"Do you know her too? She's a very nice woman."
"I don't know her as well as she'd like," Samantha said. "I didn't think you were from around here."
"No, but the reverend allows me to come with Mr. Pryde every so often to purchase odds and ends we need. Miss Pestona's shop has such an amazing variety. I could spend days looking at it all."
"Mr. Pryde? You mean, Judah Pryde?"
"No, Jonas Pryde. Do you suppose they're related?"
Samantha considered this. Miss Pestona had mentioned that Jonas Pryde was Veronica's grandfather. He had disappeared during World War II, though. Between this, Miss Brigham's clothes, and the dispute over her age, Samantha knew something very strange was going on. "I think you better start telling me why you're here," she said.
Miss Brigham leaned forward and said in a low voice, "I come from an island off the coast called Eternity. There are fifty of us who live there: Reverend Crane, Mr. Pryde, myself, and the forty-seven children. They're wonderful children. The most well-behaved children anyone could ever know. I feel like they're my very own. In a way they are. I've been taking care of them for three hundred fifty years now-" Miss Brigham stopped, her eyes squinting at Samantha with concern. "You don't look so well, dear."
A cold sweat had broken out across Samantha's face. Her entire body shivered as if with a fever. "You mean there really is an Eternity?" She lowered her voice to a whisper. "There really is a Fountain of Youth?"
"How do you know about that?"
Samantha didn't answer her. She bolted from her chair, slamming in the waitress carrying their drinks. The waitress screamed as hot coffee stained her blouse, but Samantha paid little attention to this. She staggered back to the room with Miss Brigham in pursuit. "Samantha, what's wrong?"
"I need to lie down," Samantha said. She dove onto the bed and wrapped herself in blankets, but still felt cold. It's real, she thought. It happened. It's going to happen again. Tonight.