Mary rediscovers her passion for John, and her new apprentice Mercy could help accelerate the Grand Rite. Magistrate Hale tries to delay an possible threat to the hive. His daughter, Anne, becomes more suspicious of those around her.
[PREVIOUSLY_ON] Cotton: Ritum magni. John: The grand rite? Cotton: It says this object, this "malum," is thought to be present at every grand rite throughout history. This object is evil. It consecrates the earth for the Devil's return. John: It was here for delivery. Someone was expecting it. Mary: So the others have turned on me. Tituba: Yes. Each and every one. Mary: Rose? Tituba: Everyone. If you wish for John Alden to live, you will complete the grand rite. Cotton: What is the grand rite? Rose: [Gurgling] You think you can dangle me like a puppet? You're the puppets, all of you... puppets! John: I thought you said Saturn would compel her to speak the truth. Cotton: It did. Sometimes the truth is a riddle. John: And the answer? Cotton: I must think and then think again. Anne: Father? [Gasps] Aah! Mrs. Hale: Come, child. It's time we talked about your father. Mary: You brought the malum to Salem behind my back. [Rat squeaking] [People coughing] Captain: Not one of them will survive. Nor the rest of us, at this rate. 10 days becalmed. Nearly out of food and water. We've no hope unless we catch the wind. Grim man: It is not the wind that we must catch, Captain. It is a witch. Girl, look at me. Captain: We have searched every passenger and crew member for your supposed witches. None were found. Grim man: There is a witch on this ship. You understand me, Captain? The witch will kill everyone aboard in order to stop me. We will find the witch. [Coughing continues] Mary: Make no mistake. It could just as well be your head. Rose brought the malum here behind my back to complete the grand rite without me. Whose idea was it to turn the puritans' hatred against themselves? To use them to achieve the first grand rite in centuries? Who made that possible? Me. Yet you and that foul bitch mistrusted me. And much worse for you, you underestimated me. Mr. Hale: But killing the Samhain, do you have any idea what you've done? Mary: The question is not whether I understand what I have done, but whether you understand what you must now do. Mr. Hale: I do. You have claimed the ancient right. I recognize you as the new Samhain. I will honor and obey your power, earned in blood, and share the word with the rest of the hive. Mary: Full hunter's moon is soon upon us. We need eight more dead by then. And I have a plan... To put us within reach of our goal with one single move. Three sacrificed all at once. But mark me well... If anyone goes behind my back, I hold you responsible. You will pay for it, or your wife and sweet daughter will. ["Cupid Carries a Gun" plays] ♪ Pound me the witch drums ♪ ♪ witch drums ♪ ♪ pound me the witch drums ♪ ♪ pound me the witch drums ♪ ♪ the witch drums ♪ ♪ better pray for hell ♪ ♪ not hallelujah ♪ [Insects chirping] Anne: A spy? What do you mean? Is he working for the French? Mrs. Hale: No! [Scoffs] Of course not. [Sighs] I should have said nothing. But your infernal snooping only endangers us all. Your father is a confidential agent. He makes very occasional reports to agents representing another foreign power. Anne: Then who? And why? Mrs. Hale: What does it matter to whom your father speaks? It's just politics, dear. Of no import. Anne: No import? That my father is a traitor is of no import?! Mrs. Hale: Never say that. Your father is not a traitor. He is a man of the highest ideals! Everything your father he does, he does for you. Keep out of his affairs for your own good. Anne: I am utterly unconvinced by your story, mother. He seemed to vanish before my eyes. I make no apologies. And I choose to walk through life with my eyes open. Unlike you. Mrs. Hale: I know you think me a stupid woman with no curiosity, but you don't understand. The problem with knowing things is that you can never unknow them. [Indistinct conversations] Mab: Has it arrived? Mr. Hale: Patience. This... Message I've been waiting for from the ship. Windstille. "We are becalmed. He searches, but I remain hidden." If they fail to hold him, he could arrive at any time. Mab: Have you warned Mary Sibley? Mr. Hale: No. She knows nothing of the germane nor of my contact with them nor of the impending threat. If they succeed in keeping him at bay, then she has no need to know. And if he cannot be stopped, well, then it's an entirely new game, isn't it? Mab: It threatens everything. Shouldn't you tell her? Mr. Hale: Knowledge is power. And with regard to power, she has more than her share at the moment, wouldn't you agree? Tituba: Are you sure you've done the right thing? Mary: Were you sure when you brought me in? Tituba: Yes. I saved your life. And I will never cease saving it. Mary: I know. Come. I must find the malum. Tituba: John Alden has it. Mary: Yes. And he knows he has something of power, something witches would kill and die for. He will have well-hidden it. Tituba: Well, then how will you find it? Mary: I've a mind to search his mind. Tituba: Dream walking? No. There has to be another way. Mary: We're running out of time, Tituba. Without the malum and all it contains, our grand rite is not possible. Trust me. Once inside, I'll find the malum, and then I'll get out. Tituba: Inside? It is not a house you invade but a man! And not just any man. Are you sure it is the malum you seek and not just access to him? Mary: [Scoffs] Whatever my personal feelings are for John, I am only seeking the malum. Tituba: Do you have any idea what crawling around inside his dreams could do to you and to him? It could leave either or both of you shattered, unable to tell dreams from reality. You could be lost, trapped! There are other ways to find the malum. I cannot lie. I am afraid. Mary: Good. Be afraid. Watch over me. But this is my choice. I will do this with or without you. Tituba, send me. Now. Tituba: [Sighs] Go now. Catch a falling star. Get with child a mandrake root. Travel back where past years are. Through the cloven Devil's hoof. What you seek is in his heart. Know his thoughts through angel's art. As torches ever ready be, through daylight's gate step one, two, three. Mary: [Distorted] Why have you waited so long? [Moaning] John: [Gasps] Mary: [Exhales sharply] Tituba: Enjoying yourself? Mary: I didn't find it yet. But I know I can. John: [Exhales] Grim man: This sea is unnatural. I smell it. I feel it. We are under a dark enchantment. Captain: We have searched high and low. There is no witch on this ship! Grim man: And I say there is. Captain: We have searched everyone. Twice. So where is the witch? Grim man: Right here. Captain: Aaah! Grim man: Where is the knot, Captain? Captain: [Spits] Grim man: Where have you hidden the knot? [Bones crack] Where is the knot that binds the wind? Captain: Frib scheibe und stirb! Sie werden die neue welt nie lebend erriechen! [Groans] My neck! Around my neck! [Shing!] Grim man: Auf wiedersehen. [Gulls calling] Boatswain: Captain, the wind's up. The sails are full. Grim man: I am now master of this ship. Tell the helmsman due west. Mercy: Close your eyes... And you break an egg. And you imagine your wedding, so you're standing there in front of the meeting house holding a bunch of flowers. The bells are ringing for you. And then when you open your eyes, you see the face of the man you're to marry. Emily: But we already know who Dolie'll marry. Stinky, old Joe Barker. Dollie: I will not. Emily: But... but you've already bundled with him. Dollie: Have not. Emily: But you're going to. Dollie: Yes. Tonight. There's got to be someone else for me. Mercy: Well, if there is, the Venus glass will show him to you. Dollie: [Chuckles lightly] Mercy: But first you have to drink the tea. All of it. Dollie: [Chuckles] [Screams] [Water sizzles] [Whimpering] Did you see that? Emily: What did you see? Did you see Joe Barker? Dollie: No, I... I don't know what I saw, but... I... But I... but I have to go now. Um, I'll... I'll be late for my bundling, and my mother will beat me for ruining a perfectly fine match. Emily: We all should go, too. Emily: [Breathes deeply] I did it. And it worked just... Just like you said it would. I-I gave her the potion first, and then I pictured it in my mind, and she saw it. Mary: And this is just the beginning. Next you will help push Salem over the edge, but first... You must learn to walk wherever you will without your body. Cotton: I begged to see your face, Lord. Am I looking at it now? John: They say it's the first sign of folly, talking to oneself. Cotton: I wasn't talking to myself. But to God. Or my father. If there is a difference. John: Is he here? Cotton: Worse. Here. John: I think we're not so different. Cotton: [Chuckles] That would worry me immensely were I not already consumed with other worries. And apparently there are some truths not contained in books. Knowledge must be tested against the anvil of experience. Last night my knowledge cracked like poorly forged steel. After what that witch said, I can be sure of nothing but my doubts. I doubt everything. My books, my tools, my methods. Even myself. John: Then you fight with the weapons you have. Cotton: Meaning? John: If all you have is doubt, then you make doubt itself the weapon. You question everything. Cotton: Even myself. John: Especially yourself. Cotton: I do believe God brought us together for a reason. John: To drive each other insane? Cotton: No. 'Cause the shadow over Salem requires more light than either of us can provide alone. John: You know more than anyone about... Well, everything. So what do you know about dreams? Cotton: [Whispering] The undiscovered country. John: What? Cotton: Dreams. [Normal voice] Most men dismiss them. But by my calculation, a man who lives his full biblical span of 70 years will spend as many as 20 of them in another realm, where nothing is as it seems. John: So you believe they're real? Cotton: They are. Our own private America, a new world filled with equal parts terror and delight. Apparently one not need be a house to be haunted. John: What do you mean? Cotton: You're not the only one who knows what it feels like to hold desires that come true only in dreams. But every morning, we have a choice. Forget our dreams... Or live them. [SCENE_BREAK] Mrs. Barker: My mother sewed Mr. Barker and me into this bag when I was a girl. Such pleasant nights we spent talking of this and that. That stitch keeps you from having too much pleasure before the wedding night. Nothing below the waist. Joe: Is it true you've been in the house of seven gables? Dollie: Oh, yes. Many times. My friend Marcy lives there now. Joe: Aren't you afraid to be close to her? Dollie: No. [Sighs] Joe: Are you afraid to be close to me? [Gasps] [Screaming] Mrs. Barker: Wicked girl! That bag's seen three generations married! This isn't over, little missy! I'll take this up with your mother! Mary: Where is it, my love? Show me where it is. John: I-I don't understand. Mary: No? John: No. What does this mean? Mary: Do you care? It is. We are. That's all that matters. Real enough for you? Or this? I need to know where it is. John: What? Mary: [Panting] I found the malum. It's in Corey's grave. Alden has hidden it in Corey's grave. Tituba: I warned you. Dream walking in any man is dangerous, let alone one that you love. Mary: [Scoffs] Tituba: You could lose your way and never come back. Keep out of that man's head. Mrs. Barker: Little bitch tore my great-gran's bundling bag. Mrs. Trask: And your stink-breathed boy poked a hole in your precious bag, tried to poke one in my girl! Mrs. Barker: There's no holes in that bag but the ones she tore running out. Mrs. Trask: And who'd believe you or any Barker? Mary: [Whispering] See, my dear? It's working. Mrs. Trask: Everyone knows you're a pack of liars and cheats getting rich off the rest of us. Mrs. Barker: You stop talking filth about my family or I'll stop you talking. Dollie: [Laughs] Mrs. Trask: What are you laughing at, you little minx?! Those Barkers may be a foul lot, but they have money enough, and it was a fine match for the likes of you, and you had to ruin it with your silly ideas. Mercy: [Inhales sharply] Anne: Captain Alden, where are you off to with such urgency? John: Nowhere. Just... taking in the air. Anne: Oh, I understand completely. You're not a man used to town life. Your body probably longs for the wilderness. Captain? John: I'm sorry. I... I don't know what overcame me. Please excuse me. Mab: Captain Alden. An honor... And I hope a pleasure to see you. Anyone take your fancy? John: Yes. I need at least three. [Women chuckle] Mary: Clever girl. Thanks to what you made Dollie see, the town is more than halfway to seeing the Barkers as witches. Now one spark will light the fire. You remember all I told you? Mercy: Yes. But will it really work? How will I leave my body? Mary: Follow your bliss. It will lead you out of your body and out of the window. Stay focused and remember, your job tonight is to terrify Mrs. Trask. Make her see Mrs. Barker. She must tell everyone she was attacked by Mrs. Barker. Mercy: I understand. Are you gonna send me now? Mary: Close your eyes. Picture where you want to go. Mrs. Trask: [Gasps] [Exhales sharply] Dollie? [Sighs] Damn. If you don't learn to control your damn cat, I'll skin it myself. [Gasps] [Shuddering] [Insects chirping] John: This is but a dream. Mary: Life itself might be but a dream. Why not enjoy it? Anne: Try to remain still, Captain Alden. Mary: What are you doing here? Anne: Learning the wonders of God's own creation. Mary: John? [Echoing] Where are you, John? [Men yelling in distance] [Yelling in distance] Tituba: Mary! Mary! Mary, come out now! Tituba: Mary! Mary: [Gasps] Tituba: Mary! Mary! Mary, come out now! Mary! Mary, come out now! Mary! Mary, come out now! Mary: [Gasps] Tituba: Oh, Mary. Mary: Oh, Tituba. Tituba: It's okay. You're home. Why did you go back? I told you not to go back. And you left this one to walk alone on her first time. Anything could have happened. Mary: I know. I'm sorry. I just wanted to see him again. I lost control. Tituba: You get your clothes on. You're coming to help me. Mary: No, no. Where are you going? Tituba: Shh. To fetch you an apple while you regain your control. Mary: [Panting] Tituba: It's okay. John: Mm! [Both panting] [Insects chirping] Tituba: Hand it to me, girl. Man: She's dead! Lady Trask is dead! [Men shouting in distance] Tituba: What did you do? Mercy: What Mary told me to do. Tituba: She told you to frighten the woman, not slaughter her. Mercy: But she deserved it. We're tired. Tired of being beaten and used. We won't be used anymore... any of us. We won't take it. Man: Make way! Make way! [Indistinct shouting] Cotton: Isaac! Isaac, what's happened? Isaac: Mrs. Trask has been found dead... horribly dead. And they all think the Barkers are responsible. After the fight and what little Dollie saw, now this, they're calling them witches. Cotton: Where is Captain Alden? Isaac: He is nowhere to be found. Cotton: People, wait! Wait! What are you doing?! Woman: Those damned Barkers! They've cursed too many of us. Cotton: What have they done?! Man: Rotted all our winter supply of grain! Woman: She killed goody Trask! Cotton: Proof?! Have any of you any proof?! Man: Make way! You there! Cotton: The whole town has gone mad! We have got to stop them! Mr. Hale: Nothing more dangerous than a mob. Best not to intervene. Cotton: You are magistrate. You represent the law. Mr. Hale: The law's meaningless without support of the people. Cotton: Friends! Neighbors! People of Salem, stop! Think what you do! Man: You know there are witches! You've told us so! And here be three of them! What will you do with them?! Cotton: If they be witches, we will find out. But this is not the way! Woman: Would you just let them go? Cotton: No. No, we put them in the jail! We hold them for the night while passions cool. And then in the clear light of day, we will examine them as the law allows! Every one of us has the right to defend ourselves, to respond to our accusers! Woman: Mrs. Trask is dead, slaughtered like a lamb! Cotton: True. Evil has been done this night already. But do not compound it by doing more. Do not rush to do what can never be undone. If they be guilty now, they will be just as guilty in the morning. After a fair trial. Mr. Hale: Quite right. Men, take them to the jail. Woman: Witches! Murderers! Murderers! Murderers! [Indistinct shouting] Gloriana: Cotton, I think that was the bravest thing I've ever seen. Like watching a man stick his head inside of a lion's jaws. I would reward you for your bravery. Cotton: I would gladly accept it, but now is not the time. I cannot deny my feelings. They are real. But I do not want any longer to be your customer. Do you understand? Gloriana: I think so. Will I ever see you again? Cotton: Yes. But you must leave me now... Till I sort things out. When I do, everything will be different. I promise. [Footsteps approaching] Mary: Wait. John: Seven years is a long enough time to wait. Mm. Mary: Stop. John: Mary. I know you've dreamt of this. When it comes to dreams, you only got one choice. You forget them... Or you live them. And I'm done trying to forget them. Mary: And what if in living our dreams they become nightmares? John: All that matters is you and me. Mary: You always make everything sound so simple. John: You don't have any children with Sibley. You can't care about him. You haven't cared about what other people have thought before, so for once... Let's just live for us. Mary: I wish it were possible. John: And why isn't it? Mary: It just isn't. I want you to leave. John: No. Mary: I've gotten all I needed from you. Please leave. John: What happened to you? What are you not telling me? Because this makes no sense. Well... I'm happy to have been of service. Mary: [Sobs] [Men shouting in distance] Cotton: [Sniffing] What is it?! What's burning?! Isaac: The Barkers! All of them burned as witches! Cotton: What?! By whose authority?! Grim man: Mine. Cotton: Father. Increase: I see now I've indulged your curiosity far, far too much. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Look at you. Surrounding yourself with all these feeble tools of reason. Cotton: But, father, they might have been innocent. Increase: Innocent? Innocent of what? The family is well-known as wastrels and curs. Cotton: They had no trial, no examination. Increase: And they shall receive their trial before the greatest and most merciful of judges. [Barkers screaming] You are deemed to be innocent, I trust the Lord will see to their recompense. But you... You... have you turned imbecile? All you do is sow the deadly seeds of doubt. Do you not see, when hunting witches, far better a hundred innocents die than a single solitary witch walks free? Yes! Now, sit you down. Consider your mistakes. Sit. [Chuckles] Cotton: Where are you going? There's no one left to burn at this hour. Increase: Watch your tongue, boy. You think you're too old to be whipped by your father, hmm? Huh? [Insects chirping] Isaac: You're too late. I thought you were going to save us. But maybe we just don't deserve saving. Increase: It's a pretty piece of paganism, I'll grant you. But not fit for public viewing. Mary: That is why it enlightens my bedroom, where only my nearest and dearest are allowed. Like you, my dear Increase. I can't tell you what it means to see you. How was London and the king's court? Increase: Corrupt, as always. The king has granted us a new charter, full claim on this chosen land of ours, and he promises a new governor in the spring, a man experienced in warfare, to help us purge and eradicate the heathen savages in our midst for now and forever. Mary: What a tremendous victory for you. For all of us. Increase: Indeed. When I set sail for home, I was full of elation. I could have sailed on my hopes alone. I should have known that the forces of evil would try to hinder me. Mary: Who? Agents of the French? Increase: Witches. Of course, they did all they could. They stilled the winds and trapped the ship. They spread disease and dissent all around. Many died. But they did not die in vain. Mary: Praise God you made it and landed safely on our shores to lighten our benighted town, like the sun returning after the darkest of nights. Increase: Mary Sibley, however dark the night, your eyes still shine so brightly. You know, I do believe my good friend George, for all his suffering, is the luckiest man in Salem. And speaking of my friend, I should like to see him. May I? Mary: He is particularly unwell. Thankfully, he's resting at present. Increase: Ah. Mary: You must return tomorrow. I'm sure the very sight of you will cheer him immensely, as it has me. Your presence in Salem can only be a tonic for all of us in these dark times. How long may we enjoy your curative presence in town? Increase: Why... Until every last Devil's whore of a witch in Salem is dead.
Our Own Private America