Chapter One

 
When the council meeting ended at six, the sun was just rising and the world outside was silver.  The elders returned to their fields to do some work before the day became too hot.  Peggy went to her room to rest a bit and saw a line of children with heavy metal buckets of water on their heads trudging down the path from the bore hole behind the house.  Some of them were headed for her kitchen. 

Auntie Esi stood next to Peggy as she gazed out the window.  “How far do they walk?” Peggy asked.

“There are only two bore holes, so the kids that live furthest away have to walk about a half hour in each direction.”

“An hour for a single bucket,” Peggy said quietly.

“And some kids make two or three trips before and after school.  Some walk for six hours a day.”

“Is the water clean at least?”

Auntie Esi shrugged.  “It’s not clean if you haul it from the pond.  That water is a yellowish-brown, and that’s what the entire town had to use when the pipes first broke in 1977.  But the local government representatives built two bore holes shortly after that which provide very clean water, though it costs money.  A few pennies a bucket.”

Peggy scowled.  “You mean they charge for clean water?”

Auntie Esi nodded.  “The pumps break down a lot, so they use the money to pay for repairs.”

“And the people who can’t afford the bore hole water drink the yellowish-brown water?”

Auntie Esi nodded again.  “They don’t get sick from it, though.  For hundreds of years before the British brought piped water, people in Otuam got all their water from the pond.  Many believe the goddess of the pond purifies the water and keeps them healthy.”

Peggy sighed, a deep sigh that came from the soul and rumbled through her entire body.  Evidently the pond contained one of the seventy-seven gods and goddesses known to protect Otuam.  But even so, no American king could allow her people to drink that disgusting water.  And besides, it was well known that sometimes nature gods and goddesses left their ancient spots without a word of warning.  If the goddess left, those drinking the water would sicken and even die.  She would have to get those kids more bore holes, free bore holes, and eventually fix the pipes.  How on earth was she going to afford it?

Auntie Esi put her weathered hand on Peggy’s shoulder.  “You will fix the water later,” she said.  “Remember the sparrow, who builds her nest one twig at a time.  We are going to eat breakfast now, and after that we are going to give you your first royal etiquette lesson.  You don’t want to disgrace the stool by doing something inappropriate for a Ghanaian king.”  After breakfast, the aunties taught Peggy how to walk majestically.  A king, they said, was never to show any hurry.  The whole world waited for a king.  Flapping around here and there like a chicken was undignified.

Auntie Esi strolled at a glacial pace down the hall, head up, shoulders back.  “Like this, Nana.  You bounce around too much and go too fast.”

“In the US, if I walked that slowly I would be hit by a car,”...

Author: Peggielene Bartels
Bio:  

PEGGIELENE BARTELS was born in Ghana in 1953 and moved to Washington, DC, in her early twenties to work at Ghana's embassy. She became an American citizen in 1997. In 2008, she was chosen to be king of Otuam, a Ghanaian village of 7,000 people on the west coast of Africa. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, still works at the embassy, and spends several weeks each year in Ghana.

ELEANOR HERMAN is the author of three books of women's history, including the New York Times bestseller Sex with Kings and Sex with the Queen. Her profile of Peggy was a cover story for the Washington Post Magazine. She lives in McLean, Virginia. Author: Eleanor Herman
Bio:  

PEGGIELENE BARTELS was born in Ghana in 1953 and moved to Washington, DC, in her early twenties to work at Ghana's embassy. She became an American citizen in 1997. In 2008, she was chosen to be king of Otuam, a Ghanaian village of 7,000 people on the west coast of Africa. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, still works at the embassy, and spends several weeks each year in Ghana.

ELEANOR HERMAN is the author of three books of women's history, including the New York Times bestseller Sex with Kings and Sex with the Queen. Her profile of Peggy was a cover story for the Washington Post Magazine. She lives in McLean, Virginia.