When You Were Young

Backstory

2012-06-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

This is the conclusion of the "Children of Eternity" series. Since Sam is 17 at this point, this story caters more exclusively to the grown-ups. Maybe too much. Here are some of the issues that come up: rape, sodomy, child abuse, gender confusion, cross dressing, alcoholism, and a lesbian kiss just for starters. There are also a lot of swears, especially when Sam gets drunk (twice, in the same bar) that would definitely give this an R rating.

Among the children of Eternity, an enemy lurks in plain sight. This Judas has been plotting her revenge on Samantha Young for years. She finally unleashes her diabolical scheme, harnessing the power of the Fountain of Youth against the other children.

Samantha and her friends Prudence and Wendell are transported by the fountain back in time, where they must confront their forgotten pasts in order to save the future.

A note on how this is put together: after the first six chapters there's one part that focuses on Samantha in the 20th Century, another focusing on Prudence/Wendell in the 17th Century, and another focusing on the other children in the present day. To keep it straight I assigned each chapter a number from 1-50.

Please enjoy "When You Were Young..."

Epilogue: The Return

2007-06-15T11:09:00.003-07:00

Epilogue: The Return

The car stopped at the base of the hill, where the ancient house awaited her. The peeling white paint, patchwork shingles, and junk in the front yard had not changed from the last time Samantha had seen the house. When she squinted, she saw her and Joseph as teenagers sitting on the front porch, hand-in-hand.

She pulled into the driveway behind the sedan Joseph had once driven. For a moment she sat in the front seat, letting the memories wash over her. Then she squeezed her belly from beneath the steering wheel and climbed out of the car. She turned to the backseat and told her passenger, “Stay here. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Samantha limped towards the front steps, her ankles swollen and throbbing from the long plane ride and the drive from Bangor to Seabrooke. Her back joined in on the aching; she paused at the front steps to rub her sore muscles. Despite the pain, she smiled with glee at the prospect of coming home.

She knocked on the front door and waited for someone to answer. She counted off two full minutes before knocking again. When no one answered after another two minutes, she tried the doorknob. The door was locked.

She reached into her short-cropped hair for a pin, hoping her puffy fingers were up to the task after so many years. She inserted the flattened pin into the door lock, wiggling it around until she heard a click. Samantha pushed the door open with a sigh of relief that she still had the touch.

She waddled into the front hall, remembering the day of Prudence’s sixteenth birthday when Samantha and Joseph had kissed right here. That day had ended in disaster, but had also led them to find happiness together. If not for Veronica, Samantha might never have gone to California with Joseph. She put both hands on her bulging stomach at the memory of her former best friend.

From upstairs came the sound of rock music. The pulsing bass shook the walls of the old house, reverberating through Samantha’s head like a jackhammer. The last thing she wanted to do was climb up stairs in this condition, but the loud music had already caused her head to chime in with its own pain.

She went up the stairs slowly, pausing at each step to rub her back. The music became louder as she neared the top, although the lyrics of the song became no clearer. These kids today, she thought, hating herself for it. In recent months she’d found her brain aging faster than her body, becoming that of the sixty-year-old woman she would be now if she’d never met Reverend Crane twenty years ago.

At the top of the stairs, she leaned against a wall to catch her breath before going on. She passed Joseph’s old bedroom, still with the Einstein poster on the door. She wanted to go inside and sink down on the bed they had once shared, where she’d lost her virginity for the second time. But first she needed to turn down that damned music.

Samantha opened the door to the guest bedroom and bit down on her lip to keep from crying out. Two young women were tangled up in the sheets of the bed, kissing each other like lovers. The pale, chubby flesh of one woman seemed familiar, though not the spiky black hair. Samantha didn’t recognize the Asian girl the pale girl was kissing. The Asian girl spotted Samantha in the doorway and scrambled backwards, covering herself with a sheet. The pale girl turned around, what color there was in her cheeks draining away. She reached over to turn off the music. “Hello Samantha,” she said, covering herself with a blanket. “I forgot you were coming today.”

“Hello Rebecca,” Samantha said. “I let myself in when no one answered the door.”

“Oh. This is Callie,” Rebecca said, motioning to her friend. Callie gave a shy wave. “Her parents bought the old Seafarer after Mrs. Milton died. Callie, this is my cousin Samantha. She’s the one I told you about.”

“Beck has said a lot of nice things about you,” Callie said. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“It’s good to meet you too,” Samantha said. She felt a brief pang of sadness for old Mrs. Milton, thinking of the day she’d spent there with Miss Brigham twenty years earlier.

A small hand tugged at the hem of Samantha’s loose-fitting blouse. “Mommy, the car is boring.”

Samantha scooped the little girl off the floor, ignoring the protests from her back. “I told you to stay in the car,” Samantha said. She turned to Rebecca and Callie. “She takes too much after her mother in getting into trouble. Don’t you?” She tickled the little girl until she giggled. “Say hello to your cousin Rebecca. Rebecca, this is Jackie.”

“Hello Jackie,” Rebecca said in a small voice.

“I guess we’d better let you two have a little privacy,” Samantha said. Rebecca only nodded as Samantha closed the door and then carried little Jackie downstairs to the living room. She finally sank down onto the couch and turned on the television, flipping channels until she found an old cartoon to entertain her daughter.

Callie came downstairs first, her face flushed with embarrassment at having been caught in a compromising position. “I’m really sorry,” she said to Samantha.

“It’s no big deal,” Samantha said. “How long have you and Becky been together?”

“About a year now. She’s a nice girl.”

“She is.”

“I better go.” Callie hurried out of the room before Samantha could say goodbye.

“Mommy, what were those girls doing?” Jackie asked.

“They were taking a nap, sweetie.” Her daughter seemed to accept this and went back to watching television. Rebecca came down the stairs a minute later in a faded black T-shirt and jeans. “I’m afraid Callie already left.”

“That’s all right. I’ll see her later. It’s so good to see you again. Would you like anything to eat or drink? You’re probably tired after that flight.”

“Some coffee would be nice,” Samantha said. She tilted Jackie’s head towards her, pushing up the little girl’s glasses. “You stay right here. Don’t move a muscle, all right?”

“OK, Mommy,” Jackie said.

Samantha heaved herself off the couch, following Rebecca into the kitchen. As the coffee brewed, Rebecca said, “You didn’t mention anything about her on the phone.”

“I wanted it to be a surprise,” Samantha said.

“How old is she?”

“She’ll be five in November.”

“I remember when Molly was five—” Rebecca’s voice trailed off. “I still miss her.”

“We all miss her.” They sat at the table in silence for a moment. Then Samantha cleared her throat and said, “So you and Callie have been seeing each other for a year. It must be getting pretty serious.”

“Not really. We’re just having fun.”

“I didn’t realize you were that way,” Samantha said, hoping she didn’t sound too prudish. “There’s nothing wrong with it, of course. I think it’s wonderful.”

“I don’t know if I am or not. For right now I am.” Rebecca stood up to pour two cups of steaming coffee. “How are things with you and Joseph?”

“Busy, as always. They’ve got him working so many hours I hardly ever see him anymore.” She bit down on her lip to keep a sudden burst of emotion from flaring up. “How about you? How are things at school?”

“I might quit,” she said. “Callie and I want to go abroad for a year. I’d like to see England to revisit my roots.”

“What’s Mr. Pryde think of that?”

“I haven’t told him yet. I haven’t even told him about Callie, although I think he knows. I didn’t want to mention anything until I was sure.”

“Mr. Pryde won’t have a problem with it, I’m sure. He’s a good man.” She drank from her mug before asking, “Where is he? Out on another fishing trip?”

“Yes. It’s getting harder on him I think. He keeps having to go farther and farther out. Before much longer he’ll have to start fishing at the North Pole.”

They both laughed nervously at this. “Joseph keeps telling him to retire, but that’s not his way,” Samantha said.

After another moment of silence, Rebecca asked, “How long are you and Jackie staying?”

“Only until the morning. We’re going over to see the others. I need to talk to Prudence about something. You’re welcome to come along if you want.”

“I’m not ready for that yet.”

“Becky, you can’t run from it forever. At some point you have to go back.”

“How far along are you?” Rebecca asked to change the subject, motioning to Samantha’s belly.

“Seven months. It feels like it’s been a year already.”

“Did you find out what it is yet?”

“Joseph wants to, but I’d rather wait. Of course he wants a boy. I think that’s what Jackie wants too so she’ll have a little brother to play with.”

“What do you want?”

“A healthy baby. That’s all.” Rebecca nodded in understanding. They finished their coffee in silence and then Rebecca rinsed out the empty mugs.

“I made up Joseph’s room for you. I can get a cot out for Jackie if you want.”

“There’s no need to go to any trouble. She’ll be fine with me,” Samantha said. “I better go check on her to make sure she hasn’t gotten into any trouble.”

In the living room, she found Jackie asleep on the couch, sucking her thumb the way she did as a baby. “Let me,” Rebecca said. With expert precision, she picked Jackie up, cradling the little girl in her arms. She carried Jackie up into Joseph’s room, easing her onto the bed.

Samantha saw the tears glistening in Rebecca’s eyes as she looked down on Jackie, no doubt thinking of the times she had done this with Molly. Then Rebecca brushed past her on her way out, running down the hall to her bedroom. The music came on again, this time a slow ballad played so low Samantha had to strain to hear it. She wanted to go in to talk with her friend, but knew nothing she could say would make the pain go away.

Instead, she lay down next to Jackie on the bed, removing her daughter’s glasses and smoothing away brown hair to kiss her on the forehead, the way she had with Molly and Veronica during those three vanished years. Jackie twitched but didn’t wake up. Samantha pulled the blankets up to cover them both and then rested a hand on her stomach. The child within her kicked, bringing a sad smile to her face. The pain never went away fully, but life went on and with it another chance for happiness. She hoped Rebecca would see this one day.

Jackie had inherited Samantha’s fear of the water. “Are you sure this is safe, Mommy?” she asked on the dock.

“It’s perfectly safe. I used to do this all the time,” she said. She looked over at Rebecca. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?”

“I’d better not. I promised Callie we’d go into Bangor tonight. There’s a great new club opening up we’re going to try getting into,” Rebecca said.

Samantha thought of the nightclub in Chicago where she’d met Andre again. Maybe Rebecca would find the love of her life walking through the door. “Just stay out of trouble. There won’t be anyone to bail you out of jail,” Samantha said.

“I will. See you on the way back.” Rebecca waved and then began walking towards the cow. She walked with the slow gait of an older woman. Samantha hoped her friend would be all right. Callie will have to take care of her, Samantha thought.

“Cousin Rebecca seems nice,” Jackie said.

“She’s very nice. Here, put on your lifejacket.” Unlike Veronica and Molly, Jackie didn’t make any fuss about putting on her lifejacket. From her father she’d inherited allergy problems that flared up worst in the morning; Samantha wiped at her daughter’s nose with a handkerchief, helping her blow her nose. Once Jackie could breathe again, Samantha helped her into the little boat she and Rebecca had used to leave Eternity eight years earlier. Mr. Pryde maintained the boat in her absence for whenever Samantha or Rebecca decided to go back.

Jackie’s bronze skin turned green at the edges once they got underway. Samantha took her hand, giving it a squeeze. “Everything will be all right, sweetie,” she said.

“Where are we going, Mommy?”

“We’re going to Eternity. That’s where your Aunt Prudence and Uncle Wendell live with all your other cousins. It’s a very nice place with lots of trees and grass for you to play in.”

Jackie sniffled at this, not convinced how wonderful Eternity would be. “Is that where you lived when you were a little girl?” she asked.

“That’s right, sweetie. I started living there when I wasn’t much older than you,” Samantha said. This was a slight exaggeration, but she and Joseph had promised each other before Jackie was born not to burden their offspring with any knowledge of the Fountain of Youth. As far as Jackie knew, Samantha had gone to Eternity when she was six and stayed there until she was seventeen, when she left with Daddy to California. Her life before that would never exist to her daughter. Nor to any legal authorities, who believed her to be Samantha Young, born in 1994, parents unknown.

“And Aunt Prudence lived there too?”

“That’s right. And cousin Rebecca and all your other cousins. We were all children together.”

“Then who were your mommies and daddies?”

“We didn’t have any, sweetie. There was a very nice woman named Molly who helped take of us when we were little. Later on we took care of ourselves.”

Jackie blew her nose into the handkerchief. “Was it scary?” she asked.

“Sometimes. Most of the time it was fun.” She thought of running through the meadow with Prudence, playing a game of tag on a golden summer day. A tear came to her eye at the thought those days were truly gone forever now. She bit down on her lip to keep the emotion at bay in front of Jackie.

As the boat skimmed ever closer towards Eternity, Jackie grew less apprehensive of the water. The green faded from her skin. She even managed to laugh when Samantha told her a story about her first day on the island when she fell into the stream and Prudence had to fish her out.

“Mommy, look!” Jackie said, pointing to land on the horizon. “Is that it?”

“That’s it, sweetie.” As they drew nearer the island, Samantha’s stomach fluttered and not because of the baby. She and Prudence had exchanged brief letters over the last eight years, but neither of them were very good at expressing their feelings on paper. Samantha didn’t know what to expect when they met again.

Her first surprise came when she found the Primrose tied to a floating dock composed of rusty oil drums, halved car tires, and wooden planks. She tied her little boat to the other side of the dock and then helped Jackie onto the walkway. “This feels funny,” Jackie said. “Is it safe?”

“It’s safe,” Samantha said, taking her daughter’s hand. The dock led to a path of crushed seashells and stones along the beach. The path continued into the forest, ropes and netting along the edges keeping the way clear. Samantha knew this to be Wendell’s work; he had once suggested this to her, but at the time they didn’t have the resources.

Jackie pressed close to Samantha, her eyes searching the forest for signs of danger. “There’s nothing to worry about, sweetie. Nothing in the trees will hurt us,” Samantha said.

Not a second after the words came out of her mouth, she heard a small voice call for help from in the forest. “Help me, please!” the voice squeaked.

“Stay here, sweetie. I’ll see what’s the matter.”

“Mommy, I’m scared.”

“I know, but you have to be brave for Mommy. Can you do that?” Jackie nodded. “That’s my girl. I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

Samantha stepped over the fencing into the forest. The trees seemed much smaller and lower now than she remembered as a child. The voice calling for help grew closer and more plaintive with each moment.

At last Samantha pushed aside a set of branches and almost fell over with fright. A pale, freckle-faced girl not much older than Jackie had caught her waist-length red hair in the brush just as little Prudence had eight years ago. “Please help me,” the girl said. “I’m stuck in these stupid branches. Mama is going to kill me when she finds out.”

“Don’t worry, sweetie, I’ll get you out,” Samantha said.

“I didn’t mean to go into the forest,” the girl said. “I was walking along the path and then I saw a bunny alongside the road and I got to following it. Next thing you know I got all caught up like this. Mama’s going to cut all my hair off for sure. She threatened to do it before and now she will.”

“I’m sure your mother wouldn’t cut off your hair,” Samantha said. She unsnarled one wavy tress at a time, the girl whimpering and yelping on occasion. After a few minutes, Samantha freed the girl and pulled her from the brush.

“Thank you so much,” the girl said. “I might have been stuck there all night if you hadn’t come along. I don’t remember seeing you around here before. Are you a visitor?”

“You could say that. I used to live here along time ago. My name is Samantha. What’s yours?”

“Molly,” she said. Samantha almost fainted at this. This couldn’t be Molly Brigham. She had died. Molly solved Samantha’s confusion when she added, “Molly Palmer. My parents live up the road.”

“Are your parents named Prudence and Wendell?”

“Yes. They’re my mommy and daddy. How did you know?”

“I’m a friend of theirs.”

“Oh, you’re Aunt Samantha. Mommy said you were coming.” Molly squinted at Samantha and then shook her head. “From the stories Mommy’s told me I didn’t think you’d be so fat.”

Samantha took Molly’s pale little hand, placing it on her bulging stomach. “There’s a baby inside there,” Samantha said.

“Mama is fat like that too,” Molly said.

“She is?” Molly nodded. “Can you show me where Mama lives?” Molly took Samantha’s hand, leading her back through the forest to the road. Jackie waited in the same place Samantha had left her, tears forming behind her glasses.

Samantha picked up her daughter, stroking the girl’s hair to soothe her. “It’s all right, Mommy is back now. I made a new friend. This is your cousin Molly. Can you say hello?”

“Hello,” Jackie bit out.

“You have glasses like Daddy,” Molly said. “His are thicker though. Mama says it’s because he spends too much time looking into microscopes and things.”

“Your mama is a very smart lady,” Samantha said. Molly skipped along the road ahead of her and Jackie, the forest thinning out gradually to reveal a clearing. A cabin like the one where Rebecca and Molly Brigham had lived stood in one corner with a field of wheat growing nearby.

At the sight of the house, Molly broke into a run. “Mama, mama, guess what?” she called out. “Aunt Samantha is here!”

Prudence appeared on the front steps of the cabin looking even more pregnant than Samantha. As in her days as a fat child, she wore a plain gray dress with her stomach pressing against the fabric. Her face looked older than her years with lines at the corner of her mouth and eyes and silver hairs standing out from the burgundy ones at her temples.

She came forward to embrace Samantha in an awkward hug. “It’s good to see you again,” she said. “I wasn’t sure when you were coming or I would have met you at the beach.”

“It’s all right. Your daughter showed us the way.”

Prudence strained to pick up a fidgeting Molly. She examined the girl’s hair and then frowned. “You’ve been playing in the forest again, haven’t you?”

“Yes, Mama.”

“That’s very naughty, Molly. You know what I said would happen if you did it again, don’t you?”

Molly began to cry. “You can’t cut my hair off. The other kids will laugh at me.”

“We’ll talk about this later. Right now I need you to find your father and tell him Aunt Samantha is here. We’ll meet you in the park. Can you do that?”

“Yes, Mama.” Prudence set Molly on the ground and the girl scampered off in the direction of the town.

“She can be quite a handful. Who’s this? What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“Jackie.”

“That’s a pretty name. I’m your aunt Prudence. I grew up with your mommy.” Jackie nodded at this. “Where’s Joseph? Didn’t he make the trip?”

“He’s in the middle of a project right now. Something very top secret and hush-hush. He can’t even tell me what it is,” Samantha said. “He really did want to come.”

“It’s all right. Where is he working now?”

“At Los Alamos in New Mexico,” Samantha said. “Not too far from my old stomping grounds.”

“So it’s kind of a homecoming for you,” Prudence said.

“You could say that.” Prudence led them onto another path, this one composed entirely of crushed granite. “It brings back a lot of old memories. Kind of like this.”

“What are you up to these days?”

“Since Joe started at Los Alamos I’ve been working with some businesses in Albuquerque to start the Pryde Foundation for abused children. Once I get my degree next year I’ll be able to do more hands-on work with the children.”

“That sounds like a worthy cause,” Prudence said.

“I thought if someone had been there to reach out to Veronica—” Samantha had to bite down on her lip again to keep from crying. She set Jackie down to walk beside them to wipe at her eyes. “It’s so easy for children like her to fall through the cracks and turn into angry, violent adults. Our goal is to help them before it’s too late.”

“That must be rewarding work.”

“Sometimes it is. Other times it can be frustrating. Some of these parents make Jonas Pryde look tame,” Samantha said, her lip curling in disgust. Jackie squeezed her hand, as if sensing her mother’s anger. “Well, anyway, I’ve had to take a leave of absence for a little while, until after the baby is born. What about you? Are you still the head matriarch around here?”

Prudence laughed at this. “Mostly I’m a figurehead anymore. The first couple years were rough. It seemed like we had a crisis every day. But slowly everyone started to get the hang of it. I only have to settle one or two disputes a month, which is good, because dealing with Molly can be a full-time job. I’m not sure from where that child gets her energy. Sometimes I wonder if she really isn’t a reincarnated Molly Brigham.” Prudence shook her head while Samantha snorted. “That reminds me, how’s Rebecca doing? I don’t get a chance to visit with her much anymore.”

“She’s confused, like all girls her age. She’ll figure things out eventually.” Samantha didn’t think it appropriate to mention anything about Callie or what they’d been doing when Samantha opened the bedroom door.

“It’s such a shame what happened to her. Let her know we’re all praying for her.”

“I will,” Samantha said.

The path widened as they reached the town, which had doubled in size over the last eight years. A second line of shops intersected the originals to form an ‘L’ shape around the square and old church. Most surprising of all were the electric lights on inside each building and one storefront with televisions, radios, and other appliances. “Wendell figured out how to wire everything about four years ago,” Prudence explained. “Something about using heat below the surface. I don’t know, it’s too technical for me.”

Prudence went on to explain that the dormitories where they’d grown up were now used for storage and as emergency shelters. “Some people wanted to raze them because they were symbols of the old days, but it would be such a waste. The bigger problem is that the children like to get in there and play.”

“Children?”

“You don’t think I’m the only one, do you?” Prudence said, laying a hand on her belly. “Heavens, no. Not long after Molly was born there was a baby boom here. Helena had triplets if you can believe it. They’re all three going to take after her, I can tell already. Wendell, Annie, and I were there all night to help her deliver. Annie’s become quite an accomplished midwife because of it. She’s going to help me when it’s time.”

“How long is that?”

“About a month. What about you?”

“Two months or so.”

“I should try to hold it in so we can deliver at the same time. Wouldn’t it be great for our children to have the same birthdays?”

“That would be something. Do you have a name picked out?”

“Rodney if it’s a boy,” Prudence said, her cheeks flushing a bit at this. “Fiona if it’s a girl. You?”

“Jeremy if it’s a boy. There’s some Pryde family tradition about boy’s names beginning with ‘J.’ Andrea if it’s a girl.”

Throughout the conversation, Jackie had followed along, one hand on the hem of Samantha’s shirt. Now as they passed by the bakery, with its aroma of baking bread, Jackie gave Samantha’s shirt a tug. “Mommy, I’m hungry.”

“It’s all right. Phyllis will let us have some bread,” Prudence said. She opened the door to the bakery, ushering them inside. Phyllis had grown heavier over the last eight years and not with pregnancy either. Her face and apron were littered with stains of varying colors from years of baking. When she squinted at Samantha, Jackie pressed tighter to her mother’s side. “Look who’s back. It’s Samantha and her little daughter. They’re a bit hungry from the trip over,” Prudence said.

“Samantha? I didn’t think we’d ever see you again,” Phyllis said. “What brings you here?”

“I’m showing Jackie where her mother came from.”

“I just took a loaf out of the oven, but it needs to cool. Let me see what else I got.” Phyllis rummaged around the shelves until returning with a bundle wrapped in brown paper. She bent down to tousle Jackie’s hair, turning it white in parts with flour. “You’re cuter than your mom was at your age. She used to be nothing but a sack of bones. At least you’ve got a little meat on you.” Phyllis pinched a roll of fat beneath Jackie’s shirt.

“We’d better get going,” Prudence said. “Molly and Wendell are probably waiting for us in the park, unless she forgot to look for him. Do you remember seeing her go past here?”

“I saw her come running by here like the wind a few minutes ago. You should tell that child to be careful.”

“I do try. She doesn’t listen.”

“You baby her too much, that’s why. She’ll end up spoiled at this rate. If you ask me—”

“Molly is my child. I’ll take care of her. Thank you for the food.” In that moment, Samantha realized the shy, timid girl she’d befriended after waking up in Eternity twenty years ago had disappeared. A strong, confident woman existed in her place now, a woman capable of leading an entire community.

Jackie thanked Phyllis as well and then hurried out the door ahead of Samantha. Inside the package Phyllis had given them were a dozen sugar cookies. Jackie held one up and then looked down at where Phyllis had pinched her. “Mommy, am I fat?” she asked.

“No, sweetie. You’re the right size.” This answer seemed to comfort Jackie; she ate the cookie and then another as they followed the path up to the meadow.

The vacant meadow of Samantha’s youth had been transformed into a park, complete with a playground, sandbox, and benches. Helena, who had not lost the weight from childbirth, sat on one of the benches, wiping the face of a girl who looked like her as a child. “It’s you,” she said to Samantha. “I must look like a complete wreck to you. Go ahead and laugh. I’m sure you want to after everything I did to you.”

“You look wonderful. Your children are adorable.”

Helena took no notice of these compliments. “It’s all his fault. He did this to me. I used to be the most beautiful girl on the whole island and now I’m ruined.”

“Mommy, I want to pway!” her daughter squealed.

“Fine, go play. Stay where I can see you.”

Samantha knelt down next to Jackie. “Sweetie, do you want to go play with the other kids?” Jackie shook her head. “Come on, sweetie, it’ll be fun. They aren’t going to bite you.”

“I don’t want to,” Jackie said, her lip trembling as if she were about to cry.

Before Samantha could say anything, Molly almost bowled into her. “Mama, Mama, I found Daddy! He was over at Mr. Davenport’s house fixing their tractor.”

“Trying to fix it,” Wendell said. “I don’t think I have the right parts.”

Unlike Prudence, Wendell looked almost unchanged since Samantha last saw him. He was still not much taller than a child, although he had cultivated a thin beard and wore a pair of glasses similar to Joseph’s. He wiped grime and sweat off his face and hands before hugging Samantha. “Molly said you were back. At first I thought it was one of her stories, but you really are here.”

“It’s good to see you again,” she said. “It’s amazing what you’ve done here.”

“A little ingenuity and a lot of work, that’s all we needed,” he said. “There’s nothing we can’t do when we put our minds to it.”

“I won’t disagree with you there. I’m sure Joe could use your help at the laboratory.”

“Thanks, but we’re pretty happy here. Most of us.”

“Most?”

“There’ve been a handful who left, seeking greener pastures. We figure there’s no danger in letting them go now that it’s gone,” Prudence said. She tousled Molly’s curly hair. “Why don’t you and Jackie go play so the grownups can talk?”

Molly took Jackie’s hand, dragging her off before Jackie could protest. They waited until her excited babbling had faded away before finding a secluded bench to sit down. Samantha and Prudence sighed with relief as one. “What about it?” Samantha asked. “Are you sure it’s gone?”

“I excavated it myself last year,” Wendell said. “I did it at night so no one would know. There’s nothing left. Not a drop.”

“I guess that’s for the best,” Samantha said. Prudence and Wendell nodded at this assessment. She didn’t let on to Joseph, but there were mornings when she woke up touching her stomach to make sure it hadn’t shrunk. With the Fountain of Youth truly gone, perhaps now the nightmares would go with it.

Samantha rested both hands on her stomach, feeling the reassuring kick of her baby again. “There’s something I wanted to ask you. I hope you don’t mind, but I didn’t come here just for a visit.”

Prudence took one of her hands. “Whatever it is, I’m sure we won’t mind. You’re my sister, after all.”

“Well, Joseph and I are finally getting married. Officially, that is. We’ve been pretty much married for the last eight years, but now we’ve got all the paperwork ready.” She stopped to take a deep breath, fighting down her sudden nervousness. “We’re going to sign the papers at the courthouse in Bangor in a few weeks and I was hoping you two might come as witnesses. If Prudence can travel.”

“Oh my God, yes! Of course we will,” Prudence said. She put an arm around Samantha’s shoulder and squeezed. “This is wonderful news. I can’t believe it.” They began to cry at the same time, the tide of hormones driving them into a frenzy of sobbing. “I’m so happy for you,” Prudence said.

“Congratulations,” Wendell said. “If there’s anything we can do to help—”

“I was hoping you might make me a dress,” Samantha said to Prudence. “Nothing fancy of course.”

“I’d be honored,” Prudence said. “We’ll take some measurements in the shop on the way back. I’ll make sure to leave some extra room. And I can make something for Jackie too. Wouldn’t it be so adorable for her and Molly to have matching dresses?”

“I don’t want you to go to any trouble—”

“It’s no trouble. Don’t be silly.”

“After the ceremony, I thought Joseph and I might come here for a few days,” Samantha said.

“We could throw a party,” Wendell said. “I’ll build a stage right here in the park and we can bring up some tables.”

“Phyllis can bake a cake and Molly can gather some flowers,” Prudence added. “It’ll be grand.”

Samantha squeezed Prudence’s hand and then leaned over to crush Wendell in a hug. After twenty years and so many changes from the day she’d woke up as a ten-year-old with no memory they had stuck by her side. Their love and friendship had survived despite all the obstacles placed in their way. Nothing, not Reverend Crane or Veronica or the fountain or time itself could tear them apart.

As they continued to make plans for the wedding, a scream drew Samantha’s eye to where Molly and Jackie were playing. They scampered across a patch of grass, chasing each other back and forth as they played tag. Their squeals echoed across the meadow and back through time to Samantha and Prudence when they were young.

[END]

Chapter 49: Sunset

2007-06-15T11:09:00.001-07:00

Chapter 49: Sunset

Joseph was in the process of packing his bags when Samantha stole into his bedroom and covered his eyes. “Guess who?” she said. “You better get this right.”

“Mrs. Schulman, how many times have I said I’m flattered, but I’ve already got a girlfriend? A much younger, more beautiful girlfriend.” He twisted around to face her. “I wasn’t sure you were coming back. I thought your cousins might need your help.”

“They wanted me to be happy,” she said. “So I came here.”

He motioned to the knapsack she carried. “Are you planning on going somewhere?”

“I thought I might go to California,” she said.

“Funny, I thought I might go to the same place.”

“Maybe we should go together?” she said.

“Are you sure about that? I can transfer to MIT so you can be closer to your cousins. I know how much they mean to you.”

“They don’t mean the same to me as you. I love you, Joe. I don’t care where we go so long as it’s together.” She kissed him, relief flooding over her now that she’d said these words at last. “I lost you once. I’m not going to do it again.”

“What about Veronica? Is she gone?”

“She died three years ago. Molly used the fountain to go back and stop her.” Samantha described Molly’s sacrifice to destroy Veronica and the cave. She finished with tears in her eyes. “They’re dead, but I still remember them being here.”

She was surprised to see Joseph crying as well. “I can’t believe it,” he said. “She was so kind to me when I was there. If it weren’t for her, Veronica would have killed me before you showed up.”

They stood there in silence for a moment before Samantha asked, “How’s your dad?”

“He’s fine. He doesn’t remember what happened, or at least he won’t let on if he does. He might be repressing it.”

“That’s probably for the best.” She wiped away her tears before adding, “I brought a friend over. I hope your father won’t mind if she stays here. She’s going through a rough time right now and I thought this might help.”

“What’s wrong with her?”

“She was Molly’s adopted mother.” Samantha described Rebecca’s relationship to Molly and their last moments. “She’s been dead for the last three years, but she’s come back to life. I think it’s a little too much for her to handle.”

“That’s horrible,” he said. “I’m sure Dad won’t mind if she stays here. He’ll probably be glad to have someone around.”

They went downstairs, where Rebecca sat mesmerized in front of the television. She jumped when Samantha introduced Joseph. “Joe, this is my cousin Rebecca.”

“Sam told me about Molly. I’m really sorry,” he said.

“Thank you,” Rebecca said. She motioned to the television to change the subject. “This is amazing. How do they shrink down those people to fit them in the box?”

Joseph sat down with Rebecca on the couch to give her a full technical description of how television worked. Rebecca looked to Samantha for help. “What Joseph is trying to say,” Samantha said, “is they send a signal of light into this box, producing a miniature copy of the actual.”

“It’s wonderful,” Rebecca said. She became more enthralled when Joseph showed her how to use the remote control to flip channels. But when a child with curly red hair came onto the screen during a commercial, Rebecca broke down into tears. Samantha sat beside her, patting her back.

“It’s all right. See, it’s gone now.” Rebecca recovered her wits after a few minutes, wiping her eyes and blushing with embarrassment. “All better now?” Rebecca nodded.

Behind Rebecca’s back, Joseph flashed Samantha a look of concern. She didn’t want to mention what Rebecca had already tried to do to herself or else Joseph might want her put into a mental institution. Samantha knew better than anyone it took time for these wounds to heal and even then scars remained.

They were still watching television two hours later when Mr. Pryde returned home. “There you are,” Mr. Pryde said to Samantha. “Joe said he wasn’t sure where you’d run off to. Who’s this you brought with you?”

“This is my cousin Rebecca,” Samantha said.

Rebecca heaved herself off the couch to shake Mr. Pryde’s hand. “It’s good to meet you, sir. Samantha has said a lot of nice things about you.”

“It’s always good to meet a friend of Samantha’s,” he said.

For dinner, Joseph prepared a box of macaroni and cheese. Rebecca watched him with fascination, allowing Samantha a few moments alone with Mr. Pryde. “I guess Rebecca must be a pretty common name where you come from, seeing as how you used to bring over another cousin named Rebecca. She was a little younger and darker as I remember it,” he said.

“It is a popular name there. Very traditional,” Samantha said. “She’s lost someone very close to her recently and I was wondering if she could stay here until she feels better.”

“I’m not running a clinic here,” Mr. Pryde said. He sighed and then added, “But seeing as how I’m going to have plenty of room I don’t see why not.”

Rebecca ran in from the doorway to crush Mr. Pryde in a hug. “Oh thank you, sir,” she said. “You won’t be sorry. Joseph showed me how to use the appliances and I’m sure I can help with the housekeeping.”

Mr. Pryde reluctantly patted Rebecca on the head. “You don’t need to worry about that. I don’t make no messes.” Samantha could see a twinkle in his eye as he spoke. He and Rebecca would get along fine. Samantha only worried what might happen to Rebecca when Mr. Pryde went on a fishing trip. If she really wanted to kill herself she would have done it, Samantha thought. She stepped in to pull Rebecca off Mr. Pryde.

After dinner, Mr. Pryde showed Rebecca to the guest room where she would be staying for as long as she needed. “It ain’t nothing fancy, but it should do,” he said.

“It’s beautiful. I love it,” Rebecca said, throwing herself onto the bed.

“I think she’s going to like it here,” Joseph said later. “You should have seen her in the kitchen. She was like a kid on Christmas morning. It’s hard to believe she’s depressed.”

They settled onto Joseph’s bed, wrapping their arms around each other. Samantha felt sleep tugging at her eyelids, but she didn’t want to fall asleep and wake up tomorrow in a crib or motel room without him. She wanted to make sure they stayed together forever.

“There’s something I need to ask you,” Joseph said.

“What is it?”

“The night my mom died there was a woman with her, an older woman.” His voice faltered, his eyes flicking down to the mattress as he said, “It was you, wasn’t it? You were there.”

“Yes,” she said.

“I remember you told me Mom went to Heaven. I thought you were an angel back then. Now I know I was right.”

He tried to kiss her, but she held him at bay. “Joe, I’m sorry about your mother. It’s my fault she died. I could have saved her and I didn’t. I failed you.”

“That’s not true. You kept Veronica from killing me. You saved my life that night and—” His voice faltered once again. “And you’ve saved me again over these last three years by making me the happiest person in the world.”

“Your mother—”

“My mother would be glad I have you to watch over me. You’re my guardian angel.” He smiled at her. “You know, after you left me with Mrs. Schulman, I told myself if I ever saw anyone that beautiful again I would have to marry her.”

“Joe, I—”

“I don’t ever want to be without you again. Marry me.”

“Now? It’s too soon. We’re too young.”

“What does age matter? All that’s important is how much we love each other.” He put up a hand and added, “I know it’s sudden. We don’t have to do it right away. I’ll wait forever if that’s what it takes.”

Tears came to her eyes as she said, “I will. I will marry you.” They kissed to seal the pact with the passion of newlyweds. For the rest of the night she held onto him, swearing to keep her promise to Joseph’s mother to take care of him for the rest of her life.

Chapter 48: The New Eternity

2007-06-15T11:08:00.003-07:00

Chapter 48: The New Eternity

Once Samantha and Rebecca’s boat faded over the horizon, the residents of Eternity made the slow trek back to town. Prudence and Wendell lagged behind, the last to give up on waving to Samantha and Rebecca. “They’re gone,” Prudence said.

“It’s for the best, like you said,” Wendell said.

“I know. I wish it wasn’t. That’s wrong of me, isn’t it?”

“Of course not. She was your best friend. Your sister.”

“I suppose you’re right.” She took his hand and followed him along the path towards town. As she went, she began to understand the price for adulthood was letting go of childish things, including her dearest friend. She squeezed Wendell’s hand to reassure herself that while she had lost a friend, she had gained something more in Wendell, something she hadn’t possessed since Rodney’s death.

Without Reverend Crane they couldn’t marry formally, but in spirit she knew they had already wed in the cavern after being taken captive by the reverend. They had exposed their greatest secrets to each other there; they had come to understand each other completely. They had grown strong enough so nothing could tear apart their love.

In town, they found everyone again milling about the square. “What do we do now?” Helena asked.

“For now we go on like normal,” David said.

“Why should we listen to you?” John asked. “You betrayed us to that devil girl.”

“She was a demon child,” David said. “She bewitched me with her charms and her promises. I’ve learned from my mistakes. I only ask for a second chance.”

“A second chance to betray us,” Mark scoffed.

“I think my John should be in charge,” Helena said. Phyllis and a handful of the boys mumbled their agreement.

“Him?” David said, pointing to his rival. “He’s not old enough to shave yet. You’d have him leading us?”

“Why don’t I show you how to use a razor right now,” John said. He reached to his belt for a knife, followed by David producing one of his own. The candidates circled each other, their supporters chanting their names.

Prudence watched all this in horror. She saw Rodney’s dream slipping away so soon after coming within reach. She shouldn’t have asked Samantha to go. They needed her strength.

Without realizing it, Prudence slipped into the gap between the combatants. “Have you all gone mad?” she shouted, surprised by the sound of her own voice. “Samantha hasn’t been gone an hour and you’re already at each other’s throats. If we settle our disputes this way we aren’t any better than Reverend Crane or Veronica.” She looked at the faces around her, meeting their eyes with her stern gaze. “It’s time for us to start acting like adults and settling our problems with words instead of violence. We have a great opportunity here to build a community based on peace and civility. We can either seize this opportunity or become murdering savages like our old masters.”

David sheathed his blade and bowed to Prudence. “I’m sorry,” he said. He reached out to take her hand. “I think we’ve found our leader already.”

“Me? But I can’t,” Prudence said.

“Her?” Helena said. “John, do something.”

John put his knife away and then took Prudence’s other hand. “I agree with David. I think Prudence should be in charge. Without her, we’d all still think we were children.”

The crowd cheered, except for Helena, who gave a strangled cry and then stomped away with Phyllis on her heels. Prudence stood in the center of the square, unsure of what to do or say. Her entire life since the day with Reverend Crane in the forest had been spent in the shadows. How could she lead them?

Wendell made his way through the crowd to stand at her side. “I don’t think I can do this,” she said.

“Of course you can. I’ll help you.” With his kiss, a wave of confidence ran through her. They had been through so much together already and survived, this couldn’t be any worse.

“I’ll do it,” she said to another round of cheers.

She spent the rest of the day taking stock of their situation. They had enough food to last for a month with careful rationing. The crops remained in good order, promising a bountiful harvest in the fall. Only the housing situation presented a real challenge.

Now that the children had their memories back, the couples like John and Helena wanted to remain together instead of sleeping apart. This arrangement she knew would be awkward when everyone changed their clothes at night and in the morning. Arguments were bound to break out as well over who moved into which dormitory. Prudence sat alone in the church, praying for guidance in solving her first official dilemma. Samantha would know what to do, she thought.

Wendell slipped into the pew beside her. “I thought I’d find you here. Things are turning ugly outside. If we don’t do something pretty soon we’ll have a civil war,” he said.

“I’m no good at this,” she said. “What do I know about leading people and solving problems? I’ve never been anything but a seamstress.” With these words the solution appeared before her.

By nightfall she and Wendell had worked out a way to subdivide the dormitories into living spaces for the married couples. They used bed sheets, tablecloths, and bits of fabric sewn together to fashion makeshift walls. As for assigning the couples to a dormitory, Prudence numbered each living space and then drew lots. Helena still complained about having to sleep in the smelly boy’s dormitory, but otherwise everyone went along with the plan.

Once everyone had settled in for the night, Prudence dropped onto her bed in the cabin. “This is going to be harder than I thought,” she said.

Wendell ran his hands along her back as he said, “We’ll get through it. There’s nothing we can’t do.”

“You’re right,” Prudence said. She turned her neck to kiss him on the cheek. “We can make this a really wonderful place if we try. The kind of place Rodney dreamed about.”

Wendell lay down next to her on the bed, frowning at the mention of Rodney. “Do you still love him?” he asked.

“Of course I do. He was my husband. I’ll always love him, but not the same way I love you. You’ve helped me become so much more than I ever thought possible.” She patted the bulge of her midsection, which had become far less pronounced in the last three years because of her diet of love.

He reached behind his back to take out a felt box. “I found this with Veronica’s clothes,” he said. He took the gold chain from the box to drape around her neck. The emerald at the end of the chain glittered in the moonlight. “Happy birthday.”

“Oh Wendell, it’s so beautiful,” she said. She rolled over to kiss him and then reached down to pull up the hem of his nightshirt. He took her hand.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“I’m sure. I love you.”

Happy birthday, she thought. Not her sixteenth birthday, but the first birthday for the girl she thought had died in the forest all those years ago. That girl had merely been sleeping in a glass coffin, waiting for a man to come along and wake her with a kiss. This man lay beneath her now and she would never let him go.

Chapter 47: Partings

2007-06-15T11:08:00.001-07:00

Chapter 47: Partings

After Rebecca finished her story, the others stared at her for a few moments in shock. “I don’t understand,” Samantha said. “How could she have died three years ago? I still remember her and Veronica.”

“I’m not sure how it’s possible,” Rebecca said. She put a hand to her head. “I can’t remember anything after that until I woke up in the cabin this morning.”

“What about everyone else?” Wendell asked. “Do they remember anything about the last three years?”

“I think you better see that for yourselves,” Rebecca said.

As they walked along the path from the demolished cave to town, Samantha tried to make sense of everything that had happened. Everything she remembered about raising Molly and Veronica the last three years had never happened. Yet she could remember every moment as clearly as the forest around her. She remembered the birthday parties, the trips to Seabrooke, and the bedtime stories. She remembered the skinned knees, the poison ivy, and the lost teeth. Most of all, she remembered them crawling into her bed during thunderstorms, their bodies pressed close to hers and their warm breath touching her face.

Those moments had never happened; those adorable little girls were ghosts now. How could people she loved so much simply disappear through some quirk of time? She told herself she would not forget, no matter what else happened. She would keep those girls alive in her memory, the only place where they could still survive.

As if reading her thoughts, Prudence touched Samantha’s shoulder. “Molly did what she had to do for everyone.”

“You don’t understand. I was supposed to protect her. She was my responsibility.” She shook Prudence’s hand away. “You can’t understand. None of you can.”

Samantha bolted into the forest, dropping to her knees among a stand of ancient trees. She rested her head against the ground to cry as the memories overwhelmed her. Two more victims to add to her list of failure and incompetence, Veronica being the greatest failure of all.

She thought of that final conversation in the cabin and again at the bank of the stream. A piece of Samantha’s childhood friend had lingered until the end, but in the end too many years of anger and bitterness eclipsed the shy little girl Samantha had befriended in kindergarten. If only Samantha could have gone back to that day and saved Veronica.

“You’re wrong,” Rebecca said from behind her. “I raised Molly since she was a baby. I’m the one who rocked her and sang to her when she cried. I changed her dirty diapers and cleaned up her messes. I gave her baths and fixed her hair the way she liked it. I heard her first word and I saw her walk for the first time.” Rebecca came closer, poking one finger into Samantha’s chest. “I loved her like my own child, so don’t you dare tell me I don’t know what it’s like!”

“I’m sorry—”

“I watched her die. I saw the rocks crush her. You can’t possibly know what that’s like, to see your own child die.”

Samantha put a hand to her stomach. “I do know, Becky. Believe me, I do.” They embraced, weeping like sisters. They remained that way for several minutes, until their tears dried.

Rebecca backed up and stared down at the ground. “When I woke up this morning and realized she was gone I wanted to kill myself. I went into the kitchen and I held the butcher knife for what must have been an hour.” She rolled up one sleeve so Samantha could see a thin red line along her wrist. “I got this far before I thought of her in those last moments and I realized what she’d done for me—for all of us. She gave us a second chance to live. Every day we have now is a gift from her and I have to make her sacrifice worthwhile by living. Do you see?”

Samantha nodded. “I’m sure she’s proud of you.” Rebecca rolled down her sleeve and then took Samantha’s arm. They headed back through the forest to find Prudence and Wendell sitting at the edge of the trail, holding hands.

“Are you two all right?” Prudence asked.

“We were starting to worry,” Wendell said.

“We’re fine,” Samantha said. “We’d better go see how the others are doing.”

She recalled the words on the plaque at the base of the fountain cave. Molly had given her life so that Rebecca, Samantha, and all the others could live. Samantha promised to find some way to repay Molly for this selfless act no matter how long it took.

At the cabin they found Annie sitting on a tree stump, waiting for them. “Hello,” she said. “I came to see if Rebecca needed anything, but she’d already gone. She showed you what’s left of the cave?” Samantha nodded. “I’m sorry about Molly. I didn’t know her as well as you or Rebecca, but she was such a sweet little girl.” Annie hopped off the stump. “I guess since Rebecca doesn’t need anything I’ll go on to the meadow. It’s such a beautiful day. Would you like to come with me?”

“Maybe later,” Samantha stammered. These were the most words Samantha had heard Annie speak in seven years. She watched Annie skip away with the carefree step of someone released from a heavy burden.

In town they found all the children milling about the square. Some wandered around as if sleepwalking. Others sat on the ground, staring at their hands or feet as if for the first time. Still others prayed in hushed voices.

A wailing came from nearby. Samantha looked towards the source and saw Helena with her face buried in John’s chest while Phyllis patted her back. “I died!” Helena said. “She stabbed me in the chest and I died.” She looked up at him, her face turning bright red. “Where were you? You were probably off chasing rabbits or torturing frogs or whatever you boys do. How could you let her do that to me?”

“Now pumpkin, I didn’t know any better. If I did, I would have done something. I swear,” John said.

“It will be all right. Let’s get you to bed,” Phyllis said. She took Helena from John, letting Helena use her shoulder as a handkerchief as they walked across the square.

“What’s going on here?” Samantha asked.

“Everyone remembers,” Rebecca said. “Not just these last few days, but everything. From before Reverend Crane took over. I’m not sure how it happened.”

“I do,” Wendell said. He kissed Prudence on the cheek. “You did it. You set them free.”

Prudence’s face turned as red as Helena’s. “I only reminded them of what they knew already,” she said.

Samantha stiffened when David approached them in the center of the town square. She prepared for him to pull out a weapon or at least try to hit her as revenge for Veronica’s death, but he only held up his empty hands and said, “I’m sorry. I’ve been a fool. Twice now. First with the reverend and then with her. Can you ever forgive me?”

“Of course I can,” Samantha said. She reached out her hand towards David. He took it warily, as if expecting a trap, but then pumped her hand with vigor. When she finally let go, she looked about her. “I think we should go somewhere private to talk about this.”

David fell in with them as they went into Rebecca’s bakery. She locked the door behind her so no one else could get inside. Prudence, Wendell, and David pulled up stools before the hearth while Rebecca leaned against a corner and Samantha stood in the center of the room. “I think we’re going to have a lot of work ahead of us to sort things out,” Samantha said. “First we have to make sure we have food ready for when they snap out of this. We should inventory the pantry to see if we need any more supplies. I can get anything we need tomorrow when I go back to Seabrooke to talk with Joseph. I’m sure he’ll understand—”

“Samantha, I think you should go with Joseph to California,” Prudence said.

“What? I can’t go now. Not with things the way they are.”

Prudence stood up to look Samantha in the eye. “You saved us from Reverend Crane and you guided us through all the dark times since, but we’re not children anymore. It’s time for us to care for ourselves. And it’s time for you to go and make yourself happy.”

“I can’t leave you. You’re my family—”

“You’re my sister, Samantha, but in every family there’s a time when you have to go out on your own to live your own life.” Prudence reached out to take Samantha’s hands. “What you have with Joseph is special. You can’t squander it for us.”

“But—”

“She’s right,” Wendell said. “We’ve spent almost four centuries with someone else looking after us: Reverend Crane, Miss Brigham, and you. It’s time we look after ourselves.”

“We’ll be fine,” David added. “It’ll take an adjustment, but we can do it. We’re ready now.”

Samantha looked to each of her friends. In their eyes she saw the resolve and determination to make things work. Prudence was right: they weren’t children anymore. They didn’t need her to be their mother. “All right. I’ll leave in the morning.”

Prudence hugged her, followed by Wendell, and even David patted her on the back. Rebecca stayed in her corner, saying nothing. Only later, after Samantha retreated to the cabin for the night, did Rebecca speak to her. “I want to go with you tomorrow,” she said.

“Why?”

Rebecca sat down at the edge of the bed, looking down at the floor. “There’s no place for me here anymore. All the others are adults now, but I still feel like a kid.” She reached out to pluck a throw pillow from the floor. “Molly used to sleep on this when she crawled into the bed with me.” She threw the pillow into the darkness. “Everything here reminds me of her and it hurts. I keep thinking she’ll come through the door any moment and hop onto my lap the way she did when she was three. But she’s gone and I’m still here.”

Samantha slid over to the end of the bed to cradle Rebecca’s head in her hands. She knew the pain of losing a loved one all too well. “Leaving isn’t going to make the pain go away,” Samantha said.

“I’m afraid of what will happen if I stay,” Rebecca said, indicating the scratches on her wrists. “I don’t think I can make it here, feeling her all around me.”

“All right, come with me to Seabrooke tomorrow. We’ll figure something out.”

Rebecca thanked her and then spent the rest of the night sleeping next to Samantha in the bed. Flurries of sobbing punctuated Rebecca’s snores throughout the night. Samantha didn’t sleep at all, watching over her troubled friend.

By the morning, Rebecca had recovered. She whistled as she packed her few belongings and made Samantha a breakfast of eggs and fresh bread. “I can’t wait to get over there and see what it’s like,” Rebecca said. “Is it really so different?”

“It’s like a whole new world,” Samantha said.

“Good,” Rebecca said. Samantha saw on her friend’s face the same look she’d worn all those years after leaving Andre at the prom, the mask of hope that a change of scenery—a fresh start—could erase the past. In time Rebecca would learn, as she had, that the pain would always remain with her, a stain that could never be washed away.

As for her own belongings, she had little to carry with her from Eternity except memories. A few clothes were all she carried in a knapsack to the beach. The entire town showed up to wish her and Rebecca farewell. Prudence and Wendell stood at their head so that they were first to embrace her.

“Promise you won’t forget us,” Prudence said.

“I could never forget you,” Samantha said. She pulled off the metal necklace, the half-heart whose other half lay underneath the rubble of the fountain cave. “I always wanted to give this to my best friend.” She draped the necklace over Prudence’s neck and then they hugged again.

“Wherever you end up, make sure you give Mr. Pryde your address so we can write,” Wendell said.

She kissed him on the forehead, his face turning red as it had when he was a boy. “I’ll write you every day,” she said.

She received the congratulations and well wishes of everyone in Eternity, including Helena. “You’re not so bad as far as savages go,” Helena said. Samantha knew this was the closest to a compliment she would get. She embraced Helena and then climbed onto the boat next to the Primrose. Rebecca followed her up, waving shyly to everyone.

“I’ll come back to visit,” Samantha said.

“We’ll be waiting,” Wendell said.

“Take care of yourself, and Joseph,” Prudence said.

The boys pushed the boat into the water and soon Samantha and Rebecca were being carried away by the wind. They waved from the back of the boat until the children of Eternity were reduced to specks on the horizon and then disappeared.

Chapter 46: Ghosts

2007-06-15T11:07:00.002-07:00

Chapter 46: Ghosts

The Primrose landed on the beach that afternoon. Wendell hurried down the ramp to take the rope from Samantha to tie up the boat. “Do you suppose everyone else is all right?” Prudence asked as they descended the ramp.

“I hope so,” Samantha said. They joined Wendell and then started along the path towards town. Prudence and Wendell walked a step behind Samantha, holding hands and pressing so close to one another they were like one person.

Samantha walked alone, hugging herself. Joseph had stayed behind in Seabrooke with his father, which at the time she hadn’t disagreed with, but now she wished he were here. She didn’t know what they would find in Eternity. Although the timeline had changed, something equally dangerous could await them. Reverend Crane and Pryde might still be alive or perhaps something even worse lay in store for them. She longed for Joseph at her side so his love could strengthen her.

Before they reached town, Samantha saw a pale girl sitting on a log, staring at them. The girl was as heavy as Prudence at her peak and wearing the same loose-fitting gray dress. A veil of brown hair obscured her face. Only when she brushed it aside did Samantha recognize her. “Rebecca?”

“I figured you would be along sooner or later,” Rebecca said. She heaved herself off the log, approaching Samantha with the caution of a stranger.

“But you died!”

Rebecca took Samantha’s arm. “There’s something you need to see,” she said. “Then it will make sense. Or about as much sense as any of this can make.”

“What’s happened?” Samantha asked.

“You’ll see.” Rebecca led her away from town, Prudence and Wendell following behind with wary expressions. Samantha knew it could be a trap set by Veronica, but this girl looked and sounded exactly like Rebecca, not the Rebecca-Veronica hybrid Samantha had raised for three years. How had she managed to overlook the subtle changes in skin and hair color and, even more importantly, the difference in Rebecca’s eyes? While Veronica had always looked away from Samantha, Rebecca met Samantha’s gaze, her eyes clouded with sadness.

She led them to the fountain cave, or rather what had once been the cave. A mountain of rubble stood in its place. At the base of the hill sat a granite marker. Samantha knelt down to examine the writing carved into the stone. She traced the letters with one finger, not comprehending the words for a moment. “In This Cave Lies Molly Brigham. She Died So We May Live,” read the marker.

Samantha fell backwards into a sitting position. “My God. Molly did it. She’s the one,” Samantha said. Prudence cried out at this, burying her head in Wendell’s shoulder. Samantha looked up at Rebecca, who stood with her head bowed as if in prayer. “What happened here?”

“It was three years ago,” Rebecca said. “Molly had run off again and I came here to meet David so we could look for her together. She was hiding in the cave, underneath a sweater.”

“Molly, that’s enough. You’re coming back with me this instant,” Rebecca says. Then she notices a little brown girl lying on the ground, clad only in a shirt that droops down to her ankles. “Who’s this?”

“This is Veronica. She’s my friend.”

Rebecca holds up the oversized sweater and pair of pants. “You two have been playing with the fountain, haven’t you? Molly, how did you get in here? Did someone leave the door open?”

“Veronica and I got in here all by ourselves,” Molly says, puffing out her chest with pride.

Rebecca kneels down beside the brown girl, who hasn’t moved since Rebecca found them. “Veronica, can you hear me? Can you talk? Are you all right? Nod for me if you’re all right, sweetie.” Veronica nods her head slightly. “Good girl. Molly, where did she come from?”

“Across the sea,” Molly says. “Her grandfather had a map leading here with all sorts of riddles for her grandmother to solve. She never solved them, but Veronica did.”

Rebecca examines the clothes in her hands again. “How old was Veronica when she came here? How long has she been here?” Molly says nothing. Rebecca takes her by the shoulders and shakes her. “Molly, answer me! This is important. We could all be in terrible danger. If anyone else finds this place—”

“Veronica isn’t going to hurt anyone. She took care of me when I got sick, before you found me.”

Rebecca glances over at the little girl, feeling the heat of raw hatred from Veronica’s eyes through her curtain of wild hair. She shivers and says to Molly, “We’ll talk about this more later. For now I better get you girls out of here. Veronica, can you walk? Do you need me to carry you, sweetie?”

Veronica gets to her feet, holding out a tiny brown hand. Rebecca takes her hand and then leads her towards the opening with Molly following behind. Veronica stops at the fountain to stare into the water. Whatever she sees in the Fountain of Youth is enough to make her cry.

“You can’t change me back, can you?” Veronica asks.

Rebecca kneels down beside her, parting Veronica’s hair to look into her eyes. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I wish there was, but there isn’t. It’s not so bad, though, to grow up again. You can live with Molly and I in our house. You and Molly can share a room. I’ll have Wendell make you a bed all your own. You two can work with me in the bakery. We’ll be one big family. You’ll see.”

“No,” Veronica says with a woman’s firmness.

“No? I know it’s difficult now, sweetheart, but in time—”

“In time? I’m a baby!” Veronica’s eyes narrow into angry slits. “If you think it’s so easy, let’s see you do it.”

She shoves Rebecca with more strength than Rebecca thinks possible for a toddler to possess. Rebecca stumbles back, teetering on the edge of the fountain. She reaches out to grab Molly’s hand, her fingers grazing the edge of Molly’s jacket.

Molly reaches out to take Rebecca’s hand. She pulls Rebecca away from the edge, the two of them ending up on the ground. “I did it,” Molly says.

Rebecca looks over at Veronica, whose body quivers beneath the oversized shirt. She lets out a high-pitched scream of rage an instant before she dives onto Molly. Her tiny hands tear at Molly’s face like sharpened claws. “Traitor!” Veronica says.

Rebecca grabs Veronica by the shirt, pulling her off Molly. With another scream, Veronica turns her rage onto Rebecca, twisting out of Rebecca’s grasp and then kicking her in the back of the leg. Rebecca collapses to the ground with a whimper of pain. Before she can get up, Veronica is on top of her, seizing her head with both hands. She snarls like an animal as she bashes Rebecca’s head onto the ground over and over again until stars explode in Rebecca’s vision. She tries to fight back, but her limbs refuse to obey her commands.

“Veronica, no!” Molly says. “Becky didn’t do anything.”

“You can’t tell me what to do,” Veronica says.

Molly charges forward, bowling her friend off Rebecca. Veronica rolls onto her feet to face Molly. “How can you take her side?” Veronica asks, pointing to Rebecca. “She doesn’t care about you like I do. She only cares about herself.”

“Becky loves me,” Molly says. “She’s my mama.”

“You little fool. I’m going to put both of you in there.” Veronica finds her pants and reaches into one pocket, pulling out a knife almost as long her arm. She grips the knife with both hands like a sword, swinging it at Molly’s midsection. The blade tears the fabric of Molly’s dress before she hops back.

With each swing, Veronica drives Molly back another step. At the edge of the fountain, Veronica tries to knock Molly sideways into the water, but Molly jumps the opposite way. She backs away towards the wall across from Rebecca. Molly holds out her hands in supplication. “Veronica, please, don’t do this. I’m your friend.”

“You’re not my friend,” Veronica says. She swipes the knife across Molly’s midsection, leaving a blood gash across Molly’s stomach. Molly cries out with pain, dropping to her knees on the ground. “You’ve never been anything more than a baby, letting Mama Becky nurse you. She can’t help you now.”

Feeling has returned to Rebecca’s limbs. She pushes herself up to her feet, wobbling a moment before steadying herself. She staggers towards Molly, ready to throw herself on the knife if need be to save her child.

Veronica stands over Molly, the knife poised to strike. Molly looks past Veronica, her eyes meeting Rebecca’s. In that moment, Rebecca sees not the little girl she’s raised since infancy, but a grown woman. Rebecca follows these adult eyes to Molly’s right hand, which rests on a trip wire. “Molly, no!”

“Goodbye, Mama,” Molly says as she pulls the wire. A rumbling sound fills the cave. The knife drops from Veronica’s hands; she covers her ears and whimpers like a small child, dropping next to Molly on the ground.

Rebecca takes a step towards the girls, but then the rocks suspended over the fountain begin tumbling down. Through the dust and debris, she makes out Molly for a moment. Molly smiles at her and mouths the words, “I love you, Mama.”

The rocks continue to fall all around Rebecca, one coming within an inch of crushing her. “Molly!” she screams and then stumbles towards the cave opening. She collapses at the foot of the hill, where she later rests the plaque as a final testament to Molly’s sacrifice.

Chapter 45: The Miracle

2007-06-15T11:07:00.001-07:00

Chapter 45: The Miracle

Samantha felt something soft beneath her. A cloud? She had always thought the notion of people sitting around on clouds playing harps to be corny, but maybe there was some truth in it. Then her hand scraped against the wooden surface of a headboard.

She opened her eyes to stare up at the familiar headboard to Joseph’s bed, a poster of the solar system tacked to the wall above. She flexed the hand touching the headboard, noting her long, thin grownup fingers. She touched her straight hair and then rolled over to pat her breasts and firm stomach.

As she lay on Joseph’s bed, she ran through everything that had happened. Veronica had taken out the knife to stab Joseph. The blade instead plunged into Samantha’s gut. She collapsed into Joseph’s arms. Veronica drew another knife to finish Joseph off. With her last strength, Samantha pulled the knife from her stomach and jammed it between Veronica’s ribs just as she had trained to do during her years in the Bureau.

And then she died, Joseph pleading with her to stay while the world grew dimmer and dimmer.

She crawled out of bed, stumbling over her adult-sized feet as if learning to walk for the first time. If this was the afterlife, then what about her parents? What about Andre? She pressed a hand to her stomach, thinking of the unborn child Veronica had killed in her womb. Would she be able to see the child here too?

There were so many things she needed to know, but first she went around the bed to kneel down in front of Joseph. She peeled aside the covers to look at his face with its pimples and stray hairs the razor had missed. His lips were the ones she remembered kissing so many times before.

His eyes opened as she kissed him. To her surprise, he grabbed her around the waist and wrestled her into bed on top of him. He pressed her against his body hard enough to suck the air from her lungs. “Joe, stop it,” she said.

“Oh my God,” he said. “It’s really you. I must be dreaming. I saw her kill you. I held you as you died.”

She squirmed free of his grasp to lie beside him. “Maybe we’re both dead,” she said. “Or maybe I’m making all this up.”

“You mean I’m some kind of illusion?” He pinched the skin on his arm. “I don’t feel like an illusion.”

“I don’t know.” A smile came to her face. “I don’t care either. All that matters is we’re here.”

A scream from down the hall interrupted their kiss. Samantha leapt from the bed, crashing against the wall before regaining her balance. She raced down the hallway to the guest bedroom where the scream had come from. When she opened the door, she heard two screams.

Prudence and Wendell hurried to cover their naked bodies with a sheet. “Prudence, what’s wrong?” Samantha asked, swallowing a sigh of relief at losing her childish speech impediment.

“Nothing,” Prudence said, pressing a hand to her temple. “When I passed out my feet hurt so much, but now they’re all right and I’m here and I’m not little anymore. I don’t understand. What’s going on?”

“I was sitting right there beside her in the girl’s dormitory and then all the sudden I was lying here,” Wendell added. “What happened?”

“The fountain,” Joseph said from the doorway. He held up his digital watch. “This says it’s the day after Prudence’s birthday. That means someone used the fountain to go back in time and stop Veronica from poisoning us. And—”

Joseph took off running down the hallway. He pounded down the steps, ignoring Samantha when she called his name. She caught up with him in the kitchen, where he knelt down on the floor with tears in his eyes. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“He’s not here,” Joseph said.

“Who?”

“Dad. Do you think he’s still alive?”

She knelt down beside him, putting a hand on his back. “I’m sure he is. Let’s get dressed and go down to the docks to see if we can find him.”

In the guest bedroom, Prudence stuck a finger into her bulging stomach. Never before had she been so glad to see her fat. She pulled the sheet away from her legs to stare down at her chubby feet. She reached down to feel the undamaged skin.

Wendell put a hand on her back. “It’s all right,” he said. “None of it happened. We’re safe.”

“How do we know? Veronica might still be out there. Even if she didn’t do it this time, she could try again.” Prudence rolled out of bed and gathered up her clothes. “We have to go back and make sure the fountain is destroyed. Come on!”

“Prudence, relax—”

“I can’t relax.” She picked up his clothes, hurling them at him. “I don’t want to be a little girl again. I don’t want to be brainwashed into thinking you’re my brother again. I don’t want to lose us. I love you.”

Wendell hurried to put on his clothes and then hugged Prudence. “It won’t happen again. I promise. You and I are going to grow old together,” he said. He kissed her on the cheek. “Let’s go tell Sam and get the Primrose ready to sail.”

They met Samantha and Joseph in the hallway, both of them fully dressed now. “We’re going to the docks to look for Mr. Pryde,” Samantha said. “Where are you going?”

“We were going to get the boat ready,” Prudence said. “We need to get over to Eternity and find out what’s going on.”

“Then we can go together,” Joseph said. They piled into his father’s sedan, Joseph taking the wheel. He stared at the controls a moment as if seeing them for the first time. Samantha put a hand on his arm to reassure him.

“We’re not kids anymore,” she told him. He nodded and then turned the key in the ignition. He drove slow down the hill, growing more comfortable as he turned onto the highway into Seabrooke. No one spoke during the drive; despite what she’d told Joe, Samantha kept looking at herself in the rearview mirror while Prudence and Wendell clung to each other in the backseat like a drowning person to a life preserver.

As soon as Joseph stopped the engine, he bolted from the car, towards the slip for his father’s boat. Samantha followed him, going slow so as not to trip again. The fishing boat bobbed on the surface of the water. Joseph ran along the dock and then leapt onto the stern.

By the time Samantha caught up, she found Joseph reduced to a sobbing mess against his father. Mr. Pryde held his arms out straight a moment, as if unsure what to do. Then he folded his arms around his son, patting him on the back. “What’s the matter with you?” Mr. Pryde asked. “You haven’t hugged me since you were six years old.”

“I’m sorry,” Joseph said. “I missed you so much.”

“It ain’t like I never went out fishing before.” He turned to Samantha, who had climbed onto the deck with tears in her eyes. “What’s gotten into you two?”

“It’s just so good to see you again, Daddy,” Joseph said. At this a smile formed at the corners of Mr. Pryde’s mouth and when Samantha squinted, she made out drops forming in his eyes.

Chapter 44: Endgame

2007-06-15T11:06:00.002-07:00

Chapter 44: Endgame

After Wendell carried Prudence away, Joseph looked around him. “Molly?” he called out. He didn’t see her anywhere. She must have gone to find Samantha and Veronica. That’s where he needed to go to save Samantha before Veronica killed her.

A hand reached out to grab his ankle. The boy who’d nearly burned Prudence alive looked up at Joseph, his face covered in sweat. “What happened to me?” the boy asked.

“I don’t know,” Joseph said. He helped the boy into a sitting position. “What do you remember?”

“Everything.” The boy started to cry. “My God. Three hundred years like this. How could we let this happen?”

“It’s all right. Everything will be fine now.” Around him, Joseph saw the other children similarly reviving, looking at each other as if for the first time. Many of them, like the boy, cried from the shock. The only one who didn’t seem fazed at all was a girl with honey-colored hair in a light blue dress. She stared at Joseph, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. He went over to her and asked, “Is something wrong?”

“Everything is as it should be,” she said. “Veronica has Samantha in the cabin. She’s in the crib right now.”

“How do you know?”

“It’s not important. You know what you must do now.”

Joseph took a step forward and then stopped. “I can’t do this by myself. Not against Veronica. I need help.”

“We’ll help you,” the boy Joseph had comforted said. Around him, the other children nodded. They picked up their makeshift weapons.

“We have to be careful, though,” Joseph said. “She has Samantha. We can’t let Veronica hurt her.”

“We won’t,” one of the girls said. “She’s the closest we’ve had to a mother.” The other children agreed with this assessment. It occurred to Joseph as they marched towards the cabin that this was why Samantha kept leaving him to come back here. These children loved her like a parent and she like her own sons and daughters. All this time he’d thought she did it out of misplaced loyalty or as an excuse to keep from seeing him. Only now did he see how wrong he was about everything.

As they neared the cabin, Joseph picked up a rock from alongside the path. He didn’t see any other safe way to get Samantha than to hope this show of force caused Veronica to surrender. If not, then maybe they could negotiate a solution. He would volunteer to trade himself for Samantha. Veronica would agree to that so she could get rid of the algae and use the Fountain of Youth again. Unless she had become too unstable to care about the fountain anymore. Someone who would have her best friend burned at the stake couldn’t be too stable.

He reared back to hurl the rock through a window of the cabin. A moment later, he saw a head of curly black hair and a pair of brown eyes peer over the top of a crib. Samantha! Joseph’s heart leapt at the sight of her. Before he could wave or call out to her, a pair of hands ripped her from the crib.

Veronica opened the door, Samantha tucked under her arm like a bundle of laundry. She surveyed the line of children with their makeshift weapons. “Look at that, the Lollipop Guild is armed for battle,” she said.

“Let Samantha go,” Joseph said.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you Prince Charming? Did you really think you’d walk up with your little friends and I’d hand her over to you?” Veronica took a knife out of her belt to hold at Samantha’s head. “We’re going to walk out of here and there’s nothing you can do about it unless you want your girlfriend to get a lobotomy.”

“She’s not the one you want,” Joseph said. “Take me instead. I’ll help you get rid of the algae.”

“Joseph, no!” Samantha said.

“I don’t think so,” Veronica said. “Fatty is mine.”

“I can’t let you take her,” Joseph said.

“You can’t stop me,” she said, taking a step forward. The children behind Joseph whispered to each other, the grip on their weapons loosening. “You see, Prince Charming? I win. Now if you excuse me, I’m going to put Fatty here on a boat for Seabrooke and then I’m going to dump her body next to your father’s. After three days I bet he’s not smelling too good.”

“You’re not going to get away with this,” Joseph said.

Samantha reached out towards him as Veronica passed by. The tips of Samantha’s right hand brushed against his fingers. Then she was gone. Veronica walked past the line of children, a smile fixed on her face.

After she disappeared into the trees, one of the boys said, “Come on, let’s go after her!”

“We’ll set an ambush for her along the road and take her by surprise,” another suggested.

“No, it’s too dangerous,” Joseph said.

“We can’t let her get to the boat or she’ll kill Samantha for sure,” one of the girls said.

Joseph considered this, tears coming to his eyes. The girl was right. If he did nothing, Samantha would surely die. If he tried to rescue her, Samantha would very likely die. The odds either way were not good. “All right, let’s go,” he said.

The children let out a cheer and then took off running. Joseph lagged behind, in no hurry to witness Samantha’s death. As he walked, something Veronica had said stuck out in his mind.

She had told them her plan. Granted this might be arrogance on her part, but why tell them where she planned to go so they could try to intercept her as they were doing now? Unless her plan wasn’t to head for the boat. He stopped in the middle of the path, a shiver running the length of his body.

If she didn’t plan to get to the boat, where would she go? The fountain cave maybe, but to get there she would need to double back. Where else could she go? A horrible thought occurred to him. He broke into a run.

As they entered town, Veronica kept running straight along the row of shops instead of turning right towards the boats. “You said we were going to the shore,” Samantha said.

“We’re going to a shore,” Veronica said. “I think you’re in need of a good bath.”

“What? No,” Samantha said. She kicked at Veronica as hard as she could, but it did no good. “You wuh die once they find you. Wet me go and save youself.”

“Your boyfriend might kill me, but I’ll die happy knowing you’re going with me,” Veronica said. “We’ll go out together like a couple of old friends.” She took the heart necklace out from under her shirt. “Best Friends Forever.”

“Veronica, this is cwazy.”

“Is it? I think we’ve both known this day was coming. I had been hoping to live a good long time without you, but in a way it’s more appropriate this way, don’t you think?”

“Veronica, pwease, we can find a way,” Samantha said. Veronica continued to trot along the path towards the stream. Samantha’s heart sank as she heard the sound of water. She didn’t have much time left.

“What are you afraid of?” Veronica asked. “Don’t tell me Miss Rough-and-Tumble G-Woman is scared to die. Being in this fat little body must be making you soft.”

Samantha considered this. All her years in the Bureau she had charged into harm’s way, not caring if she lived or died. Even as a child on Eternity death didn’t scare her so much, because she had so little to live for. But ever since she had met Joseph life had gained new meaning. Now she really did have something to lose. “I wuv Joseph. Can’t you unduhstand that?”

“It’s so adorable when you say it like that,” Veronica said. “It really touches my heart.” She wiped a fake tear away from her eye. The sparkling waters of the stream came within sight now, beckoning to Samantha. “Think of it this way, when you die you’ll get to see him again. If you believe in all that Christian shit about Heaven and Hell.”

“I don’t want to hut Joseph,” Samantha said. “Haven’t you ever wuved someone so much you never wanted to hut them?”

“Life is pain,” Veronica said.

“I know your parents were mean and—”

“Shut up! Stop trying to pretend you understand me. You don’t. If you did, you never would have betrayed me like you did. You never would have abandoned me for him!”

“I didn’t abandon you. You were awways my fwiend.”

“I’m sick of your lies. I ought to cut open your throat right now.” The knife hovered over Samantha’s throat. She waited for the blow, but Veronica lowered the weapon. Tears had come to her eyes again. “Why couldn’t you love me? Why couldn’t anyone love me?”

Veronica knelt down at the edge of the stream with Samantha still tucked beneath her arm. “No one ever wanted me. Not you, not my worthless parents. None of you ever cared about me.”

“That’s not twue. I did wuv you. You were wike my sister,” Samantha said.

“Do you still wuv me?” Veronica asked, a hint of menace in her voice. “Am I still your sister?”

“I wuv the widduh girl I met in kindygarden,” Samantha said. “I wish she wood come back.”

Veronica shook her head. “No, it’s too late for that. But at least we can die together like sisters.” Veronica got to her feet and started to wade into the water. Samantha took a deep breath, knowing her only hope lay in outlasting Veronica once they went underwater.

The water reached up to Veronica’s waist, seeping into Samantha’s shoes, when she heard Joseph call out, “Wait!”

Veronica turned around so that Samantha could see Joseph standing on the shore, his empty hands raised. “You’re too late,” Veronica said.

“Let her go,” Joseph said. “There’s nowhere for you to go.”

“Of course there is.” Veronica gestured to the water. “Samantha and I are going for a swim. You can join us.”

Veronica began to wade out of the water. At the shore, she threw Samantha against a rock. Samantha’s head banged against the stone; she felt blood when she touched the back of her head. Through dimming and swirling vision she watched Veronica approach Joseph, her knife raised.

“I might as well finish off the whole family tree,” Veronica said. “First your mommy, then your daddy, and now you. Then I’ll take care of your little girlfriend.”

The dying words of Joseph’s mother rang in Samantha’s ears. I won’t fail again, she thought as she wobbled to her feet. Joseph backed away from Veronica until his foot caught a loose stone. He fell down and rolled onto his back, both hands raised as a feeble defense. Veronica stood over him, her knife raised over her head to strike.

As the blade arced downwards to tear into Joseph’s chest, Samantha threw herself between them. The knife plunged into her stomach. Joseph caught her as she fell, pressing her close to his chest. “Samantha, no,” he said.

“I’m sowwy,” she said. She looked down at the blood spreading across her tattered princess costume. “I pwomised.”

“How sweet,” Veronica said. A smaller knife appeared in her hand. “It only changes the order in which you die.”

She brought the knife down towards Joseph, aiming for his throat. Halfway into the swing, her hand stopped, hovered shaking in midair, and then dropped the knife. She looked down at the handle of her own blade sticking out of her chest. “At least we go together,” she said, collapsing to the ground.

Samantha’s breathing turned ragged, the color draining from her face. She had kept her promise to Joseph’s mother. No harm would come to Joseph now. He took her bloody hands in his, squeezing them as tightly as possible. “Please don’t go,” he said. “Don’t leave me.”

“I’m sowwy,” she said again. The world around her faded away so that she could only see his face. In that instant she saw not the face of a little boy, but the man she’d fallen in love with. “I wuv you.”

“No, Samantha, please. Don’t go. Stay with me.”

“I can’t,” she said. His face faded away into darkness. Her breathing slowed to stuttering gasps. She felt cold, so cold. She wanted to ask Joseph for a blanket, but couldn’t make a sound.

She heard him crying and wished she could tell him not to be afraid. He would find another woman to love as much or even more than her, much as she’d found him after Andre died. Sometimes you did get a second chance at love. She was glad Joseph was hers.

Then she felt his lips touch hers and the darkness exploded into red light.

Chapter 43: Friendly Ties

2007-06-15T11:06:00.001-07:00

Chapter 43: Friendly Ties

Veronica dumped Samantha into the crib. Samantha tried to scramble out, but as before couldn’t climb out. Veronica leaned over the side with a victorious smile. She reached out to pinch Samantha’s cheek. “Anything you need in there? A dowwy? A bwankie? A diaper?”

“What are you going to do with me?” Samantha asked.

“For now I’ll keep you in there. Once your boyfriend figures out how to get rid of that algae, then I’m going to bring him back here and stab him through the heart so you can watch him die like his bitch of a mother.” At this, Samantha again tried to claw her way out of the crib, but Veronica pushed her down. “When I finish with him, I’m going to make you into an iddy-biddy widduh baby. I think I’ll keep you like that for a couple centuries and then maybe—if you’re a good little girl—I might let you become a toddler again.”

Veronica pinched Samantha’s nose before disappearing from the side of the crib. Samantha heard her banging around pots and pans in the kitchen. She looked around the crib for something that might help her escape, but once again saw nothing to give her the needed boost.

By now the other kids might have already killed Prudence, Wendell, and Molly. She brought death to everyone who ever loved her. First her parents, then her aunt, then Andre, and soon Joseph would die, his only crime loving her. If she wanted to change history for the better, then she ought to stop herself from being born. Then her parents, aunt, and Andre would all still be alive. And Veronica—

Samantha thought back to that first day of kindergarten. If she had never befriended Veronica, then Veronica wouldn’t have killed all those people. Like a plague, Samantha infected and then destroyed everyone she touched. In the crib she began to wail, her cheeks turning a livid red.

Veronica peered over the edge of the crib, her face troubled. “What’s the matter with you? Your brain hasn’t snapped again so soon, has it?” she asked. Samantha was too choked by crying to answer. Veronica reached into the crib to pick Samantha up and pat her on the back. “There, there. Mommy is going to take good care of you.’

“I’m sowwy,” Samantha managed to get out. “I did this to you. It’s my faut.”

“What do you mean?” Veronica held Samantha out at arm’s length as if she’d wet herself. “What did you do to me?”

“I made you this way,” Samantha said. “I made you so angwy and mean. If I hadn’t known you, then you would have been aw wight. You wouldn’t have hut anyone.”

Veronica’s face twitched, but she didn’t say anything. Finally, she dropped Samantha back into the crib and then leaned against the side. Veronica’s lip trembled and then tears came to her eyes. “It wasn’t fair,” she said. “You had everything. You never had to go home to a trailer with no electricity and no food because your stepmother was too busy whoring around to pay the electric bill or buy groceries. You never got woke up in the middle of the night by the smell of alcohol on your father’s breath. You never had to comb your hair in the morning to cover up a black eye. You never had to stay home from school because you couldn’t walk after Daddy fucked you all night.”

Her voice grew louder with each sentence while tears coursed down her cheeks. She wiped at them with a furious hand. Then she reached into the crib to grab hold of Samantha’s curls. “You were a spoiled brat who got everything you wanted, but it was never enough. No, you had to have him!”

“Just because I wuved Andwe didn’t mean I stopped wuving you,” Samantha said. “You were awways my fwiend.”

“You were everything to me. Everything!” Veronica said. “I didn’t have anything else. But to you I was someone you hung out with when you didn’t have a date. That’s all I ever meant to you. Once you had him, I didn’t matter anymore.”

“That’s not twue,” Samantha said. “I wuved Andwe in a diffwent way than you, but I didn’t wuv you any wess.”

Veronica slammed Samantha’s head against the side of the crib. “Liar! You didn’t ever love me. You only needed me when you didn’t have anyone else. You used me.”

“Veronica, pwease, hut me if you want, but weave my fwiends awone. Pwoodance and Wenduh didn’t do anyfing to you. And Mowwy, she wuved you wike you wuved me. How can you hut her?”

“I never gave a shit about Mowwy,” Veronica said. She wiped away the last traces of tears from her cheeks. “I needed her help to find the fountain. That’s all.”

“But you were wike sisters for twee years. Didn’t that mean anyfing to you?”

“Never.”

“I saw you two togever. You wuved each other and now you’re going to wet her die.”

“So what? She doesn’t mean anything to me. Just like I never meant anything to you.”

“Veronica, pwease—” Veronica silenced her by slapping her across the face. She pushed Samantha onto her back. “I better go check on your boyfriend and get him to work.”

“If you hut Joseph—”

“Then you’ll do what? Cry? Tell on me? You’re as helpless now as when I killed him.”

“Ow stop you.”

Before Veronica could say anything, a window shattered. The stone landed in Samantha’s crib, coming within an inch of her. She stood on her tiptoes to peer over the edge of the crib. Outside the children of Eternity stood in a line, Joseph at their head.

Veronica grabbed Samantha by the front of her dress. “Looks like I’ll have to kill him sooner than I hoped,” she said. Then Veronica tucked Samantha under one arm and opened the door to face the mob.

Chapter 42: The Plea

2007-06-15T11:05:00.002-07:00

Chapter 42: The Plea

The ground and netting shredded the back of Prudence’s dress until she felt a burning pain from her raw flesh scraping against the dirt. Samantha continued to struggle next to her, tearing at the net in a frenzy that did nothing. Wendell had his eyes closed as if already accepting their failure.

Samantha finally ran out of energy to struggle, her body going limp. She turned to Prudence and said, “This isn’t over yet, Pwoodance.”

At another time Prudence would have taken comfort from her friend’s defiant words. At ten or fourteen or seventeen Samantha would have already found a way out of the net and taken down anyone in her way. But the fat toddler next to her in the net, who couldn’t even pronounce Prudence’s name correctly, was as helpless as Prudence in the forest with Reverend Crane.

Wendell touched her hand. What would become of him? They had been through so much together the last three years, ever since their first trip to Seabrooke. From that time, Wendell had loved her as much and made her as happy as she ever was with Rodney. With Wendell she had discovered strength and beauty she never thought possible. For the first time she had become the person she might have been if Reverend Crane hadn’t taken her into the forest.

She turned to Wendell and said, “Promise me that no matter what happens you’ll never leave me.”

“I promise,” he said. He opened his eyes and with great difficulty managed to kiss her on the cheek. “I love you. No matter where or when or how old we are, there’s nothing that can ever change that.”

The town appeared in her vision. The boys dragging the net slowed as they reached the town square. “What do we do with them?” one of them asked.

“The redheads are traitors. Dispose of them however you like. The fat one is mine,” Veronica said. As soon as the boys pulled the netting away, Veronica snatched Samantha by the arm, dragging her away.

“Samantha!” Joseph shouted. He tried to run after her, but was again elbowed in the ribs. For her part, Samantha kicked and even tried to bite Veronica to no avail.

A group of boys hauled Prudence and Wendell to their feet and then carried them to the center of the square, where they were reunited with Molly. “What do we do with them?” some of the boys asked.

“Stab them!”

“Hang them!”

A boy Prudence recognized as John, Helena’s former husband, pressed his way through the crowd. “I say we burn them!” he said. The other boys roared their approval of this.

“How do we do that?” someone asked.

“Tie them to a post and light a fire beneath them,” John said. He shoved Prudence’s head forward and then with his knife sawed off her long hair. She screamed from the pain until someone muffled her with a dirty rag. John held up the shorn tresses for everyone to see. “This will make good kindling.”

“You can’t do this,” Wendell pleaded. “We haven’t done anything wrong.”

“She killed Helena and Phyllis,” John said, pointing to Molly. “And you two helped her.”

“She couldn’t have killed them,” Wendell said. “Look how small she is. How could she murder anyone?”

“Veronica is lying,” Molly said. “She’s using you like she used me. As soon as she’s done with you, she’ll kill you.”

John hit Molly in the stomach with the handle of his knife. “You killed them! Why should we believe anything you say?”

Molly looked about her frantically. “Annie, tell them! You were there. You saw them. Annie? Where are you?”

As the others spoke, Prudence had been working the rag free from her mouth. She finally managed to spit it out as some of the boys returned from the fields with three fence posts. They pounded the posts into the ground and then tied the redheaded children to them with ropes. Others brought firewood from the nearby shops to pile at the base of each post. As a finishing touch, John laid Prudence’s hair at her feet. “Now you three will get what you deserve,” he said.

“John, you can’t do this,” Prudence said. “I know you loved Helena. She was your wife. Do you remember?”

“I didn’t love her. She was just a stupid girl,” he said.

“You two were married by Reverend Crane on a June afternoon. It rained so much we had to move the wedding into your father’s barn.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

“You two rented a room from Mr. Davenport in town. You stayed there for a year until you left for this place because you wanted to start a new life. That’s why we came here,” Prudence said. “We wanted to find a land where we could live in peace to raise our families. A dream brought us here. A dream that we could find a new country not ruled by the fear and corruption of our homeland.”

The match wavered in John’s hand. Behind him, the other children mumbled in confusion. “It’s working,” Wendell said.

“Don’t you see,” Prudence said. “We didn’t come here as children. One man’s evil vision made us this way. He enslaved us for over three hundred years through his lies. He took away our memories. He took away ourselves. But if we look within our hearts, we can find ourselves again. We can again be those adults who came here in pursuit of a dream and we can make that dream a reality.”

One at a time, the children dropped to the ground, clutching their heads. The match fell from John’s trembling fingers to ignite the hair and wood beneath Prudence’s feet. As the children moaned and rolled around on the ground, the fire grew more intense. “Someone help me!” Prudence called, flames singeing the soles of her shoes and hem of her dress. She thrashed against her bonds, but they held fast.

Prudence screamed with pain while Wendell and Molly joined her cries for help. No one responded. Then, as Prudence’s feet began to blister, someone dumped a bucket of water over the fire. Joseph cut her down from the pole and set her on the ground. He did the same for Wendell, who rushed to Prudence’s side. She whimpered as he yanked the shoes off her feet. “Oh my God,” he said.

“Is it bad?” she asked.

“No, of course not,” he said, but his grim look told her otherwise. “You’ll be fine.” He kissed her and then picked her up in his arms, carrying her into the girl’s dormitory as if she weighed nothing.

He set her down on her bed and then kissed her forehead. “I’ll be right back,” he said. “I have to get some water.”

“Promise you’ll come back,” she said.

“Of course I will. I love you.” He left her on the bed, where her feet continued to burn with pain. At least now the others might remember and finally achieve Rodney’s dream. I wish I could see it, she thought as she passed out.

Chapter 41: Reunion

2007-06-15T11:05:00.001-07:00

Crescendo

Chapter 41: Reunion

Molly skidded to a halt in front of the cave. She checked behind her for any sign of Veronica, but didn’t hear or see anything. Beside her, Joseph fidgeted nervously. “Why are we here?” he asked. “This will be the first place she’ll look.”

“We have to destroy it,” Molly said. “So no one can ever use it to hurt anyone again.”

“We can’t!” Joseph said. “Samantha is still in there. We have to get her out.”

“They can’t be alive in there. It’s impossible.”

“I saw them,” he said.

“I know you love Samantha, but she couldn’t have survived a fall into the fountain. At her age she couldn’t have lasted more than a minute.”

“She’s not dead! She’s in there.” Joseph pushed Molly aside and then ran into the cave. He bent down at the edge of the fountain. As Veronica had said, the algae had grown thicker so that a solid coat covered the water. He couldn’t see anything reflected on the fountain’s surface. “No. She can’t be gone. She can’t be.”

Molly put a hand on his shoulder. “We have to destroy this place before Veronica finds us,” she said. She looked around for the defenses Wendell had installed years ago. She found one of the trip wires, holding up the severed pieces. “They’ve disarmed everything.”

“Isn’t there some way to fix it?” Joseph asked.

“I wouldn’t know how,” she said. Joseph knelt down beside her to examine the broken trip wire. “Can you repair it?”

“I don’t think so, but there has to be another way.” He looked around the cave for anything that could be of use. He saw only the empty stone floor and walls. “What did these wires go to?” he asked Molly.

“They triggered some rocks over the fountain,” she said.

“Then we have to find a way to get up there.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. Build a ladder.”

“We don’t have any tools and we’re too little to move any big rocks or logs.”

“You have ladders in town, right?”

“Yes, but if we try to go into town Veronica will find us.”

“Not if we’re careful.” He grabbed Molly by the shoulders to calm her down. “It’s our only hope. We can split up and that way maybe she’ll only catch one of us.”

Molly thought of Annie’s words again. She had to act like a grownup in this situation. She wasn’t as smart as Joseph. Any hope to destroy the fountain lay with him. “Go into town and find a ladder. I’ll draw off Veronica,” Molly said.

“Molly, no. I’m the one she wants. I’ll distract her and you get the ladder to destroy this place.”

“Joseph, please, you have to let me do this. It’s the only way that makes sense.”

“No it’s not!” Tears came to his eyes. “I can’t let you do this. I can’t let you end up like the others.” He couldn’t let Molly die like his parents and Samantha. Not after all she’d done for him in the last three days.

“I can’t destroy this place, not on my own. I’m not like you. I’m just a weak little girl.”

“That’s not true.”

“We don’t have time to argue,” Molly said. “If you think about this logically, you know this is the best way.” She again thought back to what Annie had said. “We each have to do what we were meant to do.”

“You weren’t meant to die!”

“I’m sorry, Joseph. This is the way it has to be.” With that, she ran from the cave. Joseph called after her to stop, but she’d already disappeared into the trees. Another person he cared about was gone.

He started towards the cave entrance to head into town for a ladder. Before he reached the opening, the cave exploded in red light, blinding him. Joseph pressed both hands to his eyes and dropped to his knees. As he knelt there he heard a familiar voice say, “I’m widduh again.”

“Samantha?” he called out.

“Joseph?” He felt a hand on his shoulder. “What are you doing here? When are we?”

He patted the folds of her tattered dress to hug her. “Oh thank God,” he said. “I knew you were still alive. I saw you in the water and I knew.”

“How wong have I been gone?” she asked.

“You’ve been in there for three days,” he said.

“But I wasn’t in there,” she said. “I was in Seabwooke, but it was years ago when I was a gwownup.” She told him about waking up in a Savannah motel room to discover she was a 40-year-old FBI agent. She went on to describe the string of murders that led her to Seabrooke, not mentioning the murder of Joseph’s mother. She finished by relating her meeting with Miss Brigham and capture by the reverend. “Then I woke up here.”

“That’s impossible,” Joseph said. His vision began to clear so that he could make out Samantha’s chubby face. What did it matter where she had been or what she had thought she saw? All that mattered was that he had her back. He kissed her on the forehead, cheeks, and then lips. Even in her current state, her flesh felt the same as he remembered.

She pushed him away, “Joe, we have to stop Veronica.”

“I know. Molly and I were going to destroy this place, but we can’t get up to the ceiling to trigger a cave-in. We need to find a ladder.”

“Ow help you,” Samantha said. She took his hand, but before they could start out, the Fountain of Youth erupted in red light again. Joseph clapped a hand over Samantha’s eyes and closed his own to keep from being blinded. When he opened his eyes, he saw little Prudence and Wendell lying at the edge of the fountain, entangled in each other’s arms.

“Pwoodance! Wenduh! You’re awive!” Samantha said. She rushed forward to hug her friends. “I taught you were dead.”

“What’s going on? Where are we?” Prudence asked.

“You’ve been gone for twee days,” Samantha said. She hugged Prudence again. “But now you’re back.”

Prudence started to cry. “Oh, Smanfa, it was terrible. The reverend raped me. And he killed Rodney and the whole village of natives.” She broke down into uncontrolled sobs.

“Pwoodance, I don’t understand. The weverend? Wodney?”

“We were back in time, about three hundred fifty years ago,” Wendell said. He explained about the shipwreck, the schism between Prudence’s husband and Reverend Crane, and the reverend’s discovery of the Fountain of Youth.

“But how can this be?” Samantha said.

Joseph clapped his hands, the three other children looking to him. “Of course, it’s so obvious now!” he said.

“What?” Wendell asked.

“This algae. It’s not just some stupid plants. It has temporal properties that allow it to serve as some kind of gateway through time. Do you see what this means?” The others shook their heads. “This whole thing here is like a time machine. We don’t need a ladder or anything else. We can use this to go back in time and stop Veronica.”

“But we twied before and wost,” Samantha said.

“Yes, but your memories were wiped. If you go through now, you’ll remember everything.”

“Who should go back?” Prudence asked.

“Wet me go,” Samantha said. “Veronica is my pwobwem.”

“Samantha, no, it’s too risky,” Joseph said. “Let me go.”

“I’m the one who should go,” Wendell said. “I’m the one who let the reverend find the fountain in the first place.”

“Wendell, you can’t. I don’t want to lose you too,” Prudence said and began to cry again. Samantha, Joseph, and Wendell argued among themselves until they heard a drum beat outside the cave. “What’s that?”

The children went to the entrance of the cave to see a line of torches approaching. The sound of drums grew louder as the torches came closer. They stopped at the foot of the hill so the children in the cave could see them.

Every child in Eternity had gathered at the base of the hill. The boys carried pitchforks, knives, and boards for weapons along with their torches. The girls drummed on pots and pans, playing an ominous march. They continued drumming as a group made its way through the crowd. Veronica stood at the head of the group, along with a trio of boys dragging a squirming Molly.

“Joseph, we know you’re in there. Come down and I promise Molly won’t be hurt. I’ll give you thirty seconds to answer or I’ll cut her throat.”

“I’ll come down when you let her go,” Joseph shouted back.

“I’m afraid I can’t let her go. She has to answer for the murders of poor Helena and Phyllis. But I promise if you come down, she’ll only be locked up in the cellar for a while. Think it over. You have twenty seconds.”

“What do we do?” Prudence asked.

“I’ll go down there,” Joseph said.

“Joe, you can’t!” Samantha said. “She’ll kill you!”

“It won’t matter if you use the fountain to go back in time and stop her. It’ll be like none of this ever happened.”

“Aw wight,” Samantha said. She kissed Joseph for what might be the last time. “I won’t fay you this time,” she said as she let him go.

“I know you won’t.” As Joseph started down the path, someone emerged from behind a rock to grab him. Samantha cried out a moment before a net descended upon her, Prudence, and Wendell. Two boys came out of hiding, shouting with triumph.

Samantha kicked and clawed at the netting, but it was too strong for her tiny limbs. The boys dragged the net down the path, leaving them at Veronica’s feet. She knelt down and reached through the netting to grab Samantha by the hair. “This must be my lucky day,” Veronica said. “As soon as I get the fountain back, you and I are going to have ever so much fun.”

“No!” Joseph shouted. He tried to break free from his captors until one of the boys elbowed him in the stomach. Samantha screamed at this and again clawed at the netting.

“Take them back to town,” Veronica said. Before letting go of Samantha, she whispered, “This time you and your little friends aren’t going to escape me.” As the boys dragged the net towards town, Samantha cried for having failed Joseph again.

Chapter P10: Molly Strikes Back

2007-06-15T11:04:00.004-07:00

Chapter P10: Molly Strikes Back

Molly watched Joseph retreat from view and then looked down at the bodies of Helena and Phyllis. Veronica had killed them. She had killed them with so little thought, as if she were swatting mosquitoes. How could Molly have been so wrong about Veronica all these years?

She was never my friend, Molly thought, touching the mud-stained hem of her dress. Veronica had used her, just as she had used David and even Samantha to get what she wanted. Now she would use Joseph to clear away the algae so she could have access to the Fountain of Youth again.

All of this was Molly’s fault. She thought back to that moment in the cave when Rebecca tottered on the brink of the fountain. If Molly had only pulled Rebecca—the girl who had raised her from an infant—back from the edge everything would have been different. How could she have let Mama Becky die? I was an angry little girl, Molly thought.

This thought did little to comfort her when she again looked down at Helena and Phyllis. They had died because of Molly’s grudge against the best mother anyone could have. Samantha, Prudence, Wendell, and David were gone too thanks to her. How many more would have to pay for her mistake?

She couldn’t let Veronica take Joseph to Seabrooke. She had to stop them somehow, but she was too little to fight Veronica. She needed help.

Molly ran into town, waving her arms and shouting for help. “Oh, look who’s back,” one of the boys who’d tormented her earlier said. “What’s wrong, do you need your diaper changed?”

“Helena and Phyllis are dead and she’s going to kill Joseph. You have to help me stop her. Please,” Molly said.

“Who are you talking about?”

“Veronica! She killed them.”

“Who are Helena and Phyllis?” one of the other boys asked.

“Her imaginary friends.”

“They are not. You saw them earlier. They were with Joseph and I. She killed them and now she’s going to kill him.”

The boys laughed in unison. One shoved her into the same mud puddle as earlier. “Stupid baby,” they chanted again. The boys shoved her face into the puddle, waiting until her lungs burned before they let her up. They walked away, their laughter fading away. Molly rolled over to wipe the mud from her eyes.

A hand touched her face. She raised her hands to protect herself from more torture. “It’s all right,” a girl’s voice said. “You’re safe now, Molly.”

Molly opened her eyes to see a sandy-haired girl in a powder blue dress. The girl helped Molly stand up. “Annie? You’ve got to help me. Veronica’s gone mad. She killed Helena and Phyllis and now she’ll kill Joseph.”

“I know,” Annie said.

“You saw?” Annie nodded. “But then why didn’t you help us? We might have been able to stop her.”

“What happened is what was meant to happen.”

“How do you know?”

Annie closed her eyes, the rest of her face tightening as though straining to hear a distant voice. “I hear it speaking to me. The fountain. For the last seven years I’ve heard it. It’s guiding us to our final destiny and you, Molly, have played the greatest role in shaping that fate.” Annie opened her eyes and patted Molly on the cheek. “On the outside you are a child, but inside you still have a grownup’s soul. Remember that.”

“But what about Veronica? How can I stop her?”

“When the time comes, you’ll know what to do.” From the pockets of her dress, Annie produced a handful of stones. “These will allow you to free Joseph. If you run, you should be able to overtake them before they reach the shore.”

“Thank you,” Molly said. She took the stones and then hurried away. She passed the fallen bodies of Helena and Phyllis and then bolted into the forest to try and catch Veronica before it was too late.

As Annie had predicted, Molly overtook Veronica and Joseph, catching sight of them in the forest about halfway to the shore. They picked their way carefully through the forest, Joseph leading the way while Veronica hung back a step with her knife at the ready in case he tried anything. They didn’t give any sign of seeing her, so she crawled forward through the brush to find a better position for an ambush.

She located a small clearing about fifty feet away and found a spot among the brush to wait. The stones turned slippery in her sweaty palms. She didn’t know what good a handful of rocks could do against Veronica, but then she thought of David and Goliath. Please God, guide my rocks like you did David’s, she prayed.

Joseph appeared at the edge of the clearing, followed by Veronica. Molly waited in silence until they reached the center before she threw the first rock at Veronica’s head. The marble-sized rock struck Veronica in the shoulder. “What the hell was that?” she said.

“What?” Joseph said.

“Something hit me. You better not be up to anything.”

“I didn’t do anything.” Molly threw the next rock, a bigger one that hit Veronica on the arm. She only had three stones left. I can’t miss, she thought.

“Let’s get moving,” Veronica said. She pushed Joseph forward. Molly reared back to throw the next stone. She picked the largest one, the size of a golf ball, and hurled it as hard as she could, saying another prayer as she threw.

The rock struck Veronica in the back of the head. She stumbled forward, collapsing to the ground. Molly burst out of the brush towards Joseph. “Joey, run!” she said. She took his hand and together they ran into the forest, Veronica roaring curses after them.

“Where are we going?” Joseph asked.

“Where it all started,” Molly said.

Chapter M9: Revival

2007-06-15T11:04:00.003-07:00

Chapter M9: Revival

“Going somewhere?” Veronica said. “That little tip you gave me didn’t work out so well. The water is like Miracle-Gro to that shit. The algae is thicker than ever. But I suppose that’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

“No,” Joey said. “I wanted to help Samantha and the others. They’re trapped in there.”

“Well now they’re never going to get out, unless you come back with me and work on finding a cure.”

“Don’t do it,” Molly said. “It’s a trick. If we go back with her, she’ll kill us all.”

“Whatever would make you think that?”

Molly touched her hair and dress, reminders of what Veronica had done to her as well as everyone else on the island. “You’re a bad person,” she said. “You didn’t want to help anyone at all. You wanted the fountain all to yourself.”

“Why shouldn’t I? None of you know how to use its power. To you it’s something to cure your boo-boos. Why shouldn’t I take it for myself and use it the way it should be used?”

“It’s not a weapon,” Molly said. “You’re not supposed to use it to hurt people.”

“I’ve hurt people? For thirty-five years I’ve suffered because of that brat Samantha. Now I’ve evened the score.”

“We didn’t do anything wrong. They made us,” Helena said. “They said if we didn’t help them escape they were going to hurt us. We didn’t want to leave the cellar. Honest.”

“Oh, that’s all right, sweetie. I know you didn’t do anything wrong on purpose,” Veronica said. She relaxed her grip on Helena, who breathed a sigh of relief. Before Joey could shout a warning, Veronica plunged the knife into Helena’s chest.

Helena, Phyllis, and Molly screamed as one. Joey remained silent, staring at the bloody wound forming on Helena’s grubby dress. Veronica yanked the knife out of Helena and then shoved her limp body to the ground. Joey looked down at the ground, but he didn’t see Helena. He saw Mommy.

Joey wakes in the middle of the night to the sound of a crash. At first he wonders if it’s thunder, but then he hears voices from downstairs. He doesn’t recognize the voices. Strangers! he thinks.

He crawls out of bed and tiptoes to Mommy’s bedroom. “Mommy? There are bad people downstairs,” he whispers. No one answers him. He pats the blankets to find Mommy isn’t there.

The arguing continues downstairs. He hears another crash as he creeps down the stairs. Mommy must have gone down there to stop the bad people. He wishes Daddy were here; he would be able to stop them.

Joey hears another crash; this time he’s able to tell it’s coming from the kitchen. He hurries towards the kitchen to help Mommy. Voices are talking more calmly now. He hears Mommy’s among them. Everything’s all right now, he thinks.

“I don’t need your help!” A woman’s voice screams. Mommy’s in trouble! He rushes to the doorway to find Mommy tangled up with a bronze woman. A brown woman stands over them with something in her hand.

“Mommy?” he says.

“Joey, no!” Mommy throws herself towards the brown woman. He’s paralyzed for one sickening moment as moonlight falls on the blade of a knife in the brown woman’s hand. In the next instant, the knife plunges into Mommy’s chest. She stands in the center of the kitchen for a moment, the blade sticking out of her chest, and then crumples to the floor.

“Now I’ve hurt someone,” Veronica said.

“You did it,” Joey said. “You killed her.”

“Of course I did. I’ve been waiting to do that for three years now. That snotty bitch got what she deserved.”

At this, Phyllis rushed forward with a scream. Veronica laughed, easily turning aside the charge and sinking the knife into Phyllis’s throat with the precision of a matador. Phyllis collapsed to the ground next to Helena, their hands touching in death. Veronica bent down to remove the bloody weapon.

“You killed Mommy,” Joey said. “It was you.”

“I’m sorry about that, Joseph,” Veronica said. “She was an unfortunate victim of circumstance. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” She took a step towards him. “I really came there to kill your father, but he was on one of his little fishing trips. It took twelve years to catch up with him.”

Joey put his hands to his face. He saw the body of his father lying in the kitchen with the knife wound in the same location as his mother. Veronica and David were there and then—

He held out his tiny hands. “You did this to me. And Samantha and Prudence and Wendell and everyone else here. You poisoned us with that water and somehow wiped our memories.”

“You get a gold star,” Veronica said. “And I couldn’t have done it without your help. If you hadn’t found those Indian potions I never could have erased your memories.” She took another step towards him. “Since you remember, it’s time we get to work on getting rid of that algae.”

“I’ll never help you!” Joey said.

“Very well,” Veronica said. She took another step towards him, but reached without looking to yank Molly to her by the hair. She put the knife to Molly’s throat. “If you won’t do it then cute little Molly is going to die.”

“Don’t help her,” Molly said. “She’ll kill us anyway.”

“That may be, but you’ll live longer,” Veronica said.

“All right, but I can’t work here. We have to go back to Seabrooke. You and I can go. Leave everyone else alone.”

“There’s very noble of you,” Veronica said. “I see why Samantha liked you. But I can’t leave them here to row over and tell the police as soon as we’re gone.”

“We’ll burn any other boats. There’s no way they can build a new one. They’re little kids.”

“Maybe.” Veronica lowered the knife and then shoved Molly on top of Helena and Phyllis. “Let the little brats stay here and starve to death for all I care.”

Molly got to her feet with tears in her eyes. “Joseph, you can’t do this. We can’t let her have the Fountain of Youth. She’ll use it to hurt more people.”

“This is the only way,” Joseph said. He went over to hug Molly. “You did what you could. Now I have to do my part.”

She nodded. They hugged again, but this time Veronica yanked Joseph away by the arm. She kept the knife at his back as they headed for the beach. Joseph managed to take a look back at Molly, who remained standing there with tears in her eyes. He waved to her, knowing it was the last time they would see each other again.

Chapter P8: Escape

2007-06-15T11:04:00.001-07:00

Chapter P8: Escape

Joey lies on the bow of the boat, letting the sun wash over him. The air still has a chill of winter, but after months of gloom and cold, he doesn’t care. Mommy lies next to him, her bronze skin turning even darker in the sun.

She reaches across the space between them to take his hand. “This was a really good idea,” she says. “It’s so nice. I never get to do this, not with all the kids around.”

He doesn’t say anything, savoring her touch after so long of an absence. Three months with almost no word. A phone call on Valentine’s Day and another a few weeks later to announce her return were all Joey had to go on. At times he thought she would never come home. He wants to hold onto her hand forever so that she can never leave without him again.

She pulls her hand from his grasp to roll over. “Can you untie my strings?” she asks. “I don’t want a tan line.”

He unties the strings of her pink bikini and then brushes black hair away to expose her entire back. He runs a hand along her soft flesh as if to verify she’s not an illusion. “I love you,” he blurts out.

She turns to him, taking off her sunglasses so he can look into her brown eyes. Her mouth opens, but no words come out. “I—” The roar of a speedboat drowns out her next words. The yellow speedboat zooms past the fishing boat, kicking up waves in its wake.

The deck of the fishing boat heaves Joey off his feet. He falls backwards, scrambling to grab on to something, but catches nothing. Mommy’s eyes fill with horror as he plunges over the side of the boat, his head striking a railing on the way down.

Joey sinks in the water like a stone. Swim, he thinks. I should swim. But he can’t move. He’ll never see Mommy again.

An instant later, he hears a splash overhead. His brain is still in a daze when he sees Mommy above him. She flails about in the water, coming towards him in fits and spurts. At this sight he comes back to full awareness. He thrashes his legs and reaches out towards her with his arms. Her hand touches his and then slides down to his wrist. Her grip is like a handcuff as she pulls him up.

They pop out of the water at the same time. She throws an arm around his neck, almost cutting off his air as she drags him to the boat. She tosses him onto the deck as if he weighs nothing at all and then climbs up after him.

He lies on the deck a moment, staring up at the sun. Then her face fills his vision. “Are you all right?” she asks. He nods before turning to spit out a gallon of water. “I thought you were—” Instead of finishing the sentence, she kisses him on the lips. “I love you,” she says.

The passion in her kiss is not the kiss of a mother to a son. He looks upon her with new eyes, seeing not a mother, but a beautiful young woman. He knows her, but from where? All at once she compacts into a toddler, her taut muscles turning to flab and her bikini blossoming into a frilly dress. “Samantha,” he whispers. She opens her mouth to speak, but all that comes out is a scream—

Joey awoke to hear someone banging on the cellar door. He wobbled to his feet, his body sore from head to toe from the “games” Helena and Phyllis played with him. He gathered up his ragged clothes and approached the door.

“Who’s there?” Helena called out.

“It’s Molly. I have to get Joey out of there. She’s coming and she’s awful mad at him. She says she’s going to cut him up into little pieces.”

“What? Why?” Joey asked.

“She said it didn’t work. I’m not sure what. Oh, I can’t get this door to open. I’m too little.” Through the door, Joey heard her crying.

“You can do it,” Joey said. “I know you can.”

She grunted loud enough for him to hear through the door. An instant later, the cellar door opened. Molly, her face red from the effort, fell into Joey’s arms. “We have to go,” she said. “We have to get off the island.”

“We want to come too,” Helena said.

“We don’t want to stay here anymore,” Phyllis added.

“Fine. Help me carry Molly.” Phyllis took one of Molly’s arms and Joey the other. Helena trailed behind as they hurried out of the pantry.

Children were scattered all over town. Some lay sleeping in the street while others shouted and played. The trio of boys that had stolen Molly’s hair ribbon earlier approached her and the others. “What’s wrong with the baby? Does she need a nap?” one of the boys asked.

“Maybe she needs her diaper changed,” another said. All three laughed at this.

“She’s sick,” Joey said. “We’re taking her home to rest.”

“Aw, baby has a tummyache.”

“Leave her alone,” Joey said. “She’s a lot braver than you’ll ever be.”

“Who’s this? The baby’s boyfriend?” The boy shoved Joey backwards. He lost his grip on Molly and they both fell to the ground along with Phyllis. The boys laughed at this. “Look, they haven’t even learned to walk yet.”

“Please, let us go,” Joey said. “We don’t want any trouble. We only want to get Molly home.”

“Maybe we should let them get the baby to her crib before she wets herself.”

“Fine, we’ll let you go, but only if you crawl out of here like the babies you are.”

“I’m not going to crawl on the dirty ground,” Helena said.

“Do you want to stay in the cellar?” Joey said.

Helena thought about this a moment and then got down on her knees. By now Molly had recovered enough to crawl on her own. Joey followed behind her, his face turning red as the boys howled with laughter. “Look at the babies crawl,” they said.

To add to the insult, one of the boys kicked Joey in the rear. His eyes watered from the pain, but he refused to cry in front of them. Molly looked back at him with concern and then kept going.

They continued to crawl all the way to the bakery on the edge of town. By then the boys grew weary of tormenting them. “I hate them,” Helena said as she got to her feet.

“Let’s just get out of here,” Phyllis said. She and Joey ran alongside Molly towards the trees. As Joey neared the edge of the forest, he heard a scream. He looked back to see Aunt Veronica holding a knife to Helena’s throat.

Chapter M7: Partners in Crime

2007-06-15T11:03:00.001-07:00

Chapter M7: Partners in Crime

Joey awoke in a cave with Aunt Veronica squatting next to him. When he tried to get to his feet, she shoved him down to the ground. “Don’t even think it,” she said.

“What are we doing here?” he asked.

“It’s time you see what’s going on here.” She dragged him by the front of his shirt towards a circle of glowing red light. As they neared the light, he saw it was a pool with symbols all around it. These symbols looked familiar to him, but he couldn’t remember where he’d seen them before.

At the edge of the pool, he looked down into the glowing red light. Clumps of plants lay on the surface of blood-red water. Reflected in the water he saw not himself, but the faces of Samantha, Prudence, and Wendell screaming for help. Joey reached out towards them, his fingers about to graze the surface when Aunt Veronica threw him back against the wall. “Don’t touch it, idiot,” she said. “Unless you want to die like them.”

“They aren’t dead,” he said. “They’re in there.”

“They can’t be alive in the water. They’d have drowned a long time ago. You’re seeing things.”

“No I’m not! They are down there.”

“Fine, maybe they are down there. If you want to help them, then you have to figure out how we can get rid of that algae. I know the answer is somewhere in that big brain of yours. Come on.”

Aunt Veronica led him out of the cave and back into the forest. As they tromped through the woods, Joey tried to think of what he could do to help Samantha and the others. Aunt Veronica said he knew the answer, but how could he? He was only six years old; he hadn’t gone to school yet.

He thought again of those symbols, trying to remember where he’d seen them before. A dark place. A cave, but not the same as that one. In the cave he found something. He couldn’t remember what, but he knew it held the answer to everything.

Aunt Veronica dragged him along the path into town. There, in the square where decorations for Samantha’s birthday were still up, they found little Molly with a trio of boys. The boys surrounded her, holding a pink bow over her head. Whenever she tried to grab it, they raised it higher. “Give it back! It’s mine,” she said.

“Then come and get it, baby,” one of the boys said. She jumped as high as she could, but again they snatched the ribbon away from her. She stamped her foot and began to cry.

“Little baby, little baby,” the boys chanted. They tossed the ribbon to each other while she tried in vain to intercept it. When they grew bored, they pushed her down into a puddle of mud. Molly sat there, crying and calling for Mama Veronica.

“Shouldn’t we help her?” Joey said.

“Why?” Aunt Veronica said.

“They’re being mean to her.”

“It’s what she deserves. I never should have thought she could handle being in charge of anyone.” Aunt Veronica shook her head at Molly. “She’ll be happier this way in the end.”

Aunt Veronica opened the door to a bakery and then shoved him to the floor. “This is the best we can do for a laboratory. See what you can do. I’ll be back to check on you later.”

As Aunt Veronica opened the door, Molly rushed inside, hugging Aunt Veronica’s waist. “Mama Veronica,” she said. “Some mean boys stole my bow and pushed me in the mud.”

Aunt Veronica shoved Molly away. “I’m not your mother. You don’t have a mother. Neither does anyone else here. Now get out of here. You’re getting mud on me.”

“But—”

“Go play with your dolls.”

Molly ran away in tears. Aunt Veronica turned to Joey and said, “You’d better have something when I get back unless you want to end up like her.” Then she slammed the door shut.

Joey went over to the counter, where Veronica had left jars of different chemicals. The names on the labels were so long he needed five minutes to sound out each one. What could he do with those?

He crawled onto a stool to think. There had to be something he could do to get rid of the algae. If he didn’t, then he would end up a baby like Molly or even worse. Why had Mommy sent him to this awful place?

After hours of thinking and mixing different chemicals, he’d done nothing except make a mess. He hid under the counter at the sound of footsteps approaching the door. The door opened and then he heard Aunt Veronica say, “Well? Any progress?”

He sat under the counter, hoping if he kept silent she might go away. Instead, she came around the corner and then hefted him onto the stool. “I’ll take that as a no,” she said.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t know what to do.”

She slapped him across the face hard enough to knock him off the stool. He cried on the floor as she screamed, “You know what to do! Somewhere in there you know what to do! How could someone so smart end up so dumb?”

“I don’t know,” he said.

Aunt Veronica took a flask from her pocket. “I told you the consequences of failure. Now it’s time to take your medicine like a good baby.”

“No!” He scrambled back until he bumped against a wall. Aunt Veronica filled a tablespoon with glowing white water. “That’s how you made Molly little.”

“Yes, and it’ll do the same to you.” She approached him with the tablespoon. He stuck out a hand to keep her back, but she swatted it away.

“Wait! I know what to do.”

“What?”

“If the water can make people little, can’t it do the same to plants?” he said.

Aunt Veronica stopped and considered this. “You might have a point. Or you could be trying to trick me into using up the last of this.”

“No, I’m not trying to trick you,” he said. “If it works the same on plants it would shrink the algae.”

Aunt Veronica thought about it for another moment. Finally, she nodded. “All right, we’ll try it.” Then she flicked the tablespoon towards him. The water hit him in the face, blinding him. When his vision cleared, his clothes felt looser and the room seemed bigger. Aunt Veronica grabbed his shirt to lift him up. “You’re even wimpier at four,” she said.

“Four? But I helped you. This isn’t fair!”

“Life isn’t fair.” She took him by the ear, dragging him down the road. Although it was almost dark, the other children continued to play in small groups. When a wooden ball landed at Aunt Veronica’s feet, a pair of girls ran forward until they realized whom their ball had landed near. Aunt Veronica kicked the ball to the girls. “Go on and play,” she told them. They skipped away to continue their game.

Aunt Veronica took Joey into a room with shelves packed with food. She unlocked a set of doors leading into the basement, and then carried Joey down. “You can wait here until I get back. If this doesn’t work, I’ll gut you.”

“Can we come out now?” a little girl asked.

“No, girls. Not yet,” Aunt Veronica said. She shoved Joey forward. “This is Joey, your new roommate. Joey, this is Helena and Phyllis. You kids play nice.”

Aunt Veronica stomped up the stairs, slamming the door behind her. As soon as the door closed, the little blonde girl came forward to pinch Joey’s cheek. “You’re such a darling baby. We’ll have lots of fun with you.” The girls snickered and then grabbed his arms, dragging him into a corner.

Chapter P6: Guiding Star

2007-06-15T11:02:00.003-07:00

Chapter P6: Guiding Star

The smell of fish and wet canvas overpowers Joey to the point that his head spins. He breathes through his mouth, holding his nose with one hand in an attempt to keep the odor at bay. He doesn’t know how much longer he can hold out and the boat hasn’t left port yet.

He hears footsteps on the deck. “I don’t want to go,” he hears Molly say.

“I’m sorry, sweetie, but we have to go back,” Mommy says. “The others are waiting for us.”

“Can’t we stay a little longer?” Aunt Veronica asks.

“No, honey. We have to go before it gets too cold. We don’t want to be stuck here all winter.”

“When are we coming back?” Molly asks.

“We’ll be back in springtime, when all the pretty flowers are in bloom. Now you two go on and take your seats. And put your lifejackets on. Don’t give me that look, young lady.”

From his position beneath the tarp, Joey can see Mommy’s feet as she walks along the deck to untie the boat. Two smaller pairs of feet—one in pink sneakers and the other in saddle shoes—approach the tarp. The saddle shoes stop. “Did you hear that?” Molly asks.

“Hear what?” Aunt Veronica says.

“I think something’s under there.” The saddle shoes take a step back. “Do you think it’s a monster?”

“It’s probably a rat,” Aunt Veronica says.

“A rat?” Molly screams and then her shoes disappear. The pink sneakers come closer. A chubby face peers beneath the tarp. Joey puts a finger to his lips, but Aunt Veronica only smiles and pulls the tarp away.

“It’s not a rat or a monster. It’s only Joe,” she says.

Joey stands up and takes a few deep breaths to clear his head. Mommy rushes forward to scoop him up. “Joe, what are you doing here?” she asks.

“I wanted to go with you,” he says.

“We’ve discussed this already. You can’t come with us.”

“But—”

“Look at the baby cry,” Aunt Veronica says.

“That’s enough,” Mommy scolds. She presses her tan cheek against Joey’s face. “You know you can’t go with me.”

“But you’re taking them!” he says, pointing to Veronica.

“They have to go.”

“Why?” Molly asks. She cowers in a corner of the boat, as if still afraid a rat might appear. “Why can’t we stay here?”

“That’s enough, young lady,” Mommy says. “You know the rules. You can’t stay here. This isn’t your home.”

“Why can’t it be?” Molly says.

“Because you don’t belong here. Put your lifejacket on and wait for me here.” Mommy carries Joe off the boat and over to a stack of rope, where she sets him down. “Joe, we’ve talked about this. It’s too dangerous for you to come with me.”

“Then why can they go? They’re littler than me.”

“They’re used to it,” she says. She sits down next to him and puts an arm around his shoulder. “If anything happened to you, I couldn’t live with myself.”

“I can take care of myself,” he says, wiping his nose with his sleeve.

“I know you think so, but there are dangers there you can’t understand. If you saw—” she breaks off with a shudder.

“I’m not scared,” he says. “Stop treating me like a baby.”

She smiles and kisses him on the forehead, dark brown hair caressing his face. He brushes it away to kiss her on the cheek. “I don’t want you to leave me,” he says.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.”

“Not until spring. That’s what you told them.”

“It’s not so long. Three months. Maybe sooner.”

“I don’t want to wait three months.”

“Please, Joe, I need you to stay here and look after your father. He needs you.”

“I don’t care about him. I only care about you.”

“I know you don’t mean that,” she says. She stands up and for a moment bites down on her lip. “I’ll be back before you know it.” Tears come to her midnight blue eyes at last. She offers Joey her hand. “Come and say goodbye to the girls.”

He follows her back along the dock to the boat, where the girls are running from one end to the other. Aunt Veronica chases after Molly with something in her hand. “Girls, what are you doing?” Mommy shouts.

“She started it,” Molly says. “She tried to put a fish down my dress.”

“Can’t you two behave for even a few minutes?” Mommy says. The girls look down at the deck and then Aunt Veronica tosses a fish over the side of the boat. “Say goodbye to Joseph.”

“Goodbye,” the girls say together.

“Goodbye,” he says.

“You two sit down and behave.” Before going to her seat, Veronica grins at Joey and winks. Something in her eyes gives him a chill. He wants to warn Mommy, but she’s already hugging him and saying, “I’ll be back real soon.”

“Don’t go, please,” he says. His entire body shakes with sobs. She isn’t coming back, he thinks. He tries to say something, but she doesn’t hear. She pushes the boat away from the dock. He can only stand there and watch her grow smaller as she gets farther away. Aunt Veronica turns to him and waves. The sound of her laughter brings him to his knees.

A hand tore Joey from the bed. He opened his eyes to find himself looking into those of Aunt Veronica. Her eyes have the same menacing look as in his dream. “Time’s up,” she said. “Now, what about the algae?”

“I don’t know,” he said.

She turned him to face the corner. Molly huddled there, wearing Samantha’s pink dress from the party. The dress fits much looser on her than Samantha. Aunt Veronica tossed him on the bed to seize Molly by her curly hair. “You see what you’ve done to her?” She pinched Molly’s tear-stained cheeks. “She’s a baby now because of you.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Joey said.

“That’s the point.” Aunt Veronica let little Molly slip to the ground and then hefted Joey again. “We’ve tried her way. Now we’re going to do things my way. You’re going to tell me what I want to know or I’m going to kill her and you and everyone else on this island. Do you get it?”

He nodded. Before he could say anything, she banged his head into the wall. As his world turned dark, he thought of Mommy. Somewhere, he knew she was in danger.

Chapter M5: Memories

2007-06-15T11:02:00.001-07:00

Chapter M5: Memories

Molly stood at the edge of the cliff with Joey digging his fingers into her arm. At each gust of wind, he flinched in fear of being blown into the sea below. “Can’t we go back?” he said.

“Not yet,” Molly said. She pointed to the waves pounding against the shore. “Doesn’t this remind you of something?”

“No,” he said in a whimper. “Should it?”

“Of course. You grew up by the ocean in a town called Seabrooke. Do you remember?” He shook his head. She patted him on the back. “It’s all right. It will come to you.”

She led him away from the cliff. Two days since leaving the cabin and still Joey hadn’t remembered anything from his previous life. Molly didn’t know what she could do. A trip to Seabrooke might stir his memories, but she couldn’t risk anyone recognizing him.

As they walked through the forest, Joey’s nose began to run again. He hadn’t experienced another sneezing fit like back at the cabin, but he had to blow his nose about every three minutes. Molly had been forced to cut up an old shirt for him to use as makeshift handkerchiefs. He took one from his pocket and blew his nose, the sound like a trumpet. His knees buckled from the force so that she had to steady him.

“What’s Seabrooke like?” he asked. “Is it like Eternity?”

“Oh no, it’s much bigger than Eternity and many more people live there,” Molly said. “They live in great big houses and there are all kinds of stores where people can buy things. The children there don’t have to do chores like here. They go to schools to learn about things like math and science.”

“And I lived there with Mommy?”

“Yes, and your father too. Do you remember him?” Joey shook his head. “Your father is a very nice man named Judah. He’s a fisherman. He spends most of his time on the water in his boat. Do you remember?”

“No,” Joey said. “Why would anyone want to spend so much time on the sea? It looks scary.”

“It’s not scary, dear,” Molly said. “You and I used to go out on a boat all the time with your.”

“We did?”

“Oh yes. I remember you liked to sit on the bow so you could feel the breeze.” She had in fact witnessed Joseph and Samantha do this several times. They would cuddle up on the prow, despite Mr. Pryde’s warning they’d fall off. When Veronica and Molly tried this once, Samantha hauled them back, scolding them for recklessness.

“You and Joseph do it,” Veronica had said.

“That’s because we’re grownups,” Samantha said. “When you two are older you can try it, but for now you have to sit back here.” She pressed orange lifejackets into their hands. Molly put hers on right away, but Veronica resisted, throwing the lifejacket to the ground.

“These are for babies,” she said.

“Now, sweetie, it’s just to make sure you stay safe if anything bad happens,” Samantha said. She picked up the lifejacket and put it around Veronica’s neck, fastening the straps tightly. Veronica glared at Samantha with such hatred that Molly took a step back.

Joey blew his nose again, jolting her from her thoughts. “Where’s Daddy now?” he asked.

“He’s out fishing,” Molly said. “That’s why he asked your aunt to take care of you until your mother comes back.”

“Daddy doesn’t like me either,” Joey said, his lip trembling. “He doesn’t want me around.”

“Of course he wants you around. He loves you very much, but he has to work to support you and your mother. That’s what grownups do.”

“Does Mommy work?”

“Yes. That’s why she had to go away. For her job,” Molly said, hoping he didn’t press her for details. With a child as fragile as Joey, finding out his mother had died might cause him to have another sneezing fit or perhaps something worse.

“I wish Mommy didn’t have to work,” he said.

“I know, but it’s because Mommy loves you that she has to work,” Molly said. “She wants you to have nice things.”

“I guess,” Joey said, not sounding convinced. “Do I go to school in Seabrooke?”

“You’re the smartest boy in the whole school. When you graduate, they’ll have you make a speech in front of all the students and their parents.” Molly had sat with Samantha, Veronica, and Mr. Pryde during Joseph’s graduation from Seabrooke High School. While Veronica fidgeted in her seat, Molly listened with rapt attention as Joseph talked about a future abounding with possibilities.

“If we apply our minds, we can defeat anything—even death,” he said. Molly shivered at this comment. Samantha flinched as though someone had struck her. If he only knew about the fountain on Eternity.

But he couldn’t then and Molly didn’t know how to explain it to him now. If she told him about his true origin then he would be sure to ask the one question she couldn’t answer: why? Why had she and Veronica done this to him and the others? This question had kept her awake for the last two nights. Veronica had promised her plan would make Eternity a better place, but so far it had only brought death to the island.

“Is school fun?” Joey asked her.

“Yes, dear, it’s very fun,” Molly said. “You get to read books and learn lots of interesting facts.”

“Have you gone to school?”

“No,” she said.

Last year she and Veronica had passed by the elementary school. Molly stopped and without thinking climbed over the fence. She ran across the empty playground, ignoring the swings, slides, and monkey bars. She knelt down beneath a window, peeking over the windowsill to look inside at the rows of children her own age sitting at their desks as an old woman read to them from a book. The old woman—the teacher—paused to write a sentence on the chalkboard.

For a moment Molly had a vision of herself standing in front of a roomful of children from Eternity. They listened to her as she read from a book, their faces masks of concentration. When she stopped, they raised their hands to ask questions, which she answered one at a time. This vision paralyzed her with joy so that she didn’t notice Veronica tugging on her arm until Veronica pinched her. “Let’s go. School is for losers.”

“I want to be a teacher when I grow up,” Molly told Samantha that night when Samantha tucked her in.

“I’m sure you’ll be a very good teacher,” Samantha said with a sad look on her face. “The best.”

“You think so?”

“I know so,” Samantha said. Then she kissed Molly on the cheek and turned out the light. Molly laid in bed the rest of the night, imagining herself at the head of the classroom. There she felt as if she’d come home after a long journey.

“Is something wrong?” Joey said.

She forced a smile to her lips. “It’s nothing, dear. Let’s go home and put you to bed.”

After putting Joey down for a nap, Molly went outside and stared out at the ocean waves. She had failed Joey so far as a teacher. They didn’t have much time left.

Chapter M4: New Plans

2007-06-15T11:01:00.001-07:00

Chapter M4: New Plans

As Molly stacked the last of the pans, she heard Joey erupt into a sneezing fit. He threw down the broom and doubled over. Molly rushed over to his side, patting him on the back. “Joey, what’s wrong, dear?”

“Dust,” he said between sneezes. She led him out of the cabin, sitting him down on a log. He continued to sneeze, each one punctuated by a wheeze as he struggled to breathe. When she saw the tips of his ears turning blue, she looked about her for help, but there was no one. Veronica and David had gone and the rest were little children with no memories. God, please help him, she thought.

His sneezing came under control after a few minutes. His breathing returned to normal and the blue faded from his ears. He sagged against her, panting with exhaustion. She stroked his hair and whispered reassurances to him. Veronica shouldn’t have brought him here. It was too dangerous.

“He doesn’t belong with us,” Molly had told her friend. “He’s lived in Seabrooke all his life.”

“I’m his aunt,” Veronica said. “He belongs with me.”

“What about his father?”

“His father hardly sees him as it is. He’ll be much happier with us in our new world. You’ll see.”

Molly wiped the snot and tears from Joey’s face with her apron. No, little Joey was not happier here. And Samantha, Prudence, and Wendell had been so unhappy they ran away from their new home. They ran away from her. It’s my fault, Molly thought. She had thought her talk with Samantha had smoothed everything over, but clearly she had failed.

She touched the bruise over her left eye. Veronica had been right to hit her for her incompetence. When Veronica had proposed her plan to remake Eternity into a wondrous new paradise, Molly thought she could do as well with the children as Samantha or Rebecca. She had failed at that too.

Joey looked up at her and said, “Do you remember Mommy?”

“No, dear, I never met her.”

“What about Aunt Veronica?”

“Oh yes, she knew your mother. They’re sisters of a sort.”

“Really? Will she tell me about Mommy if I ask?”

“I don’t see why not. We’ll ask her when she gets back.”

“Do you think she’ll find Samantha and the others?”

“Of course she will, dear. Why, I’m sure they’re all coming home right now. That’s why we’ve got to get the house nice and clean for them.”

“Why did Aunt Veronica hit Samantha last night?”

“Sometimes people do things they shouldn’t when they get angry. Your aunt is very sorry about hitting Samantha.”

“Is she sorry for hitting you too?”

Molly touched the bruise on her face. “Of course she is, dear. Your aunt and I love each other very much. But sometimes even people who care about each other have quarrels.”

A sudden tidal wave of tears soaked Joey’s face. “What’s wrong with me?” he asked. “Why won’t anyone stay with me?”

“Oh, no, dear, don’t cry. You’re the sweetest young man I’ve ever known. What happened with your mother and Samantha had nothing to do with you.”

“But why did they leave?”

“I don’t know, dear. I don’t know.” She rocked him back and forth in her lap until he stopped crying. As she considered whether it was safe to take him back inside, she heard something crashing through the underbrush nearby.

Veronica emerged from the bushes, her face white as a corpse. Sweat covered her body and her eyes shone as though with fever. Before Molly could say anything, Veronica snatched Joey away from her, lifting him into the air. “Tell me how to get rid of it!” she said.

“Get rid of what?” he asked.

“The algae. You know how. I know you do. You’re the fucking Einstein of the family,” she said.

“What’s algae?” he said.

She threw him to the ground, bashing his head against the log. “Veronica, what’s going on? Where’s David? Did you find the children?” Molly asked.

“David is dead!” Veronica said. She reached up to snap off a tree limb. She wielded it in her hand like a club, waving it under Joey’s nose. “Maybe this will jog your memory.”

“Dead? How? Veronica, please, what’s going on?”

“That fucking algae killed him. I don’t know how. It jumped right out of the fountain and burned him up.”

“Oh my God. That’s terrible. And the children?”

“I don’t know.” She poked Joey’s cheek with the stick. He sniffled, but didn’t move. “This little shit is going to tell me how to get rid of it even if I have to break open his head and scoop the answer out.”

As Veronica raised her arm to strike, Molly grabbed her wrist. “Veronica, please, calm down. Joey doesn’t know. He’s just a little boy.”

Veronica shook Molly’s hand away, pointing the stick at her. “He knows. It’s in that scrambled brain of his. I’m going to beat it out of him.”

“No!” Molly grabbed Veronica’s wrist again. “There has to be another way. Let me work with him. I’ll get him to remember.” As Molly spoke, Joey pressed himself against her although she wasn’t any taller than him.

Veronica stared at them a moment and then lowered the stick. “He seems to have taken a liking to you. Fine, take him out to Grandpa’s hut and see if you can get him to remember.” She jabbed the stick into Molly’s chest. “If he can’t, I’ll throw both of you in there myself.”

After Veronica stomped away, Joey emerged from Molly’s shadow. “Why is she mad at me?” he asked.

“She’s not mad at you. She’s mad about something else.”

“What does she mean about me remembering?”

Molly tousled Joey’s hair. “There’s a lot I have to tell you, dear. For now, we have to go inside and pack. We’re going to stay in the hut Veronica’s grandpa built out in the forest.”

“Is Aunt Veronica coming too?”

“No, dear, she’s not coming. It’ll be just the two of us.”

“Good,” he said. “She’s mean.”

“Now Joey, you shouldn’t say such things about your aunt.”

“I don’t care. She is mean. I hate her.”

“I know you don’t mean that. Let’s go inside and get ready.” As Molly led Joey inside, she couldn’t help shivering at the thought of Veronica’s rage. Molly only hoped they could find a solution before Veronica grew impatient. Molly had no doubt her friend would carry out her threat.

Chapter M3: Extermination

2007-06-15T11:00:00.004-07:00

Chapter M3: Extermination

Veronica swept the shelf clean in frustration. Hammers, saw, and nails crashed to the floor of the tool shed. She held out her arm, the pale, chubby limb a reminder of the sacrifices she had made over the last three years. All for nothing.

Three years of manipulating the pieces into place, waiting for the perfect time to strike. She had earned Samantha’s trust, enduring three years of that bitch ordering her around and tucking her in at night. At the same time she convinced David to help her overthrow Samantha and assuaged Molly’s fears. She discovered the formula for the Indian potion to erase the children’s memories in Joseph’s bedroom, smuggling the recipe back to Eternity inside one of Molly’s dolls. She and Molly then brewed the formula in secret at night. After Samantha and her friends left for Seabrooke this final time, Veronica and David filled buckets with water from the Fountain of Youth.

Everything orchestrated with the precision of a military campaign and carried out successfully. They spiked the children’s juice at breakfast with the water and memory-altering potion. She had stood at one end of the dining hall, watching those brats Helena and Phyllis shrink into five-year-olds bawling for their mommas. Grabbing them by the ears and tossing them into the pantry cellar gave her a taste of the joy to come when she traveled to Seabrooke.

At the time she thought God must have been rewarding her for all the years of patience. There Samantha lay passed out on the docks, dead to the world. The temptation to grab David’s knife and plunge it into the traitor’s heart paralyzed her for a moment. But she didn’t want to kill the bitch like this, not after thirty-five years of waiting. No, she wanted to break Samantha Young, to make her fat, shy Jackie Fuller again.

It had happened so much easier than she thought possible. Not more than three hours after waking up as a toddler, Samantha’s mind snapped. One glimpse of herself in the mirror in those cutesy-pie clothes and with those ridiculous curls reduced her to a simpering child.

Then with everything going so well, everything all the sudden went wrong. Samantha and her little friends ran off in the night. David tracked them to the fountain cave, where the brats fell into the pool and disappeared. Vanished in a flash of red light, David told her. Along with them her hopes of completing her revenge.

There had to be some way to get rid of the algae. She threw aside rakes, scythes, and hoes in search of something that could dissolve the algae. Nothing in here could bring back Samantha so that Veronica might yet have her ultimate victory, but at least her other plans might come to fruition. She pushed aside a bag of seeds and fertilizer. “Haven’t you people heard of pesticide?” she shouted.

“It’s not in here,” David said from the doorway.

“Then where the hell is it?”

“In the barn, locked up. Samantha didn’t want any of the little ones getting into it.”

“Go get it. As much as you can carry.”

“You think some bug spray is going to kill that?”

“You have a better idea?”

“I was thinking to burn the shit off,” David said.

Veronica crossed the tool shed, getting up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “You always did think big,” she said. “Let’s grab a drum of cooking oil from the pantry. That should be enough to do it.”

As they walked back along the trail into town, he said, “You should be glad. She’s gone, like you wanted.”

“I don’t expect you to understand,” Veronica said.

“What did she do to you that was so bad?” he asked.

“She betrayed me,” Veronica said. “That’s all you need to know.” She kicked at the dirt with one of her stubby hooves. All she had to look forward to now was being trapped in this flabby body, going through puberty over again on this stinking rock with this oaf David, mousy little Molly, and the other brats. She ought to kill them all the first chance she got. But first she had to get rid of the algae.

She opened the door to the pantry cellar, a shaft of light falling onto Helena and Phyllis huddled together on the floor. “Have you come to let us out?” Helena asked.

“No. You two stay here until I need you,” Veronica said.

“But—”

Veronica slapped Helena across her grubby face. The little girl’s eyes welled up with tears. “Don’t question me again.” She turned to David. “Grab one of those barrels and let’s go.”

She left the two girls curled up on the floor, Helena sobbing against Phyllis. Veronica could have listened to the brat cry all day, but she had more important things to do. She followed David up the stairs and into town. Some of children broke off from a game of tag to fall in next to Veronica and David. “What’s that?” a boy asked. “Where are you going?” a girl asked. “Can I go?” another girl asked.

“Out of the way, kids,” Veronica said. “We have important things to do. We’ll be back later.”

“Can’t we come?” one of the girls asked.

“No.” The children continued to follow along, pestering them with questions. “Don’t you brats have chores to do? Get to work before I smack you.”

The children flinched in unison and then scurried away. “Don’t you think you’re being hard on them? They’re too little to know any better,” David said.

“I don’t care. Coddling them is Molly’s job. Let’s hurry up and get this over with.” As they continued towards the cave, Veronica thought of what to do with the children now. Unless they got rid of the algae, she would need them to work the land as they had done under Reverend Crane. At least until she was old enough to return to civilization. The hell with them after that, she thought.

Veronica entered the cave, red light bouncing off the walls, mocking her. The algae still topped the pool; if anything it seemed thicker than she remembered. “You’re going to get yours,” she said. “Dump it in.”

“Here goes nothing,” David said. He opened the barrel of cooking oil and dumped it into the water. The grease coated the surface of the water, mixing in with the algae. David took a box of matches from his pocket. “Stand back,” he said before lighting the match.

Veronica stood against the wall as a wave of flame washed over the fountain. The fire burned for ten seconds and then fizzled. “Well?” she said to David.

He crept over to the edge of the fountain, peering down. “What the hell—” he began, but never finished. A blob of algae leapt from the water, attaching itself to his face. He screamed as the algae began to pulse with angry red light. “Help me!”

“How?” Veronica said. David wiped furiously at the algae, but it only spread across his body, the glow turning brighter. He let out one last horrible wail and then collapsed.

The algae oozed off him, returning to the Fountain of Youth. In its place, David lay unmoving, his body charred from head to toe. Bile rose up in Veronica’s throat. The algae continued to pulse with light in the fountain, sounding a warning to her.

“This isn’t over,” she said. Then she slid along the cave wall and ran.

Chapter M2: Reconciliation

2007-06-15T11:00:00.003-07:00

Chapter M2: Reconciliation

Joey climbs up to the top of the hill to find her waiting for him. The wind swirls her brown hair around so that he can’t see her face, but he knows it’s her. He races across the grass as fast as he can, leaping into her outstretched arms.

She hugs him and then kisses the top of his head. “I didn’t think you were coming,” he says.

“Of course I was. I would never miss seeing you.”

“Why did you have to leave? Why can’t you stay?”

“They need me,” she says. “I can’t abandon them.”

“But you can abandon me?”

She sets him down on the ground and brushes the hair from her face so that he can look into her sky blue eyes. “You know that isn’t true. I would never abandon you.”

“I’m tired of this,” he says. “Someday you’re going to have to choose: them or me.”

“Joe, please, don’t ask me to do that. What we have is special, but I can’t forget about them. I can’t act like they don’t exist. Try to understand.”

“I am trying, but I don’t see why you have to keep it such a secret,” he says. He plucks a handful of grass and then hurls it into the winds. She sits down next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

“It’s a difficult situation, Joe. I need to know I can count on you to support me.”

“I’ll always support you,” he says. “But sometimes I don’t think I’m important to you.”

“Joseph, you’re the most important person in my life. Nothing can ever change that.” She leans down to kiss him on the cheek this time. “Do you understand?”

“Then why do you have to go?” Tears come to his eyes. “We hardly ever get to see each other anymore. And as soon as we do, you have to go again. Why can’t you stay with me?”

“Joe, we’ve discussed this. I don’t have a choice.”

“Then let me come with you. I won’t get in your way.”

“I know you won’t, but it’s a very difficult situation. I don’t want to get you involved.”

“I’m not scared. Whatever is going on there, I can handle it.” He takes her pudgy hand and squeezes it. “I want to help you through this. Why won’t you let me?”

“It’s complicated.” She squeezes his hand back. “Let’s enjoy the time we have left instead of arguing.”

He wants to continue pleading with her to stay. He can’t bear to be without her again. Not after the last time, when she didn’t come back for four months. During that time he felt an ache in his heart every moment. The pain made every day unbearable. Their conversations by telephone only made the lack of her presence more pronounced.

Instead, knowing a continued argument will only spoil their last moments together, he snuggles against her, resting his head on her bulging stomach. She strokes his hair as they sit on the hill, watching the sun go down over the waves. He wishes they could go on like this forever. He wishes she never has to leave him again so he can spend every moment with her.

When she picks him up and swings him onto her shoulders, he tries to hop off. “Can’t we stay a little longer?” he says.

“It’s getting dark. Your father’s expecting us back soon.”

“So what? He doesn’t care about me.”

“Joe, you don’t mean that. Your father is a good man. He loves you very much.” She starts down the hill, trying to lighten the mood by making horse sounds.

“Sometimes you act so weird,” he says. He laughs and plays along until the house comes in sight. Then they both go silent.

She takes his hand to lead him up the stairs. With each step his heart grows heavier, knowing it’s one step closer to her leaving again. At the top of the stairs, she picks him up. He presses his ear to her chest so he can hear the beating of her heart.

She opens the door to his bedroom and then lays him down onto the bed. She smoothes hair away from his forehead to kiss him there. “I’ll be back real soon,” she says. “I promise.” She pulls the blankets up to his chin and despite his best efforts, he feels himself growing sleepy.

“I love you,” he says.

“Goodnight,” she says and then turns out the light.

Joey woke up and looked around the bedroom in confusion until he realized it had been a dream. Mommy’s gone, he thought. I should be with her instead of here.

He climbed out of bed and went into the main room. Molly sat at the table with her head buried in her hands. When he touched her on the shoulder, she looked up to reveal a purple bruise on her left eye. “What happened?” Joey asked.

“It’s nothing,” Molly said. “I deserved it.”

“Who hit you?”

“It’s not important. Are you hungry? I can make us something for breakfast.” She didn’t wait for him to answer, instead bustling into the kitchen to search among the fallen pots and pans for something to eat.

“What happened to the others?” Joey asked.

“I’m not sure,” Molly said. “They’ve disappeared.”

“Disappeared? How?”

“They fell into a pool of water and never came up.”

“Are they dead?” His voice quivered as he asked this question. Samantha and the twins had called him names, but he didn’t want anything bad to happen to them.

Molly rushed over to take him by the shoulders. “No, they’re not dead,” she said. “Veronica and David are going to find a way to bring them back.”

“How?”

“I don’t know, dear. They’ll think of something.”

“Is there anything we can do?”

“We can pray God brings them back safely to us,” she said. She took his hand and together they knelt on the floor. Joey closed his eyes and visualized the faces of Samantha, Prudence, and Wendell.

God, please let them come back, Joey thought. Wherever they’ve gone, please let them come back safe. The face of his mother crept into his thoughts then. And wherever Mommy’s gone, please look after her and make sure she comes back too. Amen.