"Prudence Gooddell."
"Prudence, that's a pretty name. I had an aunt named Prudence who died when I was your age. Served as a nurse in the war-that's the Second World War to you young people-and got run over by one of her own ambulances. Terrible, but we were all very proud of her going over to serve her country."
Prudence had no idea what Mrs. Schulman was talking about, but she wished the old woman would hurry up and get to her automobile already so they could find Samantha. At last Mrs. Schulman grabbed her keys and began limping towards her vehicle. Prudence stayed close to her in case she slipped on the snow. "I don't know why I'm doing this," Mrs. Schulman said. "I must be out of my wits. Getting soft in my old age I suppose."
"You don't know how much this means to me, Mrs. Schulman." Prudence helped the old woman into the driver's side of the bench seat and then plopped onto the passenger's side. Mrs. Schulman stared at the automobile's controls for a moment as if everything on them were written in a foreign language. She finally stuck the key in to start up the engine and began backing up slowly.
"I'm a might rusty with my driving. Haven't gone anywhere in four years, since I stopped looking after Mr. Pryde's boy."
"You took care of Joseph?"
"After his mother died, his father didn't have anyone else to turn to. Mine were all grown up by then so I thought it might do me some good to have a child in the house again. He was such a sweet boy too. So polite and shy. Never cried or carried on the whole time. A real trouper, that one."
Mrs. Schulman drove slow enough that Prudence wondered if she might be better off walking. Several other automobiles whipped past them, flashing their lights and honking their horns. Mrs. Schulman held up a single wrinkled finger to each one as it passed. "People today have no patience," she said. "No one wants to take any time to smell the roses anymore."
"To be honest, I am in a little bit of a hurry myself," Prudence said. "My friend might already be gone by now."
"Fine, I'll go faster. Don't get your panties in a bunch," Mrs. Schulman said. She accelerated hard enough to throw Prudence back against the seat. "What sort of trouble is this friend of yours in?"
"Ever since she fell in with this boy she's been acting different. She spends all her time with him, she forgets things, and she says terrible things."