Forever Young - Page 50/105

That's it? Samantha wanted to ask. Then again, what did she expect? That's the last time I ask a four-year-old for advice, she thought. When dinner ended, Samantha followed Rebecca and the other little girls to their pallets in the corner. Samantha had so many other things on her mind that the location of her bed didn't matter tonight. She rolled over to face the wall and closed her eyes.

As soon as she did, she saw an endless gray ocean stretching before her. The water was perfectly smooth all around her, so smooth she thought she could walk on it if she tried hard enough. Then she heard a clap of thunder behind her and turned to see a wave blotting out the entire sky. She tried to swim away from it, but didn't seem to get anywhere. The wind howled in her ears, shouting her name and silencing her screams.

Before the wave overtook her, Samantha woke up to find someone shaking her. To her surprise and joy, her bed was still dry. "Go away," she muttered.

"Samantha, it's me," Prudence said.

"I said go away."

"Please, Samantha, I need to talk to you."

"Talk to me tomorrow."

"This is important." Samantha finally rolled over and saw the seriousness in Prudence's face. She threw off the covers and followed Prudence into the room where she'd first woke up. Prudence closed the door and went over to sit on the bed. Samantha remained standing, arms folded across her chest.

"Well, what do you want?" Samantha hissed. She thought of what little Rebecca had said, but couldn't bring herself to apologize yet. She's the one who's wrong, Samantha thought.

"I've been thinking about what you said and what you read to me. And, while I'm not saying you're right, there's a chance you might be. Maybe if I heard more I could make up my mind."

"Now? You want to read to you now?"

"If you don't mind." Prudence looked down at the floor with embarrassment. "I know it's late, but I can't get these visions out of my head."

"All right. Let me get-" Prudence held up Samantha's apron containing Rebel of Love. Samantha opened it to where she'd left off at Prudence's cottage. After arriving in New York City, Remy LeBeau meets with an evil crime boss named Vinny Torelli, who threatens to kill him unless he pays back a large sum of money in three days. Remy goes to the nearest bar to plot his strategy when he sees a newspaper article on the wealthy heiress Vienna Hampton, who has just divorced her husband. Here, Prudence stopped Samantha's reading.