They went downstairs, where Rebecca sat mesmerized in front of the television. She startled when Samantha introduced Joseph. "Joe, this is my cousin Rebecca."
"Sam told me about Molly. I'm really sorry," he said.
"Thank you," Rebecca said. She motioned to the television to change the subject. "This really is amazing. How do they shrink down those people to fit them in the box?"
Joseph sat down with Rebecca on the couch to give her a full technical description of how television worked. Rebecca looked to Samantha for help after a minute. "What Joseph is trying to say," Samantha said, "is that they send a signal of light into this box, producing a miniature copy of the actual."
"It's wonderful," Rebecca said. She became even more enthralled when Joseph showed her how to use the remote control to flip channels. When a child with curly red hair came onto the screen during a commercial, Rebecca broke down into tears. Samantha sat beside her, patting her back.
"It's all right. See, it's gone now." Rebecca recovered her wits after a few minutes, wiping her eyes and blushing with embarrassment. "All better now?" Rebecca nodded.
Behind Rebecca's back, Joseph flashed Samantha a look of concern. She didn't want to mention what Rebecca had already tried to do to herself or else Joseph might want her put into a mental institution. Samantha better than anyone knew it took time for these wounds to heal and even then scars remained.
They were still watching television two hours later when Mr. Pryde returned home. "There you are," Mr. Pryde said to Samantha. "Joe said he wasn't sure where you'd run off to. Who's this you brought with you?"
"This is my cousin Rebecca," Samantha said.
Rebecca heaved herself off the couch to shake Mr. Pryde's hand. "It's good to meet you, sir. Samantha has said a lot of nice things about you."
"It's always good to meet a friend of Samantha's," he said.
For dinner, Joseph prepared a box of macaroni and cheese. Rebecca watched him with fascination, allowing Samantha a few moments alone with Mr. Pryde. "So I guess Rebecca must be a pretty common name where you come from, seeing as how you used to bring over another cousin named Rebecca. She was a little younger and darker as I remember it," he said.
"It is a popular name there. Very traditional," Samantha said. "She's lost someone very close to her recently and I was wondering if she could stay here until she feels better."
"I'm not running a clinic here," Mr. Pryde said. He sighed and then added, "But seeing as how I'm going to have plenty of room I don't see why not."