Terri looked at him, disbelief evident on her face. “I find that a little hard to swallow” she replied.

Oscar sighed. “Give me five bucks and you can have the darned thing. It’s only been trouble since I found it.”

Somewhere inside Terri rejoiced as she handed over the five dollars and collected the compass from Oscar. His eyes lit up as he gazed upon the five-dollar bill. It was quite a large sum of money in those days. Terri pondered in the back of her mind if the old man was going to spend it all on liquor and the glint in his eyes made her think that this was very possibly the case.

“Caveat Emptor and all that” Oscar said and hoisted his duffel bag unto his back. “I’ve never run up against a soul I couldn’t sell something to and my record remains intact. Good day my dear.” He lifted the small hat off the crown of his head and bowed, then returned it to the crown from whence it came, standing upright and starting to walk off into the distance.

Terri stood gazing at the fine metalwork that made up the housing of the compass. It was heavier than she had expected, and in addition to the needle idly wobbling about the pin mounted in the centre of the face there were inlaid designs wrought of some highly polished metal. Terri thought it looked too shiny to be silver. A breeze blew through the cotton plants and raised her hair, but she didn’t even notice. The spinning of the needle was almost hypnotic.

“Terri!” shouted someone. The voice seemed to come from miles away. She could barely make out the words, much less where it was coming from. It wasn’t important now though, it was too far away to matter. She heard the call again, this time from a little nearer, but her mind was enveloped in a mound of fuzz. The voices drifted as if they were seeping through the cotton ear-pads she used to make to keep out the drunken noise when the plantation hands had a party.

“Terri! Laws alive girl!” The voice came sharply and snapped her out of the trancelike state she was in. “Whey you’s a-goin Missus?” Talitha, the old maid that they hired at the plantation was holding her shoulder.

“I wasn’t going anywhere Talitha” Terri replied. She really wasn’t, as far as she knew anyway.

“Laws chile, you’s almost been land fill” the old woman replied, spinning the girl around. Terri looked at the ditch which dropped away for what seemed like forever in front of her and shuddered. How did she get there?

“I-I’m sorry Talitha” Terri stammered. “I-I don’t know…”

“It alright honeychile” the old black woman replied and clasped the child to her ample bosom. Terri felt safe in the arms of her former nursemaid and relaxed a little. Her hands sought the familiar safety of her own pockets. As she slid her left hand into her left pocket, the icy cold compass housing touched her fingers and she shuddered again. Talitha hugged her tighter, but no amount of warmth could take the dirty feeling of that icy draught up her spine.