"You're not going to get away with this," Joseph said.
Samantha reached out towards him as Veronica passed by. The tips of Samantha's right hand brushed against his fingers. Then she was gone. Veronica walked past the line of children, a smile fixed on her face.
After she disappeared into the trees, one of the boys said, "Come on, let's go after her!"
"We'll set an ambush for her along the road and take her by surprise," another suggested.
"No, it's too dangerous," Joseph said.
"We can't let her get to the boat or she'll kill Samantha for sure," one of the girls said.
Joseph considered this, tears coming to his eyes. The girl was right. If he did nothing, Samantha would surely die. If he tried to rescue her, Samantha would very likely die. The odds either way were not good. "All right, let's go," he said.
The children let out a cheer and then took off running. Joseph lagged behind, in no hurry to witness Samantha's death. As he walked, something Veronica had said stuck out in his mind.
She had told them her plan. Granted this might be arrogance on her part, but why tell them where she planned to go so they could try to intercept her as they were doing now? Unless her plan wasn't to head for the boat. He stopped in the middle of the path, a shiver running the length of his body.
If she didn't plan to get to the boat, where would she go? The fountain cave maybe, but to get there she would need to double back. Where else could she go? A horrible thought occurred to him. He broke into a run.
***
As they entered town, Veronica kept running straight along the row of shops instead of turning right towards where the boats were tied. "You said we were going to the shore," Samantha said.
"We're going to a shore," Veronica said. "I think you're in need of a good bath."
"What? No," Samantha said. She kicked at Veronica as hard as she could, but it did no good. "You die once they find you. Wet me go and save yourself."
"Your boyfriend might kill me, but I'll die happy knowing that you're going with me," Veronica said. "We'll go out together like a couple of old friends." She took the heart necklace out from under her shirt. "Best Friends Forever."
"Vewonica, this is cwazy."
"Is it? I think we've both known this day was coming. I had been hoping to live a good long time without you, but in a way it's more appropriate this way, don't you think?"