"John, you can't do this," Prudence said. "I know you loved Helena. She was your wife. Do you remember?"
"I didn't love her. She was just a stupid girl," he said.
"You two were married by Reverend Crane on a June afternoon. It rained so much that we had to move the wedding into your father's barn."
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said. "You're trying to stall for time. It won't work."
"You two rented a room from Mr. Mathers in town. You stayed there for a year until you left for this place because you wanted to start a new life. That's why we all came here," Prudence said. "We all wanted to find a land where we could live in peace to raise our families. A dream brought us here. A dream that we could find a new country not ruled by the fear and corruption of our homeland."
The match wavered in John's hand. Behind him, the other children were similarly confused. "It's working," Wendell said.
"Don't you see," Prudence said. "We didn't come here as children. One man's evil vision made us this way. He enslaved us for over three hundred years through his lies. He took away our memories. He took away ourselves. But if we look within our hearts, we can find ourselves again. We can once again be those adults who came here in pursuit of a dream and we can make that dream a reality."
One at a time, the children dropped to the ground, clutching their heads. The match fell from John's trembling finger to ignite the hair and wood beneath Prudence's feet. As the children moaned and rolled around on the ground, the fire grew more intense. "Someone help me!" Prudence called, flames singeing the soles of her shoes and hem of her dress. She thrashed against her bonds, but they held fast.
Prudence screamed with pain while Wendell and Molly joined her cries for help. No one responded. Then, as Prudence's feet began to blister, someone dumped a bucket of water over the fire. Joseph cut her down from the pole and set her on the ground. He did the same for Wendell, who rushed to Prudence's side. She whimpered as he yanked the shoes off her feet. "Oh my God," he said.
"Is it bad?" she asked.
"No, of course not," he said, but his grim look told her this was a lie. "You'll be fine." He kissed her and then picked her up in his arms, carrying her into the girl's dormitory as if she weighed nothing at all.
He set her down on her bed and then kissed her on the forehead. "I'll be back in a minute," he said. "I just have to get some water."