When You Were Young

She lies there for a long time after he disappears into the brush. A whore, she thinks. She's heard Mother use the word before when she thought Prudence wasn't listening to describe Mr. Baker's niece. "To think that whore is only twelve and already giving birth to her first child," Mother had said. That's what I am now, Prudence thinks.

No one can ever know. She crawls over to the edge of the creek, looking into the water. Her hair is mussed and dirty and there's a red mark where he slapped her. She does what she can to tidy herself up and then gets to her feet. The pain between her legs is so intense that she whimpers with each step. No one must know what I am, she thinks, forcing herself to go on.

Mother knocks on her door later. "Prudence, it's time for supper. Are you feeling better?"

Prudence raises her head from the pillow and emerges from the bedroom. Mother touches her forehead. "You don't have a fever. Come on and eat something. You'll feel better."

At the table, Prudence eats and eats without ever getting full while Daddy and Mother discuss what became of Bradley. "Have you seen him at all today, honey?" Daddy asks. Prudence shakes her head and then shovels a spoonful of potatoes into her mouth. "The boy must have decided to go out on his own. I wish he'd stayed around long enough so that I could pay him. I don't know what he's going to do without any money."

"He might come back," Mother says. Prudence crams more potatoes into her mouth. He wouldn't be back, not after what had happened. He didn't want to be near her now that she had become a whore.

The reverend pressed his cheek against Prudence's. "After all these years, I never thought I would have you back. My beautiful princess," he said. "Just as I remembered."

Prudence began to cry. "You did that to me. It was you!"

"Yes, my child. A terrible thing I did, but now we have all eternity to make amends." He picked the dress off the ground to swaddle her in it like a baby. "First I must purify this land. Then you and I will be able to regain what we lost."

She buried her head in the folds of the dress so that he could not hear her cry, knowing that three centuries of torment awaited her.

***

Something cold and wet touched Wendell's face. He reached out a hand to feel coarse fur. His eyes snapped open to see a black beast standing over him. He slid back until he pressed up against a wall. The dog approached, baring its rows of yellow teeth. Wendell threw his hands over his face, waiting for those teeth to sink into his flesh.