KatieBlane's 3 Letters to the Condemned

Katie Blane's 3 Letters to the Condemned

Liars, Thieves, Witches

1.

Letters from myself, Katie Blane, to Family, Friends, the Falsely Accused, our Watchers and Keepers; and the Liars, Thieves and Witches I've had the pleasure to know.

Ladies....

This is the last letter I’ll write before I die.

My execution takes place midnight. Im writing from my cell in M2nd. Or as it is officially known, Mills Secondary Training School for Girls. Don’t let the name mislead you, M2nd is a jail. Many girls in here have been falsely accused of Witchcraft, Heretical Contrivance, Patriarchal Abridgment and XX Hegemony. These laws are not written in any book they are simply names given to trumped up charges, town gossip and applied depending how popular or unpopular the accused is. All are aimed at women. Only witchcraft carries the death penalty.

There is no Mills Secondary Training School for Boys.

Most girls here have no idea what, Heretical Contrivance, Patriarchal Abridgment or XX Hegemony even mean. When they ask I tell them they’ve been too lively in pointing out a man's short comings. If a young lady speaks up in church that’s Heretical Contrivance, HC or Hcon. Criticize the mayor or some other minor power player and it’s, Patriarchal Abridgment, PA or PatAb. The Hegemony charge is simply a woman trying to take over where a man could do the job. A war nurse saved the life of a German POW while the surgeon stood by and watched. She caught a Hegemony charge and died in M2.

2

The Witchcraft girls, as I call them, don’t know enough about the Craft to be a proper Witch. They plead innocence to the authorities in attempting to avoid imprisonment and then, once inside, brag about their dark powers.

I have no need to employ dishonesty. I’m at the end of the line. No last minute reprieves, dramatic releases, sudden confessions or glorious conversions to a Christian faith.

I am a witch. I’m guilty of the things for which I’ve been accused. I’m a hard case. A dark star, the Devil’s daughter. I’ve practiced black magic since the age of seven. I have cast spells in the free world and right here in my prison cell. I’ve solved problems with magic, I’ve caused the elimination or disappearance of inconvenient souls, and those who think they got away with murder

I am wicked. I can spot wickedness in others. And there is a lot of it in Mills. The wicked will always prey on the wicked.

God knows who I am.

3

After they’ve hung me until I am dead and my bones housed in a shallow grave up round the hanging tree, I will not walk toward the light. I’ll not be allowed even one step in a heavenly direction. Instead, I will glimpse those righteous souls, my mother, sisters reaching out to help me up and I will cry, gag on my own tears, gnash teeth and experience that exquisite regret that will carry with me through the eternities. I know my lot, I'm aware the consequences of my choices. Before birth I was a righteous soul; lived with angels but made promises I never kept once born and traveled roads I never should have traveled. Now only one option remains: I'll Roam your streets, scare the hell out of your children and make you wish you’d never been born.

I’ll tear this prison down and bury the irredeemable bastards who built it in their own bloody steel and concrete.

Best Regards

Kattie Blane

Midnight

10/6/1935 - 11/8/1950