Prudence awoke to hot breath on her face. A dog growled and then jammed its wet snout into her cheek. She lay there with her eyes closed, praying for the animal to pass her by.
"You there, get away from her," Molly said, but her voice sounded different, higher and thinner than usual.
The animal pulled its snout away from Prudence, its low growl turning to a fierce snarl. She opened her eyes in time to see the black beast that had chased her into the cave sink its teeth into the arm of a red-haired little girl who must be Molly. The girl's scream confirmed it was Molly. "It bit me! It bit me! I'm going to die for sure. I don't want to die!"
"I knew there was a reason I liked him," Pryde said. The animal became tame at the sound of his voice, nuzzling its master's leg.
Prudence didn't understand what was happening. Reverend Crane had shot the horrible creature. She'd seen it die. And what of Molly? How had she gotten so young? Had Reverend Crane done it to her as he had Wendell? Where was the reverend? Where was Rodney's body? Was she too late to save him?
Reverend Crane appeared at the entrance of the cave. Molly ran into his arms, sobbing and cradling her arm. "That thing bit me," she said. "It's a horrible creature. I don't know why Mr. Pryde wanted to bring it back to life. It's ugly and mean. Look what it did to me! Am I going to die?"
The reverend smiled and tousled Molly's hair. "You're not going to die, my child. We have all the medicine you need right here," he said, indicating the Fountain of Youth.
"The fountain? You can't put me back in there. I'll come out a little baby just like him," Molly said. She pointed towards Prudence, who noticed Wendell lying unconscious nearby for the first time.
"Of course not, my child. We should need only a little to restore you to health." Reverend Crane took a ladle and knelt at the edge of the fountain. Prudence tried to calculate if she could reach him in time to knock him in, but with Pryde and his animal between her and the fountain, she knew she couldn't make it. She remained lying on the floor, surveying the cave for any sign of her husband. She saw only buckets and a pile of rags in the opposite corner.
Reverend Crane dribbled the glowing water in the ladle onto Molly's arm. The girl's body took on the same white glow as the water. She shrank an inch or two before Prudence's eyes, the hem of her dress touching the ground. When the glow subsided, Molly looked at her arm that no longer bore any tooth marks. "How old am I?" she asked the reverend. "Am I a baby?"