The door guarding the entrance to the chamber opened. Footsteps echoed down the corridor, growing closer. Wendell strained his ears, but only heard the heavy footfalls of a man, not the clacking of an animal's claws along the stone. It wasn't Pryde come to finish him off yet.
The sound of Reverend Crane's voice confirmed this. "There's nothing to fear now, my child," the reverend whispered. "Very soon I will complete my purification of this land and we can be together forever."
"I don't want to be with you," Prudence said. "You killed Rodney and the others. You killed the natives. You're a monster! You've always been one."
"I am sorry about your husband, but he gave me no choice. I could not allow him and the savages to stand in the way of performing God's work."
"It's your work! You're a terrible, evil man. You always have been and you always will be."
A flicker of torchlight approached and then Wendell caught a glimpse of the reverend at the entrance to the chamber, a little girl in his arms. Prudence. He'd done to Prudence the same as to him. And from their conversation, the reverend had already destroyed the native people. Then it's all over, he thought. He wins again.
"Prudence, you know how much I love you. How much I've always loved you. Don't you see the possibilities before us? We have a chance to reshape this land, to remake it in His image. You and all the others will help me do His will as I was meant to do."
"You're sick. You're sick and crazy to think there's anything noble or wonderful about what you've done. You've murdered dozens of innocent people for this perverted scheme of yours. Don't you see how wrong it is?"
"My dear, everything that's happened has been through His will. He brought you to me. He brought us here. He brought little Molly to me. Finally, He brought you to me. We have a second chance for the happiness we lost in the forest."
Reverend Crane set the torch on the ground; Wendell pressed himself farther into a corner to remain unseen. The reverend eased Prudence down near the torch. He kept her pinned to the ground with one hand, using the other to draw a plait of hair from the back of her dress. He unbound the plait, spreading her hair across the ground and then burying his nose in her tresses. "For twenty years this scent has followed me, tormented me. God has given me a wondrous gift this day."
"Get away from me!" Prudence shouted. She thrashed beneath Reverend Crane until he slapped her across the face.