"No, but let's pray he does." They sat on the couch for a few minutes in silence. Prudence repeated one short prayer over and over again in her mind. Please God, let Samantha be all right and bring her back to us.

"What are we supposed to do?" Wendell finally asked. He couldn't sit here praying all day while Mr. Pryde searched for the only girl Wendell cared about. He had to do something.

"We wait," Prudence said. She heaved herself off the couch and then picked Wendell up. She carried him over her shoulder as Mr. Pryde had into the living room. She turned on the television, letting its flickering images and strange noises fill the void of Samantha's disappearance.

She and Wendell watched a program about a group of teenagers in something called a high school. All of these teenagers were thin and beautiful, not at all like Prudence. At the end of the program, when two of the beautiful girls made up after an argument by hugging, tears came to Prudence's eyes again. She imagined herself and Samantha in place of the girls on the screen, although she knew that would never happen.

She leapt to her feet when she heard the front door open. "Mr. Pryde? Samantha?" Prudence called out. By the time she got to the hallway, she saw only the blurred shape of a man going upstairs. "Mr. Pryde? Is that you?"

Wendell got off the couch, wincing at the pain, and limped over to where Prudence stood. "Samantha?" he shouted.

A door slammed upstairs. Prudence took Wendell over her shoulder and climbed up the steps. She dumped Wendell at the top and then knocked on the first door she came to. "Hello?" she asked. "Is anyone here?" She heard no response.

She tried the next door while Wendell limped past her to knock on another door. Soon they neared the end of the hallway and a door with the picture of a wild-haired old man sticking out his tongue with the caption 'Genius At Work.' Prudence heard something rattle behind the door. "Hello?" she said.

"What do you want?" a man's voice growled back.

"Who is this?"

"Who is this?" the man asked back. Prudence heard a stifled giggle accompany this.

"Samantha? Are you in there? It's Prudence."

"Prudence?" the man said. "What kind of name is that?" Prudence heard someone shush the man. "I'm sorry, but who names a girl Prudence anymore? It's an old lady name like Mabel."

"Samantha? Come out, please," Wendell pleaded.

"Look, Prudence-if that's your real name-there's no one named Samantha in here. Now beat it."




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