"Leave Eternity? I don't know-"
"Why not? Don't you want to see what's beyond the island? It'll be fun. And I'm sure whomever my family is, they'll be more than happy to have you around. If I like you and they're my family they should like you too, right?"
She heard someone shush her and saw Helena sitting up in bed with her arms crossed. "Be quiet, you stupid savage."
"I'm not a savage!"
"Yes you are. You're a stupid smelly savage," Helena said.
"If I am, then how come the reverend made me assistant to Miss Brigham, huh? I'm going to help her teach class from now on." Helena's face turned red at this announcement.
"You're a liar. The reverend wouldn't make you Miss Brigham's assistant," she said.
"I was at his house and he told me himself. So there." Samantha stuck out her tongue and turned her back on Helena. During the exchange Prudence had pulled her blanket over her head, pretending to sleep. "Where's my bed?"
Before Prudence could answer, Helena pointed to the corner near the door. "You sleep over there. That's where bedwetting babies sleep."
"I'm not a bedwetter! I had an accident."
Helena and the other girls laughed at this.
Samantha looked down at Prudence, who continued to feign sleep. "Fine. I don't want to sleep near you anyway." She turned on her heel and marched down the row of beds to find an empty one pushed against the very corner. The toddlers slept all around her, sucking their thumbs as they dreamed. Samantha changed into her nightgown and collapsed onto the bed, pulling the blanket over her head so no one could see the pain on her face.