New Hampshire · Chapter
I: The Witch of Coös explained
A mother and son, two old-believers, recount the story of a skeleton that emerged from the cellar of their farmhouse forty years ago.
What happens
A mother and son, two old-believers, recount the story of a skeleton that emerged from the cellar of their farmhouse forty years ago. The mother describes how she confronted the bones, struck off a hand, and with her husband Toffile trapped the skeleton in the attic. The son reveals that the bones belonged to a man his father killed for the mother, a secret they have kept until now.
Themes in this chapter
Isolation and Community
The mother and son live in a remote farmhouse behind a mountain, isolated from the outside world, and the secret of the bones binds them together.
Mortality and Loss
The skeleton represents death and the unresolved past; the mother's confession reveals a murder and the haunting consequences.
Perception and Truth
The mother's narrative blurs the line between supernatural belief and reality, culminating in the revelation of a long-hidden truth.
Characters to notice
- Mother
The narrator and protagonist of the story; she recounts the haunting and confesses the secret of the bones.
- Son
The mother's son, who prompts her to tell the story and reveals the family secret.
- Toffile
The mother's deceased husband; he helped trap the skeleton in the attic and was involved in the murder.
Key passages
“Folks think a witch who has familiar spirits / She could call up to pass a winter evening, / But won’t, should be burned at the stake or something.”
People believe a witch who can summon spirits but refuses to do so deserves to be executed.
The mother defends her refusal to perform séances, challenging societal expectations of witchcraft.
“The only fault my husband found with me— / I went to sleep before I went to bed, / Especially in winter when the bed / Might just as well be ice and the clothes snow.”
My husband's only complaint was that I fell asleep before getting into bed, especially in winter when the bed was freezing.
The mother explains her habit of falling asleep prematurely, which led to her being alone when the skeleton appeared.
“They were a man’s his father killed for me. / I mean a man he killed instead of me. / The least I could do was to help dig their grave.”
The bones belonged to a man that Toffile killed for me—or rather, a man he killed in my place. The least I could do was help bury him.
The mother finally confesses the truth: the skeleton is the remains of a man murdered by her husband, and she helped bury it in the cellar.