Unloading the supplies from the Primrose took well into the night. After hauling the last crates down into the pantry cellar for storage, Prudence and Wendell shuffled off to her shop. She found everything exactly as she'd left it nearly a month ago, a thin layer of dust having gathered over her loom and spinning wheel. She sank down onto a pile of fabric, everything from her head to feet aching.
Still she couldn't sleep. Wendell plopped down onto the fabric next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "It's so awful," she said. "How could they do that to poor Becky?"
"I don't know," Wendell said. The sight of Rebecca had chilled Wendell to the marrow of his bones. Seeing her was akin to reliving his nightmare; he shivered again at the memory of looking into the mirror and seeing a little girl staring back. "They probably pushed her into the fountain."
"No, Helena and Phyllis are mean-spirited, but they aren't that irresponsible," Prudence said.
"I wouldn't be so sure."
She pressed herself closer to Wendell, the warmth of his body comforting her. As she sat there, one thought continued to haunt her: it could have been her. If she had stayed instead of Rebecca, she might have fallen into the Fountain of Youth and become a target for Helena and Phyllis. She would be five years old right now instead of sitting here with Wendell's arm around her. Shame nipped at her for the relief she felt at being spared.
She started to cry. "I wish there was something we could do for her," she said.
"We can be there for her. Be her friends," Wendell said. He kissed her on the cheek, sucking away the tears on that side. "That's all we can do for her now."
His lips moved down to touch hers. As he kissed Prudence, Wendell thought of Rebecca and wondered whether love could survive in this place. In nine years he had seen so much pain and death here. Maybe he and Prudence should board the Primrose and head back to Seabrooke or find somewhere else where they could be safe. He knew better than to suggest this, knew already what Prudence would say. Eternity was her home. She couldn't leave Samantha and Molly and Becky and all the others.
She took Wendell's hand and lay down with him on the piles of fabric. A smile crept across her face. She had someone to share all parts of her life with now, not a friend like Samantha, but something more. A soul mate, she thought. She held his hand while they slept, vowing never to let him go.