Mary Newbury is the main character and the narrator who tells her story through her journal. She is a fourteen-year-old witch and she is very brave and headstrong. After Mary's grandmother is hanged as a witch, Mary is spirited away by a noblewoman, her long-lost mother, who sends her to America to escape persecution. On the ship across the sea, Mary befriends Martha, Jonah and the Riverses, constantly fearing her true nature will be revealed whenever witches are mentioned which occurs whenever things go badly. Once they reach Salem, they continue on to Beulah, the settlement in the wilderness that has been built by the preceding congregation. Mary lives with Martha, Jonah and Tobias, while the Riverses build a home next to them. She spends a lot of time in the forest helping Jonah, an apothecary, learn the healing properties of local plants. Mary soon meets and befriends Jaybird, an Indian who teaches her about the land.
