Molly slept through the rest of the night without any trouble. The only problem was for Rebecca, who kept the baby in her arms for hours, until her arms went numb. She tried to get some circulation back by rocking Molly. She accompanied the rocking with humming, a tune she couldn't remember the name of.
As she rocked and hummed to the baby, Rebecca couldn't help staring at the girl's face. Did little Molly still remember who she was? How horrible it would be to suddenly no longer be able to talk, walk, feed yourself, or even use the bathroom on your own. In an instant these basic freedoms had all been stripped from her.
Making it even worse was that it had happened in such a bizarre way. Miss Brigham knew better than to go to the fountain cave at night. She generally avoided going anywhere at night unless there was an emergency. Since Rebecca had already brought water for Mr. Delgado and Prudence there had been no emergency.
Besides that, Miss Brigham knew to be careful around the Fountain of Youth. With what had happened to Annie, they had become extremely cautious with the water. She wouldn't have done anything that would have risked her falling in.
It just didn't add up. Mr. Delgado had to be lying about what had happened. But why? What was he hiding?
These thoughts continued to consume her mind even after morning came. Samantha and Prudence went down to the barns at first light to fetch some milk. That was the best they could do for poor Miss Brigham until her teeth started to come in. Breast milk would be the best thing for her, but Miss Brigham had been the only adult female on the island. Rebecca knew better than to ask Samantha if she could try. The last thing she wanted at this point was to drive Samantha away again. With Miss Brigham incapacitated, they needed Samantha more than ever.
At least for the next few days. Then her and her "uncle" would leave the island and begin taking everyone from Eternity to the mainland. What kind of life would await them there? Rebecca had listened to Samantha's stories about what lay beyond the sea, all the magnificent things there. That had been fine when they were just stories, but the thought of actually going there put a nervous flutter in Rebecca's stomach.
Some time later, Prudence sat down next to Rebecca on the front pew of the church. She had a pitcher of milk and a ladle, the best they could do at the moment. "Where's Samantha?" Rebecca asked.