by Irene Latham
The ferry itself wasn’t nothing more than logs tied together with rope. Most times it was for carrying folks to get their bags of seed and other things from Mr. Cobb at Camden Mercantile. But it was about as big as the inside of our cabin, so it could carry over a wagon and a pair of horses too.
I reckon it was the cables that made it strong. One cable held the ferry to a metal wheel way up high. The wheel ran along the other cable that was strung between two trees on either side of the river. So all Willie Joe had to do to get folks across was push his long pole against the bottom of the river. Then the little wheel would turn and the ferry would follow it straight across.
The pole. Wouldn’t get nowhere unless I got hold of Willie Joe’s pole.
I looked all along the riverbank till finally I found it hiding in some leaves that must have blown over it during the storm.
That pole was taller than I was. But once I got it firm in my hand, wasn’t no more thinking about it. I held my breath and jumped from the bank to the ferry.
The logs dipped into the water when I landed, nearly knocking me off balance. But I grabbed hold of the rail just in time.
I was on the river! For the first time in my whole life, there wasn’t a bit of solid dirt under my feet. Just thousands of buckets of water.
I wished Mama could see me. Even if she was mad about it, I reckon she’d be proud too.
Above me the cable groaned as a tangle of tree branches slammed into the ferry. To keep myself from falling, I dug my toes in between the logs. I was working so hard to keep my feet in place, I forgot about my hands. Next thing I knew, Willie Joe’s pole was rolling along the floor of the ferry.
As I scrambled after the pole, freezing water splashed onto my arms and legs. I gritted my teeth against the cold. Then, just as the pole was about to roll off the edge of the ferry, I got my fingers wrapped around it.
I grinned. Didn’t matter that my dress was sticking to my legs and goose bumps was popping up all over. I was crossing the river!
Now was the time for the hard part. The ferry wobbled as I planted the pole into the muddy bottom of the river. I tried to do it just the way I’d seen Willie Joe do.
Trouble was, I wasn’t as big as Willie Joe. And the current was so strong, it was like the ferry was stuck. It was acting all stubborn, the way Delilah does in the late afternoons after being in the field all day. The ferry just sat there straining to go downstream when I wanted it to go across.
I threw all my weight against the pole. I pushed so hard the muscles in my arms burned.
“You can do it,” I said as I planted the pole again, this time in front of the ferry. As the logs shifted underneath me and we began to inch along, I knew it was working. The ferry was moving!
Again and again I lifted the pole and planted it into the mud at the bottom of the river. Again and again the ferry moved a little closer to the other shore.
“Dear Lord, thank you!” I said to the sky as the wheel kept on turning. Then I thought of Etta Mae. She was gonna love this story. Silly old eye patch couldn’t stop me.
By the time I got to the center of the river, my breath came out in quick puffs and it felt like my arms was on fire. Wasn’t no time to stop, though. Not with the water rushing along and the ferry bucking like a mule that ain’t been broke.
I lifted the pole again and pushed it deep in the water. This time the pole went down and down and down without stopping. Wasn’t no bottom in this part of the river! And the current was so strong it was sucking the pole right out of my fingers.
I gasped as the pole slipped into the water and disappeared for a moment, then popped back up to the surface. I reached, but it was already on its way down the river. It got smaller and smaller till I couldn’t see it no more.
What was I gonna do now? Wasn’t no way to get the ferry across the river without a pole, unless you counted swimming. Which I didn’t, on account I ain’t never learned how.
Mama, why didn’t you let Daddy or Ruben teach me to swim? Just because I got this old eye patch. Ain’t no reason for not learning to do outside things.
Just then a gust of wind caught the ferry. The cable that held the ferry to the wheel screeched like a hungry owl. The cable began to unravel, slowly at first, then faster and faster. Then I heard a popping sound and the ferry jerked free. Next thing I knew, me and the ferry wasn’t going across no more. We was heading downstream same as Willie Joe’s pole.
I got low as I could to the bottom of the ferry. I mean, we was flying down that river. I ain’t never gone so fast in my life. Freezing cold water was rushing into my face, pushing against my eye patch. I couldn’t catch my breath, and I thought I was gonna die for sure.
Where in the world did this river go? I tried to picture the map Teacher showed us at school. I knew the river looped and turned all through Alabama, and at the end it dumped into Mobile Bay. Wasn’t no telling where I’d end up.
I looked behind me. How far was I now from Gee’s Bend? How far from Camden?
Wasn’t nothing I could see that looked familiar to me. I reckon I thought the river would look the same no matter where you was. But I got to tell you, that river was full of surprises. Wasn’t long before it got wider, like it was turning into a lake. And the water started to slow down. Didn’t help me none. I still couldn’t swim and now I was a whole lot farther from the shore.
What would happen if I jumped? Would I sink under the water and never come back up? Mama always said it’s best not to rush into things. That sometimes the answer to a problem will come to you if you just wait it out.
But what did Mama know about this river? She was born in Gee’s Bend and ain’t never spent a night noplace else. Only time she ever crossed over was when the blackberries was ripe and ready to sell.
She was scared of the river, that’s what I think. Her mama never did teach her how to swim neither.
Well, I didn’t have time for being scared. Wasn’t all that far to the shore. Couldn’t be no farther than the distance from the chinaberry tree to the last cabin on our row. And could be my arms and legs would get in there and know just what to do.
I checked my pocket to be sure my needle and cloth was shoved in just as far as they could go. Then I got real close to the edge of the ferry, sucked in my breath, and did the only thing I could think of.
I jumped.
I mean to tell you, that water didn’t have no manners whatsoever. Didn’t stop to say hello or how do you do. It was like a door that was open one second, slammed shut the next.
At first I just let myself sink. My ears popped as I drifted down, and when I opened my eye all I could see was a billion bubbles.
Wasn’t the worst thing in the world being all covered up with water. It was cold but heavy. Like being in bed with three quilts covering me from head to toe. I liked the way my arms and legs was floating like they didn’t have no weight to ’em at all.
Trouble was, my head wasn’t popping up to the top the way a piece of cork does on a fishing line. I didn’t have no idea what to do.
Just then my chest started to ache on the inside. I reckon that’s what made my legs start kicking and my arms start waving.
Slowly my body began to rise toward daylight. I kicked harder as the water seemed to get thinner, and my dress started to float up around my middle. Just when I thought my chest was gonna explode, my head popped out of the water and my mouth opened wide so I could drag in some fresh air.
I pushed my shoulders back and lifted my chin above the water. The ferry was getting smaller and smaller as it kept on going down the river. Was Willie Joe ever gonna be mad at me when he found out about the ferry getting loose and floating away!
But wasn’t no use in thinking about that. My legs was getting real tired, like they wasn’t gonna go much longer. I pointed myself toward the riverbank and paddled with my arms as fast as they would go.
Little by little, I moved toward the shore. Wasn’t much farther to go now. Just had to keep my arms and legs m
oving a little while longer.
In front of me a fallen tree stretched out from the riverbank like an arm reaching to catch me. If I could just get to that tree! Then I could pull myself out of the cold water that was making my muscles burn and my skin shiver.
I gave two more powerful kicks and stretched my fingers as far as they could go. But before I could grab hold of the fallen tree, the water started pulling me under. It was like two giant hands latched onto my legs and yanked me down under that tree.
I sputtered as my mouth went underwater before I was ready. I was so close to the shore. Why couldn’t I get out of the water?
My mind went dark except for Mama’s face. My legs pumped hard against the current. The river wanted to pull me under, but I wouldn’t let it. I was gonna get to Camden. I was gonna find Doc Nelson, and he was gonna save Mama’s life. Wasn’t nothing gonna stop me from getting to the other side.
Alone
I CAN’T SAY HOW IT HAPPENED, BUT NEXT THING I knew I had my arms wrapped around a tree trunk, and arm over arm I was hauling myself up. As soon as I felt solid ground under my feet, I fell in a heap same way Mama did the day Rose was born. My heart was thumping like it was gonna come right out of my chest, and I was shaking so bad I wasn’t sure I would ever stop. And wasn’t no telling where I was.
But none of that mattered. What mattered was that I was alive, and I had crossed over to the other side.
I don’t know how long it was I stayed in that same spot. When I rolled over from my belly to my back, the sun was high and the clouds had all disappeared.
Where in the world was I? I sat in a little patch of light, but all I could see around me was pine trees. Pine trees that looked just like the ones in Gee’s Bend. Except I knew they wasn’t.
I eased up to a sitting position and smoothed my hands across the front of my dress. The sun felt warm on my back, but my whole dress was soaked through and sticking to my skin. The front was streaked with orange mud, and the seam of my pocket was torn. Ain’t no amount of scrubbing that’ll get them orange stains out. But miracle of miracles, my needle and scraps of cloth was still there.
Mama, if this here needle can make it across the Alabama River, you can make it too. You can stop coughing and get out of that bed and get back to stitching quilts in the evenings.
I squeezed the water from the cloth pieces and spread them out on the sunny patch of pine straw to dry. I held the needle between my finger and thumb, gentle enough so as not to draw blood. Such a tiny little thing. But just the touch of it made me feel better. Like right between my fingers I was holding a piece of home.
I reckon it just takes a bit of time for the water to all the way drain out of your ears before your mind can start working straight again. Or could be I was just so glad to be out of that river I wasn’t thinking no more about what a hurry I was in. Because instead of jumping up and running my way back the direction I came from, I took the wet thread and put it right through the needle. Didn’t even have to lick it.
Then I knotted the thread with my fingers and moved the needle in and out of them calico pieces from Mama’s apron. They was looking good in my quilt, just like I thought they would.
I’d need a plain piece of cloth next. Some solid color to set off the calico. Because my mama didn’t like no busy quilt. She liked there to be order enough to it so it didn’t hurt your eyes when you looked at it.
That’s when I remembered my torn pocket. I set the cloth I was working onto the ground beside me and started picking at the seam with my fingers. Had to be real careful not to rip a hole in the dress. I sure didn’t want to waste no thread patching a silly old hole.
Soon as the pocket was free, I held it up against the work I’d already done. Perfect! Wouldn’t take me long to stitch it in, neither. Soon as I was done, I’d be on my way.
What was Mama doing this very second? Was she having one of them coughing spells? What about baby Rose and Etta Mae? Had Ruben told any of ’em yet about me going to Camden?
I sat there stitching and thinking till the sun was straight up in the sky. My dress was starting to dry and I didn’t feel nearly so waterlogged as I had before. I rolled my head from side to side to loosen my neck, then I smoothed the quilt against my legs, checking each seam. The quilt was big enough now to cover my lap, like a real colorful napkin. I know Mama would be proud of how fast I was getting it done.
Would Mama like the colors I picked? I tucked the needle into a tight seam and held the quilt up in the air to get a look from a different angle. Would she be mad about me taking them pieces from her apron? I turned the quilt in the air, looking at it this way and that. Soon I would run out of thread. Wasn’t but a few inches hanging down like the tail of a kite.
I lay back in the grass, the sun warm on my face. I closed my eyes and got a picture of Rose in my mind. Rose when she was brand-new, before I knew how bad things was with Mama.
My eyelids got heavy and my breathing got regular. Just one more minute, I thought, just need to rest one more minute, then I’ll start walking back toward Camden.
One minute turned to two. Two minutes turned to three. After not sleeping none the whole night and then fighting the river, I reckon my body couldn’t handle it no more.
While Mama lay there coughing and shaking, I slept. I slept like a baby. I slept like Rose.
It was a squirrel that woke me. A little bush-tailed squirrel rooting around in the straw for stray nuts to stuff in its mouth and carry home to its nest.
I saw the squirrel first, then the sun. It was starting to come down already, and I knew what that meant. Wasn’t much daylight left.
I jerked up, smacking my tongue against the roof of my mouth. It was dry and pasty-feeling, like biscuits before you bake ’em.
I scrambled to my feet. How could I have fallen to sleep? Etta Mae wouldn’t have done that. Or Ruben. I reckon if one of them had come with me, I’d be in Camden already.
I smoothed down my dress. It was wrinkled now, but at least it was nearly dry. If only my legs didn’t feel so wobbly. It was like my mind was awake but the rest of me was still trying to catch up.
I scooped up my quilting things and ground my teeth together as the muscles in my back and legs complained. Wasn’t no time for that now. Not with night coming on so fast.
Why did the days have to be so short in November? And me so far down the river. Was it five miles? Ten? The way the river moved, I just couldn’t be sure. The only thing certain was that there wasn’t no way I was gonna get back to Gee’s Bend by nightfall. No way at all.
I pushed air out through my nose the way Delilah does when she’s looking for more feed but there ain’t none in the bucket.
Could I even get to Camden before nightfall? I rubbed my hands against my bare arms. I sure didn’t want to sleep the night on the riverbank the way Etta Mae did. Not with that cool breeze blowing.
Beside me the river flowed with no worries whatsoever. Just moseyed right along.
That’s when it came to me. If I just stayed close to the river, I’d wind up where I was supposed to be. All I had to do was walk back the way I’d come and I would find Camden. I would find Camden and get Doc Nelson and then I’d bring him back to Gee’s Bend to help Mama.
Wasn’t nothing else for me to do except put one foot in front of the other. I reckon I walked five or six miles, right along the river. Didn’t take all that long because I was used to walking. On account there wasn’t a single motorcar in Gee’s Bend. We’d hitch Delilah up to a wagon sometimes, but that was for hauling cotton mostly. Not for folks to ride in.
The pine trees swayed above me as night moved in and the air got cooler. My nose and ears was so cold, I knew they’d start going numb if I didn’t find cover soon. Wasn’t nothing but trees far as I could see. But I knew from living in Gee’s Bend that the trees had to stop someplace. I just had to keep going and then there would be a cotton field or maybe a row of cabins.
Whatever energy I’d gotten from sleeping soon disa
ppeared and was replaced by a gnawing in my belly. After all I’d been through that day, I needed food. Hadn’t had a bite to eat since breakfast.
First I tried to forget about it by running. Trouble was, running made my knees and shoulders ache. After just a few minutes, my whole body was complaining. You’d think I was falling to pieces. Didn’t help none that I was alone in a place I ain’t never been before.
I kicked through a pile of leaves. Looked like hickory, the way they was half yellow, half brown. I bet they was real pretty in sunlight. Wasn’t no pine trees alongside this part of the river. Just oak and hickory and elm, their branches nearly bare of leaves. Wouldn’t Daddy love to have some of that wood to put on the fire. I bet it’d last all night long.
Goose bumps popped up on my arms. What I wouldn’t give to be in front of a fire right now. Or under a quilt.
That’s when I remembered the quilt in my hands. I real quick unfolded it and rubbed it against my arms. Right away them goose bumps disappeared.
Mama, are you getting any better? Or just worse? All day I’ve been working to get some help for you. I wish I’d done better. I wish I could just snap my fingers and things would be just the way I want them to be.
I crossed my arms against my chest. I had to get to Doc Nelson. I had to get Mama some help before it was too late.
I had other worries too. What if Daddy was mad about me going to Camden? What if he was mad at Ruben? I sure didn’t want Ruben to get in no trouble. And what about the ferry? Folks in Gee’s Bend wouldn’t have no idea what happened to it. Or to me.
What if they was all worried about me? What if I never did make it to Camden and never made it home neither? What if I died, and Mama died, and Daddy had to raise Rose all alone?
A chill came across me, but I couldn’t hardly shiver, my arms and legs was so worn out. Seemed like even the calluses on my feet was aching. All of a sudden a picture came in my head of them high-heeled shoes. They might be hard to walk in to start with, but I reckon they’d keep all them little acorns from digging into my feet. My belly grumbled, and I knew I wasn’t gonna be able to go on much longer.
