The Witch Of Blackbird Pond

One day, Kit and Judith are sent out to weed a patch of onions near the Meadows, which is an open grassland on the outskirts of town. Kit is overwhelmed by the beauty of the spot: “From that first moment, in a way she could never explain, the Meadows claimed her and made her their own […] Was it the sense of freedom and space and light that spoke to her of home?” (76). While there, she notices a cottage in the distance. Judith says that an old witch named Hannah Tupper lives there, and everybody avoids the spot.

Later at home, Mercy informs Kit that the local schoolmaster has chosen the two to operate a dame school during the summer months. This is a place where little children can come to learn to read and write. Both girls are elated because they will be paid wages and can contribute to the family income.

Mercy and Kit successfully run their classes through the summer, but Kit finds the lessons to be boring. As a result, she invents word games to teach the children to read. One day, she has the class act out a Bible story, but their antics draw the wrath of the schoolmaster, Mr. Kimberley, who has come to inspect the operation. He dismisses Kit on the spot and suspends the school pending a decision on Mercy’s future employment.

Kit is so distraught at the trouble she has caused for Mercy that she runs to the Meadows in tears. She remains in the open field sobbing until she realizes that someone nearby is watching her: “Only a few feet away a woman was sitting watching her, a very old woman with short-cropped white hair and faded, almost colorless eyes set deep in an incredibly wrinkled face” (91).

The woman introduces herself as Hannah Tupper and invites the girl to come to her hut for a bite to eat. Hannah lives a pleasant life with her big yellow cat in a cottage that Kit finds to be a comforting space. While there, Kit pours out her woes to Hannah. By the end of their conversation, the girl is so heartened that she marches back to Mr. Kimberley and convinces him to reopen the school.

The women in Kit’s family are scandalized that she has visited Hannah and try to persuade her to stop. She refuses, and her visits become more frequent. During one trip to the hut, she encounters Nat and learns that he is a good friend to the old woman, bringing her gifts and repairing her cottage when it needs work. Nat explains that Hannah and her husband were Quakers who were ostracized in Massachusetts. They were branded on the forehead and flogged out of the community. Afterward, they wandered until they found a home near the Meadows. Hannah has been a widow for many years, shunned by the people of Wethersfield. 

By midsummer, Mercy and Kit are back in business as schoolteachers, and Kit has managed to stick to conventional lesson plans. After class one day, Kit finds little Prudence Cruff standing outside her house. Prudence’s mother has forbidden her to go to school because she believes the child is too stupid to learn, so Kit arranges to teach her in secret. Kit finds an expensive hornbook among her Barbados possessions and uses it to help Prudence read. Since the girl can’t take the hornbook home, Kit leads the child to Hannah’s cottage. The old woman promises to keep the book safe and invites Prudence to return whenever she likes.

Back at the Wood residence, the family members entertain themselves during the long summer evenings by having John read to them. William has become an ever-present fixture, too. Over the course of every visit, William describes the progress on his house in painstaking detail. The talk bores Kit, but Judith is fascinated and offers many suggestions that please William. One night, as John is reading, Kit catches a glimpse of Mercy’s face and realizes that her other cousin is in love with the young cleric, too.

On a rare afternoon off from harvesting the late summer crops, Kit visits Hannah. She finds Nat already there, chopping wood and planning to rethatch the old woman’s roof. Kit agrees to help with the time-consuming project. When they finish, Kit and Nat relax on the roof and enjoy the view. Nat makes her feel at home: “This is the way I used to feel in Barbados, Kit thought with surprise. Light as air somehow. Here I’ve been working like a slave […] but I feel as though nothing mattered except just to be alive right at this moment” (126-127).

While on the roof, the two have a conversation about books. Both Kit and Nat deplore the dreary religious texts of the Puritans, and they discover a shared liking for Shakespeare’s plays, especially The Tempest. As evening falls, Nat accompanies Kit back home. Her entire family is sitting outside, and Matthew glowers at her late arrival. William also seems put out by her absence. Nat explains that Kit was helping him fix Hannah’s roof. After Nat leaves, Matthew forbids her to visit Hannah ever again.