The lantern slipped from her hand as she heard an inhuman howl. Was one of Pryde's dogs out here, stalking her? She heard another howl, this time accompanied by a clap of thunder. Samantha retrieved the lantern and then held it up. The tree branches were dancing like mad from the wind.
A storm, that must be what had made the noise. To confirm this, a bolt of lightning slashed through the sky. Not tonight, Samantha thought. Not when she was so close to finally leaving Eternity.
She barely had time to turn around before the rain was upon her. It was as if someone had dumped a bucket of water on her. She dropped her own pitcher of water and the pillowcase as she took off running. The lantern managed to stay lit for a minute or two before its fire went out. Samantha tossed the now-useless lantern to the ground to lighten her load.
A gust of wind roared through the trees before hurling Samantha from her feet. She landed what must have been ten feet away, face-first onto the damp ground. She lay there for a moment, the rain drenching her in an instant. She forced herself up to her feet and then swept a veil of wet hair from her face.
She had to get back to the village. She couldn't stay out here in this storm. To emphasize this, she heard a tree creak. A moment later a tree wider than three of Prudence put together split in half. Samantha screamed as she darted into the forest to avoid being crushed.
She decided to stay in the forest, where the trees would protect her a little from the wind and rain. That was unless the storm smashed more of the trees. Still, there didn't seem much choice at the moment. Samantha ran.
The storm had blotted out the moon and without the lantern, Samantha couldn't see anything. She had to rely on keeping her hands out in front of her to keep her from running into any of the trees. The farther she went, the more certain she became that she was lost. She was never going to find the village. She wouldn't be able to find Miss Brigham's cottage or Reverend Crane's old house either. She was stuck out here.
Her foot tripped over something, sending her sprawling on the ground. Samantha lay there for a moment, sobbing not from any physical pain. She was going to die out here, of that she was certain. She would die here without ever seeing her parents again. Not only that, she would die without ever getting to apologize to Prudence or any of the others for saying such terrible things to them. Prudence had been her best friend and now for the rest of her life she would think Samantha had never liked her.