Samantha slapped Miss Brigham across the face, this time with actual menace. She threw Miss Brigham to the ground and continued slapping her and shouting, "How dare you! He killed them. He killed their parents and he tried to kill us. You stupid twit-"
Prudence pulled Samantha off and quickly stuffed the gag back into Miss Brigham's mouth. Samantha fought against Prudence for a moment, until the terror on Miss Brigham's face eased her rage. "I'm sorry to lose my temper like that."
"I'm sure he didn't kill your parents Samantha. They're still out there looking for you."
"No they aren't," Samantha said. She sat down at a table, burying her face in her hands. "They're dead."
Prudence joined her at the table, her lip twitching again as she fought against crying. "How could he do this? How could a man of God be so cold-blooded?"
"I don't know, but I think it's time we put a stop to it."
"Us? We can't. We're too little."
"Then you stay here and watch the children. I'll find out what he's been doing and stop him somehow." Samantha stood up and started towards the front door.
Prudence stopped her before she could open the door. "You can't do this alone. I'll go with you."
"It's nice of you to offer, but someone needs to stay here with the children. And I can do this better on my own."
"Rebecca can watch the children. Please, Samantha, I can't let you do this alone. You'll be killed."
"All right, you can come with me." They went back to the bedroom to tell Rebecca to watch the babies and under no circumstances to let Miss Brigham out of the dining room.
"Do you have to go?" Rebecca asked.
"I'm afraid so. The reverend has done some very bad things and someone needs to make him stop," Samantha said. She put an arm around Rebecca's shoulders. "You're a big girl now and I know you can handle this. I'm counting on you."
"I won't let you down," Rebecca said. Samantha hugged her one last time and then said goodbye to Wendell and the others. On her way out, she paused at Helena's bed, where the little girl still slept peacefully with her thumb in her mouth. Samantha hated to break her promise, but made a new one: no child in Eternity would ever wake up again wondering who she was or from where she came.