After Samantha and Prudence rounded up all the children remaining in Eternity, they discovered they were now the oldest. They also found themselves as caretakers for ten infants and nine toddlers with no memories. Plus they still had another dozen toddlers in Rebecca, Wendell, and the others waiting in the bedroom.
The first challenge became finding a place to put everyone. The babies they decided to lay two-across on pallets in a corner they dubbed "the nursery." As soon as one of the babies cried, the others woke up and followed suit, filling the dormitory with noise. With no food or diapers and little water, Samantha and Prudence could do nothing for the babies when they cried except rock them and whisper encouragement.
As for Helena, Phyllis, and the other new toddlers, Samantha and Prudence gathered them in an opposite corner, where the children sniffled and whimpered for their missing parents. "I know you miss your parents very much and I know they miss you the same," Samantha began, "but they've gone away for a long time. In the meantime, they've asked Prudence and I to take care of you. We're going to make sure nothing bad happens to you until they come back."
"I want Mommy!" Helena wailed, her chubby face turning red.
"I know you do," Prudence said. She hugged the child close, stroking her hair. "She's going to be back very soon, I promise. Until then you have to be a brave girl. That's what Mommy would want. Can you do that for her?"
Helena nodded and said something muffled by Prudence's shoulder. "Everything is going to turn out fine. Don't worry your pretty head about it," Prudence said.
Samantha and Prudence did what they could to find clothes for the toddlers, but they didn't have enough to go around. This meant most of them still had to shuffle around in their old clothes, though Samantha did manage to find Helena something dry to wear. She recoiled with surprise when the little girl hugged her as Samantha put her down for a nap. "Oh, thank you."
"You aren't going to leave us, are you?" she asked.
"No, of course not. No one is going to leave you again. Now close your eyes and go to sleep. When you wake up I'll be right here." Helena did as she was told and before long was happily sucking on her thumb. Samantha watched her sleep for a minute, regretting anything bad she'd ever thought about Helena.
Samantha found Prudence in the dining room then, trying to clean up some of the mess. She wore rags over her hands to keep from touching any of the spilt gruel. Prudence looked up from her work, her lower lip trembling as she tried to keep from crying. "This is so horrible," she said. "Those poor children. Do you think he's done this before? To all of us?"