The reverend returned with a glass bottle of a white, shimmering liquid. "This may sting a bit, but you will feel much better," he said. Samantha bit down on her lip as the reverend dabbed a rag with the liquid and applied it to both her arms. As promised, her arms stung for a few moments, tears escaping her eyes despite her best efforts. "Would you like some dinner?"

She nodded and followed him down an empty hallway to the kitchen. He motioned for her to sit on one of the stools set around a wooden table while he opened a cabinet to prepare their meal. The kitchen was no grander than the sitting room with only a hearth and the cabinet.

Before her, he set a plate with a single roasted potato, a thin slice of beef, and another crust of Phyllis's tasteless bread along with a cup of water. He served himself the same and sat across the table from her. He said a brief prayer thanking God for their meager dinner and then sliced off a strip of beef with his knife.

"I am sorry about being so severe with you during services this morning. I did it not for you, but for the others. They need to know who is in charge."

"Why?"

"Otherwise they would become lax and our community would plunge into chaos."

Samantha stabbed at her food with her knife, but didn't feel like eating anything. "I don't know what's wrong with being able to play games or tell jokes or sing songs," she said.

"Frivolity is how the devil convinces us to neglect our responsibilities."

"There's nothing evil about playing, singing, or reading."

"Not by themselves, no. It is the purpose behind them that is evil." Reverend Crane set down his knife and folded his fingers into a tent. "We face many difficulties in Eternity. We are few in number and beset by evil on all sides. If we let our guard down for a moment, it will mean our doom."

He stood up and came around the table to put a hand on her shoulder. "I sensed from the moment Mr. Pryde found you that you were different, Samantha. You're stronger than the others, here." He tapped her chest. "It is a tremendous gift from God if you find a way to properly harness it."

"How?"

"Everyone here performs the task best suited to them. You need only to find the task best suited to you."

"I can't do anything right," she said. "Everything I've done today has gone wrong."

Reverend Crane rubbed his chin as he pondered something. "Miss Brigham told me she caught you reading today."




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