Summary

The story begins with a young girl waiting with her mother and sister in the darkness of a crowded disembarkation shed. Her eyes are still a little hazy from the brilliance of the sun on the water of the bay they had just crossed. They had come by boat from New York to Barbados to see her grandmother for the first time.

She is fascinated by all the sights and sounds of the island bombarding her, as they are all so different from her world in the city. She is taken with her new surroundings that she does not see her grandmother approaching at first. Her mother squeezing her hand brings her to attention and looks up to see the shadowy figure of a small, erect woman headed her way.

The girl can see her plainly now, even though her face...