"I didn't think you would make it," Rebecca said.
Beside her stood a pair of teenage girls, one slight and blonde, the other stocky and dark. "You must be Mrs. Gooddell," the blonde said. "We've heard so much about you."
The girls snickered at this. "Helena and Phyllis, mind your manners. Mrs. Gooddell has been very ill," Rebecca said.
"She looks it. She's positively wasting away," the dark one said. The girls snickered again.
"Away with you two so I can have a civil conversation." The girls continued giggling as they climbed up the rise to the encampment. "Don't mind those two. They're a couple of mean-spirited harpies. It's no wonder that Phyllis can't find herself a husband."
"What's going on?" Prudence asked. "I heard talk of savages across the forest."
"That's what the reverend says. A bunch of nonsense if you ask me. This Mr. Pryde is not to be trusted. He's nothing more than a foul pirate. We ought not put stock in anything he says," Rebecca said. The reverend stood in the center of the circle, conferring with an older man and another leaning on a walking stick.
"Who is-" Before she could finish her question, Reverend Crane raised his hands for silenced.
"My children, there can be no doubt about what we must do now. We must destroy the savages and take the land from their godless hands. Our very survival depends on this."
"We cannot be certain of this," Rodney said. He entered the circle to face the reverend. "We have not done a proper survey yet. There may be another suitable place to build."
"We do not have time for surveys," Reverend Crane said with a sneer. "Winter will be here in a month, perhaps two. We must strike now before they become aware of our presence. Take them by surprise and burn their heathen village to the ground." Rumbles of assent came from the villagers.
"If these savages can survive here, then surely we can as well," Rodney said. "We must learn their secrets if we are to last the winter."
"You propose to talk with savages?" the man with the walking stick asked. Others around Prudence mumbled their disbelief at this notion. Prudence put a hand to her lips with worry. She wanted only to go home, not stay here and negotiate with savages.
"That is precisely what I propose," Rodney said. An uproar came from the villagers. He raised his hands to silence them. "My friends, I came here with my wife to escape war and corruption, not to embrace them. I came here to this New World to find the peace unavailable to us in England. I can speak only for myself, but I believe we all came here in the hopes of finding a new promised land. A new land of milk and honey where generations to come can live without fear and bloodshed. By slaughtering these innocent natives we will only cause God to forsake us, leaving us in darkness." Prudence heard murmurs of agreement from some in the crowd. As proud as she was of Rodney for his brave stance, terror seized her heart at the thought of these savages capturing and torturing Rodney.