Children of Eternity Omnibus

by P. T. Dilloway

  “I’d say fifty is more than fair.” Samantha handed the money to her. “Anything else you need?”

  Samantha looked around the shop. On a table, beneath old table napkins, she found a piece of green camouflage netting. “Korea,” she said. “For a sniper, right?”

  “You know your military antiques.”

  “My father was in the military,” Samantha said. Something told her this was not true. Most likely her years in the Bureau had led her to study such things.

  “If you don’t mind my asking—”

  “I thought I’d do a little bird watching,” Samantha said. She gave the woman another fifty dollars, leaving her billfold almost empty. Another gun might be handy, but that seemed to be the only thing New Beginnings didn’t sell and she didn’t want to arouse any more suspicion. “This should do.”

  “I’m glad I could be of help, Miss—”

  “Young. Samantha Young.” She didn’t see any harm in giving her name to the antiques dealer.

  “Margaret Pestona. It’s rare to get someone in here who knows anything about antiques. Mostly we get the tourists looking for something pretty. How long are you staying?”

  “I’m not really sure.” A yawn crept out of her mouth before she could stop it. “I don’t suppose you know a good place to stay around here?”

  “There are a lot of motels and cabins, but most of those are booked this time of year. For someone of your taste, I think you should check with Mrs. Milton at the Seafarer Bed and Breakfast. I can give you directions.”

  “That would be very helpful, thank you.” Samantha followed Pestona over to the cash register, an antique itself. On a pad of paper, Pestona sketched out directions to the bed and breakfast. Samantha didn’t know if she would need them, but at least it would help validate her cover story should anyone ask.

  She stuffed the piece of paper into her pocket. “There’s one more thing if you don’t mind. Do you know anyone around here by the name of Pryde?”

  “Oh sure, the Pryde family’s lived here since the town began. There’s a lot of interesting history surrounding that family. Some people say they’re cursed.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Well, they’ve had some bad luck and you know how people like to talk.” Pestona motioned to the items in Samantha’s hands. “There was Jonas Pryde about sixty years ago not more than two months after getting married. He never came back. His wife wasn’t quite the same after that. Kept to herself a lot. Some people called her crazy. When I was little, we all used to go up her house and dare each other to knock on the front door. I don’t think she was crazy so much as lonely, especially after what happened with her son.”

  “What happened?”

  “He married a colored woman and got her pregnant. Made his mother so furious she disowned him. He disappeared for a while to Arizona or New Mexico, someplace like that. About twenty years ago he came back with a new wife—this one more to his mother’s liking—and she took him back.”

  “So they patched everything up then?”

  “It seemed that way. But then about a year later they both wind up dead, along with the new wife. Only her baby survived.”

  “That’s horrible. How did they die?”

  “Stabbed to death. Butchered is more like it. No one is sure exactly what happened, but it must have been some fight.”

  “You said the baby survived?”

  “Oh yes. That would be Judah. He still lives up there. He’s a bit rough around the edges but underneath he’s the nicest guy you’d ever meet. But I’m rambling on. You’re probably bored stiff.”

  “No, it is very interesting. You said Judah’s father had a child before he left. Whatever happened to it?”

  “I’m not sure. I’ve heard people mention a daughter, but no one’s ever seen her. He didn’t bring her back here.”

  “You said they live around here? I have a friend from around here who mentioned them. I thought I may as well pay them a visit while I’m here.”

  “They live up on the hill. You just take Main Street back to the highway and you’ll see it. I could show you if you’d like,” Pestona said. She patted Samantha’s hand. “If you want some company.”

  Samantha pulled her hand back. “That’s very kind of you to offer, but—”

  “I understand. I’m sorry. I thought maybe—”

  “It’s all right. Thanks for all your help.” She tried not to walk out of the antiques store too quickly to further hurt Miss Pestona’s feelings. Could that have been the reason Andre left? she wondered. No, that wasn’t it. She had other things to worry about at the moment.

  Veronica had not only killed the four people in the last two days; she’d also slaughtered her father, stepmother, and grandmother as well. There couldn’t be any other explanation in Samantha’s mind. Now she’d come back to finish the job.

  Chapter 24: Love Lost

  Prudence stuck her head out of the tent again, but didn’t see anyone. “Where is she?” she said. Molly had been gone for over twelve hours now, ever since Prudence sent her away for some privacy. “You don’t think she’s left, do you?”

  “Of course not. The girl’s always been a bit addle-brained. She’s probably lost track of the time,” Rodney said.

  “I don’t like it. She should be back now.” She put her hands to her lips as a horrible thought crossed her mind. “What if that stowaway got her? The one that tried to kill Mrs. Bloom and Miss Baker.”

  Rodney put an arm around her shoulder. “Now dear, you mustn’t worry so. Molly is old enough to take care of herself.”

  “I shouldn’t have sent her away like that. She can just be so irritating at times, but I shouldn’t have gotten angry with her. I should have been patient with her.”

  “She’s fine, dear. Tomorrow morning you’ll wake up and she’ll be right here.”

  “But you won’t be,” Prudence said.

  “Prudence, please, don’t get upset about this again. I didn’t have any choice. The reverend would have had us start a war with the savages. I couldn’t let that happen.”

  “We could have left this miserable place.”

  “The ship is ruined. It will never sail again.”

  “Then build a new one! There are plenty of trees around here. You don’t have to do this.”

  He took her hand and sat her down on their bed. “I know you’re worried about me, but you mustn’t be. We’ll only be gone for a few days and when we return it will begin a new life for everyone. We can find a place to build a house and start a family without fear or interference.”

  She couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. “What if you don’t come back? What if these savages are as vicious as Reverend Crane says? What if I never see you again?”

  “You will. Of course you will. If not in this life then in the next.” At this Prudence buried her face in Rodney’s shoulder, her hands digging into his back. She wouldn’t let go. She would keep hold of him for as long as it took to keep him from leaving this tent and going out there into the forest.

  He stroked her hair and whispered, “It’s all right, my dear. Everything will work out. You’ll see. You and I will finally have the life we dreamed of here.”

  She didn’t believe him. Everything wouldn’t work out. She knew it. If Rodney went on this mission he would die. Without him, she didn’t know what she would do. To be alone in this awful wilderness was a fate worse than death. “I want to go with you,” she said. “I want to stay with you.”

  “You can’t, dear. It’s far too dangerous. If any harm should come to you, I couldn’t live with myself.”

  “Please, you have to let me go. I don’t want to lose you.”

  “You won’t, my darling. I’ll come back to you. I promise.” He took her head off his shoulder to look her in the eyes. “I won’t ever leave you. No matter what happens, I’ll always be with you in your heart. I love you.”

  “I can’t lose you. I won’t have anything without you. Please, stay with me.
Let someone else go.”

  “I couldn’t ask someone else to take my place. This is something I must do for all of us. Please try to understand.”

  “What about your duty to me? Don’t I matter? Don’t you care about what I want?”

  “It’s because of you I’m doing this. So you won’t have to go through another war. So we can raise our family in peace.”

  “We won’t have a family if you go. Stay with me. We can leave right now, tonight, and find a quiet place all to ourselves where we can be happy.”

  “I’m sorry, dear, but I must do this. I hope someday you’ll be able to understand.” He let go of her and then pulled on his boots. “I’m going to check around the camp to see if Molly’s been about. I shouldn’t be gone too long.”

  After he left, she pressed her face into a cushion on the bed. He was going and she couldn’t say anything to change his mind. He was going and he wouldn’t ever come back. I’ve lost him, she thought. I’ve lost him forever.

  She felt the cushions next to her where he would sleep tonight for the last time. She breathed in his musky aroma, trying to keep some part of him with her. She closed her eyes and breathed it in again—

  She’s walking alongside the road from Wessenshire home with a basket full of cloth from Mr. Applegate’s shop. She hears hooves beating behind her and steps off to the side of the road to let the horseman pass. Instead of going by, the hoof beats slow to match her pace. Panic rises up within her as the horse continues to follow her. It’s him! she thinks. He’s come back after thirteen years for her.

  “Hello there,” a man’s voice says, but it’s not his. This voice is deeper, slow and sad like a man used to rejection.

  She turns around to see a very tall man riding an old mare. The man’s cloak is threadbare around the edges and his boots splattered with mud. He touches the brim of his hat so that she can see his brown eyes that remind her of a puppy she once owned. “Can I help you, sir?” she asks.

  “Forgive me for bothering you on this fine day, but I fear I’ve lost my way,” he says. “I’m looking for the road to Sussex. Might you happen to know the way?”

  “Oh, well, you need to go back into town and head east. It’s about twenty miles down the road I suppose.”

  “Thank you, Miss—”

  “Chapman. Prudence Chapman.”

  “Thank you, Miss Chapman.” The man swings off his horse and reaches out to take Prudence’s hand. She flinches until he kisses her fingers as though she is royalty. “My name is Rodney Gooddell. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.” She tries to pull her hand away, but doesn’t have the strength. “I don’t suppose I could escort you home. It’s not safe for beautiful young ladies to walk the roads alone.”

  She blushes at this. No one other than her parents has ever called her beautiful since that day. Since he said it to her all those years ago. “It’s kind of you to offer, but it’s not very far. I shouldn’t want to take any more of your time.”

  “It’s no bother at all. I rather like it out here. I was thinking before I saw you walking along the road how nice it might be to stay out here. Buy a piece of land to farm and spend the rest of my days minding the fields. Tell me, does your husband own a farm around here?”

  “Husband? Oh no, I’m not married.” She rests one hand on her bulging stomach. “No one would want me.”

  “Now don’t be silly. You’re a perfectly lovely woman. When I saw you on the road, I felt as though a thunderbolt had stuck me. ‘This is the kind of woman for me,’ I thought to myself. The kind of woman who’s chaste and modest with a good heart. I see now I am right about you.”

  “I’m not anything special,” Prudence says. Her face is so flushed she fears passing out on the road. “I really should be going home now. It’s good to meet you, Mr. Gooddell.”

  “I’m sorry. I’ve made you uncomfortable with my wild rambling. I am not usually this way, but I can’t help myself today. Around you I feel so comfortable. I feel as if I’ve known you my entire life, although I suppose that impossible.”

  She knows she should walk away from him and go home, but she can’t tear herself away from his eyes. Those sad eyes boring into her soul. “It is getting late. You won’t be able to make Sussex today. My father has an extra room if you would like to stay with us for the night and my mother always makes a little extra food for dinner.”

  “That sounds lovely. I would be delighted.” He takes the reins of the horse and walks beside her, telling her everything about himself. He grew up in a town along the southern coast until joining the Royal Navy on his sixteenth birthday. After his tour, he turned to merchant vessels bound for the Indies and once the Jamestown settlement in Virginia. “The New World is a beautiful place. I thought someday I might like to live there,” he says. About ten years ago he moved to London and purchased his own ships, making a fortune in the process. He is on his way to Sussex to see an old friend about selling the business.

  “Whyever would you do that?” she asks.

  “I’m forty years old and tired of the sea. I want to try my hand at farming. Perhaps find a wife and have children.” His eyes meet hers when he says this; she looks away so he can’t see her blush.

  Her parents are very kind to Mr. Gooddell when she introduces them. Rodney and her father discuss politics throughout dinner while Prudence stares down at her plate, though her stomach is far too nervous to eat anything. “Will you excuse me? I’m not feeling well all of the sudden,” she says. She retreats to her bedroom, throwing herself onto the bed to cry.

  “Is she all right?” she hears Rodney ask outside her door.

  “You mustn’t mind her, Mr. Gooddell. Prudence has a very sensitive constitution,” Mother says.

  “I would hate to think my presence has made her ill. Perhaps it would be better if I left.”

  “Nonsense. Prudence will be fine in the morning.”

  She can’t sleep at all that night. Every time she closes her eyes, she thinks first of Rodney and then of him. Rodney couldn’t want her; no one wanted her after what he had done. She carries his mark burned into her soul, branding her forever.

  In the morning, Mother knocks on the door. “Prudence, come out and say goodbye to Mr. Gooddell,” she says. Prudence says nothing. She refuses to get up from the bed. “I’m sorry,” Mother says not to her but Mr. Gooddell. “She is a terribly spoiled child. Her father has been too lenient with her. She needs a proper whipping to straighten her out.”

  “She’s a lovely young woman, Mrs. Chapman. Do tell her I said goodbye and I wish her all the best,” Rodney says.

  Prudence hears him go and then spends the rest of the day in bed, staring at the ceiling with tear-filled eyes. Rodney is gone. She won’t ever see him again. This is for the best, she tells herself. He couldn’t ever love someone like her, not after what he did to her.

  Mother forces her out of bed the next day to deliver a set of new blankets to Miss Brigham for her niece from Ireland. On the road, Prudence again hears hoof beats approaching. A horse pulls up next to her and Rodney’s voice says, “Fancy meeting you here on the same road. I’m terribly sorry we didn’t get a chance to say goodbye properly the other day. Are you feeling better now?”

  “Yes,” she says. “I feel much better now.”

  “I’m glad to hear it,” he says. He tells her about his business in Sussex. He’s sold his business for a decent profit. “I don’t think I’ll buy a piece of land straight off. I thought I would rent a place in town at first so I can learn all I can about farming before setting to it. Mr. Davenport said he has a room to let. Do you know him?”

  “I see he and his wife at church every Sunday.”

  “Well, then I imagine we’ll be seeing each other quite a bit then since they invited me to go to church with them.”

  “I imagine we will,” Prudence says.

  “I’ll see you on Sunday.” He tips his hat to her and then is gone. She stands in the center of the road in disbelief. He came back for
her despite everything. She vows never to lose him again.

  The tent flaps opened and Rodney said, “No one’s seen the girl around. I imagine she’ll turn up.” He pulled off his boots and then settled onto the cushions next to her. He put a hand on her back. “Are you awake?”

  She rolled over to face him and asked, “Why did you come back for me after we first met?”

  “Because I loved you. I knew it the moment I saw you.” He kissed her on the cheek. “I still love you. Nothing will ever change that.”

  She kissed him on the lips, savoring their taste. He had come back for her once; maybe he would come back for her again. If not, she intended to make tonight last as long as possible.

  ***

  With the gunpowder, flint, and string Wendell now had the final ingredients to make sure Reverend Crane’s twisted designs never came to fruition. The holes carved last night would allow him to plant the gunpowder to make his rudimentary shaped charges. If his calculations were correct, the resulting explosion would bring down enough of the cavern to bury the Fountain of Youth forever.

  As soon as this happened, Wendell would lose Prudence in the future. The love they’d shared would never exist. With no fountain, Prudence would remain the overweight bride of Rodney Gooddell while Wendell remained a stowaway, an outcast grubbing for food in the wilderness.

  He paused on the forest path, glancing back towards the encampment. He didn’t want to lose his Prudence in the future. He didn’t want to spend the remainder of his days here while she remained in the arms of another man. Admittedly a good man, a man who wouldn’t hurt her, but a man who was not him.

  No, he couldn’t be so selfish as to put himself ahead of everyone else. Without the Fountain of Youth, Reverend Crane could never take power. Everyone on Eternity would have normal life spans, which at this time of the 17th Century were far shorter than in the future. He and Prudence and the others would all be dead in forty years, if not much sooner. They would never see automobiles, airplanes, computers, or any of the other wondrous inventions to come. Yet it was better for them to die never knowing of these things than to suffer three hundred fifty years of slavery.