From the backseat, Maggie watched the Wills come out the back door, Garnet, Bill, John Carl, Billy and Corey Jean. Mama wasted no time getting out of the car. She flew into Garnet's arms. They stood clinging to one another for a long while, crying silent tears. Maggie remained where she was. Skeeter, still beside her, reached for her hand. His hand was cold.

Maggie studied Garnet. She wore a faded housedress and satin slippers. Her graying auburn hair clung to her tear-stained face. In spite of her sadness there was a glow about her. Bill had the same sort of glow. His black hair was wet and combed back. He held a cigarette in one hand. His lips trembled as he smiled and shook hands with Daddy.

With great effort, Maggie propelled herself out of the car. Skeeter followed. He didn’t let go of her hand until they reached the others. The next thing Maggie knew she was in Garnet’s arms. She buried her face in the softness of her shoulder. There was a tension in Garnet’s body that communicated itself to Maggie. Quickly, Maggie let go of Garnet. She had never been so close to such sadness. When she hugged Bill she only embraced him a moment. She didn’t want to feel his sadness too.

"Hey girl," Billy said. He hugged Maggie so hard her ribs hurt. Though she tried to struggle free of him, he didn’t let go until he was ready.

Four-year old Corey Jean hopped around as she waited for her hug. Maggie knelt down, the child smelled sweet and clean. Her reddish curls caught the sunlight. Maggie found comfort in her tiny arms.

John Carl stood away from the group. Maggie hesitated, she looked at him, his eyes were down cast. Sudden shyness overtook her. Perhaps he didn’t want to hug her. Maybe she should be relieved. Still it seemed rude to hug everyone else and not him. If only he would look at her she would know what to do. She waited. He kept his eyes on the ground. Garnet and Mama went inside, followed by the rest. John Carl was last. As Maggie watched John Carl’s back disappear into the house, a great emptiness swept through her. He had not wanted to hug her. Hurt, she walked up the porch steps.

At the screen door she saw Daniel's boots. They were old, worn, slouched over and caked with mud. It was odd but Maggie felt like they were waiting for him. Inside the house it was oddly silent. Even talkative Corey Jean was quiet. Usually coming through this back door meant entering into laughter. Daniel wasn't there to say "Hi, Mag-gie." He always pronounced both G's in her name. He wasn't there to smile at her or give her a quick hug. This loss shot through Maggie. She felt suddenly sick. She ran through the kitchen and into the bathroom. Her stomach was raw. She prayed she wouldn’t throw up. The ache in her chest twisted tighter and tighter. She locked the door and turned on the faucet. The cool water she splashed on her face helped a little.

The metal doorknob rattled. "Maggie, Maggie," Corey Jan said. "I got to pee-pee.”

Maggie opened the door. Corey Jean pushed passed her and quickly shed her tight pink shorts.

"Whew," she said. "I didn't think I'd make it. Just knew I'd have a accident. Daddy gets real mad. He don't like accidents. He says I'm too big for accidents. But sometimes I just can't hold it." Corey Jean hopped off the toilet.

"Corey you forgot to wipe."

"Boys don't have to wipe so why should I?"

"Because, you aren't a boy."

The child pulled up her shorts and hurled a defiant glare in Maggie's direction. She ran out of the room. Maggie heard Garnet ask, "Did you wipe Honey?"

"Oh yes Mama, I did," Corey Jean said.

Maggie stood in the doorway. Billy, who was leaning into the open refrigerator by the bathroom door, asked, "You planning to stay in there all day?"

“No.” Outside, she heard the crunch of gravel. She went to the bathroom window. Billy followed. He stopped just behind her. He rested his chin on her shoulder. Maggie could feel the tension in his body.

In the drive, Uncle Woody’s green truck came to a halt. Uncle Woody climbed out of the truck, followed by his three sandy-haired, freckle-faced boys. Don was eight, Earl had just turned seven and Bee Bob was five. Uncle Woody looked at the house. His green eyes were dull.

The sound of the screen door smacking against the house startled Maggie. Corey Jean ran down the sidewalk into Uncle Woody's arms. As Uncle Woody swung her up she said, "Guess what Uncle Woody, my onliest girl cousin, Annie, is coming from Colorado with Grandma Marcy" She glanced disdainfully at the boys. "When she gets here I'm not gonna have to play with you dumb old boys."

Don said, "That's the best news I've heard this year."

Corey Jean stuck her tongue out at him.

Before Billy moved away from the window, he said, "It won't be much longer till the people start coming. Mama wants me to go to town to get some cokes and chips. Want to come?"

"Yeah, sure." She followed him into the living room while he got money from Garnet. The living room was the same, but nothing in this house felt the same. Like Daniel’s boots at the back door, everything seemed to be waiting, waiting for him to return.

“Don’t take too long,” Garnet warned.

“I won’t Mama.”

Maggie followed Billy out the backdoor. Skeeter and the boys were headed down the drive for the branch. Corey Jean followed behind them.

Uncle Woody had not gone into the house yet. He was leaning against his truck. Maggie’s father was beside him. He called out, "Hey Maggie." He opened his arms to her.

"Hi, Uncle Woody," she said, giving him a hug.

Uncle Woody glanced at his nephew, "Now Billy, you look after our Miss Maggie."

"Yes, sir."

Maggie looked at her father and said, “We are going to get some chips and cokes.”

Daddy nodded.

On the ride into town Billy didn't swerve or stop abruptly. Usually, he liked to scare her. She noticed he was breathing kind of funny. She asked, "What's wrong? You sound like you have a chest cold."

Without looking at her Billy said, "I swallowed a lot of water when I tried to pull Daniel out yesterday. The doctor said some of it went in my lungs. It hurts when I breathe."

"You were there?"

"Yeah,” his voice became hard, “so was John Carl.”

"He was? What happened Billy?"

He didn't answer.

Maggie looked at him. His body, though slumped over the steering wheel, was rigid in every muscle. His hands gripped the wheel so tightly they were white. He looked at her. His blue eyes were red rimmed and blood shot. He turned away from her and flipped on the radio.

*

Around eleven, people started coming to the Will’s house. Friends, neighbors, and church members brought casseroles, sandwiches, cookies and cakes. Food for the grieving. The dining room table groaned under the load. As Maggie looked at the table, she remembered she hadn't eaten since yesterday. Even so, she didn’t feel much like eating now. She picked up a cookie and shoved it in her mouth. The act of chewing it and swallowing it was difficult. She went into the kitchen for a glass of tea. A girl with long brown hair passed her and went into the living room. John Carl got up from the couch. The girl wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her. Maggie wished she was that girl.

As time passed, more and more people came. Maggie watched as Bill and Garnet sat on the black vinyl couch. People hugged them, patted their hands, and talked to them. Maggie didn't know how they stood it. She wanted to tell everyone to go home and leave them alone. Or maybe, she just wanted to be left alone. She didn’t like it being so crowded. She hated it being so crowded. She couldn’t breath. With the thought, I can’t take this anymore, she dashed out the back door and ran down the drive. She veered onto the cow trail that led to the branch. From the trail, she could hear the sound of flowing water. The mesquite trees and scrub oaks offered cool shade. At the branch, she slid down the steep bank. A tiny spring-fed stream bubbled. She sat down by one of the pools, pulled off her tennis shoes and plunged her bare feet into the cold water.

Farther down the stream, Uncle Woody's boys and Skeeter emerged from a thicket of trees carrying rusty cans and old shovels. She knew they were going to build a dam. That is what she and Billy used to do.

Don said, "This is the spot." It was the place every dam was built. A knee-deep pool spilled over a sandbar. All that was needed was an hour of dam building and the water would back up nicely.

Skeeter said, "I bet by supper time it'll be real deep."

“Yeah,” Earl agreed.

Bee Bob just nodded and sucked his thumb.

Earl spotted Maggie. "Come on, we need some help."

She picked up her shoes and hopped from rock to rock. Skeeter handed her a shovel. She said, "Once Billy and I built a dam so high we got the water waist deep." Of course her waist had been much lower at the time.

"Wow," said Don. "Do you think we could do that?"

"Sure," Maggie said. She thrust her shovel into the sandy bank and heaved the load into the shallow water. For a while she forgot about the knot in her chest. She even forgot about Daniel.

They worked steadily. The hot sun began to suck the coolness out of the branch. The shade grew deeper and shorter. Maggie's back ached. She stretched and shaded her eyes against the sun. The dam was finished. She sat down in the cool damp sand and swished her toes around in the water.

Don said, "I bet this is the best dam ever."

Skeeter grinned. "We're gonna have some fun tonight."

"Yeah," Earl said.

Bee Bob sat down beside Maggie and stuck his sand-covered thumb in his mouth.

Don made an ugly face at his baby brother. "You’re gonna get worms from that nasty thing."

Bee Bob pulled his thumb out of his mouth, "Am not." Defiantly, he popped it back in.

Don returned the ugly face and taunted, "Oh, yes you are gonna get worms. Big, slimy, black worms. Aunt Garnet says so and she don't lie. You're gonna get a belly full of GIANT worms."

Sun light glinted off the growing pool. A sudden realization struck Maggie. This water that was now gurgling innocently into the boys’ current swimming hole, came from the same spring that fed the cattle tank. Water was a terrible, powerful thing. The knot in her chest returned.

Bee Bob put his hand on her knee. "What is it Maggie?" he asked.

She looked into his eyes. She saw fear in them. She didn’t want to make it worse, so she lied, "Oh it's nothing. I was just thinking about how much fun you are going to have swimming this evening.”

"Yeah," he said smiling. He put his thumb back in his mouth and waded out into the water.

Maggie drew her knees to her chest and hugged them. For a while, she had forgotten Daniel was dead. She wouldn't forget again. A car door slammed up at the house then another one. Maggie put her hands over her ears.