Chapter Forty Seven

New Dixie was distinct from every other town in Santa Eduviges. The entire population was black instead of mixed-race Creole. The oldest houses and shopping area reminded Trish of the historical districts she had seen in Southern towns in the US. There was a reason for both the architecture and the ethnic make-up of New Dixie: the settlement was founded during the Civil War by former US slaves. From 1865 until the end of Reconstruction, several additional families from Louisiana immigrated to Santa Eduviges and settled in New Dixie. From the beginning, one of the most important family names in the town had been the Bousquets, originally from a plantation in Baton Rouge.

Eve's parents no longer lived in New Dixie. When she was 10, her father got a job in the government and decided to move the family to the capitol. However, Eve's older brother had returned to New Dixie and was living with his wife in the house that used to be owned by Eve's grandparents. Eve called him on her cell phon