Root Magic

When they return to the house, Janey sends them to clean up. As they rinse off, Jez tells Jay that she feels like something is in the marsh.

After dinner, Janey gives them their birthday gifts. Jay gets a model plane, and Jez receives a dress for her doll and a package of hair barrettes. When she says she’ll save them for special occasions, not wanting to get teased at school, Janey looks crestfallen. Doc also gives them each a bracelet made from Devil’s Shoestrings, and they have cake.

Later, Jez and Jay talk about what happened at the marsh. She says that something was holding her in the mud and that she heard a voice. They know they can’t tell their mother, since it’ll make her nervous and stop them from learning root. A year prior, the police investigated witch doctors and rootworkers, going around to every house. Some people were taken away, others were shot, and some just disappeared. It was the first time Deputy Collins came to their farm. Jay thinks she should tell Doc, but Jez thinks he’ll just tell Janey.

Jez puts Dinah’s new dress on her. Jay works on his plane; he wants to paint its tails red like the Black American pilots in World War II.