Children of Eternity Omnibus

by P. T. Dilloway

As soon as Joseph stopped the engine he bolted from the car, towards the slip for his father’s boat. Samantha followed him, going slow so as not to trip again. The fishing boat bobbed on the surface of the water. Joseph ran along the dock and then leapt onto the stern.

  By the time Samantha caught up, she found Joseph reduced to a sobbing mess against his father. Mr. Pryde held his arms out straight a moment, as if unsure what to do. Then he folded his arms around his son, patting him on the back. “What’s the matter with you?” Mr. Pryde asked. “You haven’t hugged me since you were eight years old.”

  “I’m sorry,” Joseph said. “I missed you so much.”

  “It ain’t like I never went out fishing before.” He turned to Samantha, who had climbed onto the deck and had tears in her eyes. “What’s gotten into you two?”

  “It’s just so good to see you again, Daddy,” Joseph said. At this a smile formed at the corners of Mr. Pryde’s mouth and when Samantha squinted, she made out drops forming in his eyes.

  Chapter 46: Ghosts

  The Primrose landed on the beach that afternoon. Wendell hurried down the ramp to take the rope from Samantha to tie up the boat. She looked out at the island with a sense of nostalgia, as if she’d been away from Eternity for a long time. With everything that had happened, it felt like years. “We made it,” she said to Prudence.

  “Do you suppose everyone else is all right?” Prudence asked as they descended the ramp.

  “I hope so,” Samantha said. They joined Wendell and then started along the path towards town. Prudence and Wendell walked a step behind Samantha, holding hands and pressing so close to one another that they were like one person.

  Samantha walked alone, hugging herself as she went. Joseph had stayed behind in Seabrooke with his father, which at the time she hadn’t disagreed with, but now she wished he were here with her. She didn’t know what they would find in Eternity. Although the timeline had changed, something equally dangerous could await them. Reverend Crane and Pryde might still be alive or perhaps something even worse lay in store for them. She longed for Joseph at her side so that his love could strengthen her. And so that she might protect him from any dangers lurking.

  Before they reached town, Samantha saw a pale girl sitting on a log, staring at them. The girl was as heavy as Prudence at her peak and wearing the same loose-fitting gray dress. A veil of brown hair obscured her face from Samantha. Only when she brushed it aside did Samantha recognize her. “Rebecca?”

  “Yes. I figured you would be along sooner or later,” Rebecca said. She heaved herself off the log, approaching Samantha like a stranger.

  “But you died!”

  Rebecca took Samantha’s arm. “There’s something you need to see,” she said. “Then it will make sense. Or about as much sense as any of this can make.”

  “What’s happened?” Samantha asked.

  “You’ll see.” Rebecca led her away from town, Prudence and Wendell following behind with wary expressions. Samantha knew it could be a trap set by Veronica, but this girl looked and sounded exactly like Rebecca not the Rebecca-Veronica hybrid Samantha had raised for three years. How had she managed to overlook the subtle changes in skin and hair color and, even more importantly, the difference in Rebecca’s eyes? While Veronica had always looked away from Samantha, Rebecca met Samantha’s gaze, her eyes clouded with sadness.

  She led them to the fountain cave, or rather what had once been the cave. A mountain of rubble stood in its place. At the base of the hill sat a granite marker. Samantha knelt down to examine the writing carved into the stone. She traced the letters with one finger, not comprehending the words for a moment. “In This Cave Lies Molly Brigham. She Died So We May Live,” read the marker.

  Samantha fell backwards into a sitting position. “My God. Molly did it. She’s the one,” Samantha said. Prudence cried out at this, burying her head in Wendell’s shoulder. Samantha looked up at Rebecca, who stood with her head bowed as if in prayer. “What happened here?”

  “It was three years ago,” Rebecca said. “Molly had run off again and I came here to meet David so we could look for her together. She was hiding in the cave, underneath a sweater.”

  ***

  “Molly, that’s enough. You’re coming back with me this instant,” Rebecca says. Then she notices a little brown girl lying on the ground, clad only in a shirt that droops down to her ankles. “Who’s this?”

  “This is Veronica. She’s my friend.”

  Rebecca holds up the oversized sweater and a pair of pants. “You two have been playing with the fountain, haven’t you? Molly, how did you get in here? Did someone leave the door open?”

  “Veronica and I got in here all by ourselves, just like how Wendell said to,” Molly says, puffing out her chest with pride.

  Rebecca kneels down beside the brown girl, who hasn’t moved at all since Rebecca found them. “Veronica, can you hear me? Can you talk? Are you all right? Nod for me if you’re all right, sweetie.” Veronica nods her head slightly. “Good girl. Molly, where did she come from?”

  “Across the sea,” Molly says. “Her grandfather had a map leading here with all sorts of riddles for her grandmother to solve. She never solved them, but Veronica did.”

  Rebecca examines the clothes in her hands again. “How old was Veronica when she came here? How long has she been here?” Molly says nothing. Rebecca takes her by the shoulders and shakes her. “Molly, answer me! This is important. We could all be in terrible danger. If anyone else finds this place—”

  “Stop it. Veronica isn’t going to hurt anyone. She took care of me when I got sick, before you found me.”

  Rebecca glances over at the little girl, feeling the heat of raw hatred from Veronica’s eyes through her curtain of wild hair. She shivers and says to Molly, “We’ll talk about this more later. For now I better get you girls out of here. Veronica, can you walk? Do you need me to carry you, sweetie?”

  Veronica gets to her feet, holding out a tiny brown hand. Rebecca takes her hand and then leads her towards the opening with Molly following behind. Veronica stops at the fountain to stare into the water. Whatever she sees in the Fountain of Youth is enough to make her cry.

  “You can’t change me back, can you?” Veronica asks.

  Rebecca kneels down beside her, parting Veronica’s hair to look into her eyes. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I wish there was, but there isn’t. It’s not so bad, though, to grow up again. In time you’ll get used to it. You can live with Molly and I in our house. You and Molly can share a room. I’ll have Wendell make you a bed all your own. And you two can work with me in the bakery. We’ll be one big family. You’ll see.”

  “No,” Veronica says with a woman’s firmness.

  “No? I know it’s difficult now, sweetheart, but in time—”

  “In time? I’m three years old! I have to do everything all over again. Everything!” Veronica’s eyes narrow into angry slits. “If you think it’s so easy, let’s see you do it.”

  She shoves Rebecca with more strength than Rebecca thinks possible for a toddler to possess. Rebecca stumbles back, teetering on the edge of the fountain. She reaches out to grab Molly’s hand, her fingers grazing the edge of Molly’s jacket.

  Molly reaches out to take Rebecca’s hand. She pulls Rebecca away from the edge, the two of them ending up lying on the ground. “I did it,” Molly says.

  Rebecca looks over at Veronica, whose body quivers beneath the oversized shirt. She lets out a high-pitched scream of rage an instant before she dives onto Molly. Her tiny hands tear at Molly’s face like sharpened claws. “Traitor!” Veronica says.

  Rebecca grabs Veronica by the shirt, pulling her off Molly. With another scream, Veronica turns her rage onto Rebecca, twisting out of Rebecca’s grasp and then kicking her in the back of the leg. Rebecca collapses to the ground with a whimper of pain. Before she can try getting up, Veronica is on top of her, seizing her head with both hands. She snarls like an animal as she bashes Rebecca’s head onto the gr
ound over and over again until stars explode in Rebecca’s vision. She tries to fight back, but her limbs refuse to obey her commands.

  “Veronica, no!” Molly says. “Becky didn’t do anything.”

  “You can’t tell me what to do,” Veronica says. “I’m not a little baby. I’m not!”

  Molly charges forward, bowling her friend off Rebecca. Veronica rolls onto her feet to face Molly. “How can you take her side?” Veronica asks, pointing to Rebecca. “She doesn’t care about you like I do. She only cares about herself.”

  “Becky loves me,” Molly says. “She’s my mama.”

  “You little fool. I’m going to put both of you in there.” Veronica finds her pants and reaches into one pocket, pulling out a knife almost as long her arm. She grips the knife with both hands like a sword, swinging it at Molly’s midsection. Molly hops back out of the way.

  With each swing, Veronica drives Molly back another step. At the edge of the fountain, Veronica tries to knock Molly sideways into the water, but Molly jumps the opposite way. She backs away towards the wall across from Rebecca. Molly holds out her hands in supplication. “Veronica, please, don’t do this. I’m your friend.”

  “You’ve never been my friend,” Veronica says. She swipes the knife across Molly’s midsection, leaving a blood gash across Molly’s stomach. Molly cries out with pain, dropping to her knees on the ground. “You’ve never been anything more than a scared little baby, letting Mama Becky nurse you. But she can’t help you now.”

  Feeling has returned to Rebecca’s limbs. She pushes herself up to her feet, wobbling a moment before steadying herself. She staggers towards Molly, ready to throw herself on the knife if need be to save the child who is a daughter to her.

  Veronica stands over Molly, the knife poised to strike. Molly looks past Veronica, her eyes meeting Rebecca’s. In that moment, Rebecca sees not the little girl she’s raised since infancy, but a grown woman. Rebecca follows these adult eyes to Molly’s right hand, which rests on a trip wire. “Molly, no!”

  “Goodbye, Mama,” Molly says as she pulls the wire. A rumbling sound fills the cave. The knife drops from Veronica’s hands; she covers her ears and whimpers like a small child, dropping next to Molly on the ground.

  Rebecca takes a step towards the girls, but then the rocks suspended over the fountain begin tumbling down. Through the dust and debris, she makes out Molly for a moment. Molly smiles at her and mouths the words, “It’s all right, Mama. Go.”

  The rocks continue to fall all around Rebecca, one coming within an inch of crushing her. “Molly!” she screams and then stumbles towards the cave opening. She collapses at the foot of the hill, where she later rests the plaque as a final testament to Molly’s courageous sacrifice.

  Chapter 47: Farewells

  After Rebecca finished her story, the others stared at her for a few moments in shock. “I don’t understand,” Samantha said. “How could she have died three years ago? I still remember her and Veronica.”

  “I’m not sure how it’s possible,” Rebecca said. She put a hand to her head. “I can’t remember anything after that until I woke up in the cabin this morning.”

  “What about everyone else?” Wendell asked. “Do they remember anything about the last three years?”

  “I think you better see that for yourselves,” Rebecca said.

  As they walked along the path from the demolished cave to town, Samantha tried to make sense of everything that had happened. Everything she remembered about raising Molly and Veronica the last three years had never happened. Yet she could remember every moment as clearly as the forest around her. She remembered the birthday parties, the trips to Seabrooke, and the bedtime stories. She remembered the skinned knees, the poison ivy, and the lost teeth. Most of all, she remembered them crawling into her bed during thunderstorms, their bodies pressed close to hers and their warm breath touching her face. On those nights when she protected them from the lightning and thunder she felt most like a mother.

  Those moments had never happened; those adorable little girls were only ghosts of her memory now. How could this be? How could people she loved so much simply disappear through some quirk of time? She told herself that she would not forget, no matter what else happened. She would keep those girls alive in her memory; the only place where they could still survive.

  It should have been me, Samantha thought. I should have used the fountain to go back, not Molly. Samantha had raised the girls, but when the time came for her to sacrifice like a mother for her children, she had failed. She had failed to protect Molly just like Andre, her unborn child, Joseph’s mother, and the others Veronica had murdered.

  As if reading her thoughts, Prudence put a hand on Samantha’s shoulder. “You did what you could. We all did. Including Molly. She did what she had to do for all of us.”

  “You don’t understand. I was supposed to protect her. She was my responsibility.” She shook Prudence’s hand away. “You can’t understand. None of you can.”

  Samantha bolted into the forest, dropping to her knees among a stand of ancient trees. She rested her head against the ground to cry as the memories overwhelmed her. Two more victims to add to her list of failure and incompetence, Veronica being the greatest failure of all.

  She thought of that final conversation in the cabin and again at the bank of the stream. A piece of Samantha’s childhood friend had lingered until the end, but in the end too many years of anger and bitterness eclipsed the shy little girl Samantha had befriended in kindergarten. If only Samantha could have gone back to that moment and have done something for Veronica. Then Veronica and Molly as well as Andre, Joseph’s mother, and everyone else who had died would still be alive. It should have been me, she thought. I could have saved everyone.

  “You’re wrong,” Rebecca said from behind her.

  Samantha looked up, wondering if Rebecca had somehow read her thoughts. “What do you mean?”

  “I raised Molly since she was a baby. I’m the one who rocked her and sang to her when she cried. I changed her dirty diapers and cleaned up her messes. I gave her baths and fixed her hair the way she liked it. I heard her first word and I saw her walk for the first time.” Rebecca came closer, poking one finger into Samantha’s chest. “I loved her like my own child, so don’t you dare tell me I don’t know what it’s like!”

  “I’m sorry—”

  “I watched her die. This little baby I raised and I saw the rocks crush her. You can’t possibly know what that’s like, to see your own child die.”

  Samantha put a hand to her stomach. “I do know, Becky. Believe me, I do.” They embraced, weeping, like sisters. They remained that way for several minutes, until their tears dried.

  Rebecca backed and stared down at the ground. “When I woke up this morning and realized she was gone I wanted to kill myself. I went into the kitchen and I held the butcher knife for what must have been an hour.” She rolled up one sleeve so Samantha could see a thin red line along her wrist. “I got this far before I thought of her in those last moments and I realized what she’d done for me—for all of us. She gave us a second chance to live. Every day we have now is a gift from her and I can’t waste it by killing myself. I have to make her sacrifice worthwhile by living. Do you see?”

  Samantha nodded. “I’m sure she’s proud of you.” Rebecca rolled down her sleeve and then took Samantha’s arm. They headed back through the forest to find Prudence and Wendell sitting at the edge of the trail, holding hands.

  “Are you two all right?” Prudence asked.

  “We were starting to worry,” Wendell said.

  “There’s nothing to worry about,” Samantha said. “We’d better go see how the others are doing.”

  She recalled the words on the plaque at the base of the fountain cave. Molly had given her life so that Rebecca, Samantha, and all the others could live. Samantha promised to find some way to repay Molly for this selfless act no matter how long it took.

  At the cabin they found Annie
sitting on a tree stump, waiting for them. “Hello,” she said. “I came to see if Rebecca needed anything, but she’d already gone. She showed you what’s left of the cave?” Samantha nodded. “I’m sorry about Molly. I didn’t know her as well as you or Rebecca, but she was such a sweet little girl.” Annie hopped off the stump. “I guess since Rebecca doesn’t need anything now I’ll go on to the meadow. It’s such a beautiful day. Would you like to come with me?”

  “Maybe later,” Samantha said. She watched Annie skip away with the carefree step of someone released from a heavy burden.

  Samantha’s stomach tingled with nervousness as they continued into town. Since waking up this morning the entire world had become so different. She didn’t have any idea what to expect anymore.

  What they found were all the children milling about the square. Some wandered around as if sleepwalking. Others sat on the ground, staring at their hands or feet as if for the first time. Still others prayed in hushed voices.

  A wailing came from nearby. Samantha looked towards the source and saw Helena with her face buried in John’s chest while Phyllis patted her back. “I died!” she said. “She stabbed me right in the chest and I died.” She looked up at him, her face turning bright red. “Where were you? You were probably off chasing rabbits or torturing frogs or whatever you boys do. How could you let her do that to me?”

  “Now honey, I didn’t know any better. If I did, I would have done something. I swear,” John said.

  “Come on, it will be all right. Let’s get you to bed,” Phyllis said. She took Helena from John, letting Helena use her shoulder as a handkerchief as they walked across the square.

  “What’s going on here?” Samantha asked.

  “Everyone remembers,” Rebecca said. “Not just these last few days, but everything. From before Reverend Crane took over. I’m not sure how it happened.”

  “I do,” Wendell said. He kissed Prudence on the cheek. “You did it. You set them free.”

  Prudence’s face turned as red as Helena’s with embarrassment. “I only reminded them of what they knew already,” she said.