"We're not going to make it!" she shouted to David.
"Just keep going, Tubby."
"I told you not to call me that!"
Out of spite she forced herself to take another step. Then she turned to Annie. "Climb on me, sweetheart." The toddler scrambled onto Rebecca and wrapped her arms around Rebecca's neck. Rebecca took Helena's hand to reform the chain.
One step at a time they made their way to the church. By the time they got to the front doors, Rebecca was soaked through. Annie still clung to her, shivering from the cold and dampness. Not even Helena had the strength to whine as they staggered into the church.
As Rebecca had figured, the church's stone walls and wooden roof had held fast against the storm. "Don't get too close to the windows," she said as the children began to fan out among the pews.
Once everyone had gotten inside, David and a couple of the older boys managed to yank the doors closed and latched them. The doors still rattled from the wind, but it held. Rebecca forced herself to smile and sound as if this were just another normal night in Eternity. "All right, children, let's get out of these wet clothes and into something drier. We don't want you to catch cold."
With some grumbling the children began struggling out of their wet nightclothes. Rebecca crouched behind the podium Miss Brigham used for services so none of the boys-especially David-would see her undress. Once she'd gotten her nightgown off, she put a hand on her bulging tummy. She thought of what Samantha had said to her; in a year or two she probably would be as big as Prudence. No wonder David called her Tubby. The strangest part was that she didn't eat any more than skinny girls like Helena and yet she kept getting chubbier. "It's not fair," she muttered.
The clothes she'd brought with her weren't much drier, but at least they didn't cling to her so much. She was trying to smooth down her wet tangled hair when she heard the side door bang open. "Samantha?"
"No, dear," Miss Brigham said. She looked even worse than the children, her hair a sodden mess and her dress slashed open in several places. She didn't have time to try changing her clothes before Annie ran to her and hugged her around the waist.
"Miss Brigham! You're here!"
"That's right, dear. I'm here. Just barely. Such a dreadful storm. I've never seen anything like it. Then again I suppose I've only been here for five years, at least that I can remember." She pried Annie loose and then looked around the room. "Where are Samantha and Prudence?"