Many would brag that there is no town like the town of Drinking Water. As one of the oldest towns in the region it had quite a history to tell if it was in towns to speak. Boasting the fame of this town was the Richmond family who owned Richmond Wood and much land besides this.

If a person were looking for an ideal town to raise their family the locals would suggest Drinking Water. If they needed a place to stop over for the night, the old men at the depot would say try Drinking Water. If they were simply looking for a fresh start, far away from their woes surrounded by a quiet wilderness, then Drinking Water would be the suggestion.

"Prime real-estate for sell, come on down, come on down!"

/

Ottaline raced to the hill top in the drizzling rain clenching her holey cape around her. She entered through the kitchen door and her skin immediately prickled at the warmth of the room. She quickly cleaned the dirt from her boots and hung her yoke cape on the hook by the door.

She stood by the stove for a few minutes to warm herself and dry her clothes. Hattie strolled into the kitchen and smiled when she saw her. "Afternoon to you, Ottaline" she said taking down two mugs and filling them with coffee. "You're early, aren't ya?"

Ottaline nodded as the rain increased outside. Her damp clothes began to affect her skin and she shivered slightly.

"You get yourself warmed up, lass," Hattie said. "I'll go and get your da so you can get his meal to him."

"Thank you, Hattie," Ottaline said moving closer to the wood burning stove. As Hattie left the kitchen the lights flickered. Ottaline looked up at them in awe. They had been installed around New Years and though it was April they still amazed her.

"Ottaline!" Mr. Sabbath declared as he walked into the kitchen. "Is this mine?" he asked flipping back the cloths covering the basket. "Smells wonderful." he said lifting his daughter from the ground. "My oh my, you are getting heavy." He set her back down. "And becoming quite the lady."

"I'll be fifteen shortly, Daddy," Ottaline said. "I must learn to be responsible. That's what we learn in school."

"Well I'm happy you are maturing nicely," Mr. Sabbath said. The lights flickered again and they both looked up. "Blasted things."

"I wish Rovy could see them," Ottaline said. "She would love the lights and the running water and how many rooms this house has."

"Providence is not like you and me," Mr. Sabbath said. "She's shy around people and would much rather hide than have a conversation. Besides that, Mr. Richmond doesn't like children running around here which means you had better be going before I'm missed."

"Yes, Daddy," Ottaline said. "I'll bring your love to Rovy."

Mr. Sabbath adjusted the blue gingham bow at the base of his daughter's braid. It matched her dress which was the most common one she wore. "What is wrong, Daddy why do you look at me so?"

Mr. Sabbath shook his head. "Carry on, Ottaline," he said patting her head. "You let me worry about you and not the other way around."

"Yes, sir," Ottaline said though part of her wanted to know what came over him. "I'll see you at home." She took her yoke cape from the back of the door and hurried out into the rain hoping to soon be safe and warm.

By the time she walked through the front door she was already coughing. She hung her yoke in front of the fireplace which she had started before she carried her father his meal. She heard Providence shuffle into the room and looked over her shoulder. "Are you ready to eat?"

"Are you all right?" Providence asked her.

"I'm fine," Ottaline said. "Just trying to get warm on the inside is all."

"I had to chase a cat out," Providence said as she went to the cupboard and took down two bowls. "I told him there are too many starving people to toss out scraps. I said he'd best get to catching birds."

Ottaline took a wooden ladle from a nail on the wall and dipped the green bean soup out into the bowls. "You told him right," she said.

The two sat down on the floor before the fireplace as the storm swept down from the mountains rolling out to sea. Ottaline prayed over the meal and they began to eat.

"Maybe I shouldn't have chased that cat out," Providence said after a long silence. "It's raining very hard. "Besides I know what it is like to be run out of places."

"I'm sure he found shelter." Ottaline said. She then smiled. "Do you want to practice your hand before bed?"

Rovy shrugged. "I did enough practice in school today," she said. "I must have written Time and Tide Wait For No Man a dozen times!"

"Well we must do it a dozen and one," Ottaline said. "We have to be our best."

"I'm tired of always having to prove to white folks how smart we are just because ours is the only colored family in Drinking Water," Providence said.

"You're not doing it for them; you're doing it for yourself."

"It's easier for you, Ottaline, your hand is fair, you're smart, pretty and most of all you're not cripple." They both looked down at the brace on her leg. "People judge you once where they judge me twice. I have no future so why should I practice for one?" She pushed her bowl away and fell backwards.

Ottaline crawled over to her and pulled her hands from over her face. "Rovy, remember, the only person you can take away your future is yourself. No one can see it and no one can take it. It is yours and you only who can take away your victory."

Providence looked up at Ottaline above her. She had always been the positive one. Even when she first got the brace put on her leg, Ottaline was there telling her she could do it! Providence had tried time and time again to play like other children but this only led to deeper emotional and physical injury.

"I'd have fallen without you," she said pushing the memories aside.

Ottaline smiled. "Do you want to practice your hand?"

Providence smiled too then nodded.

/

The scent of pine flooded the morning air as Providence and Ottaline made their way to the school house. Birds rustled in the high branches along the wooded path while squirrels spun their flag like tails at the intruders. Their school was considered lawless as they, the only black children in town, attended there with the white children.

Ottaline took the biscuit she had stashed in the pocket of her pinafore and ate it. "Do you want to go to the lake after school and catch minnows?"

"Sure."

"All right, I'll meet you there after I take Daddy his lunch at the Richmonds', have everything ready."

The two stepped out of the woods and onto the twisting rocky road that led up to the brown school house. Wing beats over head made them both look up.

"Look, Rovy, the swans have come back," Ottaline said. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Just like before."

"Come on, Ottaline," Providence called to her lingering sister.

Several children were already in the yard playing a game of tag. Ottaline and Providence went on into the school and took their seats at the back. Two girls talked at the front of the class while the teacher, Mr. Habersham, wrote on the black board.

"Did you hear the news?" Jenney said as she made her way down the desks flanked by her cousin Alice. "My Papa is going to lead the parade on Confederate Memorial Day next Saturday." She titled up her pointed nose and her cousin did the same.

"That's nice," Ottaline said putting her books inside her desk.

"What will your father be doing?" Alice asked in her high pitched baby voice.

"Working," Ottaline said. "There is no time for fun when you work for a Richmond. Your brother does so you ought to know."

"Franklin is supposed to ask for the day off," Alice said. "All Smiths must be there to see Uncle JJ lead the band. It may be a once in a life time thing."

"Well we won't be there either," Ottaline said. "Since our father won't be there to watch us it wouldn't be wise to tear around the town without a chaperon."

Jenney knelt down in the desk in front of them. "That is silly!" she said and Alice nodded with enthusiasm. "What will you do, go down to the coast like you did last year and the year before? Doesn't it get boring?"

"The coast is never boring," Providence said.

"But don't you want cake and candy and brownies and dancing and merriment?" Alice said.

"We'll be fine at the coast. The Confederacy has a different meaning for you and us," Providence said.

Jenny scoffed. "I don't give a darn about some Confederacy I just want cake! And you will too." She snapped her fingers. "I'll ask my eldest brother and his wife, they'll chaperone you! You must not forfeit cake no matter the cost."

Ottaline smiled. "All right, but I must first ask my father," she said as Mr. Habersham rang the school bell. The two little blonde girls scrambled for their seats as the class room filled. Ottaline smiled at her sister who looked uncertain. "We'll do whatever you choose," she whispered.

/

When school let out Jenny and Alice rushed to catch up with Providence and Ottaline on the wood path. "Do you like my boots?" Jenny asked with a flip of her braids. "My mother wanted to make sure I had new ones for school and for church."

Ottaline looked down at Jenny's shiny brown boots and then at her own scuffed beyond redemption brown ones. "They are lovely."

"I know!" Jenny said with a skip. "Don't forget to ask you father about coming to the festivities."

"I will, Jenny," Ottaline said. "But I doubt he'll let us go."

"Well that's too bad," Alice said. "Maybe next year when you are older then."

Ottaline shrugged. "Maybe. Say, do you wanna catch minnows with us at Wild Wood Lake?"

Alice made a face. "My mother doesn't let me play in the woods without my brothers," she said.

"And I have to be home to help with the new baby," Jenney said. "Speaking of which, I'd better get going, come along, Alice!" The two girls said goodbye then raced down a narrow path in the woods. Soon the Sabbath sisters couldn't see them through the foliage.

/

When the girls got home Ottaline quickly set to preparing her father lunch. She packed a bowl of left over supper and a cheese sandwich. She also put two sandwiches aside for her and Providence down at the lake.

"I'll meet you there," she shouted as she raced out the door.

Providence packed the sandwiches in with the Mason jars along with a napkin then set off for the lake. Wild Wood Lake was surrounded by the Wild Wood which sat apart from Richmond Wood. Wild Wood despite its name was the one to explore. Children told of frightful things that went on in Richmond wood.

Providence turned onto Steeple Street passing the burned down church formerly known as Church of the Sabbath. The cemetery was all that much remained but only went by Sabbath Cemetery. She and her sister had received plenty of taunting because of that. Being told this was their address or that they would die in a fire was very common at school.

The cemetery was maintained by an old grounds keeper who no one ever saw anymore and by now the grass and vines had grown up. A few residents would go in and trim it back every now and then.

Providence stepped to the side as she passed to avoid the thorns or a creeping vine. On a hill above all other graves was the Richmond mausoleum, dated back long before the Civil War. No one had been buried inside since one of the Richmonds was killed in the war, all other family was buried in the fenced yard around it.

New Church sat at the end of Steeple Street, shining like a white cloud and proud. Even now it still smelt of cedar and looked brand new though it had been standing for several long years. Neither of these were on Providence's destination list as she went down Drain Avenue and snuck across the yard of a little blue house. She crept through the hedges and slowly peeked into the window.

The dancers stretched at the barre at the direction of the teacher who stood before them at the center of the room. Their long limber legs and arms moved in sync with one another and the music. At the teacher's instruction they turned and switched legs.

Providence glanced down at her own leg, hugged by the brace. She had always longed to dance like that. Dancing was held high in her mind as one of the most beautiful things. The second like it was the sea. Resting her chin on the window stool she sighed. She could have watched them for hours but remembered she was to be meeting her sister at Wild Wood Lake.