If she came back with information about where this stowaway was hiding and what he was up to, then they would consider her a hero. She stood up and followed Wendell into the forest. The trees blocked out most of the moonlight, but there was enough for her to track him by his red hair. She hoped he didn't look back and see her own red hair.
She did her best not to make a sound as they went deeper into the forest, but every now and then she stepped on a twig or ran into a low-hanging branch. At these moments she froze and ducked behind cover. The stowaway looked back twice; she felt his unseen eyes on her. He cocked his head to listen while Molly held her breath. Then he moved on into the forest. She waited a moment to follow him.
He emerged from the trees in front of a rocky hill. She had to wait on the edge of the forest until he disappeared up a trail. Then she scuttled across the open ground and found the path he'd taken up the slope.
The path ended at a cave. Inside, she heard metal banging against stone followed by a stream of curse words. The stowaway was inside. She peeked inside to see what he was doing.
He had stolen a hammer and chisel from the camp. With these tools, he worked to carve at the rocks over a big pit. He stood on a crude ladder, chipping away at the stone to carve a circular indentation not much bigger than Molly's hand. She couldn't imagine what he planned to do with this hole. As she watched, he carved another and then another at different points above the pit. Among the curse words he uttered she heard him say, "Damned that reverend. I won't let him do it."
The reverend? What could the reverend have done to make this Wendell so angry? A gentle, sweet man like Reverend Crane wouldn't hurt anyone. This boy is crazy, she thought.
Wendell carved six of the holes before hiding the ladder and tools out of sight in the cave. Molly found a rock to hide behind as Wendell hurried out of the cave and disappeared back into the forest. She waited until she was certain he'd gone before she went into the cave.
In the circular pit she found a pool of glowing white water. She looked up at the holes overhead and then down into the water. Instead of seeing her reflection, she saw three reflections: one of herself as a young girl, another as a toddler, and a final one as a baby. How can this be? she wondered. She waved at the reflections; all three waved back. This is impossible, she thought. All three reflections mirrored her look of shock.