THE sober community of Rocky Heights was quite the opposite of its name. It was a flat, fertile piece of land that yielded an abundance of fruits, vegetables and provision.
There were three major problems in the village. Limited electricity supply, poor water supplied to those who could afford it- the others had to trek about a mile away to the community standpipe in order to get water- and very limited telephone access. Phones were limited to the Post Office, the Village Office and the only three rich families who made that community their home.

Every day before dawn and dusk, people could be seen ferrying water to their homes. Whenever the supply went dry the villagers had to resort to a nearby canal.

Apart from these shortcomings, the village was a very nice place to reside. Two churches, a small temple, a mosque, three small shops, the Post Office, the Village Office and a cluster of about 35 houses was how the community was made up. Each house had about half an acre of land which the people put to good use with small scale farming.

There was one other issue that made the village stand out. Many stories had been circulated about the sightings and encounters with all kinds of supernatural beings. Having a mixed population of Africans and East Indians, this was not surprising. Each culture was laced with supernatural deities. Rocky Heights became known as the “Jumbie village.”

People came from all around to see or experience these strange happenings. Most of them left disappointed. A few got their wishes and left ruing their misfortune. The villagers took these things seriously. In every house could be found the following items: holy water, a crucifix and incense. It did not matter which religion they subscribed to, they all took precautions against unwanted visitors.

The adults kept the spirits at bay while the children played their lives away. They were too small to appreciate the situation and were often not burdened with too many details of all the stories.

Donald and Ted sat on the stairs with three empty buckets between them. They had just returned from the standpipe disappointed that water had stopped flowing. It was rumoured that there was a leak somewhere so the villagers would have to wait the day or days it would take to be repaired. They knew that the house was completely out of water and they would both suffer at the hands of their dad for not filling up water during the morning. All day they had played, putting off their chores for later thinking that they would have ample time to fill up before he got home. They had used this strategy regularly but unfortunately for them, this time it backfired, leaving them to face the music.

“I have a brilliant idea!” Ted seemed thrilled.

“What?” Donald asked.
“Let’s steal water from Mrs. Gordon!”
“Not me. Dat woman does wuk obeah!” Donald spoke with emphasis.
“How you know she is wuk obeah?” Ted wanted to know.
“You ain’t see how rich she is an she don’t wuk no place?”
“Well is either thief water or licks like peas!” Ted quipped.
Donald didn’t like the sound of the latter so he opted for water heist.
“But leh we watch out. Rememba wa happen to Boyo. He went fo thief mango and somebody kick he out de tree. Up to now he don’t know who kick he,” Donald warned.
“Boy dat is a load a doltishness !” Ted retorted.
“Well you could say anything. Kevin went fo get paw paw an wen he crawl and meet halfway to de tree a paw paw land on he head. When he look round fo it, de thing disappear!”
“Yo fetching water or talking stupidness?” Ted demanded.
“Leh we go,” Donald said quickly looking around in a pensive manner.
“Boy you is one frighten Freddie!” Ted laughed.
Then Ted jumped over the fence and crept towards the yard pipe at the back of Mrs. Gordon’s yard while Donald waited on the other side for the signal to throw the bucket. It was past six and darkness had quickly set in. Donald, meanwhile, was looking around him in apprehension. Seeing a dark figure heading for the backyard, he dropped the buckets and raced indoors leaving Ted to be discovered by the obeah woman.
Ted was taking careful stock. It was dark and quiet. Nothing but shadows moved. He hissed to his waiting brother.
“Throw a bucket!”
Thud!
The plastic bucket hit him in the shoulder and he felt the pain from the impact. He began to cuss. It was just like Donald to leave him to do the hard work and not even take his time to throw the bucket properly. He angrily threw it back and hissed louder.
“Hey, you is a idiot or what? Boy throw de bucket properly!”
The second time the bucket hit him harder. He landed on his rear with the bucket covering his head. Now he was really angry. Jumping to his feet in fury he grabbed the black bucket and hurled it violently at his brother.
“Idiot!” He yelled forgetting about stealth. Come and fetch yo water yo self!”
Crack!
Bang!
Two buckets hit him one after the other. The next thing he knew he was lying on the ground staring up at the stars; moving stars. Screaming in anger, pain and embarrassment he surged to his feet ready to beat the daylight out of Donald. He came face to face with Mrs. Gordon.
“Wat you doing in me yard?” Her eyes seemed to flash in anger.
“ A-a-a-am sarry Mrs. Gordon. Ah did jus borrowing some water!”
“Without asking fuss?” she glared at him.
“P-p-please fo some water Mrs. Gordon,” he said with a tremor in his voice.
“Well alright! But yo mek so much noise is enough fo raise de dead!” she grinned when she said this.
“Is Ted. He pelt me wid de bucket.” he explained.
“Not Ted! Dat boy run inside and lock up as soon as you jump over de fence.”
“W-w-what?”
Donald’s eyes bulged with fright. If Ted didn’t throw the bucket then there were only two other possibilities, both of which he hated contemplating. The first was Mrs. Gordon but she seemed too old, slow and looked incapable of lifting the bucket. The second was quite terrifying to ponder. Something had pelted him with the bucket. Mrs. Gordon smiled in a knowing way and whispered softly.
“Betta watch yo self whenever yo come in dis yard at night,” she said.

She then winked mockingly at him. Only problem was he was not there. All the surprised woman heard was a loud howling scream and the crash of a closed door as Donald disappeared indoors leaving a hole in her nice fence.