Blair found his shirt caught in the twisted limbs of a thorny bush. Reaching his hand in to untangle it, some red wasps flew toward his face, and he hastily jumped back, stumbling into Cassie.

"Whut's a-matter?" And Cassie peered around his back to see the wasps preparing for aerial combat. "They didn't staing ya, did they, honey? I hate them devils, spaitially when they builds a naist up in the corners of the seelin'. I'm kinder skeered of 'em, and Stevie, he taken a broom and knocks their naistes down, but whun thur mad I run outtendoors. I don't liken them bugs! I purely don't know why God cree-a-tated 'em fer--but like the preacher said las' Sundee, God is a misterous bean."

Blair was trying to follow this...God, a bean? Oh, he could've kicked himself. If he'd only brought his tape recorder. What a fascinating paper...what excellent copy her dialect would make...

She reached between the wasps and snatched at his shirt, and then she began whipping the air at the insects, screehing, "Get outter here, you red demon wawlstes, you ain't stangin' nobody here terday."

She batted his shirt like an amazon fighing a horde of misogynists with an eerie war cry. The bugs knew when they'd been licked. They flew off toward the boughs of a sweet gum tree.

"Now, sweet thang, you cans put yore shirt back on, if ya has ter, it don't minded me nun if'n you walk 'longside me chest-nekkid. I all'ays sneaks down ter see the boys at thur swimmin' hole in Froggie Holler Pond. I clambers down 'hind some bushes and watches 'em, an' I cun see their pee-pees and ever' thang. 'Course Mamma would whup my buttend if she knew it!" And Cassie grinned, not sheepishly.

Blair was stunned, "You watch your brothers as they bathe?"

Cassie's face blushed as red as her hair, and she slapped him on the forearm. "Whuh...whuh...air you a pre-vurt? 'She that lookuth on her brother in a lustering look wail be day-stroyed by hellfar and brimminstone!"

"I apologize, Cassie Dayzella, I just misunderstood who the 'boys' were, that's all."

Cassie peered up into his eyes, searching and when she'd found her answer, she nodded. "Yep, you is awright, and Beelair, whut kinder name is that fer a man?

Blair Sandburg threw back his head and laughed. God, I deserve a laugh. "It's not pronounced Bee-lair, it's Blair, put a bluh sound before the air, Okay?"

Cassie puckered up her lips, "Blu-air, Blair! Ain't that a female-woman's name. Once't I cum acrost this maggerzine that must have flewed outter somebuddy's car winder, well, it was torn up, but it said somepin' 'bout a soap opper, and a blondish haided long-haired woman in it, way-ull, her name wuz Blair. And they wuz letters (Blair was amazed at the fact that Cassie could read this well, but why did she still speak in that hideous dialect) in frum vee-you-urs, they was callin' her names, wayull, I read hit ever' word, and know that stoaree, do ya wan' me to tell yer 'bout whut all that mean woman dun to her ole man and her kinfokes-ez?"

They began walking down the steep hill, Blair avoiding ant hills and various insect life that crawled, shimmied and flew. He was a bug magnet.

"How much farther is your home?"

"Not too fur off, jus' down thiz hill we is traverrin' and crost a creek whut's little, ain't no fish in it, then up that rise, then we ull be on my home place. Air you tard? Ya wanttin ter rest?"

Blair made a face. "No, let's keep going. I'll be glad to get inside in front of a fan."

"A fan?" Cassie hollered. "We'd hev ter go to the church house fer a fan, we ain't got none. Pappa never got us warred up fer lecktrish city."

"Leck...oh, electricity."

"When we's gets to the creek, you cans pull off'n yore shoes and socks and wade in it. It's real coldish. That brangs my timper and choor down some-uns. Daddy says this is the gawldurndest summer he ever seed, and do yer want fer me ter finish my soap opper? It was cawled a Life ter Live and it had lots of purty pikchures with real purty women foke and handsomederest menfolk I ain't never need seed nun the like in this holler. They don' make men that purty up here, and I reckums why not? Do you node the ansurrem to that, Blair?"

"I thought the way you spoke, your brother Steven was thought of as quite handsome?"

Cassie's eyes popped, and she giggled. "Well, 'course, his saister wuddunt thank so, but he's got a lot of gals whuts all'ays a tailin' him. Mamma says he follers hafter Daddy thataway. She said Daddy when he wuz yungger, he was the nicest lukkin' man on this here hill, pert neer ever female-woman cum up here sniffin' at him like a dawg whut's treed a coon. Ter look at him now...well, don't that crack yer yaller?" And she gave him a full-throated laugh.

"What of James?"

Cassie rolled her eyes, and hooted. "Oh, I fergitted, hay's the raysum yer cum up here fer. Whine, he'ins is fine lukkin' I serpose, he shore is tall and stout, his musselums is puffed out to here," and Cassie drew imaginary circles around her own upper arms. "But, he ain't runnin' 'round no gal women, I berleeve, I 'member right, whut Mamma once't tol' me in conferrdence't, he wants to lay with a manperson in his may-redge bed 'stead of a womanperson. Mamma says them kind of men people is quare in the haid, but she done tole me they is the safest kind of men foke a pore woman kan be sturranded wif, case if she's in trubble, 'cause they leaf her skirt whur it berlongs."

"Cassie, you mustn't say 'quare', you should say 'gay'."

"Way ull, JimmyJoe ain't gay, 'cause he ain't nevver heppy. He's got a scowell on his face thur livelong day."

Blair caught her arm in the crook of the elbow as they came to the creek, and there, kneeling, using his hands for a cup, was a man, drinking from the rushing water.

Ending is such sweet sorrow,