In Chapter 1 of "Tuck Everlasting" by Natalie Babbitt, there is a road leading to a village called Treegap. The cows that made the road made it going around a couple acres of land. They did this because they had some inner wisdom that told them not to go into the woods in order to protect the eternal water that was at the center of the land. If they had made the road strait through the woods then people would find the water and soon everyone would live forever causing the world to go into havoc. If everyone found and drank this water the earth would (as the book said) "tremble on its axis like a beetle on a pin." Everyone that passed by the woods felt a fear of it that made them leave it at peace just like how the cows did. Soon the road became like the land of the people that had houses along the road. The first cottage had a steal fence about four feet high which made you feel like it was saying "we don't want you here" and the lawn was cut thin to perfection (this is where Winnie lived). Then if you looked down the road you could see more cottages lined up.