PROLOGUE
Do you want to read more? Get Salem Burning by Daniel Sugar
ISLE OF SKYE, SCOTLAND. 1550
The late-afternoon sun was slipping away and storm clouds and darkness were rapidly approaching as the happy eight-year-old girl carrying a straw basket filled with freshly-cut roses ran towards Delaney Castle.
Suddenly out of breath, Sarah Delaney stopped, sat down on the soft green grass and looked at her home. Delaney Castle was truly beautiful. Its stone walls and turrets so white they almost shimmered in the rapidly setting sun. It was hard to believe that a magnificent castle perched on top of a hill was actually her home. Hers! How lucky she was to live there and how blessed she was to have such wonderful parents. Parents who loved her so much they were making a magnificent birthday party for her that very evening. Overcome with happiness, Sarah could not help herself and as she stood up and ran into the castle she started to sing. “The birth day is the loveliest day. The birth day is filled with charm.”
Sarah’s beautiful, dark-haired mother, Evelyn Delaney, was clad in a breathtaking saffron gown and she was waiting for her daughter as Sarah ran into the castle.
Evelyn smiled, lifted a rose from Sarah’s straw basket and inhaled the flower’s scent. “Come along, Sarah. Everyone wants to see the birthday girl.”
Sarah kissed her mother on the cheek and said, “I am ready, mother.”
Sarah took her mother’s hand and together they walked into an enormous dining hall which was filled with relatives and friends who began to clap and cheer the moment Sarah entered the room.
Sarah scanned the room. The crowd was thick. There were so many people, too many people – but she only wanted one of them. Yet she could not find him. It was so frustrating. Where was he? Where was he? Suddenly she spotted him – her tall, handsome, blond father, Patrick Delaney, (clad in his finest tartan kilt and a velvet jacket). Sarah rushed into her father’s arms and he laughed and tossed her playfully into the air as Sarah squealed with delight. “Now we eat!” Patrick yelled. “Now we sing and dance as we let it be known to all that eight years ago, on the first of June, fifteen hundred and forty-two, my daughter, this young beauty named Sarah Delaney, was born in Scotland!”
Salem Burning Description:
In 1692, a disreputable young man named Kyle Edwards breaks his engagement by accusing his fiancee, Lilly Parris, of witchcraft.
Kyle is a liar, he does not believe in witchcraft, he is simply trying to get rid of Lilly.
But Kyle is in for a shock because, as it turns out, Lilly really is a witch.
“Salem Burning” is a fast-paced, brand-new take on the Salem witch trials.
