At her expression, Pent said: “I needed somewhere to keep the children, at the beginning.”

      “The who?”

      “You summoned Jeannemary and Isaac along with the rest,” said Abigail calmly. “I worked out how to return them to the River first thing. They didn’t want to go, but I overruled them. I would have done the same with anyone else—if only Silas had asked me; what has happened to his soul worries me horribly.”

      This sharpened Harrow’s focus. “You have the means to leave?”

      “Yes.”

      “Then why don’t you?”

      “Everyone who has stayed,” said Abigail, “has chosen to stay, and risk their lives—or souls, I should say.”

Harrow the Ninth - Act Five, Chapter Forty-Five