Escape Plan

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?"