"What about me?" Wendell asked.
"Look for a box of baby clothes," Prudence snapped.
Samantha read the labels until she found one that said, 'Joe.' She took down the box, opening it to reveal Joseph's clothes from when he was a little boy. Samantha examined a T-shirt featuring a figure clad in blue-and-red swinging from a rope and the words 'Spider-Man' underneath. She wanted to tuck the shirt into her pocket so that something of his would be near her, but instead she tossed the shirt to Wendell along with a pair of blue jeans.
Samantha and Prudence changed in the bathroom. To Samantha's relief, the maternity dress fit Prudence with a little room to spare. Prudence studied herself in the full-length mirror behind the bathroom door. "It's beautiful," she said. "I love it."
The clothes Samantha had chosen for herself didn't fit as well. The shirt didn't reach to her navel and the jeans ended at her calves. Still, unless she tried the maternity clothes she doubted she'd find anything better. As she teased her hair in the mirror, she wondered what Joseph would think of her now.
They emerged from the bathroom to find Wendell looking miserable in his baggy T-shirt and jeans. Prudence hid a smile behind her hand. "You look fine," Samantha said. She patted Wendell on the shoulder, bringing a smile to his face. "Come on, let's find Mr. Pryde."
Mr. Pryde waited in a rusty silver car belching smoke. He tried to hide a grimace as Samantha sat in the passenger's seat. "I remember when Laura and I went to that concert in Bangor," he said, motioning to Samantha's shirt. "Some jerk spilled beer on her shirt, so I bought her that one."
"I can go back and get another one-"
"It's fine. She'd be glad it's getting some use." He backed out of the driveway and then drove down the hill.
Behind her, Prudence and Wendell leaned against their windows to get a better look as a town came into sight. A white steeple pierced the morning sky ahead of them with the ocean spreading out behind it. A row of low buildings ran on either side of a wide street, along which were parked numerous automobiles of different shapes and sizes. A blue-and-white sign announced they had arrived in the town of Seabrooke, population 2,074.
"Here we are," Mr. Pryde said. "You kids got any idea where you want to start looking?"
Samantha shook herself away from admiring the buildings and automobiles to say, "Would you mind if we got out and walked around? I think it would be easier that way."