Children of Eternity Omnibus Page 26

  That was if she could find Prudence. At the moment she was more concerned with finding her way back to the village. Wendell would have gone there to get help. If he hadn’t, then she could at least get Rebecca or someone else to help her resume the search.

  As she walked, Samantha carried the stick she had used on the beast. There could still be more of them lurking on the island and it didn’t pay to take chances, as she knew well by now. She had killed two of them, but the next time she might not be so lucky.

  After walking around for hours without getting anywhere, Samantha sat down on a rotting log. She looked around to try and get her bearings, but it didn’t do any good. She was lost. The best she could hope for was to stumble across something again, as she had the last time when she came upon Pryde’s old house.

  What a mess she had made. If she hadn’t been so mean to Prudence, she could be back in the village—what was left of it—with Uncle Hector. She could be getting some of her questions about her old life answered instead of sitting on a log, flicking ants away before they could crawl up her body.

  Not all the fault lay with her, though. If Prudence hadn’t gotten it into her head to go out that night, then Samantha could have come back and made things up with her. Why had she gone out? Prudence was terrified of the forest even in the daylight, let alone at night. And why had Rebecca let her go? Rebecca was such a responsible girl, far more so than she should be at her age. Why did she let Prudence go out into the dark alone?

  No one had acted very smart that night. Now they had to pay for it; Prudence perhaps more than Samantha. By now Prudence could have been torn apart by Pryde’s beasts. She might have fallen off a cliff. She might have fallen and broken her leg or suffered some other debilitating injury. She might be dying—

  When Samantha heard someone sobbing, she assumed at first it was her. Then she realized the sound was too far away to have come from her. A moment later she heard Prudence’s voice say, “We’re going to die here.”

  Samantha shot to her feet. “Prudence? Where are you?”

  “Samantha?” she heard someone call out. To her surprise it was Wendell, not Prudence.

  “Wendell? Did you find Prudence?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Over here.”

  “Samantha, be careful,” Prudence said. “There’s a hole. I think it’s one of Mr. Pryde’s hunting traps.”

  As Prudence spoke, Samantha followed the sound of her voice. She caught herself a step away from the gaping maw of the pit. Samantha got down on her knees so she could look down. The pit was dark, but she could see two shapes down there, one larger and one smaller, each highlighted by copper hair.

  “Prudence! Thank God.”

  “Samantha! You found us.”

  “I’m so sorry, Prudence. I didn’t mean those awful things I said. It was stupid. You’re my best friend in the whole world.”

  “You’re my best friend too. I’m sorry I was mean to you like the others. I just felt…hurt, I suppose. I didn’t want to lose you.”

  Wendell cleared his throat. “Can you two talk about this above ground?”

  “Right,” Samantha said. She looked around for something to use as a rope. She didn’t see any vines or anything else that might reach that far. Then she felt the stick in her hand she’d used to ward off the beast.

  Samantha leaned over the pit so she could reach down as much as possible with the stick. “Can you grab that?”

  She kept dangling the stick while she heard Wendell and Prudence grunting down there. Finally Prudence said, “It’s too short!”

  “Wait!” Wendell said. “If I climb on your shoulders again, then we can reach it.”

  Samantha could see the copper heads shifting around as they tried Wendell’s plan. This was accompanied by more grunting and groaning, mostly on Prudence’s part. “Ow! That’s my face!” she shouted.

  “Sorry,” Wendell said.

  “Are you almost ready?” Samantha said. Her right arm had started to burn with pain.

  “Here we go,” Wendell said. “Keep a hold of me. Then Samantha can pull us out.”

  Samantha felt the stick become heavy from Wendell’s weight. She could see his face more clearly now that he was closer to the top. His face was smeared with dirt, but otherwise he seemed fine. “Here goes,” Samantha said, mostly to herself.

  She used both hands to pull as hard as she could. Try as she might, she couldn’t get the stick to budge more than an inch. “It’s too heavy!”

  “It’s my fault,” Prudence said. “I’m too fat.”

  “Prudence—” Even as Samantha was going to protest, she felt some of the weight lift. The stick was still heavy, but with some straining she could pull it back up. About six inches from the top, Wendell scrambled up to the surface. He collapsed to the ground, where he lay panting and coughing from the effort. Samantha asked, “Are you all right?”

  “I’m…fine,” he said.

  “Is he safe?” Prudence asked.

  “Yes, he’s safe. Thanks to you.”

  “That’s good. Now you two can go. You can’t lift me out of here.”

  “I’m not going to leave you, Prudence.”

  “You have to! I don’t want you falling in here too.”

  “I won’t fall in there.”

  “Samantha, please, just go. I’m not worth it.”

  “You are too! Why are you always criticizing yourself?”

  “Because I’m worthless! I’m fat and weak and cowardly—”

  “No you’re not! Well, you are fat, but you’re not weak and you’re not a coward. Would a coward have gone out at night to look for me?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You’re a lot braver than you think, Prudence. You helped me stand up to Reverend Crane, remember? I’d be dead right now if it weren’t for you.”

  “I just pulled you out. Anyone could have done it.”

  “But not everyone believed me about him. When he was poisoning the others, you were one of the only ones who believed me.”

  “I guess.”

  “Can you two save this for later?” Wendell cut in. “Stupid girls, always sitting around bawling when there’s work to be done.”

  “Shut up!” Samantha snapped.

  “This is between us,” Prudence added.

  Wendell held up his hands in supplication. “I’m only saying instead of sitting around here crying, we should be getting Prudence out.”

  “How? The stick won’t reach.”

  “It’s simple: get a new stick. Me.”

  “What?”

  “You hold on to my feet and dangle me in the hole. Prudence takes my hands and then I’ll pull her up while you pull me up.”

  “That could work,” Samantha said.

  “Or we could all end up in the hole,” Prudence said. “Just go, Samantha. You can go back to the village and get a rope and then come back for me.”

  Samantha considered this, but then remembered how hard it had been to find the hole in the first place. “I might not find you again for days. By then you could be dead.”

  “I’m not going to starve.”

  “No. We’ll try Wendell’s idea. If I can feel it’s not working, then we’ll stop and go back to town. All right?”

  “Fine with me,” Wendell said.

  “All right, here we go.”

  They did as Wendell suggested. He got down on his stomach by the hole and then Samantha took him by the calves. He crawled forward until he was dangling in the pit. Samantha kept lowering him until he called for her to stop. “Grab on, Prudence.”

  “This won’t work,” she said.

  “It will work. Now hurry up. I’m getting lightheaded.” A few moments later, Samantha heard him say, “I got her. Pull!”

  Again Samantha strained with effort. It felt as if both of her arms were about to pull out of their sockets. At least this time she had Wendell helping to distribute some of the weight. Inch by inch, S
amantha pulled him back. “We’re almost there!” Wendell called out.

  With a final scream of effort, Samantha heaved backwards. She lost her grip on Wendell’s legs and fell backwards, onto her rear end. “Wendell! Prudence!”

  “We’re all right,” Prudence said in a choked whisper.

  Samantha sat up and saw her friends lying on the edge of the pit. Prudence was covered from head-to-toe in mud, but that didn’t stop Samantha from hugging her. “Oh, thank God,” Samantha whispered. She stroked Prudence’s hair, scouring some of the mud from it. “I’m sorry, Prudence. I’m so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?”

  “Let’s forgive each other,” she said.

  “Then let’s go home,” Wendell added.

  Samantha let go of Prudence to give the boy a hug. He muttered something and Samantha’s face turned warm as she realized she was smothering him with her breasts. “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “It’s all right,” he said, his eyes wide and his tongue almost wagging. Samantha dropped him to the ground on his rear.

  She went back over to Prudence to help her friend up. “Can you walk?”

  “I think so.” Prudence toddled forward a couple of steps. “My right ankle hurts a little.”

  “That’s all right. You can lean on me.”

  Samantha put an arm around Prudence, letting her friend lean against her as they started back towards the village.

  Chapter 20: Homecoming

  It took the rest of the day for them to get Prudence back home. Her ankle was in worse shape than she had let on, each step accompanied by a groan of pain. Samantha wished she could make another splint and stretcher as she had for Uncle Hector, but there weren’t any materials. And she still didn’t want to risk sending Wendell ahead to fetch help or at least some fountain water.

  For his part Wendell held Samantha’s stick in case any of Pryde’s beasts found them. Wendell didn’t complain at all, perhaps too tired to put up a fight. Or maybe he sensed he had the easiest job of any of them.

  Along the way, Samantha told Prudence and Wendell about finding Pryde’s old house. “There were a lot of beautiful old clothes there. So many colors and styles. You would have loved it.”

  “You think we can go there sometime?” Prudence asked.

  “After you’re better.”

  “What is this material called?” Prudence asked, her hand patting Samantha’s jacket. “It’s so thick and rough, but it’s not leather.”

  “It’s denim.”

  “Denim?”

  “Uh-huh. That’s what my pants are made of too. Aren’t they pretty?”

  “Girls shouldn’t wear trousers. That’s for boys.”

  “Why? Because Reverend Crane said so?”

  “No. It’s just wrong,” Prudence said.

  “Well maybe in your day it was wrong. But nowadays girls can wear pants just like boys. They can cut their hair short too. They could shave their heads if they wanted to.”

  Prudence and Wendell made a disgusted face at the same time. Wendell said, “You aren’t going to do that, are you?”

  “Maybe I will.”

  “Samantha, don’t. Your hair is very pretty,” Prudence said.

  “Anyway,” Samantha said, to change the subject, “this is what my mother used to wear.”

  “It is?”

  “Yes. These are her old clothes.” Samantha reached into her pocket for the photograph of her and her parents. “Those are my parents.”

  Prudence and Wendell stopped so they could study the picture. “Your mother is so beautiful,” Prudence said.

  “She looks just like you.”

  “I know! Isn’t it wonderful? And isn’t my father so handsome?”

  “I suppose,” Wendell said.

  Samantha didn’t tell them she remembered her parents dying. They didn’t need to think about that right now. For now Samantha wanted Prudence to focus on happy thoughts. She reached into her shirt to take out the necklace. “Look what else I found.”

  ‘“BE FRIE FOR?’ What does that mean?”

  “It’s only half the necklace. The other half makes it spell out, ‘BEST FRIENDS FOREVER.’ I know who it is too. She’s a girl with pretty black hair like me. I remembered her giving it to me when we were little.”

  “So I suppose she’s your real best friend,” Prudence said.

  Samantha realized she had made a mistake in showing the necklace to her friend. She squeezed Prudence’s shoulder. “It’s not like that, Prudence. You’re still my best friend. I can’t even remember the other girl.”

  “But when you find her then she’ll be your best friend.”

  “Prudence—”

  “It’s all right. I understand. She was there first.”

  “Don’t be that way, Prudence. You’re always going to be my friend.”

  “I suppose.” Prudence looked down at her feet. “We should get moving again.”

  ***

  They didn’t go straightaway to the village. Instead, Samantha steered them around the ruins of town so they could go to the stream first. They didn’t have any soap, but the water alone should help Prudence and Wendell clean up.

  Prudence refused to go in at the same time as Wendell, even when he promised to not look at her. So he had to go into the bushes to wait while Prudence shed her muddy clothes and then waded into the stream. Samantha sat on the shore, remembering the morning at the stream that had begun all this trouble.

  “I’m sorry I yelled at you the last time we were here,” Samantha said.

  “It’s all right. I shouldn’t have bothered you.”

  “I was wrong, Prudence. I was wrong and stupid.” Samantha gestured to her chest. “What happened to me, it’s just a part of nature. It’s something all girls go through. It will happen to you soon enough.”

  “It will?”

  “That’s right. Soon you’ll be a young woman just like me, only you’ll have me to help you through it.”

  “Thank you.”

  While Prudence continued to try and rinse the mud off, Samantha took Prudence’s dress to try and wash some of the dirt out of it. If Prudence’s shop were standing, she could probably fix the dress, but without it the garment would probably be a loss. Samantha cleared her throat. “There’s something we need to talk about.”

  “What?”

  “The storm. It…it destroyed the town.”

  “It did?”

  “I’m afraid so. Your shop, the dormitories, they’re all gone. Everything but the church.”

  “Oh no. Was anyone hurt?”

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  “Thank God.”

  “Uh-huh. There’s something else too.”

  “What is it?”

  “When I left Mr. Pryde’s house, I found a boat washed up on the beach. There was a man inside. You’re not going to believe this, but…I think he’s my uncle.”

  Prudence gasped, a hand going to her mouth. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m pretty sure. He has a niece who disappeared the same time I did. She was older than me, but with the fountain water—”

  “Yes, of course. Do you remember him?”

  “Not really, but it’s only a matter of time.”

  “I see.”

  “He’s a really nice man. Miss Brigham and Rebecca are taking care of him right now, but when we get back, I want you to meet him.”

  “I suppose.” Prudence ran a hand through her hair. “I wish I could make myself look more presentable first.”

  “He’s not going to care what you look like. He’ll just be happy I have such a great friend.”

  Prudence smiled shyly at this. “Thank you.”

  “Now come on, Wendell is waiting.”

  “All right.” Prudence waded back to the shore and took the wet dress from Samantha. Then she began to dress.

  Chapter 21: First Impressions

  Samantha and Prudence waited in the bushes for Wendell to wash himself. He insisted he didn’t need any girls to
escort him back to the village, but after everything that had happened, Samantha wasn’t taking any chances. She helped Prudence onto a rock, where her friend’s cheeks reddened. “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “For what?”

  “I’ve been jealous. You found out about your parents and your best friend and you found your uncle. I still don’t have anyone.”

  “You have me.”

  “Thank you, but this is different.” Prudence’s shoulders heaved as she sighed. “I know my real parents are dead. By now any siblings I had are dead too. I might still have some great-great-great-great-great-nieces or nephews out there, but how could I ever explain things to them? I’m never going to have a family again.”

  “Don’t be silly. When you get old enough, you can get married and have your own family. I know you’ll be a great mommy and an even better grandma.”

  Prudence blushed even deeper. “I don’t think anyone will want to marry me. I’m ugly.”

  “Would you stop that already? I’m sure when you get older you’ll be a beautiful woman, as beautiful outside as inside.”

  “I doubt it.”

  “Let me tell you a story—”

  “But it’s not bedtime.”

  “So? I can tell you stories whenever I want. This one is about a duckling that all the other ducks thought was really ugly because she didn’t look like any of them. While they were all pretty and yellow, she was gray and fat.”

  “Like me.”

  “That’s right. All the other ducks made fun of the poor duckling and made her feel terrible.”

  “I don’t like this story,” Prudence said, sounding for a moment like Annie.

  “But months later, something miraculous happened. The duckling grew up. Not into a boring little duck like the others, but a big, beautiful swan. You see, the ‘duckling’ was a baby swan all along. She only had to get older to realize her true beauty.”

  “So you’re saying I need to just wait until I get older? Then I’ll be pretty?”

  “Well, maybe not as pretty as Helena, but pretty in your own way.”

  “Maybe.” Prudence ran a hand through her snarled red hair. “Thank you.”

  They hugged loosely so Prudence wouldn’t get Samantha’s clothes too dirty. Then they heard Wendell clear his throat. “Are you girls done bawling?”