midwife. Sheâs good, Martha, one of the best.â
âBut Miss Boudreaux, I want tâ finish school.â
âYouâll have to ask your grandmother.â
âPlease, canât yuh hep me?â
âMartha, that means going away. Your grandmother would have to agree on any arrangement. You will need money and itâs late now to start plans for this year.â
âBut canât we do somethin?â For a moment they stood in silence.
Finally, Miss Boudreaux said, âMaybe I can go on teaching you.â
âGranma wonât let me come evey day.â Martha lowered her eyes and pulled her shawl tighter.
âOh, not every day. We can set a schedule. Iâll give you assignments that you can do at home. Then Iâll see you when they are done and youâre ready for more.â
Martha kept her eyes fixed on the ground. Miss Boudreaux said, âMartha, one day youâll be able to go away. Maybe when youâre older.â
Martha looked up and smiled. âIâm so much obliged tâ you, teacher.â
Miss Boudreaux drew Martha to her for a quick embrace. For a moment Martha was breathless, but in that small space in time she felt sheltered.
SEVEN
Martha and Titay walked on the trail that led to the Gulf. The bushes along the way were wet with morning dew, and as they came closer to the water, fog clung to the earth in heavy clouds. The only sounds were those made by their footsteps and the surging of the Gulf. They walked in silence through the fog toward the bed of seaweed.
Suddenly the blurred outline of a boat appeared. Startled, Martha stopped, grabbing Titayâs arm. Titay said, âWhat is it, girl?â
âGranma, you see that?â
âSee what?â
Was it a ghost ship? Martha had never seen one like it before. The sails were limp and the boat listed heavily to one side in the low tide, close to shore.
âI git a glimpse of somethin.â Titay moved closer to the water.
âNo, Granma. Leâs go back.â
âWait, girl.â Titay held Marthaâs hand, and as the fog passed in and out they saw that it was a real boat.
They looked up the trail. Only a short distance away Martha saw the form of a man, lying face down. âGranma!â She put her hand over her mouth to stifle a scream. âLook, thereâs a man! Leâs run and warn the village.â
Titay moved toward the stranger.
âNo, Granma!â
âIf he dead, he canât do no harm. If he live, he might need us tâ hep im.â
The man lay in the mud, his wet clothes clinging to him. Titay knelt and turned his head. With one hand she felt the pulse while the quick fingers of the other hand cleared his mouth for easier breathing.
âHe breathes,â Titay said, âand he shakes.â
He groaned as Titay covered his body with her shawl.
âRun, git hep, girl; we got tâ git im home.â
Martha returned with only two men, Beau, and Ocieâs father, Elmo.
âWhoâs he?â Elmo asked.
âI donât know,â Titay answered.
âThen what yuh want us fuh?â Elmo asked.
âTâ tote im in fuh care.â
âBut eâs a stranger,â Beau said. âHow yuh know â¦â
âWe know eâs our kind,â Titay said sharply. âAnd if we wash up on âis sho, would we want im tâ ast questions, or take us in?â
âTake us in,â Elmo answered.
âSo we do as much fuh im.â
âBut I canât take im. I got no room, no.â
âThen tâ my house.â
âBut, Granma!â
âTâ my house!â Titay said again.
Beau glanced at Martha to show sympathy. Martha shrugged and sighed. She whispered to Beau behind Titayâs back, âThatâs jus like Granma, ainât it?â
The fog lifted slowly and drifted out to the Gulf as they carried the stranger on to Titayâs