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softhearted, but Darwin will squeeze that out of him soon.
    “You work for me.” Darwin says it low, and calm. But his hand grips the chain even harder. “No questions, no complaints, remember?”
    “I—I know. But this is …” The Overseer swallows. “Nobody should stand for this.”
    Fear thrills through me as if he is one of ours. Doesn’t he know he’s asking to be hurt? Doesn’t he know that defying Darwin will always, always bring pain?
    “How is your mother feeling?” Darwin asks in a silky voice.
    Now the bold, foolish Overseer stares at his feet. If he answers, I cannot hear it.
    “Seems like she’d have a real hard time without that nice insurance that I pay for,” Darwin continues.
    The Overseer nods. “I’m grateful.”
    “Who do you care about? These Toads or your own mother?” Darwin arcs the chain up high, high, higher than any of the other hits, and lands it straight down on Mother’s spine. This is the worst I’ve seen him beat her in a long time.
    Her body jerks from the impact. I know it means she’s fainted, gone to a place without pain … until I bring her back with Water.
    Please, Otto , I pray. Let her be strong enough for three more of those .
    “Got anything more to say?” Darwin asks.
    The Overseer stares at Mother. Slowly, he shakes his head.
    I hate him for it. It’s not fair, maybe. What’s he supposed to do? But his noticing the wrongness of Darwin made me hope, just for a second, that things will change. I wish he hadn’t said anything at all.
    The Congregation begins to chant again, and the last three hits are hard and fast.
    “All done,” Darwin sings. He coils the chain and slides it back in his pocket.
    I rush to Mother. The ground around her body is wet with blood, and her sleeves have split where I’ve already mended them countless times. But her chest moves; her body is still fighting him, even though her mind has eased elsewhere. I smooth her hair. Darwin never touches her face, or head.
    The new Overseer dares to speak again. “I’ll call an ambulance.”
    Darwin’s answer is to grab the new one’s shoulders and spin him so he’s directly facing Mother. Then he strikes the back of his knees with the chain, so the new one falls to the ground beside Mother. Our eyes meet, and I see that his cheeks are truly stained from tears.
    But I look away, and fast. There’s no good in feeling for this boy.
    “Take a good look,” Darwin snarls. “And decide if you’re with me or not.”
    The boy turns his head and vomits into the leaves. He heaves, and heaves, until all that’s left are the sobs ripping out of him.
    There is no one to console him; Darwin slides away and the Overseers do too. The Congregants, most of them, begin the trudge home.
    But not all go—as always, Boone stays, and Hope with her new husband, Gabe. Ellie is here too, of course.
    “She’ll heal,” Ellie says. “We just need to get her home.”
    Boone lifts her feet; Hope and Gabe lift her upper half while I support her middle. When Ellie makes a move to help, I shake my head. She frowns, but lets her hands drop.
    The Overseer is still on the ground, but he is watching us now.
    “I’d help if I could,” he whispers.
    Gabe snorts and hawks a glob of spit on the leaves next to him. It’s a foolish thing to do, something he wouldn’t dare with any other Overseer.
    “Her breath is going funny,” Boone says.
    “Hurry,” I answer, turning my back on the new Overseer.

Chapter 3
    By the time we reach the Cabin, it’s gone entirely dark outside. The only sound is our feet scuffing the road—the frogs stopped croaking a few weeks ago, maybe too thirsty for song.
    Something flits past my head. The bats are out for their breakfast.
    I’m so hungry. If I could catch bugs, I’d make them my every meal. With Mother hurt so many nights, she hasn’t been able to creep out enough for nighttime trapping. Nobody gets food unless the Overseers give it to us.
    Mother’s body sways heavy