Prudence heard someone screaming. She realized from the soreness of her throat that it had been her. She opened her eyes but there wasn't much to see except the muddy sides of the pit she'd fallen into.
For once, though, she was glad to see her enormous stomach. That at least confirmed she hadn't shrunk into a baby like in her nightmare. No, it hadn't been a nightmare; it had been a memory. Samantha had told her about the markings on the chamber wall. Prudence had carved them long ago, one of the first times she'd been a little girl.
She began to cry as she thought of the rest of the dream. For so many years she had believed in Reverend Crane. She had believed in The Way. She had followed his rules so she could someday get into Heaven and be happy. But he'd never had any intention of her getting to Heaven or being happy. He had kept her as a slave, first by locking her up and then by using the fountain water to make her a baby, one who would grow into a little girl loyal to the reverend. From what Samantha had found in the reverend's cabin, he had done this numerous times over the last three centuries. Every time Prudence or some of the other children began to question the reverend, he turned them back into babies for Miss Brigham to raise. And if Miss Brigham got out of line, he would turn her into a scatterbrained teenager who pined for him. Along with Mr. Pryde and his dogs, it had made for a perfect system of control.
And she had been so stupid as to fall for the lies again and again. As if that weren't bad enough, now she had fallen into this pit. She began to understand why a girl like Samantha didn't want to be friends with her anymore. Samantha was so much stronger and smarter than her, than really anyone else on the island, including Miss Brigham. She had seen through Reverend Crane's lies and eventually she had destroyed him. All Prudence had done was to pull Samantha out when the reverend had tried to pull her in too.
About all Prudence could do right was sew. That wouldn't help her down here, where she didn't have a needle or thread. All she had down here was mud and the bones of some other poor child who had ended up here. In time she would be just another skeleton in the pit should someone else happen to fall in.
It didn't seem fair for things to end this way for her. She had always trusted in God, always believed in the Bible. She had tried so hard to be a good girl and not repay the cruelty of others in kind. Not until last night.