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Home Memories on Parade Meet the Family A Town is Born The Growing McCullough Family A Church Becomes a Reality A Closing Word The Man Called Guelcksie A is for Arthur The Coffin House Poet and Philosopher -- Aged Seven The Two Room School House Open the Windows and Open the Doors Sixteen Girls in White Four Girls and Five Boys The Poet in Hot Water Windows Open for Edith The Great Decision Bo Peep Epilogue Notes |
FOUR GIRLS AND FIVE BOYS An unusual family moved into Alicia while I was a schoolgirl, different from any other residents. There were parents and five tall, lanky boys who did not go to school. They settled on a small area near what was called the "Sand Cut" and planted a crop of sugar cane. That also was new. They erected a fly tent and set up a little mill that was turned by a small mule, hitched to a horizontal bar, and as the mule walked slowly round and round, the big cylinder on the middle of the bar ground the juice from the cane. The juice dripped into a vessel and was later boiled to a syrup, bottled and sold, as a kind of molasses. People from Alicia walked down to watch the process. We were allowed to go because it was something new and exciting. More exciting was the frosty morning that found the five boys at our house. Their mother wanted to borrow a darning needle from our mother, and all five boys came to get it. It was their chance to come to our house and they didn't miss it. Mama welcomed them into the big sitting room and left to find the needle. The boys asked if they might show us a game called "Raw Head and Blood Bones". They said they often played it at home. We stood back and waited to see what was to happen. The boys took the middle of the room, pushing all chairs out of the way. Then they began to hit and push each other, falling sprawling on the floor amid moans and groans. The room became topsy-turvy in minutes, and the noise was unbearable. It brought Mama with the needle, which she gave to the tallest boy, and ushered all five through the front door, explaining gently that their mother was probably waiting to use it. |