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Every night Sairls a story Other than the Bible the only book left on the island was a tattered copy of a novel called Forever Young, its heroine having the na For a while Sairls could all recite it fro in different stories These sprang from the depths of the memory she couldn't consciously access Most of the stories dealt with little girls getting into trouble In one a little girl in a cloak with a red hood ran afoul of a wolf iirl ca to three bears Sairls wouldn't suffer frohts when Rebecca or Annie or sometimes even Helena would crawl into her pallet for coathered around Samantha's old pallet, which was across fro intently even though she was too old for fairy tales Tonight her pallet was empty

Sairls had already dressed in their nightgowns and brushed their hair for bed A few of the younger ones clutched dolls made from bits of old cloth stuffed with straw Saht, when she decided it set a bad example for the other children

"Is everyone all cleaned up and ready for bed?" she asked as she usually did

"Yes," they said in unison

"All right In that case, once upon a time there was a beautiful princess who lived in a castle far away-"

"What was her name?" Annie asked

"She should be nairls are named"

"Nuh-uh, she should be naly cooks are nairls," Rebecca said "Let Sa, there was a beautiful princess who lived in a castle far away Her naru Helena with a hard look "Sa and queen They were all very happy there Samantha had all sorts of wonderful toys and her own pretty white pony to ride whenever she wanted"

"Then what happened?" Annie prompted

"Well, one day a nasty man showed up at the castle He called hiirls whi to reht Mr Pryde snuck into Samantha's room and he took her away