Children of Eternity Omnibus

by P. T. Dilloway

  “We weren’t bawling,” Prudence said. “We were hugging.”

  “Same thing.”

  “Is not.”

  “Is too.”

  “Come on, let’s go home.” Samantha helped Prudence up so they could limp the rest of the way home. Wendell led the way, his stick still at the ready. Once they got in sight of the ruins of the town, he took off running.

  “We’re back!” he shouted. “Samantha and Prudence are back!”

  As expected, Rebecca was the first one to greet them. Despite her size, she raced over to them in seconds. Rebecca hugged Samantha around the waist. “You’re back! I knew you’d find her.”

  “I couldn’t have done it without Wendell,” Samantha said. “He deserves a lot of the credit.”

  “Thank you!” Rebecca shouted. She hugged Wendell, at least until he wriggled free of her grasp, making a disgusted face.

  Next came Miss Brigham from the church. The real surprise was seeing Uncle Hector following after her. He didn’t seem to have any trouble walking now. When he got closer, she noticed he looked younger, probably from the dose of fountain water Miss Brigham and Rebecca had given to him.

  “This must be the famous Miss Prudence,” he said. He held out his hand to her. “I’m Hector Delgado.”

  Prudence didn’t shake his hand. “Samantha says you’re her uncle.”

  “That’s right. I’ve been looking for her for five years now.”

  “And now the Lord has brought them together. Isn’t it grand?” Miss Brigham said. She leaned against Uncle Hector as if her leg were broken.

  “It’s great,” Prudence grumbled.

  “We’d better get Prudence inside. She needs to rest.”

  “I’ll take her,” Uncle Hector said.

  “That’s all right—” Prudence’s protest cut off in a scream as Uncle Hector swept her up in his arms. Samantha couldn’t suppress a giggle as Prudence struggled to free herself while Uncle Hector struggled to maintain his grip.

  “Let him carry you,” Samantha said. “It’ll be a lot faster.”

  Prudence finally went limp, except for wrapping her arms around Uncle Hector’s neck. Wendell watched them go, his jaw slack. “He’s really strong.”

  “That’s because he works really hard,” Samantha said. “He has his own boat and everything. Tomorrow we’ll go down there so you can see it.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. We have to fix it if we’re ever going to get back to the mainland.”

  “The mainland? Can I go?”

  “I don’t know. We’ll have to ask Uncle Hector.”

  Samantha quickened her pace to catch up to her uncle and Prudence. The other children stood off to one side of the church, watching in awe as Uncle Hector carried Prudence down the aisle. He set her down on the front row of pews and then smiled. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

  “Thank you, Mr. Delgado.”

  “You’re welcome, sweetheart.” Then Uncle Hector shook his head. “We need to get you out of those wet clothes. You’ll catch your death like that.”

  “We’ll see what we can do,” Miss Brigham said.

  Samantha helped her and Rebecca to sort through the clothes taken from the dormitory before it collapsed. There were plenty of dresses for the younger girls, but nothing that would fit Prudence. “Oh dear,” Miss Brigham mumbled.

  “We could search what’s left of her shop. There might be something there,” Rebecca said.

  “Anything in there would be even dirtier than what she has on,” Miss Brigham said.

  Samantha looked back to Prudence. Seeing her friend’s stomach triggered Samantha’s memory. Not her distant past, but something much more recent: Pryde’s basement. “I know where there are plenty of clothes to fit her.” Samantha told them what she had found in Pryde’s basement, all those old clothes for women much bigger than Prudence.

  “That’s wonderful, dear, but I don’t think you should go traipsing around in the forest again so soon. It will be dark before much longer.”

  “I suppose,” Samantha said. “She’ll just have to go without tonight.”

  Rebecca put a hand to her mouth and giggled. “Prudence go naked? I don’t think so.”

  Samantha had to admit Rebecca had a point. Prudence would never want to be naked around the others, not for a whole night. If only there were something else they could do. She looked around the church for something that might help. Then she saw it hanging up: Reverend Crane’s old robe, hanging on a hook behind the altar.

  Samantha took the robe off the hook and then took it over to Prudence. “This ought to fit you.”

  “I can’t wear the reverend’s robe. That’s sacrilege!”

  “It’s just for one night.”

  “Absolutely not.”

  “You can’t wear those old dirty rags all night. I promise tomorrow I’ll go back to Mr. Pryde’s house and get you something really pretty to wear.”

  “I don’t know—”

  Miss Brigham put a hand on her shoulder. “It will be all right, dear. I’m sure the Lord won’t mind in this situation.”

  “I suppose.”

  “Wonderful.” Miss Brigham looked up. “Everyone else will need to go out for a few minutes while we tend to Prudence.”

  “Why do we have to leave?” Helena whined. “Why can’t she go somewhere else? Like the barn.”

  “That’s enough, Helena,” Samantha said. “One more outburst like that and I’ll take you over my knee.”

  Helena glared at her, her mouth twitching as though she wanted to say something. She finally turned and stomped out of the church. The other children followed behind, Rebecca helping to shepherd them out. Uncle Hector put a hand on Samantha’s shoulder. “I’ll be right outside.”

  “I know.”

  Then he left too. Miss Brigham brought over a gold bowl with a bottomful of liquid. It had to be water from the Fountain of Youth. Prudence’s face paled when she saw it. “Don’t give me too much. I don’t want to end up like Annie.”

  “Of course not, dear. We’ll just give you a little bit.” Miss Brigham dribbled about a teaspoon of the water over Prudence’s leg. Samantha held her breath, but there wasn’t much change. Prudence’s hair looked cleaner, as did her face. She didn’t look any smaller.

  Samantha and Miss Brigham helped Prudence up to her feet. She nodded. “It feels fine. Thank you.”

  She still needed their help to free her from the wet, dirty clothes. Prudence closed her eyes as they tore the material away. Tears came to her eyes; Samantha suspected they were as much for ruining the fabric as the embarrassment of the situation.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll find you a needle and thread and you can fix it.”

  “I doubt it.”

  With another dress, Prudence dried herself off. Then she took the reverend’s white robe from them. The hem of the robe pooled at Prudence’s feet by a couple of inches, the sleeves overhanging her hands the same way Samantha’s jacket did.

  Prudence actually smiled as she flapped her arms. “I feel so little.”

  “You look cute,” Samantha said.

  “Now let’s get you to bed, dear.” Miss Brigham and Samantha helped Prudence back onto the pew. She looked for a moment as though she would protest, but then her eyes closed. Before long, she was snoring like usual.

  ***

  The other children were all settled into their pews. David and the other boys had returned an hour or two after Samantha, Prudence, and Wendell had arrived. After hearing what happened, David had grudgingly told Wendell, “Well done.”

  Uncle Hector said something similar to Samantha. “You did good, Lucy.”

  “Thanks.”

  They sat outside, where they had built a bonfire with some of the ruined wood and Uncle Hector’s lighter. He had insisted on sleeping outside, “under the stars.” Samantha figured it was in part so he could smoke those awful cigarettes of his. He held one up and shook his head. “I should go easy on these. Not sur
e when I might get more.”

  Samantha snuggled against him; he put an arm around her shoulders. “When we get to the mainland, can I live with you?”

  “Of course you can.”

  “What will you tell everyone who asks what happened to me? And why I look so young?”

  “We’ll just tell them you have a young face.” He took a puff on his cigarette. “The rest we’ll just say someone kidnapped you.”

  “They won’t believe me.”

  “You don’t tell them about this island and that magic water. Just tell them that Crane guy took you and locked you up for a while, until you escaped.”

  “That makes sense.”

  “Reverend Crane, did he ever…do anything to you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Did he ever…touch you? In a bad place? A private place?”

  Uncle Hector’s meaning finally sunk in. “No! He didn’t do anything like that. He just whipped me once. Him and Mr. Pryde.”

  “Whipped you? With a belt?”

  “No, a whip. It tore up my back something awful. Helena and John got it even worse than I did.”

  “What did he do that for?”

  “Mr. Pryde saw them kissing. I saw them too.”

  “Kissing? That’s it? This guy was a real hard-ass.”

  Samantha giggled at that. “I guess he was.”

  Uncle Hector pressed her tighter against him and then looked in her eye. “Lucy, I promise I won’t ever do anything like that to you. I’d never hurt you.”

  “I know, Uncle Hector.” They sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Then Samantha asked, “When we go back home, can Prudence come with us?”

  “I don’t know, sweetheart. That will be up to Prudence. And Miss Brigham. She’s not sure about taking the other children over to the mainland. She’s afraid of them being separated.”

  “Oh, I see.” Samantha had to admit it made sense. The others had been together for over three hundred years now, even if they didn’t remember it. “But if they say yes, can she come with us? Please? She’s my best friend in the whole world and I don’t want to lose her.”

  Uncle Hector thought it over for a few minutes. He finally tossed his cigarette away and nodded. “Sure, kiddo. She can come if she wants.”

  “Thank you, Uncle Hector!” Samantha leaned up to kiss his cheek. “You won’t regret it.”

  “But listen, it might be hard for her to make the transition. There will be a lot of things she doesn’t understand, even more than you.”

  “I know.” Samantha thought of Prudence’s rejection of girls wearing pants or cutting their hair short; she would have a lot to adapt to on the mainland. “I’ll help her.”

  “And I’ll help you.”

  “Right.” They lapsed into silence again. Samantha looked up at the church and then smiled. “You think Miss Brigham will want to come?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  “She really likes you.”

  “You think so?”

  Samantha nodded. “Haven’t you seen how red her face gets when she’s around you? And the way she was leaning against you earlier, it was like a dog marking its territory.”

  “You seem to know a lot for a girl who’s spent five years in this religious commune.”

  Samantha shrugged. “I guess it’s just old memories. Did I have any boyfriends on the mainland?”

  “Not that I know of, but there were some boys you had a crush on. There was this musical group, the Backstreet Boys. You had their posters all over your room. I forget which one was your favorite, but whenever we were on the boat, you’d make me play their CDs. Made me want to throw the damned stereo overboard.”

  “Uncle Hector!”

  “Sorry, kid,” he said and tousled her hair. Eventually Samantha fell asleep in his arms.

  Chapter 22: Damage Control

  They didn’t have much to eat the next morning. Samantha, David, and some of the boys went down to the barns. These had survived much better than the buildings in town. Samantha was glad to see her cows and sheep had all made it. But half the cows and chickens had died, including their only bull.

  She gathered what few eggs there were while the boys milked the cows. David wanted to drag the dead bull back, but Samantha shook her head. “He’s been rotting for a day or two now. Someone could get sick.”

  “If they get sick then we use the water.”

  “On everyone at the same time? You know how messy that could get?”

  “If you’re afraid—”

  “I’m not afraid. I’m just not stupid,” Samantha said. She glared at David until he backed down, dragging the bull away to burn along with the chickens.

  To supplement the eggs, they picked some berries, ones Samantha knew were safe. Later she would have to have David and some of the boys kill a deer or catch some fish. At least the crops had mostly survived so they could have some meal this winter. Until then, they would have to forage and hunt as best they could.

  Helena of course grumbled about their meager breakfast. “This isn’t fair. I’m still hungry.”

  “We’re all hungry—”

  “Especially Prudence,” Phyllis grumbled, prompting her and Helena to cackle.

  Samantha saw Prudence’s cheeks turn red at this. Uncle Hector came to her defense before Samantha could. “You two knock it off or I’ll knock some sense into both of you. Samantha’s doing her best. You little ingrates should be glad you get anything for all I’ve seen you do.”

  The two girls looked down at the floor. “Sorry,” they mumbled, though Samantha knew better. For some reason Helena and Phyllis never could get along with the others. Perhaps in time they would grow out of it.

  After breakfast, Samantha gathered everyone together. “I think our priorities right now should be finding food and repairing Mr. Delgado’s boat.”

  “Why should we care about his stupid boat?” David asked.

  “If we can get his boat to sail, then we can go to the mainland and get supplies: food, clothes, tools, and so forth. Then Helena won’t have to complain about her empty tummy anymore.”

  “You just want to fix his boat so you can go home to the other savages,” Helena said as retribution.

  “Helena, I have warned you about that. There are no savages,” Rebecca said.

  “That’s what they want you to think. Then they’ll take you over there and sacrifice you to their evil god,” Phyllis said.

  “That’s nonsense,” Uncle Hector said. “Samantha’s right. If we can get my boat floating, then I can get some help for you kids.”

  “We don’t need help,” David grumbled.

  “Really? Are you going to rebuild everything by yourself? You going to feed all these hungry kids?”

  “If I have to.”

  “Everyone calm down,” Samantha said. “There’s no need to get angry. David, if you don’t want to help with the boat, then you can take over the food detail. Just don’t bring any rotten meat back here.”

  “Fine.” David stomped out of the church. Unfortunately, he took most of the older boys with him, except for Wendell. Samantha would have preferred the boys help to repair the boat; she would need their strength to get it off the rocks and safely onto the beach. Maybe later he would calm down and she could ask him for help.

  She tried not to let any of this concern her, forcing a smile to her face. “Miss Brigham can stay here with the littlest ones. You kids can go on a little scavenger hunt and see what you can find in the rubble.”

  “Oh boy!” Annie shouted and clapped her hands. Samantha figured the toddlers were just happy to have something useful to do; it helped them feel like big kids.

  “The rest of us will see what we can do about the boat.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Uncle Hector said.

  “What about me?” Prudence asked.

  “You can stay here and help Miss Brigham. I’ll make a little detour to get you some clothes.”

  “All right,” Prudence sa
id. She looked down sadly at the floor. Prudence liked to feel useful too, Samantha knew, but there wasn’t much she could do without proper clothes.

  “Let’s get to it then, children,” Miss Brigham said.

  ***

  Rebecca, Wendell, and the other children who had accompanied them stared at the boat caught in the rocks. “That’s the boat?” Rebecca asked. “It’s so big.”

  “It has to be big,” Uncle Hector said. “It has to hold a lot of fish.”

  He walked them over to the side of the boat. He ran his hand along its side, stopping at each hole or crack he found. “We’re going to have to find some way to patch this or we won’t get very far. That is if we can get this thing off the rocks without tearing it apart.”

  While Uncle Hector spoke, Samantha saw Wendell sneaking around to the other side of the boat. She followed him to make sure he didn’t get caught up in the waves. The sea was calmer now that the storm had passed, but some of the waves were still as tall as the boy.

  “This shouldn’t be too hard,” he said. Like Uncle Hector, he ran a hand along the front of the boat. “At least not to get it off the rocks.”

  “Maybe if we can get David and some of the others—”

  “We don’t need them. All we need is a lever.”

  “A lever?”

  “A long stick. We move one of these rocks over a little and then we put the stick on it and wedge it beneath the boat—”

  “And the we pry it off the rocks,” Samantha finished. “What happens when it gets loose? It might float away and sink.”

  “We’ll have to tie a rope to the front and then tie it around another rock or something to anchor it. It might be tricky to reel it in.”

  “So you think we could use David’s help?”

  “We can do it ourselves.”

  “Wendell, please. This is important. We won’t get another chance at it.”

  “Actually, I think the kid is on to something,” Uncle Hector said. “If I can get the motor to fire up, then I can use that to get it back on shore.”

  “What about the holes? What do we do with them?”

  “We can patch them with boards from the village,” Wendell said.