"Thanks. I hope she does too." Wendell climbed down from the truck and then hurried up to the front doors of the hospital. He jumped back in surprise when the doors opened on their own. The truck pulled away, leaving Wendell to wonder what to do now that he had reached town.
Where would that brute have taken Samantha? Wendell leaned against the front wall of the hospital as he pondered the question. What did Joseph Pryde want with Samantha? To own her, Wendell thought. He wanted to keep her in his power in the same way Reverend Crane had kept the children of Eternity slaves for almost four hundred years.
Given all this, it seemed logical he would want to get her as far away from Seabrooke as possible. The automobile could accomplish this, but the automobile belonged to his father. The police could trace the vehicle and stop him. He would want to find an alternate means of transportation. Wendell looked down the road, which ended at the sea. A boat, he thought. He'll try to get a boat.
Wendell set out towards the waterfront, doubt creeping in with each step. What hope did he have of finding them? They had such a head start on him that by now they could be a hundred miles away. They had an automobile or possibly a boat by now while he had only his feet. The odds of his finding them were a billion to one and even steeper that he could stop them.
He crossed the main street, looking both ways in case they had been foolish enough to park their car in plain sight. No such luck. He kept going, up a hill to a rectangular brick building larger than any other in town. A sign out front told him this was Seabrooke High School.
To his astonishment, he saw Mr. Pryde's automobile in the parking lot. They were here! He broke into a run towards the car, wondering how long they'd been here. The engine of the automobile felt warm to his touch, which meant they couldn't have left too long ago.
On the ground nearby he found two pairs of tracks, the smaller, heavier ones belonging to Joseph and the longer, fainter ones to Samantha. The tracks led towards a snow-covered field. He followed the tracks until they broke off towards rows of benches. Then he heard their voices.
Wendell inched closer until he could make out their words clearly. What he heard turned his entire body as cold as the snow he stood in. He couldn't believe the madness of this brute, nor that Samantha would go along with it. What had he done to her that would allow her to even consider this?