"I don't know. Maybe."

"It'll be great. You remember the books I read you when you were little? You can see all that great stuff: automobiles, airplanes, skyscrapers, and everything."

"It sounds dangerous."

"Dangerous?"

"We've only known Mr. Delgado for a little over a day and you want us to sail off to some unknown place with him? That sounds pretty dangerous."

Samantha tousled the little girl's hair. "You're such a little worrywart. It'll be fun, like an adventure."

"Great, an adventure."

"You don't have to go if you don't want."

"Are you sure Prudence will go?"

"I hope so."

"She doesn't seem like the adventurous type. She's a worrywart like me."

"Rebecca-"

"We should get going. There's a lot to do." Rebecca hopped off the rock and then trudged away. With a sigh, Samantha followed her.

***

They hadn't found anything by the time they neared Mr. Pryde's old house. Samantha figured they might as well stop to get Prudence some clothes. Beside her, Rebecca shivered. "That's where he lived?"

"It probably looked better five years ago."

"Uh-huh."

The little girl plodded after Samantha into the hut. Right away Rebecca gagged. Samantha patted her back. "It's all right. It's better downstairs."

She herded Rebecca into the cellar, stopping only to grab an old candle she hoped she could light. Rebecca took a few deep breaths and nodded. "It's a little better."

They had left the cellar door open to provide a little bit of light. Samantha found another book of matches so she could try to light the candle. Despite having sat upstairs, the candle lit right away. This provided enough light for them to see around the cellar.

"Oh my," Rebecca said. "So many clothes."

"I know. Most of them are too big even for Prudence." To emphasize this, Samantha held up a huge blouse.

"You mean there are girls even bigger than her?"

"That's right." Samantha didn't expect Rebecca to start crying. "What's wrong?'

"It's nothing. It's stupid."

"Rebecca, you can tell me. I'm your friend."

"It's just…I don't want to get that big. But even though I don't eat much, I seem to get fatter and fatter. Someday Prudence and I will be so big we'll fit into those, won't we?"

Samantha put an arm around Rebecca's shoulders. "Don't be silly. You don't have to get fat. You can exercise more. Maybe take a swim every day. You like swimming, don't you?"

"Yes," Rebecca said. Rebecca had actually tried to teach Samantha, but Samantha was hopeless in the water, whereas Rebecca could glide around like a fish.

"So there you go. You'll be skinny in no time."




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