It was so hot in the house they decided to eat out on the porch. The men laid boards across a couple of saw-horses they had brought up from the shed to make a table. Becky ironed a cotton sheet to use for a tablecloth, and they all helped bring out the food. There was a platter of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, big soft, white yeast rolls, and corn, cucumbers, tomatoes and half-runners from the garden. Aunt Cathy and Billy stepped out onto the porch with a big pitcher of sweet tea and a plate brimming with slices of musk melon. Aunt Cathy said the blessing, and they dug in to the fine eats spread before them.

    Cathy waited until everyone had a chance to take the edge off of their hunger, then she began to speak. "Miss Cassie would be awful pleased to see all of us sitting here on her front porch. None of you ever got to know her well, but she loved every single one of you. She's been visiting me in my dreams lately. It seems like she wants her story told at last. Be warned. You will likely learn some things you'd just as soon not. I can't tell Miss Cassie's story without telling some of mine that I've kept close hid for many years. But you are bloodkin to both Miss Cassie and to me, so this is your story too, and you need to hear it."