Curse of the Blue Tattoo

by L. A. Meyer

  Now I take a little dish and put some soot and a little water in it and mix it around with my finger till it's a black paste, and with my biggest watercolor brush, I fill my eye sockets with black and then paint six up-and-down lines of black from my upper lip down to my chin, to look like the teeth in a grinning skull. Then I put on the white, Dutch-boy wig.

  I wrap my black cloak around me like a shawl to keep me from being spotted in my white blouse, and I open my window and go down the rungs, tying the rope to the third rung from the bottom, and drop down to the ground.

  I stick to the shadows and work my way around to the graveyard, looking up to see that the Reverend has yet not come to the window of his study. He may never come to the window this night, but I must be patient—if not this night, then the next. If not then, then the one after that.

  Patience.

  I dart across the road and fling myself down next to the stone wall that lies between Janey's grave and the church. I worm my way along on elbows and knees till I am lying next to the grave, and there I lie and wait, hidden from the church by the wall and hidden from the road by a row of bushes. The side of the school that faces this way is the opposite side from my rung ladder and, like my side, is made up mostly of massive chimney. It is the blind side of the school, without even one window.

  The moon is rising and casting a fine light on the graveyard. I wait, my eye on the window.

  What to do while I wait? Maybe I'll compose another letter to Jaimy: "Dear Jaimy, I hope you are well and passing your time in joyous pursuits. I myself am lying next to a grave in the middle of the night waiting for a demented witch-hunter to—" Hush! There he is!

  I hear him before I see him. "Sorceress! Witch!" comes clearly across the churchyard from the window. Then, "Demon!" I put my eye to a cleft between the stones and I can see him, but he cannot see me. He is gesturing and posturing like before, but this time I can see his crazed face straight on and it is not a sight to make one sleep easy at night. While he seems to be shouting and pointing directly at me, of course he is not. He is pointing at poor Janey in her grave.

  I know the way he moves through this performance of his, having watched it twice already, and I wait for one of those times when he steps away from the window to rant and rave inside and pour another drink and gather fury for another bout of arm-waving, pointing, and hissing.

  There he goes! Now!

  I get up and stand on top of the grave. I step carefully so as to leave no footprints. The earth is hard, but still...

  I just stand there with my arms to my side, in my white hair and bangs, my white face with empty eye sockets and painted teeth. No grimacing, no saying boo, no waving of arms—just standing there, stock-still in the moonlight.

  He comes back to the window and launches into his routine with the accusing finger pointed directly at me and then he says, "Corruption," and then, "Wicked," and then he opens his eyes and he jerks back and don't say nothin' at all, he just stands there with his mouth wide open and his tremblin' finger still pointing. His eyes are wildly staring. I keep my own eyes as slits so he don't see the whites, but still I can see him plain.

  Then he says, "Nooooooo," and it sounds as if it's coming from the very bottom of his twisted soul, and he stumbles back and there's the sound of a chair being overturned and a crash of maybe a bottle and he disappears from my view. I take that opportunity to nip down behind the wall and begin my creep back. Don't want to overdo things. That will do for tonight. I have a branch from one of the bushes, and I sweep it behind me to cover any traces of my being there.

  When he gets up the nerve to look back out, all he will see is the grave lyin' there all still in the moonlight.

  Still, but not quiet.

  I pause by my rope and dust the leaves and twigs off my clothes as best I can, then up I go to the rungs, untie the rope, sling it over my shoulder, and climb up to my window, congratulating myself on a job well done.

  As I've just got head and shoulders through the window, I stiffen as I hear someone in the room. The lamp is turned up and there is Amy Trevelyne, staring at me as if at a very demon from hell itself, which, if you look at it from her point of view, she has. Then she says, "Ooohhhh," and her eyes roll back in her head and she faints onto the bed. On the bedside table is a bowl of chicken soup, now quite cold, that she had brought up for me. How sweet of you, Sister.

  I have taken off the wig and rubbed off some of the flour and soot from my face. I am patting Amy's hand and slowly bringing her back into this world. She comes unwillingly, but as she nears full consciousness, I put my arms about her and whisper, "Sister, please! It's just me, Jacky! Come on, now. Wake up!"

  Her eyelids flutter and she looks at me and says, "Oh, Jacky, no..." as she has so many times before.

  Chapter 30

  After that first time I appeared to Reverend Mather as Janey, I let things lie for a couple of days. I watched him on the next day, though, and, sure enough, he came out to the gravesite and looked about for signs of something real and not ghostly there, but he found none. His movements were jerky and his face was sunken. That's it, Preacher, stew in your guilt for a while yet. Then we'll up the ante.

  Each night after that, Amy and I would creep up to the widow's walk and watch the Preacher to see the changes in his actions. For certain he don't rant and rave and point no more. Rather, he peeks out timidly every few minutes to see if the specter has come back. It would be comical to see, if it weren't for the real tragedy of Janey Porter.

  But after several days, I figured he needed another shot, so last night I got back in costume and headed out on another moonlit night, leaving Amy wringing her hands back in the room.

  Again, I snuck up next to the wall and waited for him to turn back into the room. Then I stood, and when he came back and looked out, there I am as Janey on the grave. His eyes went big as saucers and he put his hands to his mouth to stifle a moan of horror, but he didn't jerk back into the room this time, this time he just stood there lookin'.

  Well, I couldn't stand there all night and I certainly couldn't just walk off as if to say Good night, Preacher, we're done with tonight's haunting and I'll be going now. Haunt you next time. So there we stood as the minutes ticked by, and then I had a thought.

  Slowly, slowly, I brought up my right hand and pointed an accusing finger at him, my other fingers on that hand hooked into a claw. His eyes grew even larger and then, suddenly, he buried his face in his hands and I took the opportunity to drop like a stone behind the wall.

  I watched through the cleft in the stones to see what he did then. He looked out again, rubbed his eyes, and I could see profound despair was writ on his face. He appeared to be mumbling something. Prolly asking his grandfather to get him out of this. I shall have to go back up on his roof soon to hear what the two are talking about these days.

  I got back to my room without incident. Amy breathed a sigh of relief at seeing me come through the window.

  Word had come this Saturday morning that Ezra wanted to talk to me again, but Peg was having none of it. "You'll come back all tarred and feathered or else will run off with the circus. No, you ain't goin' nowhere, Miss Nothing-But-Trouble," but I got down on my knees and clasped my hands together and pleaded, "I'll be good I promise and you can send Betsey with me 'cause she's so sensible and Amy Trevelyne'll come, too, and she's a lady as cautious as any dormouse and..."

  "All right! All right!" said Peg, giving it up. "But if you come back in disgrace one more time..."

  She didn't go into what she'd do if I came back in such disgrace again, but I was promised it would not be pretty. I yelped and went upstairs and got Amy and then I grabbed Betsey by the arm and the three of us were out the door.

  I had wanted to have Betsey along 'cause I planned to visit with Ephraim again to bring him up to date with what was happening with the Preacher, and Amy 'cause I wanted to put her next to Ezra again, to see what happens.

  We're goin' across the Common and I can see that
Betsey's a little shy to be with Amy and so I stop them and join hands with both and say that when we're in the school we're girl, girl, and lady, but when we are out on the town we are all just members of the same Dread Sisterhood. Agreed? They agree, and we walk down the path as Sisters.

  We go first to see Ephraim and his eyes light up upon seeing Betsey, and hers light up upon seeing him, and that gladdens my heart, and then we take him in tow and head down toward Ezra's office, and as we go, we fill him in on all that's been going on with the Preacher. His mouth is set into a firm line of satisfaction that something is being done, and he demands that he be allowed to do his part, and I say for him not to worry as his time will come.

  "I've been haunting the Preacher, Ezra. It's as simple as that. He would not look upon Janey on that day. He will look upon her now," I say with firmness. Ezra is at his desk and we are seated facing him. Introductions have been made.

  Ezra looks upon me with wonder. "And what good do you think this will do?"

  I fluffs up and says, "His guilt will overcome him and he will confess."

  "And then we will take him out and hang him, I suppose," says Ezra.

  "I had thought more in the way of the lunatic asylum. As long as the name of Janey Porter is cleared of shame."

  Ezra looks at me long and hard. Then he turns to Amy. "You knew of this, Miss Trevelyne?"

  "On the widow's walk we heard the Reverend admit his guilt," says Amy, steadily. Good on you, Amy, I thinks. She gives him a short account of the Preacher's words and actions.

  "Why didn't you report that to me? Perhaps we could have charged him with his crime?"

  "On the word of Jacky Faber, convicted of lewd and lascivious conduct? Jacky Faber, what sings and dances in taverns, and what plunges into Boston Harbor at the slightest provocation?" snorts I. "I am well aware of my reputation in this town."

  "Besides," says Amy, "what he said, though plain to us, was vague enough that any good attorney could successfully defend him. One such as yourself, Mr. Pickering."

  "That is very perceptive of you, Miss Trevelyne," says Mr. Pickering, fairly beaming at her. "And you are right. I have no doubt I could get him off.

  "And you, Mr. Fyffe. You approved of this?" Ezra asks of Ephraim, who sits stolidly in his chair, his hands in fists which rest on his knees.

  "I didn't know of it, but I approve. Jacky is a brave girl. Janey was a brave girl, too, what didn't deserve what happened to her," says Ephraim. Betsey puts her hand gently on his shoulder.

  "And you, Miss?" Ezra asks of Betsey.

  "She was friend to me," is all she will say, but it is enough.

  There is a small silence and I throw a question into it. "Who was the Preacher's grandfather?"

  Ezra considers this for a while and then says, "He is probably referring to Cotton Mather, a towering figure in the early colonies, both in religion and law." Ezra pauses and looks at me and then goes on. "Cotton Mather was instrumental in the Salem witch trials, wherein forty-nine people were executed for witchcraft—largely on the evidence of several hysterical girls."

  I shiver and resolve to be more careful.

  Ezra goes on. "He was directly involved in the trial of a young girl here in Boston in 1682. It concerned the death of her baby. She said she had rolled over the infant in her sleep, causing its death by accident. The Court, urged on by Cotton Mather, convicted her of murder. On the day of her execution, she had to sit there and listen to a two-hour sermon on the sins of youth, delivered by Reverend Mather, before she was taken up and dropped." Ezra puts on a thoughtful attitude. "Poor thing. Had I been her, I would have offered to go first."

  I'm sittin' there tryin' to keep my gorge down when Ezra brings his eyes again to lock with mine. "It is reported that Reverend Mather marched immediately around the corner to have his sermon printed up for distribution, even as the girl still hung on the gallows. So you see, Jacky, the Mathers are very serious people."

  I take his warnings even more to heart.

  Ezra Pickering looks about at the assembled gang of conspirators and says, "There have been some developments. Our Reverend Mather has redoubled his efforts at getting his petition of guardianship granted. He has hired an attorney, a Mr. George Blish, a man I personally cannot abide but who is nonetheless extremely competent. Blish has entered into the Court record a deposition describing your recent physical fight with another girl at the school and your propensity for singing and dancing in public houses. Reverend Mather seems to have excellent sources of information, and you, of course, do everything possible to further their case." Ezra looks at me sternly.

  The vile Dobbs, I thinks, and prolly Wiggins, but what I sighs and says is, "There'll be no more singing and dancing. I shall try to be good."

  "And I shall try to block this petition at every turn, but it is getting increasingly difficult. And I shall continue looking into the matter of reclaiming your money, but somehow I do not think this case is entirely about the money."

  "It isn't, Mr. Pickering," I says. "I believe he has convinced himself that I am a witch. The same thing he convinced himself about Janey Porter, and we all know what happened there."

  Ezra is silent for a while on that, and then he says, looking steadily at me, "We must all be very careful then, mustn't we?"

  After we leave Ezra's office and return up the hill, I see a strange thing in a side yard of a stable. It seems to be a wooden figure of a man with a cone-shaped hat on his head sitting in a chair that's on a narrow platform, and right behind him is another wooden figure, a devil with pitchfork and horns and tail, painted red.

  I say, "What's that?" and Ephraim says that it's a Pope's Day wagon that will be paraded down the street on the night of November fifth, and the gangs from the North End will try to knock over and destroy the Popes of the South End gangs, and all will have torches and the fights will go long into the night.

  "And there's supposed to be at least three British ships in, which should add some spice to the mix," he says. He gives his arm to Betsey and she takes it. They smile at each other and I think it's the first time each has really smiled in a while.

  I'm thinking it's a lot like Guy Fawkes Day back in old London town when me and the gang would get wholeheartedly into some serious mischief. "Sounds like fun," I says, ever up for some excitement. "Can we come, too?"

  Chapter 31

  "Come on, Henry," I'm sayin', dragging on his arm. "You can be my gallant escort, come on!"

  "But the horses—"

  "Sven can watch the horses, can't he, Herr Hoffman?" Herr Hoffman has appeared as I am trying to haul his son out of the stable and into the riot of the night. Halloween's come and gone and now it's Pope's Day!

  Herr Hoffman puts his hand on his son's head and ruffles his brown hair. "Ach, ja, Heinrich, go with the young people. Have fun, boy. The responsibilities of age vill come soon enough."

  With that, Henry grabs my arm and we are off joyously into the night.

  The others are right down the street. There's Sylvie and Abby and Rachel and her young man, Paul Barkley, whom she will marry in the spring, and they plan to go west to claim a homestead and farm. He brings along his brother, who is pleasant and soon accepted by all and who quickly falls into step with Abby, who don't seem to mind. Amy has climbed down the ladder route and is dressed in her common gear to fit right in with us milkmaids, and we're to pick up Annie and Betsey on our way down. We walk the road between the school and the church, and I look up and sure enough, there he is at his window. I'll leave you alone tonight, Preacher. May you not enjoy the rest.

  "The others are waiting down the road, and Maudie has said we can go up on the roof of the Pig and watch the whole thing from there! Won't it be grand?" I crows.

  Henry allows that it will be and thanks me for taking him with our merry group, and I say, "Thanks nothing, you are a finely turned out fellow and I'm proud to walk by your side." I am a little surprised to learn that Henry does not know all the girls of the Sisterhood, wha
t with him working so close to them and all. I guess their paths just don't cross is all. Like, he had never really met Sylvie before. Now, upon their first meeting, she gives him a shy bat of her dark lashes, and he can barely stammer out his own name.

  Darkness has long since fallen and already we can see groups of torches gathering in the streets down below. I assume there are others over there in the North End as well. There is the sound of sporadic firecrackers. I'm sayin' that I hope it's not gunfire, but Amy says Pope's Day isn't as big as it once was, before their Revolution, when the gangs of Protestants from the North End would clash with the gangs of Catholics from the South End and injuries, and even death, would occur. It sort of ended when General Washington told everybody to knock it off because he had both Catholics and Protestants in his army, everybody fightin' for liberty and such, and he didn't need them at each other's throats. Sylvie says that's true, but some of the old customs hang on, 'cause they're too much fun to give up right off.

  It is good to hear Amy talk so easy and unfearful with everyone. I have put her through a bit since coming into her life, but I think she is the better for it.

  Annie and Betsey come out of the darkness to join us and Ephraim appears at the corner of State and Cornhull. He don't approve of all this but comes along to lend his protection. Boys, I clucks to myself, so careless of their own conduct, so careful of ours.

  "So, how did you get out?" he asks Betsey, who is already on his arm and looking up into his face. "I'm sure your father knows nothing of this."

  "We told him we were going to spend the night with Sylvie," says Annie.

  "And I told my father that I was staying with you," laughs Sylvie.

  It turns out that everybody is staying with someone else.