The Blue Opal (Chapter 1)

    “Please allow me to tell you a tale of bravery, magic and love so dear.  It all occurred at a time when magic was taboo and the people of the land were having trials left and right.”

          Ava and John moved back to Salem two weeks after they were married, so they could help her mother with the family farm.  They helped with the animals and the various vegetable and herbal gardens.  Ava started making the beautiful beadwork with her mother.  Ava, Anna and John all attended the community church with Reverend Samuel Parris.  Reverend Parris’ wife and his maid, Tituba were very nice and welcoming to both Ava and John, but they were especially kind to Ava.  Soon after the first service Ava was invited to the Reverend’s house by Mrs. Parris for a weekly meeting with the ladies of the town for an afternoon of quilting and tea. 
        The first couple of visits went without a catch.  Then the meetings started weighing on Ava, she would feel extremely drained to the point that she was afraid something might be in her tea.  The next time she went she didn’t drink hardly any of her tea and was even more drained than normal.  When Ava left the Reverend’s house, she was so drained that she had to stop twice to catch her breath.  When she finally arrived home, her mother was waiting in the kitchen for her with a cup of mint tea in hand. 
        The anxious feeling immediately lifted once Ava had had a couple of sips of tea.  Ava began talking with her with Anna about the feelings and explained that the feelings only occurred when she attended the lady’s meeting. 
“I almost feel like I am being poisoned, however I didn’t drink the tea today and I am worse than before. I don’t feel this way in church or when I see the ladies in town at the general store.  I can’t place my finger on it, but there is something not right there.”
         “My child I have visited the house and got a similar feeling.  Tituba was ill, so Mrs. Parris needed so help with the cooking and looking after the children; her husband’s niece had just arrived to live with them, plus her three older children and the baby.  I was checking on Tituba and had the sensation that I was being watched.  Tituba touched my arm and mumbled for me not to turn around.  Within a few minutes the feeling subsided.  Tituba touched my arm again and gently said that the niece of the Reverend had been ease dropping. 
Tituba ate her soup and then very quietly stated; “I just don’t trust the niece; she has only been here a couple of days and already the cat won’t eat, I have gotten sick and the Reverend is more demanding than normal.  It maybe nothing, but I think it is all linked to the niece.”