"I almost lost you. Then I wouldn't have anyone."
"It's all right. I'm still here. Take a lot more than one little bastard to break us apart."
"Right," she said. She punctuated it with a sniffle. She forced herself to smile. "You're still here."
He took a step and then winced. "Think I can get a sip of that magic water?"
"Sure." She saw a pitcher on the floor, one salvaged from the wreckage. David must have brought it so he could use the water on Uncle Hector. There was still a bottomful of water left. She handed the pitcher to him.
After he drank the water he didn't look any younger, but the bruise on his face disappeared. Once he wiped the blood from his nose, that looked undamaged as well. "Good as new," he said. He handed the pitcher back to her. "Maybe you should get some more. Just in case."
"Sure."
She bent down over the Fountain of Youth. As she always did, she saw herself as a little girl, a toddler, and a baby. At the moment all three younger faces were crying. How odd, she thought. Then she dipped the pitcher into the fountain.
"What are we going to do with your friend there?" Uncle Hector asked.
"We'll lock him in the woodshed until we're ready to leave. Then I suppose we'll take him with us."
"Then we can put his ass in juvie."
"Juvie?"
"Juvenile hall. It's like prison for kids."
"Oh. Right. I suppose we could do that."
"We'll decide later. For now we'd better get moving." Uncle Hector picked David up, hefting the boy over his shoulder. Then they started back towards the barns.
"I don't suppose you saw my friends: Prudence, Rebecca, and Molly, Uncle Hector?"
"Can't say I have. They go missing?"
"I don't know. They weren't very happy earlier. Maybe they went off to sulk somewhere."
"Could be. I'm sure they'll turn up."
"Right. I'm sure they will."
She couldn't help staring at David as they walked. She didn't relish the idea of putting him in a prison for kids, but there might not be any other choice, not if he stood in the way of saving the other children. She hoped later she could talk some sense into him. For now they still had a lot of work to do.
***
The forest looked a lot different at three feet tall. The trees seemed impossibly tall while the bushes looked much more intimidating, as if she could disappear in them. The situation was made worse by the fact she had to walk barefoot in a dress that fit like a tent now.