Uncle Hector smiled but didn’t get any closer. “You always said you wanted a pony. I guess you got your wish.”
“It’s not really mine. They belong to the town. We—they—use them to plow the fields.”
“You don’t ever take them for a ride?”
“We don’t have any saddles.”
“That’s too bad.”
She finished her tour with the meadow. They sat on the grass to stare out at the ravaged landscape. “This is where we go for lessons, when the weather is good.”
“Lessons?”
“Bible study mostly. Miss Brigham lets me teach reading and writing too.”
“You’re a teacher too? Seems like you have a lot of hats, my queen.”
She giggled again. “I’m not that important. They got along without me for over three hundred years.”
“I suppose they’ll find a way to get by without you again.”
“Right.”
They said nothing for a while. Finally Samantha said, “We should head back to town. They should have something for dinner by now.”
As they started through the meadow, Uncle Hector said, “There’s one thing you haven’t shown me yet.”
“What’s that?”
“Where’s that magic water come from? The Fountain of Youth.”
“Oh, that. It’s in a cave.”
“Can I see it?”
“Sure. I’ll take you down there tomorrow. You have to be really careful, though. Just a little bit of that water can go a long way.”
“I noticed,” he said, rubbing his beard. “I haven’t looked this good since I was twenty-five.”
“Miss Brigham might have used too much. It’s not an exact science.”
“I guess not.” He squeezed her shoulder. “The reverend used it on you?”
“Yes. I was ten when I woke up. Then before the reverend died he pulled me into the fountain. When Prudence pulled me up I was six again.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. I’m almost a grown up again.”
“You sure are. It couldn’t have been easy, though, being a little kid again.”
“It wasn’t so bad, sometimes,” Samantha said. She thought of running through the meadow with Prudence, both of them screaming their heads off. Those moments had been few and far between. “It was worst in the dark.”
“I would bet. You never did like the dark when you were little. Your mom used to say your dad would have to sit in your room until you fell asleep.”
Samantha closed her eyes. She could see her father sitting on a chair much too small for him, a metal club in his hand to ward off monsters. She giggled at this image. “Daddy really loved me, didn’t he?”
“You bet he did. So did your mom. So do I.” Then Uncle Hector scooped Samantha off her feet. He spun her around as if she were still a toddler. She screamed until they wound up in a laughing heap on the ground.
* * *
For dinner they had what Phyllis called “rabbit stew.” It was mostly chunks of rabbit in water with a few chunks of vegetables from the cellars. Miss Brigham had never cared for rabbit of any sort. Whenever she tried to eat it, she pictured those adorable animals with their cute ears and bushy tails. That always made her lose her appetite.
This time didn’t prove any different. Despite the rumbling in her stomach, she only ate the vegetables and sipped the water. The chunks of meat she left in the bowl. When no one was looking, she slipped them into Prudence’s bowl. She knew she shouldn’t encourage the girl to eat, but it was better than her eating the rabbit.
Throughout dinner, Miss Brigham watched Hector. He sat with his niece on one side and Wendell on the other. They discussed the repairs to his boat, young Wendell gesturing wildly with his hands. Miss Brigham didn’t understand most of it, nor did she care. She only cared about watching the way the light from the fire highlighted Hector’s firm jaw and taught muscles.
She sighed as she thought of him leaving soon. As much as she wanted to go with him, she couldn’t leave the children. They were her responsibility. Reverend Crane had made it very clear that her sole purpose in life was to care for the children. Even with the reverend dead, she couldn’t abandon them now. They were all just as adorable as the rabbits in the stew had been, even the chubby ones.
She hoped to get a moment alone with Hector before bed, but Samantha never left his side. She couldn’t fault the girl for wanting to be near her uncle, especially since she had spent the last five years not knowing who she was, the poor child. Miss Brigham might not remember her parents, but she had always known who she was.
In a way she was grateful she couldn’t get Hector alone. She wasn’t quite sure what to say to him. She had tried to rehearse a speech in her head, but it never worked out. Even in her own mind her tongue would get lost and she would start to ramble like an idiot, just as she did through most of the sermons. She never set out to ramble, but her mind would just start to wander in the middle of something, sending her off onto some dreadful tangent—
She coaxed herself to think again of what to say to Hector. She loved him, that much she knew. But to a man like him she was like one of the children, a silly little girl with a head full of foolish dreams. Somehow she had to convince him she was a mature woman and then—
Then what? She couldn’t very well marry him, not if she were staying here. Nor could she expect him to forsake the wonders of the mainland to stay on this dreadful island, not for her. She was just a scatter-brained girl with this unruly red hair and all these blasted freckles that made her look younger than her eighteen years.
Even after everyone had gone to bed, Miss Brigham couldn’t stop thinking about the situation. She tossed and turned on her pew until she finally fell onto the floor. Rebecca opened her eyes. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” Miss Brigham said. “I just need to get some fresh air.”
She crept outside, where she found Hector asleep by the fire, Samantha pressed against him as if she were using him for a blanket. Miss Brigham stood on the top step. She imagined herself there instead of Samantha, Hector’s arm around her shoulder. His hand would stroke her hair and then it would move down—
Miss Brigham stopped herself before she could go further. She hurried down the steps and then down the path away from town. Once she found a clear spot among the brush, she stepped off the path. She got down onto her knees and then pressed her head to the ground.
Oh Lord, she thought. I’m so sorry. I know I shouldn’t have these impure thoughts, but I can’t help myself. It’s been so long since I saw another adult, let alone a strong, handsome man like Hector. I’ve been so alone these past five years. Samantha and Rebecca and the others have been a comfort, but there are things they can’t do. There are things I need that they can’t provide, that not even you can provide.
Or maybe you did provide them. Is this a sign? Did you send Hector to me? Miss Brigham stopped her prayer. Had the Lord sent Hector to her as a reward or as a test? Perhaps He wanted to see if she would stray, if she would give in to her temptations. I don’t want to stray, she thought. I’m just so lonely. Please help me, Lord. Tell me what to do.
As she prayed, she heard something rattle the brush up the path. Her body stiffened as she remembered what Samantha had said about Mr. Pryde’s awful creatures. Some of them were still alive and roaming the woods. She hadn’t thought they would be this close to town, but perhaps the storm had driven them here.
She rolled from her kneeling position to flatten herself against the ground. If she stayed perfectly still and quiet, the monster might pass her by. To be on the safe side, she even held her breath. Help me, Lord, she thought. Save me.
She had begun to see white spots exploding in her vision when she saw the source of the sound. It was not one of those dreadful beasts at all, not unless they’d learned to walk on two legs and taken to wearing shoes. She considered who might be walking around at this hour when she smelled that dreadful smoke.
Hector! He must have seen her and come to find her. He had been concerned about her safety and wanted to make sure no harm came to her. She finally let out the breath she’d been holding in a romantic sigh.
The toes of his shoes pointed towards her. “Someone there?” he hissed.
“It’s just me,” she whispered.
“Molly?” He pushed the brush away to reveal her hiding place. “What are you doing out here at this time of night?”
She was glad the darkness prevented him from seeing her face blushing. “I just came out here to pray for guidance. About what we are to do now.”
“Oh, I see. You get any answers yet?”
“Not yet.” She took the hand he offered to help her to her feet. Then she saw he was carrying a bucket someone had salvaged from the wreckage. “What are you doing with that?”
“Samantha was going to take me down to the cave to fetch some more of that water tomorrow morning. I couldn’t sleep so I thought I’d get an early start on it.”
“Oh my, you shouldn’t try to go to the cave at this hour. It’s treacherous with all the rocks and things.”
“But I’m sure you know the way, don’t you?”
“Of course I do.”
“You probably know the way with your eyes closed.” As he said this, he brushed against her. She put a hand to her lips to keep from giggling like a little girl.
“I suppose I do.” Miss Brigham looked back towards town. The children should be fine for a little while. They had Samantha and Rebecca and David to look after them should anything happen. And it would give her some time alone with Hector. “I’ll show you the way.”
Now that she had him alone, Miss Brigham didn’t know what to say. As usually happened, she found her mouth moving of its own accord, spewing out words. She couldn’t even be certain what she was telling Hector; she hoped she wasn’t confessing her love for him. He nodded along with her, sometimes saying, “Interesting” or something like that.
By the time they reached the cave, her throat had become dry. She could desperately use a drink, but she knew better than to drink anything from inside the cave. The water that dripped from the ceiling was probably safe, but who could be certain?
She led him by the arm into the cave. “Here it is,” she said. The water glowed in the darkness, rainbow light dancing along the walls and ceiling of the cave. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Like the aurora borealis,” he said.
“What?”
“Northern Lights.” He waved his hand. “It doesn’t matter. So this is what the Fountain of Youth looks like?”
“Yes. I suppose you were expecting something more like an actual fountain, with a trough and water splashing out of a fish’s mouth—”
“I like it like this. Very natural.” He raised the bucket. “I suppose I better do what we came here to do.”
“I suppose. Just be careful. Even a drop of the water—”
“I know. Samantha explained it to me.”
“Yes. It’s very dangerous. Poor little Annie. She should be Rebecca’s age now, instead of an adorable toddler. It’s all my fault.”
While Miss Brigham spoke, Hector knelt beside the fountain. He stared at the surface for a few moments, as they all did, especially the first time they looked into the water. “Holy shit,” he said. “That’s me.”
“Yes, it shows you all your previous states. I detest looking in that water, seeing all those awful pimples—”
“That’s great,” he mumbled. He dipped the bucket into the water. After a few seconds he pulled it back. Hector stared into the water of the bucket. “Goddamn. When I get this back to the mainland I’ll be able to buy my own island.”
“Excuse me?” Miss Brigham said. “Back to the mainland?”
Hector got to his feet. He put a hand on her arm. “Well, sure, I thought I’d take some with Samantha and I. In case of emergencies.”
She shook her head. “No, no, no, the water can never go off the island. Reverend Crane made that very clear. If anyone else were ever to know our secret, they would overrun our peaceful little island.”
“Reverend Crane is dead in case you hadn’t noticed,” he said. When Hector smiled at her, she gasped. The shadows in the cave had twisted his face into that of a devil—his true face. That answered her question about why the Lord had sent him. He was a test of her faith. “Come on, honey, we’ll make a fortune with this stuff. You can live like a queen. Gold, silver, diamonds, whatever you want.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Delgado, but that is not possible. We cannot take even the slightest drop of water from the fountain to the mainland. I will not allow it.”
“Molly, please, think about it. This stuff can do a lot of good. You know how many people on the mainland die every single day because of old age, because of disease? We can save them.” He shook her arm. “You’d be doing God’s work.”
“God put the fountain here for a reason. He gave its secrets to Reverend Crane to protect them. I have been entrusted with those secrets. I must do my duty. I could never betray the reverend. He gave me everything—”
“We tried this the easy way. I guess we have to do it the hard way.”
Mr. Delgado took a step back from her. Miss Brigham sighed with relief. Perhaps now he would see reason. Then he picked up the bucket—
In one fluid motion he flung the entire contents of the bucket onto her. Miss Brigham was soaked from head to toe in the water. “Oh dear,” she said as her body began to shrink.
She watched her hands become smaller. She reached up with one of them to touch her damp cheek, where she felt those awful, crusty spots of acne. But those soon disappeared, her skin becoming softer, chubbier than before.
A second later her hand retracted completely inside the sleeve of her dress. The cave, including Mr. Delgado, swelled around her. She knew it was because she was getting smaller, a child again. Her eyes became level with his torso and then his midsection.
“No!” she wailed as she found her eyes level with her kneecaps. Her dress had become like a tent while her shoes were outlandishly large. She tried to take a step forward only to collapse onto all fours.
She tried to shout again, but it became only a wordless cry. Then her world went dark as her dress swallowed her. She flailed around, but her limbs were too small and weak to move the fabric enough.
Then her world exploded with orange light. Mr. Delgado’s face looked as big as the moon as he stared down at her. In one hand he held his cigarette lighter. “It’s all right, Molly,” he cooed. “I’ll take good care of you.”
She could only scream as he carried her away from the fountain.
Chapter 24: Molly is Born
Samantha heard the distant wail of an infant. She squeezed her eyes shut and groaned. Most nights she would be the first one up to tend to the crying child, whether it needed a diaper change, a bottle of milk, or just some gentle rocking. Nights like these, when she was just too tired, she feigned sleep, waiting for Miss Brigham or Prudence to get up and take care of the baby.
The baby’s cries became louder and more insistent. Where were they? It wasn’t fair she had to almost always get up and tend to the babies. After all, she was still just a little girl herself. Miss Brigham was the one the reverend had brought here to change stinky diapers.
With a frustrated grunt, Samantha finally opened her eyes. Then she saw the fire in front of her, its dim glow just enough to allow her to see the ruins of the dormitories. She put a hand to her temple and sighed. It had only been a dream, or perhaps a memory from five years ago, shortly after Reverend Crane had died. For the first two years, Samantha had to spend many late nights comforting a crying baby despite being just a child herself.
Before she could go back to sleep, she heard the baby again. The cry was even closer this time. That didn’t make sense; they didn’t have any infants left on Eternity. Unless someone had gotten into the fountain water.
With a start, Samantha realized Uncle
Hector wasn’t by the fire. She remembered how he’d wanted to go see the Fountain of Youth. Perhaps he’d wanted to go so badly that he’d looked for it himself and fallen in. No, she thought. That couldn’t be. She couldn’t lose him already.
She leaped to her feet and then hurried away from the fire, towards the sound of the baby’s cries. If it were Uncle Hector, how could he have gotten so far from the fountain on his own? Nothing made any sense.
On the path ahead she saw a bulky silhouette. The baby’s cries were almost on top of her. “Uncle Hector?” Samantha called out while she wished she’d thought to bring something for a weapon.
“Lucy?” Uncle Hector said. Samantha let out a joyous sigh.
At last she got close enough to see him carrying an infant wrapped in a torn bit of cloth from a gray dress, the kind the girls on Eternity wore. “Who’s that?”
“It’s Molly,” he said. “I’m sorry, Lucy.”
“Molly? You mean that’s Miss Brigham?”
“I’m afraid so, kid. She fell into that fountain of yours. I barely pulled her out in time.”
“Oh no,” Samantha whispered. She reached out to take the little girl from Uncle Hector. In the moonlight it was hard to tell, but Samantha recognized some of Miss Brigham’s features.
The infant flailed her tiny arms, her wails becoming louder. The girl’s face darkened as she screamed. “It’s all right,” Samantha said. “You’ll be fine. We’ll take care of you.”
As she had years ago, Samantha rocked the baby gently in her arms. She cooed to Molly, trying to soothe the girl. The baby’s cries turned to little coughs for a moment. Samantha held Molly against her to pat her back. “I know it’s hard, but don’t cry. I’m here.”
She carried Molly back to the church and sat by the fire. She hoped the light and heat from the fire would help to soothe the baby. Uncle Hector sat down next to her and stared sadly into the flames. “I’m sorry, kid. This is my fault.”
“I’m sure that’s not true—”
“I should have known better than to let her go there at night. We should have waited to go in the morning with you.” Uncle Hector shook his head. “I was too curious about that damned fountain. So when she said she wanted to go there and get more water, I didn’t think to stop her.”
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