The First Witch of Boston

by Andrea Catalano

But when people cannot understand something, when they can’t make sense of a thing, they always become fearful. People fear what they do not understand, you see?”

“My friend Maggie,” she declared in a low voice made raspy by anger and sadness, “dared to be a woman with a profession, a talent, and a sharp tongue. Heaven forbid such a thing, in a woman.” And she spat upon the ground.