The Springsweet by Saundra Mitchell Read Free Book Online

had abided by the water in Baltimore, living on the shore and tasting it in the wind, but it was here in these dusty plains that I called it to me. But I did, and knowing I could look into the dark and see water flowing silver in the distance gave me peace.
    It was something wholly new; it made me new—I was Zora Stewart, but no longer the same.

Five
     
    But just as a strong pulse is needed to move a body, it needs breath as well. And when Birdie introduced me to the yoke I'd need to haul water, I wasn't sure I'd ever get a full breath again.
    "It's only heavy at first," she told me.
    Indeed, though it looked like a wooden railroad tie, she hefted it with ease. Someone had smoothed a curve into the center of it, which I discovered was the place it was meant to sit on my shoulders. A small notch accommodated the back of my neck. Thankfully, it was sanded smooth.
    But it didn't fit well. Nor was it light. Though it was vaguely balanced, I still felt like a clumsy scarecrow when Birdie hung pails on either end.
    Wobbling, I swayed first to one side, then so violently to the other that I dropped the first bucket. Then the other bucket slid the length and cracked against my bare hand.
    "Maybe you should walk up and down a ways first," Birdie said, reclaiming the pails. They were wooden, with rusted bands holding them together. My suspicion was that she was primarily concerned about their well-being, not mine.
    Rebalancing myself, I took a few tentative steps. The thing was awful—hot and heavy—but I was determined to master it. Sweat kissed the nape of my neck, and my chest burned. I wanted to draw in deep, but whalebone and silk restrained me.
    Nonetheless, I circumnavigated the soddy twice and was almost proud of myself. At least, until my dear cousin, the chicken tormenter, shrieked through and sent me tumbling.
    "Louella, enough!" Birdie had not one hint of amusement or indulgence in her voice.
    I lay in the dirt, staring into a sky bright enough to sting my eyes. Blinking through my blindness, I pressed my elbows into the ground. That stirred the fine dust, which turned my nose to twitching. Now I had stunted two senses as I sprawled there.
    My corset's steel conspired against me; for all my might, I couldn't push myself up. Flopping against the hard pillow of the yoke, I gazed helplessly at the sky once more. Still boundless, its expanse mocked me, stretching everywhere when I could do nothing but lie there.
    Then Louella's face filled my sight as she came over to poke at me. "Mama says I'm sorry."
    "I am too," I replied. I held my hand out to her, "Can you help me up?"
    With puppyish grunts, Louella pulled as hard as she could. And for a moment, I thought I might be freed, but she lost her grip. She sat down hard, and I thumped my head on the yoke when I slipped back again.
    "For Pete's sake," Birdie said. She didn't finish the thought, but in a blur of motion, she lifted Louella out of the dirt, then hauled me to my feet as if I were made of nothing more than down.
    Looking me over, she sucked a breath through her teeth. Her eyes narrowed, seeing straight past my gown and into my undergarments. It was plain she measured my corset with her gaze; then, without mercy, she said, "Go take it off."
    "Let me take out the busk stiffener," I bargained.
    Birdie didn't indulge me, either. "You can keep it for Sundays and callings, but I've got no use for you if you can't bend down or stand up on your own."
    My face flamed. Oklahoma Territory had no end of in dignities, it seemed. A welcome by robbery and gunpoint, a first night in a stranger's bed, and now the loss of my corset. I didn't want to be precious, truly I didn't, and I could see Birdie's point.
    But I still stung as I hunched beneath the raw ceiling of the soddy. It struck me then, as I worked a myriad of buttons and peeled off layer after layer, that whether I wanted to be precious or not, I certainly was. Standing there in my chemise and drawers, I folded my corset