It was midnight when Emmeline put away the last of the mess Martha had made in the kitchen taking her bath. She'd have thought her cousin was nine instead of nineteen the way she splashed and acted.

She was absolutely miserable and as exhausted as she ever remembered being. She stepped out on the back porch and threw the last bucket of water out. She yelped in surprise to find Uncle Virgil standing on the porch, smoking.

"Uncle Virgil! I didn't know you smoked."

His face was illuminated in the glow of the cigar as he took a puff. He was grinning a bit.

"Neither does your aunt, so don't tell, okay?"

Emmeline smiled back. "Won't say a thing."

She turned the bucket over and sat down, scratching her filthy head. What she wouldn't give for a bath herself.

Uncle Virgil sat down on the steps next to her.

"I'm sorry your aunt has been so hard on you."

Emmeline shrugged. "Life gives you only as much as you can take."

"I reckon that's rightly so, sugar," he drawled. "You know, there's a pond not too far from here. I'll bet on a night like tonight, the water is just the right temperature for a swim."

She perked up a bit. "A pond? Really? Where?"

He ground out the cigar, then put the rest of it in his shirt pocket and stood.

"About half a mile north. It's on town property so no one owns it. Most folks use it to, ahem, take baths on hot summer nights." He pointed toward the trees across the meadow. "The moon is real bright tonight, so you should be able to find your way easy. Right through those pines over there, can't miss it. Be careful, now, ya hear? There are only a few critters out there ...