She dropped the dented pot and then grabbed another to take with her. With her other hand she took hold of Prudence and dragged her friend down the passage. "Where are we going?" Prudence asked.
"That dog got in here somehow and I doubt it was by diving in the river. So there has to be a way out of here. We have to find it before more of them show up."
But the rest of Pryde's dogs waited for them near the entrance to the passage. Three sets of yellow eyes glared at them and three mouths snarled in unison. Prudence screamed, the sound freezing the dogs for a moment. Then they spread out to encircle the girls.
"What do we do?" Prudence asked. She positioned herself behind Samantha, her fingernails digging into Samantha's neck.
"I'll hold them off, you try to get to the river."
"The river?"
"The current will get you out of here. Try to get to shore as soon as you can and run. I'll follow you."
"You'll be killed!"
"Do as I say, please," Samantha pleaded. "When I tell you, run as fast as you can to the river."
The dogs formed a triangle around the girls to prevent them from escaping. Samantha hoisted the pot to shoulder-level, the calm she felt when picking the lock flooding back to her. "Go!" she shouted at the same time she swung the pot in an arc.
The dogs backed off for the moment Prudence needed to break away from Samantha and run towards the river. Samantha heard a splash and then found herself alone with Pryde's dogs. They closed in, preparing to make the kill.
Instead of swinging the pot again, Samantha threw it as hard as she could at the dog in front of her. The pot missed, bouncing across the ground, but the sound of it distracted the dogs long enough for her to dash towards the river after Prudence. She had nearly reached the bank when her foot caught a rock and she tumbled forward, landing on her back.
When she tried to stand, her left ankle throbbed with pain. "No," Samantha moaned. "Not now." She fell to her knees and started to crawl towards the river. Behind her, she heard the dogs approaching, savoring their next meal.
She rolled over to sit against a boulder near the shore and waited for the dogs to close on her. She felt the area around her until she came up with the rocks she'd used to light the torch with earlier. She cupped one in each hand, preparing for her last stand. The dogs growled and snapped at each other to determine which went first, the one in center winning the honor.