the kind, elderly Hannah Tupper, who was outlawed from the Massachusetts colony because she is a Quaker and does not attend church meetings, as well as being suspected of being a witch. With Hannah's support, Kit convinces Kimberly to give the school another chance. As fellow outcasts, Kit and Hannah develop a deep bond, and even after her uncle forbids Kit to continue the friendship, she keeps visiting Hannah. During one of her visits, Kit again meets the handsome Nathaniel (Nat) Eaton, son of the captain of the Dolphin. Without realizing it, she falls in love with him, and though he doesn't say so, Nat reciprocates. Unfortunately, Nat is banished from Wethersfield after setting lit jack-o-lanterns in the windows of William Ashby's unfinished home. Nat is threatened with 30 lashes if he returns to Wethersfield. Kit also begins secretly teaching Prudence to read and write; Goodwife Cruff claims the child is a half-wit and "stupid" and refuses to allow her to attend the dame school. When a deadly illness sweeps through Wethersfield, a mob gathers to kill Hannah by burning her house. Kit rushes to warn Hannah, and the two women escape to the river just as the Dolphin appears from the early morning mist. Kit flags it down. Nat takes Hannah aboard and invites Kit to come with them. She refuses, explaining that Mercy is gravely ill, though Nat believes Kit fears losing her engagement to William Ashby. After the Dolphin sails away, Kit returns home to find that Mercy's fever has broken. In the middle of the same night, the townspeople come for Kit; Goodwife Cruff's husband has accused her of being a witch. The next day, after a freezing night in the sheriff's shed, Kit is asked to explain the presence of her hornbook in Hannah's house and a copybook with Prudence's name written throughout, as the townspeople fear that she and Hannah were casting a spell over the girl. Kit refuses to reveal that Prudence wrote her own name, as Kit does not wish to cause the girl trouble with her parents. Just as Kit seems to be declared guilty, Nat appears with Prudence, who testifies that Kit was only giving her lessons. To demonstrate her literacy, Prudence reads a Bible passage and writes her name, thus convincing her father both that she is intelligent and that no witchcraft could be involved, as the devil would