When You Were Young

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.