Trouble's Child by Mildred Pitts; Walter Page A

study of sea life. I hope I’ll sell enough to be able to go back to school.”
    She looked down at the deck and said, “I done a mean thing t’ come heah. The people will think you ast me. They’ll hate us both.”
    â€œWhy you say that? You’ve done no harm.”
    â€œBut I ain’t sposed t’ be lone wid a man cause I ain’t married.”
    â€œDo you believe that?” he asked.
    â€œHeah yuh jus don’t do that. That’s our way.”
    They were quiet. Then Martha said shyly, “What name you have?”
    â€œHarold. Harold Saunders.”
    â€œYou come from far?”
    â€œPretty far. From Ohio, down the Mississippi River into the Gulf looking for New Orleans.”
    â€œOh, I hear bout that place and the big Mardi Gras. Tis far, yes?”
    â€œNot from here. I was almost there and would have made it, but I got sick. And there was so much fog. I was lucky to land near your island for more reasons than one.”
    â€œStrangers we don’t see often, no.”
    â€œYou and your grandmother were kind to care for me.”
    â€œTis her way.” Then the fear returned and she said quickly, “I gotta go.”
    â€œNot yet. Let me show you the Marraine .”
    â€œ Marraine ?” How could his boat have that name? “Heah that mean godmother.”
    â€œI know. An old sailor from these parts christened it the Marraine and that has been a good name for it. It’s thirty feet long, ten feet wide and where you’re standing now is called the deck.”
    Martha relaxed a little, and Harold showed her how the boat could be driven by sails as well as by motor. He showed her how to operate the halyard, giving her a quick lesson in lowering sails. She handled the boom and the mast, as he showed her how the tiller controlled the rudder, which directed the boat. Martha was surprised that his boat had two anchors. She had only seen one in operation. One line attached to the front of Hal’s boat had an anchor in place.
    â€œNow come below to see my home on water,” Harold said.
    â€œNo, no,” Martha said. “I best go.”
    Harold, seeing the fear she had shown at first, helped her over the side onto the ladder.
    Martha paused and looked up into his face. “M’ granma call yuh Hal. You be Hal, yes?”
    He laughed and said, “Yes, I’ll be Hal.”
    Martha swam quickly back to shore.

EIGHT
    The New Year would soon begin. The sun seemed far away in a high sky, and the air was shivering cold. Martha followed Titay on the trail that carried them deep into the woods. She felt no enthusiasm for this excursion. Her mind was on all the schoolwork Miss Boudreaux had planned for her.
    She looked back toward the Gulf, and through the trees she could see Hal’s boat. The Marraine had become a part of the island. Even though the people did not visit Hal’s boat, or invite him into their homes, the women greeted him warmly, and the men welcomed him into their circle of talk. Her pulse quickened when she thought of how he, like others, sometimes stopped to talk briefly to Titay.
    Presently they came to a wide opening near the marshland where the earth was soft. The trees on the edge of this place grew tall and strong, with moss-covered branches that hid the sun. The place was dark, cold and damp. Martha had never gone this deep into the woods to gather herbs and roots. She felt that this day in this new place marked the beginning of a ritual—an offering of a gift of some great knowledge. Martha felt uneasy about being the receiver.
    Titay stopped at a strange bush. “See this?” she asked, pointing. “Look good now. Then come heah and see this one.”
    â€œThey like.”
    â€œYuh sho?”
    â€œLook alike t’ me.”
    Titay broke off twigs with leaves from the two bushes. “Now look,” she said.
    â€œOh, they not alike, no!”
    â€œYou mus be keen.