Epilogue

  With her husband dead and his baby on the way, Elizabeth Proctor felt hopelessness to the extreme. Her three sons were lost without the guidance of their father, stunned by the fact that he was killed for a reason so inane. Like any mother, she felt their pain, on top of her own. Elizabeth had loved him, John Proctor. Although John was a simple minded man and very ambiguous at times, she accepted all his faults.  Expectedly, everything that reminded her of John sent pangs of agony to her very soul. As she looked at their children, carbon copies of John, she felt her feelings collapse into one another forming an abyss of despair. Still, Elizabeth held her head high whenever in Salem. She would never let anyone know the sorrow she felt when John’s skeleton welcomed her into Salem. The town’s people expected her as the newly head of a prominent household to keep calm and carry on.

  Elizabeth’s facade finally cracked; a monumental moment for her personal character. The cold, grey, ghastly day that she was handed her husband’s noose was when she was done with it. Rage and anger bubbled up inside her, as if she was boiling her feelings. The community of Salem had meant the gesture to be one of grievance. They had no idea that it pushed her to the edge. Elizabeth however, knew she needed to get away. She knew that the environment she currently lived in would not be suitable to continue raising her children. She felt the twisted, uptight community would only become a choke hold on her children. With that in mind, she planned for a miracle.

 Her miracle came. In Salem, rumor had it that the Massachusett Indians had moved from Boston to an encampment not more than 5 miles away. Elizabeth had always been curious about the indigenous peoples of America, and their views and ways of life. She considered how she was going to get there and how she would deal with the “hostile nature” of the Indians. Being the headstrong woman she was, she decided to impulsively head out.

With her belongings and children packed up on her buggy, Elizabeth took one last look at her estate. She was soon going to be free from the madness-inducing town.  Her state of mind was light and cheerful, and she felt warm although it was mind numbingly cold outside. With compass in hand, she vanished for what she hoped to be forever without a goodbye.

  After a journey of many obstacles including blinding snow and icy roads enveloped in snow, Elizabeth and her children finally arrived at the Massachusett encampment. The natives were surprised to see a pregnant woman, by herself and accompanied by 3 children, roaming about in the wilderness. While they were exclaiming in astonishment, she was so relieved to see them that she forgot about the language barrier. Fortunately, there was already a colonist living amongst them named William. She explained her predicament to him, and then he let the tribe know what she had been through. After hearing her story, the tribe pitied her and let her and her family stay with him.

  After spending much time with William, Elizabeth realized that she was in love with William. After her fourth child was born, a beautiful baby girl, they were joined in marriage. Elizabeth, William, and the kids continued to stay with the Massachusett until she felt comfortable enough to return to Salem. Elizabeth journeyed back with her new family members, and took back her estate and the family’s influential position. They lived as happily as they could after.