The Beldam
Old Jill’s medicinal herbs cured many ailments Doctor Hale couldn’t. He accused her of witchcraft. One Sunday Hale dropped dead in the meeting house. Goodie Hagar maintained she had seen Jill the day before, pointing her finger at him and muttering. Hagar was a malicious gossip, but the town believed her. Men with torches surrounded Jill’s cottage, intending to burn her alive. But an eerie screech came from the sky. Jill was riding off on a broomstick with her cat Mog on her shoulder. Doctor Hale had been right about her. The plague erupted next day and killed everybody.