Prudence put a hand on Mr. Pryde’s forehead and found no sign of a fever. The pulse in his neck also felt strong. He should be all right, she thought. She hurried out of the bedroom, but Wendell had gone. I don’t need him she thought.
She put on her jacket and boots before tramping off into the snow. She grew winded halfway down the hill, but refused to stop. As she plowed along, she tried to think of what she would do if she found Samantha and Joseph. No plan availed itself to her. This is hopeless, she thought. I have to try. She owed Samantha that much.
Chapter 28: The Fugitive
Since Becky brought her home, Molly couldn’t do anything by herself. It was almost like being a baby again. She couldn’t leave the cottage without Becky following or even play in her bedroom with the door closed. It’s not fair, Molly thought. I’m a prisoner and I haven’t done anything wrong.
Today she sat on the floor of the bakery with her dolls, staring at their fabric faces without knowing what to make them say or do. Ever since Veronica left, stories about Molly’s parents in the kingdom of Dublin had lost their sparkle. She would never get there now with Becky watching her every move. She was trapped in Eternity for eternity because of Veronica.
Molly threw her dolls to the ground, kicking them across the floor. “You shouldn’t be so rough with your toys, sweetheart. You could hurt them that way,” Becky said.
“So? They’re my toys. I’ll do what I want.”
“Molly, please, you have to stop this.”
“Not until you stop treating me like a baby.”
“I’ll stop treating you like a baby when you stop acting like a baby. Now if you’re not going to do anything, come over here and give me a hand.” Molly thought about continuing the argument, but decided it wouldn’t do any good. She went over to the counter, where Becky worked to roll out some dough.
“This dough looks funny,” Molly said.
“It’s unleavened bread, like they ate in Bible times.”
“Yuck. I don’t like unleavened bread.”
Becky laughed at this and tousled Molly’s hair. “You haven’t even tried it yet, sweetie.”
“Stop calling me that,” Molly said.
“What?”
“I’m not your sweetheart or your sweetie or anything else. I hate you! You’re mean and stupid and I wish you were dead!”
“Molly, you don’t mean that—”
“I do so. Then I could find my real mommy and daddy.”
“Sweet—Molly—I think we need to talk.” Becky put an arm around Molly’s shoulder and took her to sit down near the hearth. Becky cleared her throat and then said, “Molly, your real mommy and daddy are in Heaven.”
“They’re dead?”
“That’s right. They died a long time ago, when you were a baby. That’s why you live here with me.”
“Nuh-uh. You’re lying.”
“Molly, honey, I wish they were still alive, but they aren’t. You have to believe me.”
“No! You’re lying!” Molly started to cry because no matter how hard she protested, she knew Becky was right. Her parents weren’t in any faraway kingdom; they were dead and in Heaven. Becky tried to hug her, but Molly pushed her away. “Leave me alone!”
“I know it’s hard, Molly. It was hard on me to find out about my parents too. Even harder for your Aunt Samantha. But I want you to know I love you very much and I’m always here to take care of you. You’re like a daughter to me and nothing’s made me happier in these last five years than being like a mother to you.”
“You’re not my mother! You’re a fat meanie. You probably killed them so you could have me all to yourself.” Molly could see it now in her mind: jealous Becky looking down into Molly’s crib, wanting a child of her own so badly she would do anything.
“Molly, I’d never do anything like that. I’d never do anything to hurt you. I love you.”
Molly continued to cry for her dead parents. Not only was she a prisoner now, but she was alone in this awful place with no hope of being reunited with her loved ones. Mommy and Daddy are gone, Veronica’s gone, and even Aunt Samantha and Aunt Prudence are gone. I don’t have anyone.
“Come on, sweetheart, let’s go home and put you to bed. Later we’ll talk about this some more.”
“I don’t want to go to bed.”
“I know, but this is a big shock for a little girl. You’ll feel better after you’ve gotten some rest.” Becky took Molly’s hand and led her towards the door. Molly didn’t have the strength to put up any resistance. She stumbled along with Becky to the cottage, where Becky took off her shoes and jacket and then tucked her limp body into bed. “Don’t worry about anything. You go to sleep and when you wake up, I’ll be right here. Do you need anything? Water or one of your dolls?”
Molly rolled over to turn her back towards Becky. She couldn’t remember falling asleep, but when she woke up, she found a shadow looming over her bed. “Molly, are you awake?” a familiar voice whispered. Molly’s sleep-addled brain needed a moment to process the memory.
“Veronica?”
“That’s right, honey. I’ve come to get you out of here.”
Molly sat up in bed and squinted into the darkness to make out Veronica’s gray hair obscuring her face. “But you left me. You let them find me. You told on me.”
“No, honey, I’d never do that. They found you on their own. When I heard them coming I had to get out of there.”
“You left me behind,” Molly repeated.
“I’m very sorry, Molly. I didn’t have a choice.” Veronica sat down next to Molly on the bed, her adult body causing the frame to creak. “You see, there are some bad people after me. If anyone finds out who I am, I’ll be in big trouble. That’s why I had to leave you behind, so you wouldn’t get hurt. I could never let anything happen to you.”
“Why didn’t you come back for me sooner?”
“I followed you back here. I’ve been waiting in the woods for the right time, when no one was watching. Now hurry up and get dressed before that fat nanny comes back to check on you. Then you and I can go to Dublin and find your parents.”
“My parents are dead,” Molly said.
“They are? I’m so sorry to hear that.” She gave Molly a brief hug. “In that case we can go somewhere else. There’s a whole big world out there. We can see it all, the two of us.”
Molly thought about what Veronica said. She supposed it all made sense. And traveling the world with Veronica was much better than sitting around Eternity eating unleavened bread with Becky. “I love you, Mama Veronica,” she said, hugging Veronica.
“I love you too, honey.” Veronica peeled away the covers and helped Molly from the bed. They found her jacket and boots and the doll of Sir Francis that she clutched to her chest. She didn’t want any of the others; they would all remind her too much of this place. She didn’t ever want to think of Eternity again in her whole life.
They went out the front door, Veronica pausing to look around. Then she hefted Molly onto her shoulders and galloped into the trees. She ran out of breath by the time they reached the forest and set Molly on the ground. “I’m too old for this. If only there was some way to turn back time so I’d be younger. Then the bad people chasing me couldn’t recognize me and we could be together forever,” Veronica said.
“I know a way,” Molly said.
“You do?”
“Yes. I’ll show you.” She took Mama Veronica’s hand and started to lead her down the path to the caves. Soon Mama Veronica would be young again and they could see the world together without worrying about anyone stopping them.
Chapter 29: Crimes and Misdemeanors
Joseph pulled into the parking lot of the Mobil gas station outside town. “Follow my lead,” he said. Samantha wanted to ask about what, but he’d already gotten out of the car and she figured it best not to ask where anyone could hear them.
He walked through an aisle of candy bars and other colorful snacks in shiny wrappers. Samantha pick
ed up a package with two pink circles called Sno-Balls that matched her jacket. She turned over the package and read the nutritional information. She tossed the Sno-Balls away as if they’d come to life. If she ate those she’d end up as big as whatshername—Pamela? Penny?—in no time at all.
She found Joseph standing in front of a refrigerated cabinet of beer. He looked one way and then the other before snatching a case out of the refrigerator. “What’s that for?” she asked.
“It’ll make everything more fun,” he said. “When I get up to the counter, look cool. Don’t look nervous, all right?”
“Why would I look nervous?”
“Because people our age aren’t supposed to have this.”
“Oh. All right then.” She followed Joseph up to the counter, where he set the beer down in front of a woman whose skin reminded Samantha of how hers had once looked, back when it was brown and pimply. Too bad she’d left Joseph’s medicine back in her bedroom or else she could have given this woman a squirt. The woman looked at Joseph and Samantha for a moment and then took the money Joseph held out.
They left the store without a word. “It worked,” he said once they reached the safety of the car.
“What worked?”
“She didn’t even ask if we were twenty-one.” Joseph stared down at his hairy, mitts and said, “We could make a fortune off this stuff. Think about it, overnight everyone could become like us. No one would ever have to be weak or ugly again. I’d get a Nobel Prize for sure.”
“But if everyone looked this good then we’d be normal.”
“Good point. We’d have to charge enough to make sure not everyone could have some.” Joseph pulled away from the store and to Samantha’s surprise, turned back towards Seabrooke.
“Why are we going back into town?” she asked.
“I have an idea.” He parked the car around the corner from the pet shop and then reached into the case for one of the beers. He handed another to Samantha, but she refused.
“I shouldn’t. It’s not good for you.”
“One isn’t going to hurt. Come on. Let’s drink a toast to our new life together and all the money we’re going to make.” Samantha took the can of beer and popped open the top. She touched her can to Joseph’s and then took a pull. As the beer burned its way down her throat she felt a soothing lightheadedness. She reached into the case for another beer and downed it. Before she could grab another, Joseph stopped her. “You might want to go easy on that stuff.”
“What’s the matter? Afraid to try getting more? Well, if you’re too scared then I’ll do it.”
“I’m not scared. Just smart. We can’t draw attention to ourselves right now. We have to keep a low profile.”
“Why? Is your dad going to find us?”
“No, I’ve taken care of him. He won’t be able to bother us again.” Joseph finished off his beer and then reached into a pocket for a cigarette. She recognized the brand and lighter as belonging to his father. He shook two cigarettes out of the pack and then lit both. They coughed in unison, puffs of smoke sputtering from their mouths. They tried again with a similar result. “I don’t know how Dad can stand these.”
“You probably have to get used to them,” Samantha said.
“I guess.” Joseph pointed with his cigarette towards the Seabrooke Community Bank across the street. “That’s the key to our future.”
“Are you going to ask them for a loan?”
“In a way, but without the paperwork,” he said. “We’re going to rob the bank and with the money I’ll be able to set up shop somewhere to work on mass-producing my formulas.”
“Rob the bank? You mean we’re going to steal money?”
“That’s the idea. How else do you think we can get the money? Flip burgers at McDonald’s like everyone else?”
“No, but isn’t there another way?”
“Not unless a big sack of money falls from the sky into our laps. You don’t think I know what I’m doing? Haven’t I taken care of you so far?”
“Yes, but this is different. This is illegal. If anyone found out—”
“They aren’t. I’ll take care of everything. You don’t have to worry that pretty head of yours at all.”
“I don’t know—”
“Samantha, trust me. Everything is going to turn out fine. We’ll get the money and then we’ll cross the border into Canada for a while until the heat dies down. No one will be able to find us and then, when I’ve made enough of the formulas, we’ll make millions. We’ll never have to work again.”
“This doesn’t seem right,” she said. Something about the idea sparked a nauseous churning of her stomach, or maybe it was the beer and cigarettes. “I don’t feel good.”
“I have an idea about how to make you feel better,” he said, winking at her. He drove away from the bank and towards the high school. She didn’t want to go back in there, even if she was prettier than all those other girls.
“How’s school going to make me feel better?”
“We’re not going into the school. There aren’t classes today anyway. There’s a place the other kids go when they’re feeling too sick for class.” He took her hand in one of his and then used the other to carry the beer. She followed him along the side of the building and then across a snow-covered field to the rows of benches she remembered seeing earlier.
Joseph ushered her into a web of metal supports beneath the benches. “Watch your head,” he said. She noticed a lot of cigarette butts, empty beer cans, and old balloons underneath the bleachers.
“This place is gross,” she said. Why would Joseph take her here? She didn’t want to sit around in the trash. She wanted to get away from this town. Money didn’t matter as long as she had Joseph. “Let’s go back to the car and forget about all of this. We can be happy without millions of dollars.”
“You don’t get it, do you? It’s not just about the money. I’ll be the most famous scientist ever when this stuff hits the market. Bigger than Einstein or Newton. Years from now everyone will be teaching about me in science classes. Do you want me to throw that away? You want to take that away from me? I won’t let you! I won’t let you steal my destiny!”
As he spoke, his face turned red and spit formed at the corners of his mouth. The tendons in his neck tightened until she thought they might snap. She hadn’t seen anyone this angry before. She took a step back, banging her head into one of the supports and falling down. She felt the back of her head, but there wasn’t any blood, only a throbbing headache that brought tears to her eyes. “I’m sorry, Joseph. I didn’t realize this meant so much to you. I’ll help you. I’d do anything for you.”
He knelt down to kiss the back of her head where she’d run into the support. “I know you will. I’m sorry. Now let me show you what the other kids do under here.” He kissed her on the mouth, his breath tasting rancid from the beer and cigarettes. She almost gagged on the taste of his tongue inside her mouth, but forced herself to kiss him back. They were in this together now.
Chapter 30: Kidnapped
At first Wendell hid along the side of the road at the sight of the monstrous truck with its roaring engine. He had never seen a vehicle so large and powerful in all his life. As the truck came closer, Wendell told himself it was like Mr. Pryde’s truck, only much larger. He thought of Samantha as he ran out into the road, waving his arms in the hope the vehicle would stop. The truck made a terrible screeching and creaking sound as it slowed; Wendell didn’t think it would stop in time before hitting him. The truck came to a stop two feet ahead of him, its silver grill looking like the teeth of some giant monster. A head leaned out the driver’s side door and shouted, “What are you doing, kid?”
“I need a ride,” Wendell said. “It’s an emergency.”
“All right, climb up the side there. Watch your step.”
Wendell went around to the passenger’s side of the truck. He grabbed a bar to haul himself onto a step and then opened a door. He took hold of another bar to swin
g into the seat. “I’m sorry if I scared you,” Wendell said.
The driver, a man as heavy as Prudence, shrugged. “It’s fine. What’s this emergency?”
“My cousin is in the hospital. I’m not sure how much longer she has. I need to see her,” Wendell said.
“What’s wrong with her?” the driver asked as he started the truck moving again.
“She has a bad heart,” Wendell said. Not entirely a lie, he thought. Somehow, thanks to Mr. Pryde’s son, Samantha’s kind heart had turned dark. “It’s giving out on her.”
“Are they going to do a transplant?”
“A transplant? Oh, sure, of course.”
“I had a cousin who needed a liver on account of his drinking. He waited around for almost two years before they found a donor for him. Unless you got a family member with a part to spare or you’re a celebrity you end up waiting,” the driver said. Wendell had no idea what he was talking about, but nodded anyway. They can transplant organs from one person to another? he thought. Amazing. Any other time he would have asked dozens of questions, but not now. He had more important things to worry about at the moment.
The driver continued talking first about his cousin and then his brother, a driver in somewhere called Iraq that sounded worse than Hell itself. “The truck ahead of him blew up two weeks ago. Damned terrorists. A bunch of cowards,” the driver said. He stopped the truck in front of the Seabrooke Community Hospital, a one-story building that didn’t seem much bigger than the boy’s dormitory in Eternity. “Here’s the hospital. I hope your cousin pulls through.”
“Thanks. I hope she does too.” Wendell climbed down from the truck and then hurried up to the front doors of the hospital. He jumped back in surprise when the doors opened on their own. The truck pulled away, leaving Wendell to wonder what to do now that he had reached town.
Children of Eternity Omnibus Page 47
