Samantha started down into the cellar.
***
Prudence had to stop in order to wipe hair from her face. The rain had quickly transformed her tidy bun into a snake's nest of wet tendrils that draped over her eyes. If she ever found the village again, she would have to get her hair cut short like Samantha's.
Even without the hair in her face, she still couldn't see anything. What little light had existed had been snuffed out by the storm. Prudence took a step forward with her arms in front of her and felt more dripping branches.
More than finding the village, Prudence wanted somewhere dry to rest, if only for a few minutes. Besides her hair, her dress had completely soaked through, so that it clung to her body like a second skin. Her shoes had filled with water and muck, her feet inside almost numb from cold. If only she could find a cave or outcropping of rock, she might be able to get some feeling back into her feet and get her bearings.
The latter would be easier said than done. Prudence had not explored the island like Samantha and the boys; she had never strayed far from the paths around the village. With as long as she'd run in the dark, she could be almost anywhere by now. Before much longer she might tumble off a cliff, into the ocean.
"Help me!" she shouted, as she had every few minutes. "Someone, please, help!"
When she didn't hear any answer, she hugged herself and then trudged on. As she did, she chided herself for being so foolish as to leave the safety of the dormitory at night. By now if Samantha had any sense she would be back home while Prudence might wander around in this storm all night, until she caught her death of cold.
This was all Samantha's fault. If she hadn't left the dormitory tonight, Prudence would be in bed right now, asleep and dry. She saw herself in bed, beneath her blanket, and savored the image of warmth and dryness. If only she could go home.
She stopped again, this time not because of the rain or her wet hair. She heard a low growl from off to her left. At first Prudence thought it might be a noise from the storm, but then she saw a pair of yellow eyes. She had seen those eyes and heard that growl before-they belonged to one of Pryde's dogs.
Samantha had killed some of Mr. Pryde's dogs five years ago, but the rest had disappeared. Since no one had seen them, it was assumed they had died off. The boys did still talk about hearing the dogs, though Prudence had thought that just a story to scare the girls. Now she saw they hadn't exaggerated.