"People would bury treasure at the foot of a tree and kill an animal so’s its ghost would guard it," they said, nodding, sagely. "The ghost of little animals are harmless, but now you take plat-eyes-they’re different. They’ll lead you into danger, lose you in the swamps, steal your wits, and sometimes even leave you alone to die. Stay away from them."

Daisy knew they were often seen when someone died, and the death of a human could bring forth a spirit like this with the power to change itself at will. Some said it could take the form of a large five-legged calf, others a hunched-back yellow dog. The plat-eye stayed near treasure sites and would divert attention from the spot it guarded by a frenzied whirling, like a beast possessed by devils.

Sometimes, as Daisy nervously hurried her brother and sister along the trail through the twilight woods, she would see peering eyes and shadowy shapes, but not a plat-eye. She hoped she never would. She’d grown up knowing that in the past folk hid their valuables in the woods and set a plat-eye to watch over them. If anyone was foolish enough to go searching later, the play-eye would rise straight up in the air out of nowhere and scare the thief to death.

But she really didn’t worry about seeing them. She’d had her own supernatural experiences working at the big houses on the island. Cooking and cleaning, she’d seen apparitions in the fine old homes and even around the yards. One home had been the scene of a murder, and pitching headlong down the stairs, the dying man had spattered blood all over the wall. With much scrubbing she tried to wash it away, and for awhile the discoloration disappeared, but the outline would always return, growing darker and darker.

"The folks living in that house never could get paint to cover those stains for long," recalled Daisy, "and while I worked there, that same wall had to be repainted again."

Daisy lived almost within a shell’s toss of the ocean.

"I listen to the surf some nights when it’s a soft song, lulling me to sleep. Other nights I can’t sleep because of the sound of the waves crashing on the beach-maybe the sign of a hurricane on the way."

A devout woman, she attended the A.M.E. Zion Church each Sunday. During the week she cooked at a small restaurant, and most of her days followed a peaceful routine except for that one day she will never forget. She was working at "the big house," and in the afternoon she went to see her aunt. She had brought the sick old lady some new shoes and some chicken broth, but "Miss Amelia" was too weak to even look at the shoes. Pouring the hot liquid into a bowl, Daisy cajoled her into sipping a few spoonfuls of it, then straightened her covers and sat gently clasping her aunt’s gnarled hand.

She leaned back in the rocker and began softly singing hymns until the old woman’s eyelids closed, and when she left "Miss Amelia" was resting peacefully. Walking across the field on the warm, plowed soil between the rows of plants, she looked back toward her aunt’s house.

Why did she turn around? She would never know. There, only about fifty feet behind her, was the fiercest looking animal she had ever seen. It appeared to be an enormous calf, boat black as coal, fiery eyes glaring at her and as she stared the calf began whirling around and around, growing larger each second. A cloud of dust rose in the air, and suddenly, in a wild burst of fury, it came hurtling after her.

Daisy began to run. Her long legs ran faster than they had ever run before, and the hooves pounding the ground behind her filled her with terror. Her chest began to hurt with every breath. Gathering courage to look back, she saw to her amazement that there was no calf in sight. The field behind her was empty. But she still had only one thought in mind-run! She ran until, weak with exhaustion, she reached her house. While she was recovering, a knock came at the door, and there stood her aunt’s best friend.

"Daisy, honey, I’m bringing bad news. Your auntie’s passed on. She won’t need those new shoes."

"Ohhh…Maggie!" Daisy wailed.

"I saw you walking from her house toward the road and I hollered at you but all of a sudden you took off running.

"I got me a mirror and put it up to her lips, but there was no breath in her. She must have gone ‘bout the time you were lighting out across that field."
"Did you see the big calf coming after me?" asked Daisy.

"Calf? What are you talking about?"

The other woman looked incredulous.

Suddenly Daisy understood with frightening clarity.

"Oh, my precious Lord!" she gasped. "That was no real calf; that was a play-eye!"