After dinner on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, Bernadette’s mother discovered that there was no more wood in the house, so Bernadette, her sister Toinette, and a neighbour friend, Jeanne Abade, went to the river Gave to gather wood.
Pagkatapos nilang maghapunan ilang araw bago ang Miyerkules ng Abo, napansin ng ina ni Bernadette na wala na silang panggatong sa bahay kaya inutusan si Bernadette, ang kapatid nitong si Toinette at ang kapitbahay nilang si Jeanne Adabe na mangahoy.