"As I went down to the river to pray
Studyin' about that good ol' way
And who shall wear the starry crown?
Good Lord show me the way!"
Alison Krauss (Down To The River To Pray)
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"Come down from there Brigid! You know if you fall in I won't jump after you."
"Oh! You worry too much, I won't fall! Anyway, you know I hate being called Brigid, so why do you keep calling me that?"
On the hot mid-summer day, twelve year old Brigid Mehetabel Taggart balanced herself as she walked on the wide railings of a steel bridge that crossed over the River Towy in Carmarthen, Wales. Next to her with a book in one hand and an eye on her younger friend was Taggart's best friend Laura Nell Vaughan. Both girls lived at the Saint Colette orphanage and even though they didn't ask permission to leave, Taggart was able convince the more cautious Laura that it would be a crime to stay cooped up on such an nice day. So when no one was looking, both girls snuck out.
"Well I just think it's a nice name and it sounds more pleasant, more girly then Taggart! Taggart sounds like it should be a strange boy's name," Laura chuckled as she glanced up from her book in order to look at Taggart with both her eyes before adding, "But yet again I guess that suits you. You'd probably would make a better boy than girl anyway."
Taking a playful swing towards her friend but making sure it wasn't too large, so that she wouldn't loose her balance, the small girl just murmured out, "Hey jerk!" as they continued to walk across the long bridge. As sad as it was, the comment that Laura made was true as even though they both were wearing matching red and white dresses, it was a well known fact that Taggart was forced into wearing hers.
Laura merely took a small steep away from Taggart's reach and slowly closed up her book to spend more time talking with her friend. "Hey it's true now! We have a bet back home about who's more like a man, you or Jacob! My money's on you and if you keep this up, looks like I'll be up a good shilling or two."
Jacob Rukavok was another friend back at the orphanage, closer in age to Laura then Taggart, he was well known for his pranks and troublesome behavior. The only reason he wasn't with the two girls now was because he was writing out passages of the Bible with Father Bruns as punishment for adding a 'sinful' and unwanted ingredient to the Holy Water.
"So sue me, I don't like dresses. You can't play in them at all, but really when you think about it, is there anything wrong with not liking dresses?" Taggart shrugged her shoulders, keeping her eyes down on the narrow railing and the quick moving river below. "And dolls just creep me out, so lifeless looking. Just there is something wrong with dolls, it's like they're living but not really…"
Suddenly the small girl lost her footing on the railing and fell backwards into the River Towy with a splash. The current was strong at this time of year and being a poor swimmer, it didn't take long for her to be completely engulfed into the ranging waves of the river. In desperation she tried to fight her way to the surface, once in a while making it but only to inhale a mouthful of water every time she tried to take a breath. Running out of air and strength, the idea that she might die became more and more real.
Only a split second passed, but to Taggart it seemed like hours, before Laura swiftly dropped her book on the wooden bridge and jumped in after her younger friend. There was brief moment of comfort to Taggart when she heard the splash of her friend jumping in the river, knowing how strong of a swimmer Laura was but this quickly passed as she started to lose the battle for air against the powerful current. Feeling herself starting to sink lower and lower, unable to fight back to the surface, all Taggart could do was pray as she saw the light from the surface starting to fade away. She didn't want to die, not now at least.
To Taggart it was an angel who took hold of her, tugging on her dress and around her pulling her up towards the light once more. Moving closer and closer she realized it was not an angle but her friend Laura that was dragging her towards the surface. Nothing in the world felt better then that first breath the little girl took since she fell in the river. Naturally coughing out water so that her lungs can breath the air better, she glanced over in exhaustion and relief to see Laura holding her tightly, pulling her towards the banks. In that moment Taggart felt eternally thankful to Laura for saving her from what seemed to be a certain death.
As they came closer to the sides of the river she mustered enough strength to grab hold of a low hanging branch from one of the near by trees in effort to help ease the burden she must be on her rescuer. Pulling herself closer to the muddy riverside she nearly loss her grip as the water tried to reclaim what it had lost with one final push of the rough current. Taggart immediately held the branch tighter and closer to her body, closing her eyes in fear of the water and the death it nearly brought her once today. It was only when she reopened her eyes several minutes later, the young girl was able to pull herself completely out of the water and onto the solid mud ground.
Still coughing out water and completely exhausted she weakly smiled and fell onto her back, feeling so fortunate to be alive after such a death defying experience. "I thought," she started with a tone just a bit louder than a whisper, breathing heavily between words, "I thought you wouldn't jump in after me." The smile on Taggart's face just wouldn't leave as she slowly forced herself to sit up and look at Laura, but as she looked around she realized Laura was no where to be found and slowly the smile faded.
That was the last time she saw Laura Nell Vaughan again.