During the historical fiction novel Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare, Having just lost her grandfather, Katherine “Kit” Tyler leaves her home in tropical Barbados on a ship (the Dolphin) bound for Connecticut. There she is determined to find her Aunt Rachel Wood, her only remaining family.
On the ship, she flirts occasionally with the mocking but otherwise good-natured captain’s son, Nat Eaton. She also causes a scene when she jumps overboard to rescue a young girl’s doll. The passengers – especially the girl’s mother, the nosy Goodwife Cruff – are suspicious of any woman who can swim. After the swimming incident, Kit's only companion on the boat is the Puritan John Holbrook, a studious man sailing to Wethersfield to study with…show more content… Kit is thrilled with this opportunity to earn her keep (and to get out of that darn onion patch). Everything is going well until one day Kit decides to have the children playact a skit from the Bible: the parable of the Good Samaritan. Unfortunately, this is the same day that the headmaster is coming to visit. The man is shocked by the liberties Kit takes with the Bible. (Puritans, famous for being stuffy, thought playacting was a huge no-no.) He dismisses the school, fires Kit, and threatens to suspend Mercy as well.
Upset, Kit runs to the Meadows – that place of peace and quiet – where she cries until she falls asleep. When she wakes she meets Hannah Tupper, witch of Blackbird Pond herself, who takes Kit into her house and gives her some delicious blueberry cake. Hannah is extremely kind, it turns out, and owns some very adorable cats. The two women become fast friends. Emboldened (that means that she gained courage) by her new friendship, Kit approaches the schoolmaster and asks him not to suspend Mercy. He agrees, and gives Kit her job back too. Kit and Mercy continue to teach at the school, but Kit is much more careful
