"He took her in a boat across the sea to an island. He gave Samantha something so she couldn't remember who she was or where she came from. Then he took her into a village.
"In this village Samantha found a bunch of other pretty little girls with names like Annie and Phyllis and Rebecca-and Helena," Samantha said before the latter could start pouting. "Just like Samantha, these girls couldn't remember where they came from either. The mean old Mr. Pryde made the girls all work very hard to feed him and his mean old dogs."
"I don't like this story," Annie said with a whimper. She clutched her doll with white knuckles.
"Don't worry, Samantha and her friend Prudence got rid of that mean old Mr. Pryde. They pushed him into a magic fountain that made him disappear. Him and his mean old dogs."
"Then what happened?"
"Well, five years went by. Samantha and the other girls were all alone on the island. They still had to work very hard to keep themselves alive. Samantha started to think she might never see her parents or their castle ever again.
"But then one day something wonderful happened. A boat landed on the island. It was a magic boat made all out of gold and jewels and other pretty things-"
"Wouldn't a boat like that sink?" Rebecca asked.
"No, it was a magic boat. It was so magical that the boat could talk. The magic boat told Samantha it had been searching for years and years and at last it had found her. At last she would be able to go home to her parents."
Samantha paused, hearing the door creak open. She saw Prudence slip inside as quietly as a girl her size could manage. Prudence stepped through the knot of girls, her big rear end brushing against Samantha as she went past. Then Prudence flopped onto her pallet and turned to face the wall. Samantha glared at her former best friend for a moment, waiting for some sign that Prudence was sorry. Apparently Prudence was still mad at her.
"What happened next?" Annie prompted again.
"The boat told Samantha she could take all her friends back to the castle with her. There they could all find new parents and be happy forever. The girls were all happy about this, all except one. Only big fat Prudence didn't want to leave the island. She wanted to stay there forever and ever because she was too scared to get on the boat."
"Samantha, stop it," Rebecca said. "You promised to apologize to Prudence."
"Well maybe she should apologize to me first."