She was dead right in the way she had figured. When she came off the path to the creek, she heard them shouting. Pleased with herself, she crept through the brush along the stream. She calculated carefully. She wanted to be able to hear their noise, but she did not need to hear what they actually said. She found a likely spot, took off her dress, which was all she wore, and draped it over a bush, hoping the red bugs would not find it and infest it before she reclaimed it. They bit and itched terribly. She left her berry bucket by the bush and waded naked into the creek, delighting in the feel of water, cool enough to cool her but warm enough not to make her shiver and jump as it came up over her feet and calves and knees and thighs. As she walked, it rose above her navel and touched the bottom of her breasts. She bent her knees and floated her body. When she found the bottom again with her feet, she splashed water over her face and neck and hair. Finally, she made herself weighty and sank entirely beneath the surface, then bobbed up feeling clean and listened for the voices around the bend of the creek. Cautiously, she set her feet down and began the slow walking water dictates. The sandy bottom of the creek stayed with her as she moved toward the sounds they made.

Before she was in their view, she turned and floated on her back, having to kick under water to propel herself, since she was downstream of them. She knew they had seen her when they stopped talking. She made herself turn slowly onto her stomach and began to swim before she saw them and acted surprised.

As she began to swim away, Floyd called, “Hey, girl! Saw your head and thought you was a turtle!”

She touched bottom with her feet and swung around. “Didn’t mean to bother you none. Didn’t know you was here.”

Since people seldom hear their own noise, they accepted that. She floated away, and Floyd shouted, “Where you going?”

“Oh,” she said vaguely, again finding the bottom with her feet, “ain’t it hot today? Thought I’d die in that kitchen. Come down here to cool off some, but didn’t know you all were—”

“You don’t have to go,” Floyd said. Leon had not spoken, but his eyes had been on the girl since she appeared, leaving her only for brief looks of encouragement to Floyd.

She gave a full amused laugh. “Yes I do got to go!”

“How come?”

“I got nothin’ on me!” She floated farther downstream, and the boys splashed after her.

“You covered by the creek,” Floyd assured her.

She stopped, waiting for them. “That is so,” she said, modestly folding her arms. Although her smile acknowledged him, she made no sign of recognizing Leon.