"Stop it, please! Leave me alone!" Helena shouted. When Reverend Crane stopped after five lashes Samantha thought he might be finished. Instead, he waited for Pryde to gag Helena and then continued carrying out the sentence. Samantha managed to turn her head enough to look into Helena's eyes and see the terror in them as the whip stung her again and again. Tears flowed openly down Helena's face, bringing a wave of grief crashing down upon Samantha for having caused this.

Helena received fifteen lashes in all. She passed out after the thirteenth one, her unconscious body recoiling the final two times as if she had been stabbed with a hot poker. Reverend Crane put a hand to her forehead, brushing hair from her face. "Sleep, my child. May Almighty God share his wisdom with you in your dreams," he said.

When it came time for John's turn, the reverend handed the whip to Pryde. Samantha couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw a smile cross the man's lips. The reverend gagged John before the first lash. When it came, the whip ripped into John's back with a fury that caused fresh pain to lance through Samantha's wounds.

Pryde used the whip with such brutal efficiency Samantha thought he might stay at it all day. John did not last half as long as Helena, passing out on the fifth lash. This didn't bother Pryde. The reverend finally grabbed Pryde's hand after twenty lashes, taking back the whip. "It is finished," the reverend announced. "Now my children, return to the dormitories and prepare yourselves for bed. There will be no dinner."

"What about them?" Prudence asked, her voice trembling.

"You may take them with you. They have received enough punishment for one day." Reverend Crane started across the town square, then paused and stooped before Samantha. "Miss Brigham has purchased your freedom this day, but any further disruptions and you will share her fate." He turned his back before Samantha could reply.

When her bonds came loose, Samantha pitched backwards only to fall into the arms of Prudence. "Leave me," Samantha said. "Let me stay here."

"Mr. Pryde's dogs would tear you apart."

"That's what I deserve."

"You don't mean that. We must get you in bed to rest. In the morning you'll feel better." Samantha didn't have the strength to put up a fight. She let Prudence walk her through the town square and into the dormitory. Phyllis dragged Helena while two boys carried John between them. Pryde watched the scene from the church steps, a satisfied grin on his face.

In the girl's dormitory, Samantha found her bed torn apart as if by Pryde's animals. A group of older girls stood nearby, straw from the pallet clinging to their dresses. "What is the meaning of this?" Prudence asked.




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