Book excerpt: This is a story centered on the Nathaniel family of Toco Village in the Caribbean Islands of Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies in the '30s and '40s. All the stories are based on actual events as seen through the eyes of Gabriel, a boy, from the time he was aged five until he turned fourteen. The author's intention is to give people an idea of the culture and day-to-day life of this hard-working, happy, superstitious but religious people in a small village where there were no serious crime.