In the spring of 1687, Katherine “Kit” Tyler arrives in Connecticut Colony. She’s from Barbados and has been traveling on a boat called the Dolphin for the past few weeks. Kit isn’t impressed with dreary Connecticut, but she keeps her thoughts to herself as she talks with Nat Eaton, the ship captain’s son. The ship’s first stop is Saybrook, where four new passengers board: Goodman Cruff, his wife Goodwife Cruff, their daughter Prudence, and John Holbrook. When Prudence accidentally drops a doll overboard, Kit jumps into the water to retrieve it. When she returns to the boat, everyone is upset—according to local superstitions, women who float are thought to be witches.
The next stop is Wethersfield, Kit’s destination. During the long journey, Kit and John get to know each other: John plans to study medicine and theology under Reverend Bulkeley, who preaches in Wethersfield, while Kit has come to Connecticut to live with her Aunt Rachel and Uncle Matthew Wood. She had previously lived with her grandfather, but he recently passed away.
When Kit arrives in Wethersfield, Aunt Rachel is overjoyed to meet her sister Margaret’s daughter. She introduces Kit to Matthew and their daughters, Judith and Mercy. Matthew isn’t welcoming, especially after Kit informs them that she intends to stay because she has nowhere else to go. Kit offers to help with the family’s chores, which she quickly regrets—work is difficult and tedious.
On Sabbath morning, Matthew forces Kit to accompany the family to the Puritan weekly service, called Meeting. Kit finds Meeting boring. After the service, she spots Goodwife Cruff glaring at her and gossiping with other hostile-looking women. Kit also meets a wealthy young man named William Ashby, who is immediately captivated by her.
Later that week, the Woods host Reverend Bulkeley and John Holbrook for dinner. The mood turns hostile when the men discuss politics: Reverend Bulkeley is a royalist, whereas Matthew resents King James of England’s efforts to control the colonies by appointing Sir Edmund Andros as Royal Governor of the colonies. After the Reverend and John leave, Matthew informs the family that William Ashby wants to call on Kit. Later, Judith tells Mercy and Kit that she wants to marry John. William courts Kit, who finds their meetings awkward because they have nothing to talk about. Nevertheless, Kit feels inclined to marry William because he won’t expect her to work.
One summer morning, Judith and Kit go to the Great Meadows to do some weeding, and Kit is immediately enchanted by the beautiful meadows. There is one house in the Meadows, which belongs to an elderly Quaker widow named Hannah Tupper, whom the townspeople say is a witch.
Meanwhile, Kit begins to help Mercy teach young children how to read and write. One day, Kit encourages the kids to act out a Bible story, which offends Mr. Eleazer Kimberley (the school master) to the point that he cancels school on the spot. In tears, Kit runs to the Great Meadows, where she meets Hannah. Although Kit is apprehensive at first, she accepts Hannah’s invitation to her house, where Hannah comforts her and gives her advice. Afterwards, Kit visits Mr. Kimberley and convinces him to let her and Mercy teach again.
Rachel and Mercy are worried when Kit tells them that she has befriended Hannah—they don’t think it’s a good idea to befriend Quakers. But Kit continues to visit Hannah, and on one visit, she discovers that Nat is also friends with Hannah. Meanwhile, after discovering that Goodwife Cruff has forbidden Prudence from talking with Kit, Kit invites Prudence to do secret reading lessons with her. She later introduces Prudence to Hannah, and the two become friends.
William continues to visit Kit, but she still finds their meetings boring. John has also been visiting the family frequently, so the whole family assumes he is courting Judith. But Kit finds it a strange match and realizes that Mercy is secretly in love with John. She is certain that Mercy is a better partner for John than Judith is.
One August day, Kit stops by Hannah’s to find Nat already there, and she helps him complete chores for Hannah. As they work and chat, Kit feels happy and at peace. That evening, Matthew finds out that Kit has been visiting Hannah and forbids her from seeing the widow again. But Kit doesn’t stop visiting Hannah. When walking back from Hannah’s one evening, Kit crosses paths with John, who tells her that he is in love with Mercy. Overjoyed, Kit encourages him to confess his feelings that night. But when they arrive at the Woods’ house, there’s a miscommunication: the whole family thinks that John is asking Matthew’s permission to marry Judith, not Mercy. Matthew gives his blessing to John, who is stunned into silence. Later, William tells Kit that he wants to get married soon. Panicked, Kit asks him for more time.
In October, Nat arrives again in town to trade. This time, he isn’t friendly with Kit—he has just heard that she is engaged to William. Later that same day, Matthew informs the family that Governor Andros is coming to Connecticut tomorrow to collect the state’s charter. But the next night, William visits the Woods’ house to informs Matthew that in the middle of the meeting with Governor Andros, the colonists managed to hide the charter. Although the Governor doesn’t need the charter—he already has governing power—the colonists are pleased to hold onto it, so that they may be able to use it again one day. Shortly after, the family hears that John is leaving Wethersfield to join the militia in the north, leaving Judith heartbroken.
Around this time, an unknown sickness sweeps Wethersfield. Mercy gets especially sick. One night, a mob shows up at the Woods’ house to ask Matthew to join them in running Hannah out of town—they think that she is using witchcraft to cause the illness. He refuses to join. Panicked, Kit sneaks out of the house and runs to Hannah, whom she helps hide as the mob burns her house. Thankfully, the Dolphin is still in town, so Kit secures Nat’s help in sneaking Hannah out of Wethersfield. Nat invites Kit to come with him—he could bring her back to Barbados. Kit is tempted, but she wants to stay until she knows Mercy is well again. Thankfully, Mercy begins to recover that very night.
But the next day, a constable arrives at the Woods’ house to arrest Kit—the Cruffs are accusing her of witchcraft. The following morning, Kit undergoes a public examination performed by the magistrate, Captain Talcott. Talcott informs her that she is accused of witchcraft because she’s friends with Hannah. Additionally, in Hannah’s house, the mob found a book with Prudence’s name written in it—they think that Kit was cursing Prudence. The book was what Kit and Prudence used for Prudence’s writing lessons, but Kit says nothing, worried that Prudence will get in trouble. Suddenly, Prudence arrives in the courtroom with Nat. She testifies, informing the magistrate that Kit was actually teaching Prudence how to read and write. Prudence reads aloud from the Bible and writes her name, proving her point. Feeling grateful for Nat and Prudence, Kit is let go.
Shortly after her trial, Kit tells William that they aren’t a good match—they aren’t interested in the same things. After the family hears that Native Americans captured John, Judith mourns his loss, but quickly begins to show interest in William, and the two make plans to get married. When John unexpectedly returns, he announces his intention to marry Mercy. Kit, meanwhile, suddenly realizes that she is in love with Nat. In the spring of 1688, Nat arrives in Wethersfield in a new boat. It’s his own ship, and he hopes it will impress Matthew, because Nat wants to marry Kit.
