The Evil Inside

Epilogue

They let Jenna out on Halloween morning.

She was delighted, but while the city was going crazy with talk and newspaper articles and the news on television, the last thing any of them wanted to do was join in the crowd.

Still, Jenna wasn’t ready to leave Salem. She and Sam spent the night at Jamie’s house, dispensing candy during the early hours, and just enjoying each other’s company the night through.

The next day, Sam was the one who wanted to get an appointment to see the Rebecca Nurse homestead.

They arrived right at dusk, and he headed straight to the graveyard with Jenna at his side.

At first they saw nothing.

And then they saw her as the mist fell with the coming twilight. She said nothing; she smiled at them and vanished into the fog. Sam knelt by her memorial marker and placed a spray of daisies there.

“Thank you,” he said softly.

He rose then, and took Jenna’s hand.

“Virginia, eh? So I get to meet Jake?”

“And his fiancée, Ashley. And Whitney and her new husband. And-”

“Adam Harrison?” he asked.

“Of course.”

“And I get to wake up every morning with you?” he asked softly.

“Yes. Well, every morning unless we’re on a case. Sometimes-”

“Sometimes, I’ll be on a case!” he reminded her.

“Yes, but you know-”

“Shut up while we’re both ahead. Kiss me,” he said. She did.

And while she kissed him, she thought she saw a number of the ghosts of Salem and Salem Village swirling vaguely in the mist. Looking on.

Smiling.

In my quest for regional food and drink, I asked my Massachusetts friends and family what they considered to be the Massachusetts traditional choice for imbibing. They all looked at me strangely and said, “Well, Sam Adams beer, of course!”

So…beer drinkers, there you have it. Sam Adams!

But long ago, another drink was quite popular, and is becoming so again: a good rum punch. This was begun by the hearty seafarers who came to the New England shores, fishermen, whalers, pirates and more. There are many variations, of course, but rum was the drink of the New World, and it was allotted to seamen. To stretch it out, improve taste and perhaps keep from falling overboard, seamen began to add things to rum. Sugar, because sugar is sweet. Fruit, because fruit is sweet-and keeps those at sea clear of the dreaded scourge of scurvy!