They call her Dana Read Online Free Page A

milky white with delicate mauve and red specks, but once, deep in the swamp, I had found one speckled with gold and bronze, the petals a pale yellow-white. There was beauty in the swamp as well as danger, if you knew where to look for it, but most folk were spooked and stayed away. I was at home here amidst the gnarled old cypress trees with their exposed roots and twisted limbs draped with ghostly gray moss, amidst the mud and profusion of damp green plants.
    The ground was spongy beneath my bare feet, and the swamp was alive with the hum of insects and the cawing of birds. Sounds were strangely distorted here, giving ofl^ weird echoes that some-

    times reminded you of tormented cries. Some said the swamp was haunted, full of evil spirits who called to each other, but I knew that was nonsense. I had roamed here all my life without ever seeing a ghost, though sometimes after a rain the mists grew thick and waved in the wind, taking on strange shapes that might remind you of spooks. I knew I didn't have to worry about supernatural beings. Those who had two legs with a dong dangling between 'em caused me worry enough.
    I skirted a small brown stream with cattails growing tall on either side and turned and hopped over a muddy rivulet. The swamp was laced with these rivulets and streams, filled with ponds and lakes. A person really needed a small boat or a canoe to get around properly, as there was far more water than solid ground, but I moved with a sure foot, for I knew every inch of ground in these parts. Far from being uneasy, I felt safe and secure in the swamp. It was as though the damp, living gray-green walls protected me from the world outside. Here I could be free and drop those defenses I had to keep firmly in place at home. Randy and Jake never penetrated into the swamp if they could avoid it, nor did Clem. No one could find me here. No one could harm me.
    I forged ahead, moving confidently, completely at ease.
    Ma was going to be all right, I told myself over and over again, and after a while I almost believed it. Some things are so terrible to think about, you have to hide from them, have to trick yourself into believing they aren't so, and that's what I'd been doing with Ma's illness. Mama Lou would give me another bottle of the medicine and Ma would take it and the terrible coughing would cease and the feverish glow would leave her eyes and she would soon be strong again. I couldn't face the truth. I wouldn't. Ma was going to be all right. All she needed was some rest and some more medicine. How silly of me to get so upset just . . . just because she had coughed up a little blood and talked about seeing a redbird.
    Cardinals were rare indeed in these parts, so rare superstitious folk believed you only saw one when you were about to die. Nonsense, of course, just like the ghosts who were supposed to prowl the swamp. Ma hadn't seen no redbird outside her window this morning. She had imagined it. I'd been up and about since daylight, and I certainly hadn't seen one. Ma must of just

    thought she was awake, must of dreamed it. I wasn't going to waste any more time dwelling on anything so foolish.
    An alligator yawned nearby, making a curious hoarse sound that was followed by a splash as the creature slipped into the water. I moved on, shoving strands of moss aside, ducking under thick ropes of vine. It was very warm here, the air damp and muggy, and perspiration stained my pink dress, formed a sheen on my face and arms. I stepped over narrow fingers of water, like veins in the ground that swelled into rivulets and streams and evenmally flowed into lakes. Water everywhere, stagnant pools and sluggish streams, the pungent muddy smell mingling with the smells of root and bark and damp greenery to form an earthy perfume that was strangely pleasant once you grew used to it.
    It took me almost half an hour to reach Mama Lou's, for she lived deep in the swamp, as far away from other people as possible. Her shanty stood