Middlelogue
Word spread throughout the town like wildfire about the circumstances of that dark moonless night. Gossip and speculation gave
way over time to even wilder stories and tales that eventually grew to be part of local legend. But it was only the intimates
involved that really knew the true story of what happened that fateful night, and after the first few traumatic weeks they never
spoke about it again, even amongst themselves. Jonas and Thomas Radcliffe tried to pick up the threads of their lives and their
youngest brother was never far from their thoughts or hearts. A few months after his brother�s death, Thomas asked for the hand
of Abigail Harte. Their shared nightmare had brought the couple together and they had found themselves falling in love as they
comforted each other. Marriage to Abigail went a long way to filling the vast gap Kenneth�s death had left in Thomas�s life.
Although talk in the neighbourhood taverns and the market place abounded as people tried to guess and piece together speculation
and theory as to what had actually happened, the unmarked grave that rested uneasily on the Herrick land would always give rise
to local gossip.
The locals gave the property a wide berth because of its malevolent reputation and the Herrick house eventually fell into disrepair
and ruin, it�s forlorn aura adding to the mystery. But over the passing years, an eerie atmosphere clung to the place and tales of
the prince of darkness were whispered about in the shadows of the local taverns, and many a child suffered nightmares about the
accursed Herrick place. Superstition and old wife�s tales eventually became local folklore woven into the fabric of the town�s
history.
Cryus Herrick was neither mourned nor greatly missed by the local people, while the loss of Kenneth Radcliffe to the community
was cause for great sorrow. But the Radcliffe�s brother�s combined efforts in bringing Herrick to book for his sins by freeing the
locals from his oppressive fire and brimstone preaching that turned out to be a cover for his evil persuasions gained them hero
status. This hero worship sat uneasily on their shoulders. And eventually both surviving Radcliffe�s and their families left Salem for
greener pastures, where the memories of the past could be left behind and a new future beckoned.
But the soul in that now overgrown, neglected bramble-hidden grave did not rest easy. Hatred is a powerful force and in the
passing centuries it brooded and festered like a pus ridden gangrenous sore. Like storm clouds gathering on the far distant horizon
the malice was growing in force and power, the day of the promised reckoning was not too soon away.
Chapter 4
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