhaled dirt from the ground. Through her blurred vision, she saw people moving about with a large fire in the distance. As she blinked, she saw a dirt floor from inside a structure resembling a barn.

"Macey, you must get up," someone said. 

Macey coughed and sat up, confused at her surroundings, when a woman with long dark hair and brown eyes appeared in front of her. Those eyes looked familiar, yet Macey was sure she hadn't met her. "Where am I?" 

"Put these clothes on," the woman said. She walked a distance and closed what looked like a barn door. It is a barn. "We have to work fast. You understand?" the woman said as she made her way back to Macey. "Jared completed the names on the tree. Now you and I must finish Evalena."

Jared. My dear son depends on me.

Macey examined the clothes, "A dress? What kind of clothing is this?" she said, trying to figure out how to put it on.

"We must blend in with the others," the woman said, peeking between the cracks in the wall.

Macey sorted the clothes, wondering if she should bolt first chance, "Who are you?"

The woman turned to her, "Macey, don't you recognize me from the painting on the wall at the mansion?" 

Macey studied the woman's face, "Sarah?" It was Sarah, in the flesh. It was impossible to believe, yet she was standing right in front of Macey, solid, as in, not a ghost. "Where am I?" Macey asked, thinking she must be dead. Assuming death was an alternate world instead of nothingness. 

"England, for the moment. Evalena is about to escape her death. She'll board a ship to the Americas. We must be on that ship." 

Looking at Sarah, Macey said, "You're alive. I mean-not dead." She grabbed Sarah's arms and squeezed. Soft and solid. "Sarah?"

Sarah smiled, "Yes, it is me. I can go back in time undead, but not forward. When Evalena realized I too could cast spells, she ensured I was destined to the past as she lived in the future."

"Through Taber blood," Macey said. "Smart move, I suppose. Hate her the same." She examined the clothes Sarah gave her to wear. A long gray and rather plain dress from the past and not a look of wealth.  "This was my chance to wear a beautiful dress from this period, but you chose this?" 

Sarah laughed, "Yes, we'll blend in later, now hurry. We have a ship to board." It was good to see Sarah in her living form. "Come now, Macey." 

Macey placed a straw hat atop her head, and they left the barn. The first thing Macey saw were women tied to stakes and piles of wood at the base. "Sarah, what is this? Please tell me they aren't going to burn those women."

Sarah grabbed Macey's hand. "Don't watch. Come with me." She pulled Macey away from the growing crowd of frantic people, yelling, "Burn the witches."  Sarah kept moving forward at this point, dragging Macey along, who couldn't pry her eyes from the women on the stakes. Fires ignited. The women screamed. It was the most horrifying sound as they burned to death. Macey had come to a dead stop despite Sarah trying to pull her along. "Couldn't they have least shot them before burning them?" 

Sarah held Macey's face, looking straight into her eyes, "We cannot help them. Their deaths will remain. The Salem witches were real. They aren't innocent like written in history. Keep moving, we must get on that ship," she said as she aimed Macey's face at the ship. "You see it?" 

"Yes."

"Let's go," Sarah demanded.

Macey felt dizzy. She was in and out of consciousness. Each time she steadied herself, she was closer to the ship until they boarded. "I don't feel well," Macey mumbled.