The man in the pick-up introduced himself as Ruben Moore, a preacher from Stoneburg, a nearby town. He offered the couple accommodation at his ranch. "It’s a religious community," he explained to them. "I call it the House of Prayer."

As it turned out, the "community" was nothing more than a converted chicken coop and a few shacks on a run-down ranch. Moore offered them lodging and food. In return, he asked only that Henry assist him as a laborer in his small roofing business, and that they both attend Sunday church services. Lucas and Powell readily agreed.

Again, they settled in to a routine. Henry worked while Becky helped with the domestic chores. What Henry didn’t know was that, while he was mending buildings and repairing cars, Becky was not only learning how to wash, cook and sew, she was also learning Christian values. When Henry found out he didn’t seem to mind at first, but later would become threatened when Becky openly embraced her new found religion and began to mend her ways.

She rekindled her friendship with Kate Rich and began to spend more time with the old woman than she did with Henry. As Becky grew as a Christian she began to feel the need to put her life in order. One of the things that concerned her most was the fear that the authorities would find out that she was a fugitive from the children’s home and, having crossed state lines to avoid detection, was guilty of committing a federal offence.

Rather than run the risk of arrest, she decided that it would be best to return to Florida and give herself up. Later, she raised the subject with Henry and he became violent and abusive when she suggested they go back to Jacksonville. The argument came to a head when Becky told him that an important part of her conversion to Christianity was the confession of all her sins. Henry became angry and demanded to know if she had said anything about the things that he and Ottis had done. When she said she hadn’t, he rapidly changed his mind and told her to start packing, as they would be leaving for Florida the next day.

The next morning Henry and Becky left the ranch and started hitchhiking towards Florida, a trip that was to have fateful implications.