When she opens them back up again, she is in front of the largest, oldest house she has ever seen. It is made of crumbling gray stone. The sky is dark and cloudy, and as she heads for the mansion it begins to rain. She jumps as she hears ominous thunder rumble in the heavens.
When she arrives at the mansion she tries to open to front door. Luckily, it is unlocked, but the hinges are rusty and creak as she slowly pulls it open. Fearing discovery, she oils the hinges and cautiously tries the door again. This time, it is silent. She enters the house.
Suddenly, a huge, snarling dog jumps into her path. He growls low in his throat and snaps at her. Without thinking, she reaches for the meat and throws it to the cur. He greedily gobbles it up, and she scurries further into the house.
Now that she is so far into the house, she can feel its stuffiness, its closeness. It is difficult to breathe in the heavy, musty air. The walls are to close together, the ceiling too low, and there is not enough light. She comes to the end of the hallway, and notices two corridors to each side. At the end of the left corridor, she sees a large, open courtyard. Gratefully, she dashes to it.
When she enters the courtyard, Prunella finds that the rain has stopped, though the sky is still heavy and dark. The vegetation in the courtyard is sickly green and rotten brown, and she catches a whiff of decay on the wind. She follows a path through the dying plants to the other side of the courtyard. In the center of the path, she hears a sound to her right. She glances over to see a miserable woman with long, long hair in a plait. The braid is tied to a metal bucket. The woman lowers the bucket down into a well with her hair, the pulls it back up. The bucket comes back empty - it seems the woman's hair is not long enough to reach the water at the bottom of the well. Prunella remembers her first trial and takes pity on the woman. She goes over to help her.
"Madam, what is the matter? What are you trying to do?" she asks politely.
"The witch told me I can't leave this courtyard until I fill this bucket with water. She wouldn't give me a rope to use, so I am using my hair." the woman replies.
"You poor creature!" Prunella exclaims. "Here is some rope, so you can fulfill your task and leave this wretched place!" She hands the woman the length of rope. The woman takes the rope and thanks her, then begins to release the bucket from her hair. Prunella returns to the path and reaches the other side of the courtyard. She finds herself in another hallway, which eventually leads to a run-down, dirty kitchen. There, on top of a cupboard, she spies the crystal ball on a cushion. Overjoyed that she has finally found the orb and can leave this horrible place, she goes to retrieve it. Suddenly, she hears a dreadful moaning. She turns to see a woman on her hands and knees, licking ashes from a filthy hearth.
"Oh, my goodness! Madam, why are you licking that hearth?" Prunella gasps. The woman gets up to reply, and when she speaks, Prunella can see the poor woman's tounge is as black as coal.
"Young lady, the witch has imprisoned me, and won't let me leave unless I clean this hearth. The only tool she allows me to use is my own tounge."
"That's awful! Here, I have a broom you can use instead." Prunella hands her the broom. The woman thanks her, then uses the broom to return to her work. Now Prunella enters the kitchen and goes to retrieve the crystal ball. She gets as close as she can to the cupboard, but it is too high; she cannot reach. She carefully climbs up on the counter, and then she can finally take the orb and leave. Unfortunately, her foot knocks something off of the counter which smashes on the floor.
"What was that?" A voice ten times as scratchy and a hundred times as mean as Noita's shrieks at the sound. Prunella tucks the orb into her dress, jumps off the counter, and starts to run away. In the corner of her eye, she can see a dark figure enter the room. "Thief! Thief! Stop her, you miserable wench!"
As Prunella runs by the woman cleaning the hearth, she can hear the woman reply, "No, I will not touch the girl, she has given me a broom to clean the hearth, whereas you forced me to use my tounge." Furious, the old witch tries to catch up with Prunella.
As she passes the woman at the well, Rhia yells, "Grab that little thief! Drown her in the well!" The woman shakes her head.
"No, I will not drown her. She has given me this rope, and you made me use my hair."
Now Prunella is in sight of the door. Enraged, the old crone shouts, "Dog, take hold of that wretched theif and gobble her up!" But the dog ignors her cries, and merely thumps his tail on the floor as Prunella runs past.
The livid witch finally yells, "Door, slam shut on that thief! Trap her in the house!" And the door does indeed slam shut - in Rhia's face. Prunella keeps running and running until she suddenly feels nautious and falls to the ground. When she looks up, Noita's ugly face leers back at her.
"Do ya got the orb, girl?" Prunella nods, disoriented. "Well, then, give it here!" The girl fishes in her pocket to retrieve the crystal ball. As she does, Bensiabel's magic charm falls out and onto the floor. Noita notices it and snatches it up. "What's this?" she demands.
"A magic charm, for protection." Prunella replies. Noita looks pleased.
"Made yerself a charm, did ya? What's in it?" Noita asks. Prunella doesn't reply. Noita scowls. "Well, we'll see who wins in the end. Yer last test is tonight."
Prunella runs up the stairs to her room, and is surprised to see Bensiabel waiting for her. His warm brown eyes light up as she comes through the door, and he gives her a relieved smile.
"Prunella! I'm so glad you're safe! You passed the test?"
"Yes." she replies.
"Wonderful! Then the tests are all over, and you don't have to worry about being killed anymore. We can come up with a plan to escape. Maybe we could even use your new powers when she grants them to you."
Confused, Prunella shakes her head. "She said I had one more test left tonight."
"One more test? It doesn't say anything about another test in the book!" Devastated, he takes up the book and flips through it. "Nothing! She must be making up another test because she knows you're lying! Damn it!" He slams the book down. "What are we going to do? Prunella, I don't know if I'll be able to help you tonight."
"Oh, no! Oh, Bensiabel, what if she tries to kill me!" Her eyes fill with tears. To his surprise, she throws her arms around his neck, buries her face in his shoulder, and begins to sob. He is so shocked, he is unable to move. Finally, he gently strokes her hair and whispers, "Don't worry, Prunella. I'll protect you."