"I'm…fine," he said.
"Is he safe?" Prudence asked.
"Yes, he's safe. Thanks to you."
"That's good. Now you two can go. You can't lift me out of here."
"I'm not going to leave you, Prudence."
"You have to! I don't want you falling in here too."
"I won't fall in there."
"Samantha, please, just go. I'm not worth it."
"You are too! Why are you always criticizing yourself?"
"Because I'm worthless! I'm fat and weak and cowardly-"
"No you're not! Well, you are fat, but you're not weak and you're not a coward. Would a coward have gone out at night to look for me?"
"I don't know."
"You're a lot braver than you think, Prudence. You helped me stand up to Reverend Crane, remember? I'd be dead right now if it weren't for you."
"I just pulled you out. Anyone could have done it."
"But not everyone believed me about him. When he was poisoning the others, you were one of the only ones who believed me."
"I guess."
"Can you two save this for later?" Wendell cut in. "Stupid girls, always sitting around bawling when there's work to be done."
"Shut up!" Samantha snapped.
"This is between us," Prudence added.
Wendell held up his hands in supplication. "I'm only saying instead of sitting around here crying, we should be getting Prudence out."
"How? The stick won't reach."
"It's simple: get a new stick. Me."
"What?"
"You hold on to my feet and dangle me in the hole. Prudence takes my hands and then I'll pull her up while you pull me up."
"That could work," Samantha said.
"Or we could all end up in the hole," Prudence said. "Just go, Samantha. You can go back to the village and get a rope and then come back for me."
Samantha considered this, but then remembered how hard it had been to find the hole in the first place. "I might not find you again for days. By then you could be dead."
"I'm not going to starve."
"No. We'll try Wendell's idea. If I can feel it's not working, then we'll stop and go back to town. All right?"
"Fine with me," Wendell said.
"All right, here we go."
They did as Wendell suggested. He got down on his stomach by the hole and then Samantha took him by the calves. He crawled forward until he was dangling in the pit. Samantha kept lowering him until he called for her to stop. "Grab on, Prudence."
"This won't work," she said.
"It will work. Now hurry up. I'm getting lightheaded." A few moments later, Samantha heard him say, "I got her. Pull!"