The 9th day of June, in the sixteen-hundredth and twenty-third year of our lord.

            After getting a good night’s sleep that I sorely needed, I awoke this morning refreshed and determined to take an active approach in saving Mary and her mother from these unjust accusations. My first step was to find out what had happened from someone other than my brother. I decided to approach old Caruthers who, though getting on in years, was still a reliable and honest source of information. When I asked him to tell me everything, be sighed and began to relate what he knew.

            “It all began only a few months ago. Things were still pretty similar to when you had last been here. The first of the events to occur was when more than half of the crops that had been planted this spring had failed to grow, while the ground around them remained dry and barren. None of the farmhands could say exactly what could cause half of the crops to die like that, while leaving the other half just fine. And while this was considered to be unnatural, it was initially just thought to be bad luck. Then, a week or so later, there started an affliction that affected not only the cows on our estate, but several of those from the other local herds as well. It began with our prized bull, Fernando, who began stumbling around the field and attacking other members of his herd for no reason. Within three days he had collapsed, never to get up. By this time similar signs were showing in several other cows. Over 26 heads of cattle had died from this affliction before we began separating the last few from the herd when they first started showing signs of the affliction, in order to attempt to spare the rest. The most recent tragedy had been the death of Johnny Millseed, the young stable boy that had been hired just before you left. Two weeks ago he was as healthy as could be. But it was not long before he began to exhibit the same signs that Fernando and the other cattle did. He became belligerent, his speech was slurred, and he had trouble keeping his balance. Within a few days he had died from what had seemed to be the same cursed affliction, the last few hours of which he spent in bed babbling and speaking in tongues. It was then that the doctor who had been brought in to assess the ailments had declared his death, along with the other occurrences on the estate, to be unnatural and the fault of agents of Satan. Almost immediately, responsibility fell upon the young lass who ran the tavern, with her daughter becoming caught up in it as well. I am not sure that I believe that it was them who were to blame, but I am just a servant. It was your father, through the encouragement of your brother, who brought these charges up, and while he remains convinced of it there is nothing anyone can do.”

            I thanked Caruthers for his time and truthfulness and set out to do what I could to try and change my father’s position on this. While we have never really seen eye to eye, it has always been my belief that he is a just and honest man who will do what is right. It is my brother who has set him upon this path. He was always jealous of my relationship with Mary, and he had tried to sabotage our friendship before. But I had never considered that he would go so far in his spite. To accuse two innocent women of such crimes? To send them to their death? Well, regardless of what he did to convince my father, I am determined to do whatever I can to oppose it.