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Samantha had looked all over town for Uncle Hector He had disappeared froone into the forest to relieve hio see if he had run into trouble When she still didn't find anything, she went back into the village

Strangely, Prudence, Rebecca, and Molly were all gone "They left a while ago," Annie said She and the other s in the rubble for treasures

"Where did they go?"

"I dunno You wanna play with us?"

"That's all right Maybe later" She tousled Annie's hair and sado stop back here?"

"No"

"Thanks You kids be careful"

"We will"

Samantha left them to try down by the barns She couldn't understand why Prudence and Rebecca would leave the younger children alone They were too responsible for that And much too responsible to take a baby with them

She searched the barns, the fields, and even the woodshed without finding anyone There seemed nowhere else to try except the fountain cave As she closed in on the entrance of the cave, she heard grunting and groaning It didn't have the feral growl of Pryde's dogs; it sounded much more human By the time she reached the entrance, she heard what sounded like a sack of flour hitting the floor, followed by a groan

She ran into the cave and found Uncle Hector squatting over David The boy's body was liot to his feet When he turned to her, she saw blood dripping fro "Oh, Lucy, thank God"

"What happened here?"

"Little prick ju behind He uage Spanish, she remembered Then he spit on David's unconscious body

"Why would he do that?"

"So I couldn't take you kids fro of the island"

Samantha considered this for a moment She remembered David's reluctance to help them fix the boat He didn't want them to leave the island If he did incapacitate Uncle Hector, that would go a long way tosure the Lady Jane never left the beach

She threw herself against Uncle Hector, proht, kid" She didn't realize she was crying until he touched her cheek and said, "Hey, hey, hey, none of that I'm fine"