"Why can't you just let me be happy? I've found my family after all these years and all you've wanted to do is keep us apart."
Prudence looked down at the ground and nodded. "I have been jealous of you. I don't want you to go away. I don't want to go to the mainland either. But Samantha, I would never do anything so terrible to you. You're my best friend. You're practically my sister."
Samantha dropped the club to the ground. As much as she didn't want to believe Prudence about Uncle Hector, she also knew Prudence. Her friend would never do anything so monstrous. Lying was the biggest sin of the Way and even if Reverend Crane was dead, Prudence still believed in the Way.
"We'll go back to the village. I'm sure Uncle Hector can explain everything."
"Samantha-"
"Shut up!" Samantha tugged Prudence to her feet. Her friend was well over a foot shorter than her now, so Samantha had to look down to meet Prudence's eyes. "I don't want to hear anything else until we talk to him."
"Fine."
They set out for the village. Along the way, Samantha noted how awkwardly Prudence walked in her shoes. They were her old shoes, from when she had been eleven. Now that she was seven, or perhaps eight, the shoes had become much too big for her. The dress fit loosely, but it was one of the drab dresses the children on Eternity wore, not what one of Pryde's victims had worn. "Is that Rebecca's dress?"
"Yes. I found something pretty for her to wear." Fresh tears came to Prudence's eyes. "She's so brave. We have to hurry back there. It's dark now and Molly hasn't eaten since this morning."
"We'll go after I straighten things out with Uncle Hector."
"Are you sure he's your uncle?"
"What?"
"Have you remembered anything yet?"
"No, but I've been pretty busy lately what with fixing the boat and searching for lost little girls."
"I'm sorry. We didn't mean to go there. We just got lost. We were scared. And everything looks different when you're littler."
"I don't care. You shouldn't have gone anywhere at all, not with Molly. What were you two thinking?"
"We couldn't leave Molly behind. Rebecca is the only one she's comfortable around. She screams her head off if I hold her."
"That's no excuse. I thought you two were more responsible than that."
"I know. I'm sorry."
When they reached the village, the party was in full swing. The boys had built a fire about as tall as Samantha. The younger children ran around, screaming and playing games. The older children talked and ate roasted fish and vegetables. It wasn't much of a going away feast, but it was the best they could do.