"It's not my fault you take up the whole pit."
"I do not!"
"You do so." He heard Prudence crying again. He said, "I'm sorry. You don't take up the whole pit."
"Just most of it."
"Um-"
"It's all right. I know I'm fat. Not for much longer. Soon I'll be even skinnier than Samantha, just a pile of bones."
"Don't talk like that. We're going to get out of here."
"How?"
"Well-" Wendell stopped to think it over. He gazed up at the top of the pit. "I could get on your shoulders. Maybe I could reach the top."
"That won't work."
"We have to at least try. Unless you have a better idea."
"I guess we could try."
Prudence groaned again as she got to her feet. Then she shook her head. "It's not going to work. We're not tall enough."
"We'll try anyway," Wendell said. He waited for her to squat down so he could climb up on her back the way the toddlers did when they wanted a piggyback ride from Samantha or Miss Brigham.
Prudence grunted as she stood up with him on her shoulders. "Go on," she said, her voice already strained from the effort.
Wendell heard her groan a couple more times as he planted his feet on her shoulders. Then he stretched to his full height. As Prudence had said, it wasn't going to work. He was still a good three feet from the top. "Get on your toes," he said. "Stretch!"
"I'll try."
He had to plant a hand against the muddy side of the pit as Prudence managed to get him up another few inches. He in turn got on his toes. It wasn't any good. He had narrowed the gap a little, but not enough to reach the top. And from what he could see, there weren't any vines or roots or anything he could grab to pull himself up.
He didn't have any more time to try as Prudence gasped. He found himself tumbling through the air again, until he landed on her for a third time. "I told you," she grumbled.
"We'll think of something. There has to be a way out."
"No there isn't. We're going to die here. Me and a stinky little boy no one likes."
"And I'm going to die with a big fat cow everyone laughs at."
"You're a liar!"
"Am not."
"Are too!" A few seconds later he heard Prudence sob. "You're right. Everyone makes fun of me. Even Samantha."
"Prudence-"
"Leave me alone." In the dim light of their tomb, he saw her roll over onto her side, her back facing him. With a sigh he stared up at the top of the hole and began to pray for Samantha to find them.